Progress Thread Down For A Decade - Got The Job!

[Fordfreak93]

I'm still chipping away! Had way too much fun this summer and neglected my car a little, ok a lot. Things were still getting done even when I was in the mountains or on the beach though. My machine shop moves at a snails pace and finally has my stuff ready to pick up. Block is honed and cleaned, new cam bearings and freeze plugs. Crank is polished and all of the bearings have been ordered. I'm going to have the rotating assembly balanced next week. My buddy wanted to try out his porting skills and hogged out my Victor Jr. intake. That thing is going to flow like crazy now! He also gasket matched the long tube adapter plates to clean them up. I have all of the rust removed and just need to fab up a couple more pieces for the trunk corners. The replacement hinge is in place, but I had to trim too much off to even get it close. I'm not happy with the gaps that I left, but my welder is convinced we will make it work. Metal work is for the birds, in my opinion. I can't wait to build this engine and start slapping parts on this beast!!! Here's some pics...

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

I'm just catching up with your thread. Remind me, is this primarily a street car? If it is, either swap to the SN95 type undermount sway bar or leave the factory sway bar brackets functional. Boxing them in makes it to where you cannot remove your sway bar which is lame. It's easy to go overboard with smoothing the bay but leave things functional for driving the car and handling. Sway bars are very important for handling and cornering on the street.

After smoothing and tucking my last Foxbody, I think my engine bay still looked great with my factory sway bar brackets.

 

[Fordfreak93]

I'm just catching up with your thread. Remind me, is this primarily a street car? If it is, either swap to the SN95 type undermount sway bar or leave the factory sway bar brackets functional. Boxing them in makes it to where you cannot remove your sway bar which is lame. It's easy to go overboard with smoothing the bay but leave things functional for driving the car and handling. Sway bars are very important for handling and cornering on the street.

After smoothing and tucking my last Foxbody, I think my engine bay still looked great with my factory sway bar brackets.

Your bay looks freaking amazing! Can't lie though, my eyes are drawn to the black bolts on the white sway bar brackets. I do see the world through these OCD eyes though, lol. Why do you say that you can't remove the sway bar if you box it in? I've seen people weld studs in before boxing them. Have you ever messed with the SN95 brackets? I was asking about them a few months ago but couldn't get an answer on swapping them into a fox. I'll pull a front sway bar and brackets off a SN95 car next time I'm at the junkyard and see if I can make it work. To answer your question, the car will be setup for a little of everything, street/strip/track/show. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Black1987]

Your bay looks freaking amazing! Can't lie though, my eyes are drawn to the black bolts on the white sway bar brackets. I do see the world through these OCD eyes though, lol. Why do you say that you can't remove the sway bar if you box it in? I've seen people weld studs in before boxing them. Have you ever messed with the SN95 brackets? I was asking about them a few months ago but couldn't get an answer on swapping them into a fox. I'll pull a front sway bar and brackets off a SN95 car next time I'm at the junkyard and see if I can make it work. To answer your question, the car will be setup for a little of everything, street/strip/track/show. Thanks for the feedback!

In all fairness, if you have AC/PS you will not be able to see it, as for the passenger side a supercharger will also distract your eye....when all else fails..twin hair dryers with appropriate plumbing will hide all.

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

In all fairness, if you have AC/PS you will not be able to see it, as for the passenger side a supercharger will also distract your eye....when all else fails..twin hair dryers with appropriate plumbing will hide all.

Very true. Superchargers and turbos are like boobs, is there anything else more interesting to look at? I don't even know what color eyes my girlfriend has

 

[Fordfreak93]

In all fairness, if you have AC/PS you will not be able to see it, as for the passenger side a supercharger will also distract your eye....when all else fails..twin hair dryers with appropriate plumbing will hide all.

Very true. Superchargers and turbos are like boobs, is there anything else more interesting to look at? I don't even know what color eyes my girlfriend has

@Black1987 I'm not running AC or PS to start with. As I get older and wiser I may want them back, but I'm going for an old school simple look right now.

@FoxMustangLvr your engine bay is really freaking nice and I probably wouldn't even notice the sway bar brackets in person because I would be drooling over everything else. I'm trying to ride the line between looking cool and still being functional, tight rope to walk, lol. I'm going to look into the SN95 brackets a little more, that might be the answer.

 

[Fordfreak93]

I'm still making progress! The block got hot tanked, honed, new freeze plugs and cam bearings installed and crank polished. I'm dropping off my rotating assembly today to get balanced at a local shop. I scored some good parts at the Auto Fair last weekend here in Charlotte too. I got a nice used Moroso oil pan, a pair of Kooks mufflers and a couple fenders for $20 each. The fenders are for a future project, if I ever get done with this one.

I fabbed up a couple of pieces for underneath the trunk corners. I'm waiting for my Scott Rod order to come in and then the welding will begin! In the meantime I've been cleaning up all the window channels and removing the moldings and EVERYTHING else off the car. There was some nice paint under the quarter windows, makes me want to hurry up and get fresh paint on the whole car. I'm going to start ordering body supplies next week. I'm going with a bold color for the engine, stay tuned...

Pics:

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

Looking good bro! Remind me again, what are the plans with the engine? Are you refreshing the 302 and upgrading the heads?

 

[Fordfreak93]

Looking good bro! Remind me again, what are the plans with the engine? Are you refreshing the 302 and upgrading the heads?

Thanks man! Stock bore block, stock crank, forged I-beam rods w/ARP 2000 bolts, Probe dome piston (+8cc), Trick Flow 11R 205cc comp. ported heads, hand ported Victor Jr. carb intake and an AFM N-61 camshaft. I'm going to run the Holley EFI system but I may start with a Holley 650 dp carb since I have one on the shelf.

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

Thanks man! Stock bore block, stock crank, forged I-beam rods w/ARP 2000 bolts, Probe dome piston (+8cc), Trick Flow 11R 205cc comp. ported heads, hand ported Victor Jr. carb intake and an AFM N-61 camshaft. I'm going to run the Holley EFI system but I may start with a Holley 650 dp carb since I have one on the shelf.

I probably should re-read this thread but I'm hoping you'll strongly consider smoothing that engine bay, especially if you're going carb (no wires to tuck)

Edit: I just scrolled up and saw that you are, smoothed bay plus carb is some sweet eye candy!

 

[Fordfreak93]

I probably should re-read this thread but I'm hoping you'll strongly consider smoothing that engine bay, especially if you're going carb (no wires to tuck)

Edit: I just scrolled up and saw that you are, smoothed bay plus carb is some sweet eye candy!

Scott Rod panels are on the way! I probably could have made my own, but it's such a time saver having them laser cut.

 

[Fordfreak93]

Are we there yet!? I'm all over the place between mechanical and body, but I'm getting sh*t done! Scott Rod panels are here, prepping areas for welding, converting all the rust, cut off the factory swaybar brackets, trimming the pinch weld in the bay and ordering filler and paint. I'm still waiting on the rotating assembly to get balanced. I don't want to rush perfection though, this guy does an amazing job. I had to clearance the main girdle to fit the oil pan, tapped the dip stick hole in the block to accept a plug, and I'll be cleaning and painting the block this weekend.

I'll be drooling over all of the completed Foxes at Foxtoberfest this weekend too. It should give me motivation to keep kicking ass! I'll be there next year dammit! Anyone coming out this weekend?

Pics for the whores:

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Yeah baby!

 

[Fordfreak93]

Got the trunk corner pieces fabbed up. Trimmed the Scott Rod panels to fit and started sandblasting all of the rust that's left. Things were going great until my sandblast nozzle blasted right through itself. I need to make a trip to the hardware store for some spare parts and then I can blast the inner fenders and cowl areas. I also blasted through a rotted piece on the driver side trunk corner. So I cut that out and used my spare corner for a replacement. I'm trying to get everything prepped for welding this weekend. Can't wait to be done with the metal work! The engine is sitting there calling my name, BUILD ME!!!

That's not a mark, that's a hole in the side off the shut off valve

 

[Fordfreak93]

Huge progress was made over the weekend! Welded the driver side door hinge back on and the door gap was perfect!!! Also welded in the rear trunk corners, inner fender braces, fender aprons and frame rail covers. Starting to see the light at the end of this crazy long tunnel! I'll be welding up all of the holes in the engine bay the rest of this week and then it's filler time. We're rolling now, watch out!!!

 

[95BlueStallion]

Hell yeah, great progress!

 

[90sickfox]

I like progress

 

[Fordfreak93]

Has anyone successfully relocated their wiper motor? I know @Trbofox has, I messaged him but he hasn't logged in since January. I have the only four pics I could find of his install. Can anyone else chime in? From what I gathered, he made a new straight arm for the motor (it's originally curved) and bent one of the linkage arms to fit as well. I doubt I'll get much of a response here, but it's worth a shot. I've searched the webs high and low for pics and info and this is all I could find. I'll post pics when I figure out how I'm going to make it work, there's no way I'm leaving that ugly motor hanging in my bay!

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Uh oh......you're slipping into a Terry rebuild. I forgot whom he visits mostly now, Corrall maybe? I'll watch what you're doing though, next spring I'll tackle my blue car's body. I have lots of dirty plans for it! Lol.

No wiper motor in the eb....damn you....one more thing

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

So I don't get it.
If the wiper motor is spaced even farther out, how does doing that keep it out of the engine bay?
And if it's to be relocated, it has to be under the existing sheetmetal that makes up the cowl.
Seems to me if you're putting a hole under the wiper mechanism through the floor of the cowl box,..you're asking for a leak when it rains or it gets washed.
Sounds like show car trailer queen stuff to me.

If I hated my little wiper motor so bad that I had to go through that much to try and hide it,...I'd do away with the mechanism ala race car, seal up the offending holes permanently, spray the glass with rain x, and never take the car out if it looked like it might rain, or hide under an overpass until it passes if it did.

*Edit.....
Dammit! I can see that in the pics it looks like the wiper motor is actually sitting inside the cowl, on the back side of the existing wiper mount point..so no hole in the bottom of the cowl...

Dammit! All of that know-it-all snarkiness on my part condemning this mod, and it looks like there is a way to hide that thing and still have a wiper motor after all...

Dammit!

I'll just go an sit in the corner now...