1969Fstback

Thanks gentlemen, much appreciated.

I got the top off then removed the entire lower cowl. New one sitting in box. I am at the point of putting it back together. Was looking for the best order of operations to put it all back together. But appreciate the reply.

I got a new lower cowl. I am to point of being ready to install. Question is, what is the best method? Weld in the lower cowl grind spot welds then weld on upper cowl, or weld upper and lower together then weld both as a unit onto the car? Or weld both both to the car at the same time? thanks

I will go out and mic mine in a bit. The pvc may be .72 and the valve being .75. But looks like you'd need a 1 inch grommet. I now my breather fits in easily into the larger grommet in my pic. And to put it on the smaller one is a struggle. I was going off memory and I very well may be wrong it may be .75 and 1" on the diameter of the breather spout and pvc.

Based on your pic looks like you have a 1 inch pcv grommet. Autozone has the 1 1/4 first couple bucks. You can see the difference in my pic.

Did the grommet come with the breather cap? My experience breather caps can have 2 different size spouts. Something like 1" and 3/4". However, the outside diameter of the grommet is the same. I fought one a few years ago. I had a 1" spout breather and grommet with 3/4" inside hole diameter. I could easily put the grommet on the breather but it stretched the grommet to wide. I could put grommet in the breather and the spout would not come close to fitting.

Is the lower cowl of a 68 Cougar and 68 Mustang the same? thanks

I educated myself more and followed some of the advice on this thread and readjusted the valves. That seems to have been the issue. Haven't driven it yet, but the idle is now smoother and consistent, vacuum does not drop, and best of all I can put it in gear and it doesn't die.

Thanks. I have comp cam roller rockers with poly locks. The pedestals and guides were already installed and seem to be correctly aligned.

Thanks, I put a 3.5 power valve in. Have manual brakes. I am going to redo the valve lash. I do not have a lot of experience with setting it. After some research and speaking with a buddy we are leaning towards that being an issue.

I had planned on picking up a 700 or 750 once I had the motor going and driving, but may anyway and try it. The chokes where both open. I am running a 2000 stall converter, but it calls for a 3k. And honestly, I was thinking about doing just that with the cam.

The few level in the eye glass is right below midway. I tried a Holley 570 with no change. The 500 came of my 302 I had been running but then again it was mostly stock 302.

I couldn't find any for reasonable price when I was looking and I couldn't find repo's for sports roof. I ended up making mine from some 1/4 round stock for 5 bucks each.

I pulled the intake once and remounted it with new gaskets. I may need to check the torque on it again or take it back off and do it again. But yeah I was leaning that away to, but was stumped.

I picked up a 68 Cougar project last November for my son. It came with a 351W half put together. I know the guy and his uncle had blown the car apart it's still apart. He was in the middle of putting the motor together and passed away. I got the car for next to nothing. The the block had the crank and pistons and that was it. Everything else in boxes. I put it all together. Stand started it and it sounded good. Granted I didn't let it sit on the stand running for 30 mins. I pulled my 302 dropped it in and fired up. The more it warms up the less well it runs. Oil pressure is good and it hold 160-165 temp. At initial start up I can run about 18 degrees timing and get around 10 vacuum and the motor is very responsive. With dist unplugged. As it warms to keep it running I have to add more timing. Eventually vacuum drops to 5.5ish and the motor becomes less responsive. If you put it in gear it dies immediately, but it also dawned on me I tried that without the vacuum hooked to distributor. But I am not sure if that would make a difference or not. The only vacuum hooked to the motor is the trans and vacuum gauge. It acts like a vacuum leak to me, but I checked 2 or 3 times spraying around intake and carb base. When warm adjusting the idle fuel air ratio does little unless you screw them all the way in. So 351W 60 over comp 292H cam. Heads are original cast with double valve springs. Crane roller rockers 1.6 For now I cannibalized the summit 500 carb off my 302. Has new HEI dist. I am going to perform a compression test this week. Looking for suggestions on diagnosing the issue. thanks

If you can find one of these the correct size you could put a nipple on it after you screw it in. Ha, Lowes would have them in the pipe section, but I think your motor may look a tad to nice for that.

Thanks again, I received the pulley today from the other member.

Thanks you. I am dragging my sons 68 cougar project in the garage this weekend. Those are the first things we are fixing. I need to show him your build thread soon. Then tell him see all of that nice interior? All of that is out of your budget, so start doing forearm exercises so you can stretch on the seat covers.

Not trying to hijack the thread, but, are the battery apron and radiator support the same between 68 cougar and 68 mustang?

Sorry for the late reply, I think so, another member messaged me last week or so. He's going to get me a price shipped. With all that's going on and not being in an immediate need, I told him to do it at his convenience.

One thing to keep in mind, for GT conversion you have to run 18 inch wheels. Seems like 17 factory wheels would clear but not all after market.

I have 69 drum spindles. I had to press the backer plate of the hub. I went with mustang Steve's GT brake brackets. If I remember right, I bought 2007 gt calibers (take offs) from ebay for about 125 shipped with pads. They came with the caliper brackets and all. I sourced rotors from some place, but they are 2007 rotors. All and all for brackets, calipers, rotors and all I got about 500 in the complete set. The Steve kit came with centering ring that goes on the hub and fills the gap between the rotor and the hub.

Need 2 groove for 351w. It's a 69. Has same water pump as my 302. Passenger side outlet. Thanks

I have 18x9's on front with 5.95 inch backspacing with 1 inch spacer, but I converted it to disc which brings the wheel out further. So not sure how much further the rotor brings it out. Can't remember what was mentioned on the mustang Steve sight about it. The back I am running 18x10's with 6.37 inch back spacing with no spacer. I did have to trim the bump stop bracket that sticks out a little.

I picked up starter from one of the chain stores. Put it on. Started but stayed engaged. I had to shim mine to pull it back some. Did your old starter have a shim? If so may try removing it to see if it will engage further.