1969_Mach1

From what I understand depending on how fast you are trying to shift, the GL-5 oils can be too slippery for the blocker rings work correctly. I haven't had a chance to drive it yet with the Sta-Lube gear GL-4 oil in it. The Sta-Lube took much more effort to pump than the Joe Gibbs Racing gear oil. And it leaves a heavier oil film on everything. From what I have found the Joe Gibbs gear oils are designed to run off quickly to reduce parasitic losses. I guess that's fine for racing applications but maybe not as good for a street car that's rarely driven.

Just throwing this out there, you are spending all this money to build a stroked 302, why not just start over and build a 351W?

Tough call. 7 psi is marginal. If it were mine I'd prefer a little less fuel pressure. And if the carb is more than a year old get a Holley, Quick Fuel or AED brand rebuild kit and freshen it up. The Quick Fuel and AED brand kits overall seem to come with better quality gaskets and parts than the Holley kits.

According to my reproduction Ford wiring diagrams, at the ignition switch there is a red-green wire that has power in both crank and run positions. This is the power wire that goes to the tachometer. The diagram also shows it splicing and going to the fuse panel. I don't know what terminal it would be on the fuse panel. Some people have connected the MSD box like you did and it works. But, a long time ago a friend of mine did that on a Fairlane and had intermittent issues. Sometimes it was fine, and other times it would start and die.

If the distributor is one with a mechanical and vacuum advance and has the Ford OEM 3-wire connector it should work with the MSD ignition box. Picking up the 12V switched power from the original coil wire is incorrect because that runs through the original resistor wire wrapped into the harness under the dash and through the factory tach. That is unless you have changed some of the original wiring. I don't know if the stock coil will work very well or last very long with the MSD. I've never seen that combination. Again, you will need an MSD tach adapter which I believe is p/n 8920 to connect your factory tach to the MSD ignition box. Maybe double check with MSD on the adapter part number needed for an original current triggered tach.

I don't have a shaker hood so if the car has been sitting a while I simply remove the air cleaner then use a squeeze bottle and put a little into the fuel bowls through the vent tubes. Then it starts up quickly.

That was my first thought and I hope that's not the situation. I would say there was definitely a noticeable difference in shifting, particularly downshifting. I don't know where noticeable changes to significant. I have done some research and apparently the Joe Gibbs GL-4 gear oils are formulated to flow easily and not leave much oil film on anything for less parasitic drag and less power loss. I will say the 80W-90 Joe Gibbs oil pours easily, almost like a 50W motor oil. The Lucus gear oil doesn't pour as easily, and leaves a slippery film of oil on everything. But the Lucus oil is GL-5 rated and twice I've contacted Lucus and both times they have said their gear oils are not for manual transmissions that use brass synchronizer rings. My guess is the Lucus oil doesn't have enough antioxidation properties to counteract the additional Sulphur in GL-5 gear oils. I don't know, that technical information is hard to get. I drained then refilled the trans with the 85W-90 GL-4 Sta-Lube gear oil that Brian Conway say's he has used with no problems. Penngrade oil had to be mail ordered and I didn't want to wait. I'll take the car out this weekend. Hopefully I'll will shift (particularly downshift) a little better than with the Joe Gibbs gear oil. For the shifter I have a Hurst Competition Plus. Not the original 1970 model, but what Hurst now offers. I'm not completely happy with it and would prefer the OEM 1970 type but they are extremely expensive when you find one is decent condition. On the current model the shifter stick is not removable which makes things a little more difficult.

I think you at the threshold of needing a pressure regulator. I don't see how switching from a mechanical fuel pump to an electric fuel pump solved starting issues? Unless you are like me, the car is not driven often and sometimes the fuel evaporates from the fuel bowls. Have you checked the float levels with the electric fuel pump? With it idling, looking down the carb do you see any fuel dripping off the booster venturies (you shouldn't)? Is the choke opening correctly and ccompletely? Maybe you have a separate issue and not related to the fuel pump.

What MSD setup do you have? An MSD ignition box and MSD distributor, MSD Ready-to-Run distributor, MSD ignition box and stock points distributor? If your factory tach is still stock and has never been retrofit with modern internals it Will Not work with an MSD ignition box without an additional MSD Tach Adapter. The signal from the MSD ignition box Tach terminal simply will not operate the stock tach. Unfortunately, because the Ford factory tach is current triggered you will need the more expensive Tach Adapter , p/n 8920. https://www.holley.com/products/accessories/tach_adapters/parts/8920 If you have one of those MSD Ready-to-Run distributors I don't know how the factory tach would be connected. With an MSD ignition box be certain you have a 12V constant and a 12V ignition switched source. The 12V ignition switched source needs to be in both crank and run positions. I picked up my 12V switched source directly at the ignition switch. The original wiring to the factory tach and the ignition coil will not used at all. I left mine in place but it is not being used.

AED makes some nice stuff. I use their metering blocks on a Holley 650 HP carb. With that said, I don't know if that cable bracket works with the cable used on these cars. I think it's for the later style cable that uses a bolt to retain the cable end to the bracket and not snap in like on these cars. But if you purchase it from Summit or Jegs you can easily return it if it doesn't work. You will need longer carb mounting studs for the bracket side. You should replace those bolts with studs anyway to mount the carb to the intake.

Thanks. I can mail order the PennGrade from Summit Racing. Apparently, that is the Brad Penn gear oil that David Kee Toploaders recommends. I might be able to get the Sta-Lube gear oil locally. I might try the PennGrade. Hopefully, it will work better than the Joe Gibbs oil I currently have in it.

Basically, what gear oil are members here using in their toploader 4sp transmission? I initially filled mine with Lucus 80W-90 after a rebuild and it shifted great, smooth, was quite. But read that GL-5 rated gear oils are bad for the brass parts and GL-4 rated gear oils should be used in these transmissions. I drained it and refilled it with Joe Gibbs Racing 80W-90 GL-4 rated gear oil. The trans is much harder to shift, especially downshifts from 3rd to 2nd. Are the GL-5 rated oils truly bad for the brass parts in these transmissions? Amsoil makes a synthetic 75W-90 GL-4 rated oil, but before I change the trans oil again I am curious what others are using?

Yeah, first have the battery tested. Or, connect a battery charger to it or jumper cables from another vehicle and see if it cranks or anything is different. If your + and - cables and connections are good, then you are down to the battery or starter. By the way, I never had any luck with the original style rebuilt starters sold at parts stores for these cars. They usually would barely crank my 351W, sometimes not at all. In the long run, I ended up with a high torque starter.

I run the MSD 6ALN on my 351W and gap my spark plugs at 0.040". My static compression is slightly lower than yours at 10.7:1. I use either the basic old school copper core resistor type Autolite or NGK spark plugs. From everything I have read copper core plugs are better with an MSD type of ignition system. The plug life is shorter, but they work better. Yes, your cam is fairly aggressive for a 351W in a street car. If you have vacuum assist power brakes, they likely will not work. Honestly, I don't know if spark plugs are why it is more difficult to start. Sometimes it's a matter of taking more time to get a fuel charge into the cylinders while cranking. What carb does it have? Is it correct for something with 11:1 CR and that aggressive of a cam? Don't forget, as cam profiles get more aggressive, the signal to the carb gets weaker. For example, you can simply do only a cam change and suddenly the motor runs much too rich or much too lean depending on if you went less or more aggressive with the cam.

It's the same in my part of California. If building a new home, it must comply with current standards including elevations. Do some research, sadly, the neighbors might not be responsible for any damage to your own property. If you are in a flood zone, your homeowners insurance should cover any damage or loss.

Bad valve seals and/or guides will cause a puff a oil smoke on start up. That was a big problem when I worked as a GM tech and they merely used square cut O-ring type valve seals on small block V8's. We swapped a lot of them out for umbrella or positive type seals. Why don't you try positive type seals like these, https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fms-m-6571-a50/overview/ They are soft and pliable, work better than umbrella seals, and not rigid like the Teflon seals.

When I installed my MSD 6ALN in my 69 Mach 1 I went to the ignition switch for the switched 12V power. I tapped into the terminal with the original resistor wire that went to the original coil. I tapped into it at the switch so as not to get any of the original resistor wire. I was able to open up the crimp on the terminal and solder another wire to it while leaving the original resistor wire intact incase I ever need it again. For the constant 12V power I went to the battery post terminal on the starter relay.

I can believe that for the wheels. Especially since Summit has a store and warehouse near you. I look and look when I need parts and almost always end up back at Summit Racing. I only go elsewhere on parts Summit doesn't carry.

When I've installed NGK plugs, I've used the copper core V-power and they seem to work just fine. I don't know what plug gap you are using, if it's still at 0.035" you can probably go up to 0.040". I run mine at 0.040" with 10.7:1 C.R. I've been wondering if anybody had tried the new spark plugs MSD offers? Do they work any better like MSD claims?

When changing only a pinion seal, the old school way, which I have done with success, is to mark the location of the pinion nut and count how many threads are exposed beyond the nut. Then after replacing the seal and reinstalling the same yoke, reinstall the pinion nut (with red Loctite) back to the same location. However, if changing the yoke, that method might not work. Is there somebody near you that can make a driveshaft? That's what I did. It was simple, they told me what measurements and trans info they needed. Two days later I had a new complete driveshaft with Spicer heavy duty U-joints and a new front yoke to fit the trans. I had enough when I was younger searching salvage yards for driveshafts the correct length. I don't know how much you save buying a used driveshaft from a salvage yard then at minimum replacing the U-joints on it.

I use solid spacers as well instead of crush sleeves. They take more time so setup, but I have more confidence in them.

Yes, but if the third member yoke is changed, he has to be a little careful to maintain the same pinion bearing preload.

I've always had good luck with either NGK or Autolite spark plugs. Before trying something like a platinum plug, do some research, I've heard those are not the best choice for an MSD ignition. I always use the plain old copper core spark plugs with my MSD 6ALN ignition. I use MSD Super Conductor spark plug wires. I did install the MSD pro boots at the spark plug end to eliminate the multi angle boot.

That Bronco bracket shouldn't flex because in addition to bolting to the water pump, is also bolts to the front of the cylinder head similar to the OEM Ford brackets. However, I've looked into using that bracket on my 351W because I was never really happy with what Borgeson provides, it is made for a Windsor so I don't think it will fit Cleveland motors.

Let us know what shipping is to Texas from Coker tire. To California from them was $250 for four tires and wheels. Four tires without wheels was $120. I simply can not pay that. I could purchase 5 tires from Summit Racing or locally for the price of four plus shipping from Coker.