BuckeyeDemon

I used a mig on several projects and was pretty good at it (I thought so anyways....). I switched to a tig on my current project (going on now for 4 years now and a lot of welding). I personally find it hard to go back to mig. personally tig is so much more flexible in terms of what you can weld. stainless, stainless to steel, aluminum, silicon bronze, etc and not even have to change gas mix. it's cleaner (no spatter, smoke all over the welding lens), you control how much filler metal to add, you can fuse metal without even adding metal, you can move metal around, etc. the ability to tack pieces together without adding metal, also makes the final weld joints look better. the different torches and parts allows access to a lot more very hard to get to weld joints that the mig gun can't get to. additionally, since it's much more precise, cleaning/dressing welds after goes a whole lot faster. I probably use the tig over 95% of the time. a water cooler is very nice. the small torch is so much easier to use compared to the larger torches. with the gas cooled, I found it very difficult to wait for the torch extra time to cool. but that's just me. clearly a lot of people own both processes and likely use a mig a lot more than the tig.

i'm guessing it's a typo. maybe it was supposed to be an 8.

engine is somewhat on hold. the shop is having Cometic modify their head gasket design for the oil return holes. but i'm guessing they will turn that in a reasonable timeframe. but the shortblock is done. also modified and set of the fender emblems and had the valve cover decals made (very easy and cheap process)….

the dual planes will typically have a slight angle built into them like ~3 degrees carb pad to cylinder head. the Victor jr does not (0 degrees). measuring the carb pad without a reference only gives a partial answer.

thank you for the comment. the block seems fine. you'll need to finish the decks and bores . I changed to main studs so he honed the mains. I'm confident that they would have verified those regardless though. I bought it from summit.

they are 295/55 (28x12.5). not a huge tire, but given I don't have it jacked up in the back, it's pretty much maxed out for a Falcon considering worst case suspension travel (e.g. full compression on one side) and the fact the housing has about 1/4" clearance to the floor. …..also a few more engine pics if anyone is interested.....

a few status updates.... engine has been at the shop since mid November. the pistons were spec'd out and made very quickly which helped. It looks like it will end up in the 13 to 13.5: 1 range as hoped. A lot of the machine work on the block and work/balancing on the rotating assembly is finished (need to rework crank snout/modify damper). he is working on things like clearancing pushrod holes, etc. I think it's likely to have the engine running in a month or so. a lot of work to get the undercarriage and trunk into the first coats of primer.... started hanging the panels to see how bad things are (not too bad). The original hood is just to help align the fenders, then I will put on the teardrop.

start with a heavy bodied filler like a USC Duraglass and Finish with a lighter weight filler like Rage Gold or Extreme.

Actually stainless has a much lower thermal conductivity versus steel (a lot lower than aluminum). It's one reason people like to use stainless for headers as opposed to steel, because it doesn't transfer heat as well.

you must have a highly modified build? the heater hoses on mine are just the normal rubber type hose. in any case I've bent 1/2" stainless in a hand tube bender and that was pretty easy to do and they looked great. I have a 5/8 tube bender used for aluminum and it had longer arms, so likely it could do stainless also.

I don't believe it's fair to call a company such as Centerforce simply a "clutch assembly company". some engineer or many engineers had to design the clutch package for a specific application which contains a lot of piece parts (e.g. lubricants, fasteners, carriers, hubs, rivets, clutch fingers, etc) or subassemblies.

the "aftermarket" companies are likely trying to use as many "off the shelf (OTS)" pieces to build their clutches as possible while trying to offer packages that may not be readily available. as an example, if a particular OTS piece (like the fingers) from LUK is adequate for the particular clutch, then it's likely cheaper to purchase that piece (high volume), than it is to make and design their own. as the demand on the clutch changes, they likely mix and match parts to fit the need for the application and maybe offer something not readily available. in some instances, maybe there isn't a particular piece of the clutch/pressure plate available that meets there design needs and requires them to design their own piece. my Mccleod and Ram both use clutch materials from Miba…. most companies don't redesign every piece part for a total product package they sell. i'm an engineer at a company who designs/manufacturers transmitters. we don't design every integrated circuit from scratch. only when something isn't available or there isn't a way to do that, do we invest in designing a new piece. your new Centerforce has Luk parts just like my Centerforce I posted pics of....what a surprise....

I can't remember if those are small slotted holes, but if not, consider putting in a rivut nut (or equivalent) and a matching fastener.

definitely consider going with something like Centerforce DF. It in general has pretty good reviews.... ...and in case someone can't see the photos, this Centerforce DF has Luk stamped all over it.... I'm still trying to understand what about a clutch can make it considered cheap? materials? design? heat treat? balance?