BuckeyeDemon

thank you for asking.
sorry, not much to report.  I was a little burnt out after that body work and have been working a lot out of state since october.  
Its in a stage where it's just going to look the same for awhile anyways... the exterior, dash, trunk area are sanded and with a few more hours ready to prime again.
A few other things though.  Steering wheel is finished up and the stainless trim has been reworked (a lot of dents along all those edges and a few gashes).  there is a lot more stainless on this than the mustang!  happy to be done with that process.
also got the dashpad clearanced for around the rollcage.  have the trunk filler panel cut and ready to go.  so that's a complicated process of installing it, putting trim around the hole and getting those small pieces i had to cut to sit back flush when it gets installed for the final time.
i did pick up an old antique tractor (1948, Farmall H) that I've been wanting for a long time.  It's a 20 footer so i'm planning to fully restore that after this falcon (and put too much money into it).  these are a dime a dozen.  It runs really well.  I only did a few things to that (found an original seat assembly, paper belt pulley,  alternator/12v mod, pulled the pan/valve cover, etc).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
note: the painted tray and small pieces are just sitting in there.  final install will get the small trim pieces around the tubes i made and a method to secure those cutout pieces flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

thank you for asking.
sorry, not much to report.  I was a little burnt out after that body work and have been working a lot out of state since october.  
Its in a stage where it's just going to look the same for awhile anyways... the exterior, dash, trunk area are sanded and with a few more hours ready to prime again.
A few other things though.  Steering wheel is finished up and the stainless trim has been reworked (a lot of dents along all those edges and a few gashes).  there is a lot more stainless on this than the mustang!  happy to be done with that process.
also got the dashpad clearanced for around the rollcage.  have the trunk filler panel cut and ready to go.  so that's a complicated process of installing it, putting trim around the hole and getting those small pieces i had to cut to sit back flush when it gets installed for the final time.
i did pick up an old antique tractor (1948, Farmall H) that I've been wanting for a long time.  It's a 20 footer so i'm planning to fully restore that after this falcon (and put too much money into it).  these are a dime a dozen.  It runs really well.  I only did a few things to that (found an original seat assembly, paper belt pulley,  alternator/12v mod, pulled the pan/valve cover, etc).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
note: the painted tray and small pieces are just sitting in there.  final install will get the small trim pieces around the tubes i made and a method to secure those cutout pieces flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

a couple of updates if anyone is still out there....
restored a 78 honda cb550 four.  was simply a means of getting a little time away from the falcon....
 




 













 

picked up a used tig setup a few weeks ago. it literally had 2 hours of run-time on the meter, so it's in good shape.
 
i've been spending about 20 minutes every other day or so playing around with it, moving a puddle, butt welds, laps, fillets, tubes, etc. i did a little bit of stainless, but haven't tried aluminum yet.
 
part of me wishes i would have gotten it years ago when i upgraded the mig, but at that time i didn't want to spend the money on something that was so unknown...
 

 

 

 

 

a couple of updates if anyone is still out there....
restored a 78 honda cb550 four.  was simply a means of getting a little time away from the falcon....
 




 













 

put a number of items on the engine after paint.
 
there are still a number of issues to work out.
 
the alternator is currently being built.
 
it was never a plan to run the motorsport valve covers. i just had them so the machine shop didn't have to deal with any clearance issues. turns out they are just fine.
 
it's nice to finally see the parts that were detailed finally get assembled.
 

 

 

motor is painted.
 
i spent friday evening and saturday morning cleaning.
 
i used purple power cleaner/degreaser with a bristle brush to scrub everything and remove the assembly lubes from the fasteners.
 
i rinsed it using hot water plumbed from the hot water tank. i immediately wiped it dry with a towel. i then used red scotch brite hand pads and went over everything that was going to get paint.
 
i then put some DX330 wax and grease remover in the paint gun and sprayed it on the engine pretty heavy, letting any dirt and oil drip off. i wiped it down with clean clothes. i went thru the process of spraying the dx330 and wiping it down three times.
 
my hands and fingers hurt...
 

 

 
sprayed two coats of reduced black epoxy
 

 

 
sprayed two coats of the 13358 ford corporate blue urethane w/ about 10% flattener.
 

 

finally fabbed up the driveshaft loop.
 
i started with a universal kit from summit that i had gotten about 17 years ago...
 
the only part i used was the loop. i trimmed a little off and welded the two halves together.
 
i cut some 1/4" plate to make the side brackets and cut up some 1/8" 2X1 box tubing for the connector pieces.
 
it's located about 4.5" from the u-joint centerline but the first fastener is about 7" from the centerline. hopefully i won't be forced to have to ever argue with any tech.
 
i plan on painting it the same color as the undercarriage with the loop painted the same stainless steel paint as the driveshaft.
 

 

painted and installed.
 

 

 

 
now the exhaust can be installed. when i have the money....

a couple of updates if anyone is still out there....
restored a 78 honda cb550 four.  was simply a means of getting a little time away from the falcon....
 




 













 

a couple of updates if anyone is still out there....
restored a 78 honda cb550 four.  was simply a means of getting a little time away from the falcon....
 




 













 

checked the clutch/bell fit.  had to shorten the TOB sleeve to clear the clutch discs.  engine is finished with detail.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

those 3 holes grouped together shouldn't be there.  the fourth is for the clamp for the rear axle breather tube.

those 3 holes grouped together shouldn't be there.  the fourth is for the clamp for the rear axle breather tube.

checked the clutch/bell fit.  had to shorten the TOB sleeve to clear the clutch discs.  engine is finished with detail.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

checked the clutch/bell fit.  had to shorten the TOB sleeve to clear the clutch discs.  engine is finished with detail.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dang that engine looks amazing!

750hp/595ft-lbs
Power was inline with race gas until the point the 850 was just limiting the motor which from memory was down around 6000 rpm.
 
Ran the engine initially on the shops carb with race gas because they knew it worked and didn't want to potentially fight carb unknowns during initial power up/breakin.
 
Tune is really conservative on the e85. Power was above my goal and it wasn't worth the extra tune time to me...

750hp/595ft-lbs
Power was inline with race gas until the point the 850 was just limiting the motor which from memory was down around 6000 rpm.
 
Ran the engine initially on the shops carb with race gas because they knew it worked and didn't want to potentially fight carb unknowns during initial power up/breakin.
 
Tune is really conservative on the e85. Power was above my goal and it wasn't worth the extra tune time to me...

This was an earlier run on the shops 850 carb on 110 race fuel before switching to the 1050 and E85.  Later rev'd it to 7800.  

This was an earlier run on the shops 850 carb on 110 race fuel before switching to the 1050 and E85.  Later rev'd it to 7800.  

Finished and home.  Run, sounds and smells like an animal (well, smells like corn alcohol...)
 

 

 

and you'll have to laugh at this.  all I could read from underneath was what I thought was the word "DRY". 
 

 

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.
 

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)….