Mach 1 Project I started...

[Mike65 475]

Junior it is looking good. Wish I had a big garage like that to work in, I just have a small 1 car so all my work must be done outside.

[Junior2561 10]

thanks Mike,

I usually pull out the Mrs. car to work on mine when i am kicking up a lot of dust, but it is JUST deep enough for the mach to fit in there. I'm going to rearrange this summer and mov my tool box and work bench so i can gain a few more inches in the back.

[Mike65 475]

When I get a chance I am going to build 2 over head storage racksabove where the garage door would be when it is up so I have some extra parts storage.

[JTG 10]

Mike, if you haven't already been head over to Garage Journal, http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/index.php. They have a ton of great garage storage ideas.

[Junior2561 10]

i love my overhead storage....its spoiled me.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

it's looking good! will you have to make some sort of adapter plate for your rear license plate?

[Junior2561 10]

At the top where the plate mounts, i'm going to use a set of small J brackets. Thats the plan right now but i may find a better idea once i get into it a little more. I'm trimming 3/8ths off the bracket that holds the bumpers on it, so that will not stick out. Great question though. Those are the little items that consume your time.

[Junior2561 10]

small update - i tried to get some time in on the car over this past 4 day weekend, but we are also in the process of building a house. So it killed my production time.

 

Headlight buckets are fit up, and fillered up to fit. The hood was skim coated with icing because when i blocked the e-coat, i found some high and low spots.

 

Sorry the pics suck, my Droid hasn't been working that great lately, thinking of going iPhone.

 

 

 

[Junior2561 10]

Big Mile stone - I hit primer with the car this weekend. I hammered on two good coats of Evercoat FeatherFill....I tested a spot with 180 and this stuff sands like butter.

 

The car is going to hit the back burner for a little while though, we have put our house up forsale and i need to keep the garage neat and presentable lol

 

I will be getting the heads cleaned up and back together though, so i can put them on the engine.

 

 

After two coats of Black Featherfill

 

Getting the E7TEs cleaned up. I'll lap the valves, put on new seals and get them back together

[Ash 145]

Looking great, changes the look completely with a solid colour down. Well done!

[Junior2561 10]

thanks - it makes a HUGE difference. really gets me excited

[70mstang 11]

Looks really nice! Keep up the pics comin!

[Junior2561 10]

Thanks - I'm hoping that during the house project, i can still put some effort towards the car. I am shooting to be able to drive it 2014.

[TexasEd 188]

How much does it weigh in that state?

[Junior2561 10]

If I had to guess...600lb? I can move it around with ease.

[Lemon Owner 11]

Did you put down a coat of etch primer on the bare metal spots first? I am not sure about the paints these days but back when I had my van painted 13 years ago the knob who did it did not etch prime it first. Within 5 years surface rust was breaking out in the middle of panels all over the place. When I painted it recently I had to strip it completely back to bare metal and start again. Another dumb ass thing he did was wet sand the bondo!

[Junior2561 10]

ouch, wet sanding the bond would without a doubt kick your backside. I could see where it would just hold the moisture in there.

For Featherfill, it is not required to etch unless you are doing a large, bare metal panel. So if the hood was completely untouched, bare metal, than I would have.

Its almost like a liquid icing - sands really smooth, self levels, doesn't shrink up.

 

This morning though, I did start lapping the valves in the heads. I figure by friday the heads will be ready to go back together.

[Mike65 475]

Junior, it is looking good. Keep up the good work & keep the pics comming, it is inspiration for me & probably for others too.

[stangnet33 88]

Looking really good Junior ! What do you have done with the engine block ?

[Junior2561 10]

The engine block is a 351w roller block from a 95 lightning. Still torn on what to do for the trans. A t5 that blows out or a good 4spd. I don't have funds for a 2000$ trans plus small parts

[Lemon Owner 11]

ouch, wet sanding the bond would without a doubt kick your backside. I could see where it would just hold the moisture in there.

For Featherfill, it is not required to etch unless you are doing a large, bare metal panel. So if the hood was completely untouched, bare metal, than I would have.

Its almost like a liquid icing - sands really smooth, self levels, doesn't shrink up.

 

This morning though, I did start lapping the valves in the heads. I figure by friday the heads will be ready to go back together.

 

Cool, the new paints are certainly better than the old school stuff.

 

Yea there was some nice surface rust hiding under the bondo. Had to take it all out and start again. Luckily I am good at sculpting bondo. :yes:

[Junior2561 10]

that would be a night mare!

 

I love looking at the car all flat black looking, almost makes me not want to sand on it lol

 

Reviewing my progress, I think I will be better off getting the car on all fours, engine bay painted and motor dropped in. I'm deathly afraid of getting the car painted and then nicking it up while installing hard parts.

 

Valves are all lapped on the heads, they should be going back together completed over the next week. Then they will get painted and installed on the shortblock.

 

REALLY considering going 4spd also. T5s just break too easy and I do not have $2500 to drop on a TKO setup.

[Junior2561 10]

Getting into more of the mechanical end of it...

 

Heads are back together and ready to bolt on. I lapped the valves and installed new seals. No porting or anything fancy.

 

 

I'm also starting to bust apart the front suspension. The lower control arms will be replaced, along with the uppers. A new shaft kit for the uppers is $60 and a new control arm is $70...who knows.

 

I did run into a snag installing the head gasket, so I'm researching if this is correct. It looks like the gasket is cover two coolant passages. I know the engine needs blown off...I plan to paint the engine once the heads are on and everything is buttoned up.

 

[miketyler 15]

I would definitely question that discrepancy.

[Junior2561 10]

i kind of thought the same thing - They are Felpro's and they are listed for this engine. I got them from Summit.

 

One thing i did not do, was come pare the gasket to the head yet. Which i would expect the he to match the block.