The Never Ending Project

Mustangnut submitted a new car to the Garage :

The Never Ending Project

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Just a little update on the ole girl.
I got two new rear wheels and tires all the way around.
Got the aluminum driveshaft and got it installed and it fit like a glove. For anyone this may help a 99-04 mustang driveshaft is perfect length if your running a 9" in your maverick.

I got a little more run time on the 347 and started hearing what I considered to be too much lifter noise. Pulled the valve covers and, sure enough, found a few soft lifters.
I called the machine shop to see what brand and type of lifters they installed since I didn't specify brand other than replacing what was in the engine when I had the freshen it up.......

well....... apparently they put the cheapest stock replacement lifters they could get in it. So I ordered a set of comp cams short travel hydraulic lifters.
With those on order I went about pulling the old lifters out. Well just my luck but half of the lifters will not clear the heads to be removed. I tried every way from sunday to get those lifters out and they just will not clear the TFS 170 heads.

So I pulled the heads and removed the lifters. With the heads off I was able to get some better measurements and it turns out my compression ratio is not anywhere near 10.5:1 as I was told it was...... never trust anyone is a theme I'm slowly learning. According to most calculators my compression ratio was 9.5:1 and now with everything back together and slightly thicker head gasket I'm closer to 9.45 : 1.

Next on the block is getting the rear end lowered a little bit. I still need to the do the carpet kit and quite a bit of other odd and ends.

I need to decide on my power adder. The lower CR has me thinking turbo but my experience and knowledge dwells in the nitrous realm so really undecided there. I also really need to address the suspension. Took the car on a quick trip to the gas station and nailed the the throttle in 2nd around 3000 rpm and it spun the tires an 1/8th mile down the road.

I will update with a few pics when I get the chance and try to keep this rolling along as I make more headway with the car.

 

Nice update, make sure you place your additional pictures in the Garage and not in this discussion section.

Good luck with your Maverick!!!

 

Be very careful here.. putting new lifters on that cam may present more issues if the cam was already broken in with/worn against the original lifters. Also seems fairly unlikely that the cam would still be in mint condition after sliding against wiped lifter crowns.

What weight/brand oil was used for break-in and what was used after break-in?

 

@Hotrock I will be sure to get the pics uploaded into the garage. Thanks!

@ groberts101 the original lifters were hydraulic rollers and maybe had 300 miles on them. I inspected all of them and saw no wear at all on the rollers. I only replaced them because 1) they are super cheap factory replacement lifters and 2) two of them were kind of spongy and didn't appear to be pumping up properly. I really couldn't believe the machine shop put those in without telling me. I didn't specify what lifters I wanted but I would have never thought they would have dumped those cheapos on it. I mean I had them use cometic mls head gaskets, replace all the arp studs, clevite 77 bearings, hellfire rings, etc etc etc. I don't know in what world that screams........throw factory replacement crap lifters in me! HAHA

The engine was broken in with the same blend of VR1 I run in it all the time just changed the oil after the first few break in cycles and then went back to the same VR1 I always run.

Since VR1 does not make a 15/40 I run 3.5 quarts of 10/30 and 3.5 quarts of 20/50 to get somewhere around 15/40. All bearings are pretty much stock tolerances.

If I run straight 10/30 VR1 than my oil pressure at idle is a little lower than I like, 15psi @ 900 Rpm and up to 45-50 psi @ 2500 rpm. I don't like to run straight 20/50 cause I like to start and tinker with the car during the winter months and it's in my non heated shop so I don't feel comfortable with that 20/50 when the car is 30 degrees or colder for months on end.

Anyways the new lifters are in and everything seems to be happy after setting valve lash.
I'm really just looking for an excuse to build an dart block 363 anyways......so I dare that mofo to wipe the cam bearings or something silly......... LOL

 

Ok, I get it now. The "soft lifter" comment is what threw me. Using the term collapsed lifters would have been more clear. Good luck with it all.

PS. What number turns did you set lifter preload at? Short travels only need 1/8 - 1/4 turn max.

 

Yeah sorry about that haha. Should have been a little more specific.
If I recall correctly I believe the comp instructions were for 1/4 turn for my thread pitch, no more no less.

Seems like I always end up setting valve lash, then having to go back after break in and reset the valve lash. These I just relashed after a few break in cycles and they have been good to go since.

 

Mustangnut, you must live where it gets cold. Where do you live? City and State are not in your information.

 

Hotrock i live in Greensboro NC.
It doesnt get super cold but freezing temps arent totally uncommon in the winter.

 

I am convert

 

Installing 9” from 67 cougar . What shims should I use and does the tail of the driveshaft need to be dropped for proper driveshaft angle?

 

What did you do with your old 351W Headers