I just want a fun car...

...It's a funny thing about Fords, unless ya know someone who has or is a Ford-guru...the little things become so much bigger ! (lol) After my little jog around the storage unit-garage, I drove it to work and felt a vibration (like I was riding my ol'Harley)...then Ii remembered that the 5.0/302 is externally balanced, whereas the 3.8 isnt. Because I used the 3.8 flywheel and clutch, I could have spun a bearing if i drove it any longer or harder. So I drop the tranny again, switch the 3.8 flywheel for the 302 and go to bolt up the 3.8 clutch-set....no go! I precede to buy a '88 302 clutch-set and instal it...no go !...the bellhousing wont let the starter engage the flywheel! apparently the 3.8 flywheel and clutch-set are larger diameter than the 302. Phone call to Jeg's and I have an '88 bellhousing on it's way ! third time dropping the tranny and install the bellhousing. All back together and the clutch wont disengage...the pivot-ball is too short!...fourth time for the tranny-drop and the pivot ball installed and get this...the 3.8 imput shaft is 3/4 of an inch too long!...it bottoms out into the bearing in the crank. clutch depressed or not, the rear tires spin..."wonderfull"!...I order a 3/4" bellhousing/tranny spacer from Jeg's, a week goes by and I get an emil that the spacer is no longer produced or avaliable and I got my money credited.so i now have the correct length input shaft...funny thing about Fords...
(the pic is the one day i did drive it on a sunny day...so the weather-man said ! notice the plastic bag on the velocity stack...lol )

 

you could have just got a 351w flywheel out of a truck and it would have been the 164 tooth flywheel that would have matched the bell. you had purchased yourself a 157 tooth flywheel for the 302.

 

Nope all 351 are 28 oz balance while the 5.0 beginning in '81 are 50oz, would have still vibrated... That said there should be 164T truck flywheels available for 5.0...

 

I guess I should have read the beging of this thread again. I didn't realize he had a late model 5.0. Yeah that deffinatly would not have worked. I'm not sure about the 5.0 in trucks and what flywheel they used.

 

Welcome to the forum from northeast Ohio!!!

 

Thankx for the replies...it's all a learning curve, so I'm still good with it ! Everyone keeps tellin me to stick with Chevies, but I'm not brand-specific, I think if ya love cars, every manufacturer has had their winners and loosers. I just happen to have fallen into good deals with the Fords.

 

thank you !

 

Anyone can and does have a chevy wherever you go...but at the shows you will be the only maverick there!

 

And guess which car will draw the crowd? Kinda like going to an Amish picnic wearing a mohawk and earings.

 

Patients and persistence do prevail ! I picked up a brand new (in the box) aluminum radiator off craigslist for 100 bucks on Monday and some full-length chrome 302/maverick headers for 75 today. Hope they fit my GT40 heads, I'll be wrenching when the damn weather breaks! (hope to get some cruise time this year !)...laterz...

 

Your "custom" power brake setup works with the strut tower brace?

 

yeah...but theres a catch, in order for me to use the brake/clutch pedal setup from the Mustang, I had to cut out the firewall and replace it with some sheet metal to move the "straight" brake pedal arm, to clear the steering shaft. I moved the holes over 3 1/2 inches and an inch lower. I do feel though, that the brake-booster would have still cleared the cross brace in the stock location. The second pic is the setup I had to engineer ...Maverick steering-shaft support,clutch/brake pedal assembly, booster. I did have to clearance (notch)the spring tower for the mustang master cylinder to clear.

 

Interesting and thanks much for sharing the learned info here. I missed this little tidbit before.. or maybe even more like "dismissed this mod" if I did actually read it. No offense intended.. pictures and action speaks much louder than words and all that.

How does the system "feel" overall.. and how is the bias?

 

...stops as well as any factory setup I ever drove did. I had a variable adjusted portioning valve on before, and couldnt get the feel right, so when i saw the factory 4-wheel disc brake portioning valve setup on the mustang, i figured it would do me just fine...and it does feel great. I havent measured or did a skid-test to see the actual results, but it stopped straight. I was just in shock when I saw that the Samurai-booster bolted right up to the pedal-assembly of the mustang...and then the Mustang master cylinder bolted right to it (without any modifications) i was kinda blown away!