01-24-10 Updates & Upgrades

Missed the update last week, so gotta catch up today. Basically I've got the frame and motor out being worked on, so I had some room for something else. My simple re-wire job is long gone, replaced by a full overhaul, so I'll go over a few of the other improvements I'm working in to the project.

I found a buyer for the 302 motor and tranny assembly that used to power the beast...that money will go toward rebuilding the new motor. After stripping the 351 motor down to (almost) just the short block on Jan. 10, I took it over to Performance Automotive Machine here in Idaho Falls to have them check it over and see if the rotating assembly is still any good, or if I'll need to get a new crank, rods, etc. Wouldn't it just suck to have to get a stroker kit for it, gosh darn. Even a stock stroke 351, with the top end pieces I'm going to be using should be good for at least 400 horsepower. A 392 or 408 stroker would push it closer to 500hp and would probably necessitate some high-dollar half-shafts for the rear. In this shot Mikey supervises as I get ready to load the '96 hydraulic roller 351 block into the pickup.

One of the upgrades (actually a few of them) I decided on was the 'Grand Slam' kit from FFMetal.com. This kit includes the enlarged passenger footbox with thicker (.090) aluminum floor panels, a thicker, relocated firewall panel that gives more room behind the dash for wiring and accessories, and a box to locate the battery underneath the trunk floor. In this shot I'm in the process of fitting the passenger footbox using cleco pins to temporarily hold the panels in place and drill the rivet holes for the final installation. I tried to match up the holes from the old footbox panels so I didn't make any more holes in the frame than were necessary, but it made the panels a bit harder to line up as easily as it would have been otherwise.

Mikey pays a visit to check on me every now and then, as long as the heater or air compressor aren't making racket, he hates that. But he loves to have his neck scratched.

The hood and door hinges parts I was waiting for arrived from Factory Five. The sent a couple of shots to show where the hinge mounting tabs sit on the frame 2x2. The hinge that came with the Mk I kit was ridiculously overbuilt and had minimal adjustability. The new design is much better (and doesn't gouge your knee when you get in and out of the car). FFR provided this shot of the upper mounting tab on a new Mk III frame.

And the side door hinge mounting tab...the bottom is 7" from the top of the 2x2.

Those aren't the only changes I'm having made to 3144's frame. The original builder added the transmission tunnel 3/4" square tube framework, but he had it done to fit the Mk I transmission tunnel, which is slightly smaller than the newer cars. In the upper photo of this pair, you can see one of the tubes marked in red to be removed, and where two new cross pieces will be welded in. I will be switching to a 'mid-shift' transmission that will relocate the shifter about 8" further forward, so that tube had to go. In the other shot you can see where I marked where an additional steel plate will be welded in to provide a solid location to mount the 5th point of the seat harness. Also, the 3/4" tube across the bottom of that shot will be updated to 2x2".

And in this shot you can see another update I'm making. The diagonal brace will be removed and replaced with a 90-degree bend, which will provide a bit better protection in a side impact, and will also make room for a dead pedal. With the diagonal in place, there was no place to put my left foot while cruising, which was a real annoyance on long trips.

Another Factory Five builder-support cottage industry, Dark Water Customs, has several nifty upgrades to the basic FFR kit. I chose their hidden trunk storage boxes that make use of some dead space under the trunk floor, similar to the FFMetal battery box described above. I'm also using their dead pedal kit for the driver footbox, now that the frame tube won't be in the way.

The frame was finally ready to be worked on by my welder, same guy who did several welding tasks for me on my last FFR build as well. Here he is carting the frame off to his shop. I'd better make sure I don't want to make any more changes before I send it off to the powdercoater.

With the frame out of the way, I could finally clean up the nasty mess of road grime, fluids soaked up with that dry kitty-litter-like spill stuff, dirt, metal shavings, bits of silicone, and other miscellaneous debris. Of course then I just started on another mess, and spread the aluminum panels out and hosed them down with an adhesive/silicone remover to clean the panels up. The panels visibile in the engine compartment (and maybe a few more) I think I'm going to powdercoat with a hammered-type finish. The others I'll just clean up. The silicone is really damn stubborn stuff...most people never have to remove it once their car is together. But there was a ton of road grim on the panels facing the wheels and tires. Before I get this thing on the road I'll put some undercoating on it.