Man Without a Country?

[jsimmonstx]

The transmission came as a kit and is made specifically for the S197 Mustang. It comes with a cross member, a shifter, and a bell housing (it's also a QuickTime bellhousing, but I don't recall the part #) for mod motors. You also have to buy an adapter for the speedo (if yyou're going to use the OEM speedo) because the OEM harness is three wire, and the transmission is 2-wire. The kit also comes with a complete set of fasterners (including 4.6 motors for the earlier S197's).

Since I couldn't use the bell housing that came in the kit, I had to purchase one seperately. The (mostly) right bell housing to bolt the transmission up to a Windsor is a QuickTime RM8031. However, you have the input shaft length to concern yourself with. It turns out that the 8031 bel housing is 15/16 inches shorter than the kit bell housing.

Pics of the transmission (T56 Mangum XL). We had to mock it up so we could see how much too long the input shaft is, and to see how the throwout bearing would line up. The 8031 housing is made for a mechanical arm style of throwout mechanism, but I'm going with hydraulic. I got a Exedy bearing, and as you can see, the hydraulic line exits the bell housing in the right place, but it points back toward the transmission. This will be easy to address.

Sorry for the quality of the side-shot of the trans, I used my phone for pics.

 

[08StangGT_CS]

Drama and Turmoil

It seems the two guys that run the shop I'm using are at odds, and the shop is essentially being reduced in both size and personnel.

I'm sure this is going to adversely affect my efforts, but the build will proceed albeit at a somewhat slower pace.

Man sucks to hear this as I was literally planning on taking my fox this week to finish the 408 swap. Now having second thoughts. Things any better?

 

[jsimmonstx]

Man sucks to hear this as I was literally planning on taking my fox this week to finish the 408 swap. Now having second thoughts. Things any better?

Work is still being performed at a brisk pace. Several lingering projects have been front-burnered and both Roy and Chris are finishing them up. They were "lingering" due to the owners of the cars, not Chris/Roy.

Roy is running his ammo/firearms related business and being more picky about when/which Mustangs he works on, and Chris is still 100% working on cars. There was a week where things were getting divvied up and one of the lifts moved over to the dyno side, but it's pretty much back to business as usual (and a lot of the crap that had accumulated over the last several years has been hauled off to the scrap yard).

I'm still having my car done there, and believe me when I say that if I had any issues at all, that wouldn't be the case.

 

[jsimmonstx]

Crap. I ordered a shifter boot from Ford, thinking it would come with the trim ring (because the trim ring isn't called out separately). I got it today - no trim ring. Maybe the automatic one will work. I won't known for sure for at least another month.

 

[jsimmonstx]

After seeing the throwout bearing arrangement, I decided to rethink using the standard steel braided clutch line, and purchased the Mcleod high-volume kit to use instead. It contains quick-diconnect-to-4AN adapters, a braided hose with standard AN hose ends, and a quick-disco bleeder elbow. This new kit will allow me to put a 90-degere fitting up at the master cylinder so I don't sacrifice so much of the hose making a 90-degree downward turn to the bearing. If the hose isn't an appropriate length, I can always make up a new hose.

Still no news on the engine other than "it ain't done yet". I honestly didn't anticipate the motor as being the bottleneck, especially since there is so little prep work that needs to be performed (compared to a used stock block). :/

Ah well...

 

[rojizostang]

post some pictures

 

[jsimmonstx]

post some pictures

I posted some pics of the trans (with throwout bearing), but I won't get the new clutch line kit until today or tomorrow, and of course, I don't have the engine back from the machine shop yet.

I went back and checked, and the motor was delivered to the shop on the 05/17. This Saturday will be six weeks (original estimate was 2-4 weeks)...

 

[jsimmonstx]

Here's a pic of the two clutch line kits.

The clutch line connects between various components via quick-disconnect fittings (both the clutch line and the bearing have these male fittings). I was missing the quick-disco union, so I got the McLeod kit which not only included the union (in the form of a bleeder elbow), but also disco-to-AN adapter fittings and a -4AN line (larger than the SR Performance line from AM). In the pic you can also see a 90-degree AN fittings. I got that so that the line would drop straight down towards the transmission instead of looping from the clutch pedal into the engine compartment. I may have to shorten the line as a result, but that's a small price to pay for a cleaner install.

 

[jsimmonstx]

Today, I took the bellhousing to a local waterjet place to have the spacer made. I got an estimate of about $325-350. $125 (estimated) for material, $140 minimum cut fee, and $60 CAD work.

I should know an exact price on Monday, and it should only be a few days until it's ready. I should have it by the end of next week. Pictures to follow at that time.

 

[jsimmonstx]

I talked to the machine shop today, and they said the stuff has been machined, but it hasn't been assembled yet - seven fuckin' weeks, and it hasn't been assembled? I just a little pissed off about that.

 

[jsimmonstx]

Scored a console finish panel (on Ebay) for a manual transmission car.

 

[moostang09]

Sub'd

Also OP I just returned from a week on the Guadalupe River.. Not far from where you are I believe....

Looking forward to see this build progress!

 

[jsimmonstx]

Latest issue - getting the A/C parts list ironed out. Have the Denso brackets, need Sanden adapter brackets...

A/C is turning into a bigger pain than the transmission...

 

[jsimmonstx]

Well, I got the price quote for the spacer today. It's gonna cost me $658.

I keep having to tell myself... "Car Trek... Going where no Windsor has gone before..."

The silver lining is that I will end up with both the spacer I need and the CAD drawing for more to be cut out, so I can have spacers made for other folks that need the same thing...

I guess I could potentially make my money back... 20 years from now.

Anyway, it should be done by Friday.

 

[jsimmonstx]

Spacer:

I feel a compelling need to polish the outside edge.

 

[jsimmonstx]

Finally got the call from the machine shop regarding the pushrod size. I ordered them last night, and I'll have them on Monday, so I should have the motor by the end of next week. This means that I can test-fit the headers and my shiney new transmission spacer, bolt on the water pump and pullies and be ready to start the swap by the first weekend of August (assuming the headers don't present any clearance problems).

 

[psfracer]

Looking good. How heavy is that thing? Looks stout.

 

[jsimmonstx]

As promised - engine porn! This was taken a few days ago:

The spacer only weighs a few pounds.

 

[jsimmonstx]

The engine is ready to be picked up (evil grin). More porn:

 

[psfracer]

So what are the specs you actually ended up with?

427 cid? Compression? 225cc AFRs? What did they flow? I guess more of a street driver with that dual plane manifold?