-
My 67XR7GT Build
I am finally getting some work done on a long neglected project, my 67 XR7 GT Mercury Cougar, car was park in 84 with a rod nock, I had picked up many years ago a 66 427 SO block to build to go in place of the 390, and I am finally getting around to doing it.
I pretty much want to stay away from chinese parts, so I picked up an early factory steel 427 crank for my build, it came with grooved mains which there is a little bearing issue, and this particular crank comes with 2 additional counterweights off the center main, I've had the crank sent to Performance Crankshaft (Adney Brown) to get worked over.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps5fc76804.jpg
My side oiler block has been at Costa Mesa R&D Machine Shop for a while, for a cleaning and initial check up, The block is currently wore std bore with one sleve. While waiting for machine work I've sent the block out to get acid dipped, and have gotten it back, did some prep and painted it.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps921f3b90.jpg
This build is going to take a while, so I have picked up a 390 short block project to R&R the rod nocking motor still in the car.
Here are the current eng & car spec's:
Rod Nocking 390
428 SCJ Heads
Offy Port a Sonic
Cam: Old Greg Foreman-Gus Davis Grind .612" lift, Dur 312*-258@.050
2 1/8" Hooker's
Built C-6, 3,500 Stall
Locker 4:57
The car was a blast and had less than 500 miles on the engine build before the rod went, probably a spun bearing ? The rod went during a pass at the drag strip @ 7,000 rpm 2nd gear, with only a 5 quart pan and no oil restrictors in the heads, so I think the all the oil was in the valve covers and the rods were starved for oil ? I left the headers un-corked and drove it home with the rod-nock.
-
Neat project!!! Got some pics of the entire car???? Us old Ford guys are drooling already!!!!
-
Ditto! Thanks for the teaser shots for now.
-
Welcome to CHR and yes there are TONS of Ford guys here as you will find out
-
-
I'd like to make a suggestion that will save you thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of work......sell me the car for what you paid for it and move on to something less expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D
Honest, just trying to help you out here!!!!!!
-
-
[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Gerald/Documents/Scanned%20Documents/Image.jpg[/IMG]
I'll raise Daves Bid to $105
-
I want to thank everyone for looking out for my best interests, but since I am a glutton for punishment I will go ahead and finish the car...
To expedite machine work at the shop, a line hone, I was going to install & torque the caps and cross bolts and found that the main caps had considerable wear indentations from repeated torqueing down of the mains, and I am using ARP main cap studs which use washers for the nuts. I wanted flat surfaces for the washers to ensure a reliable torque, so seen in the pic I had the top of the mains machined to remove the indentations.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps2a901326.jpg
So I have torqued the mains, and test fitted the cross bolt spacers and found several were really loose and the rest were slightly, I have set up all the spacers with a +.001" interference fit, and are having new ones made at the EDM shop that I will be picking up this morning, after which I will go and install them so the machine shop can finally do the line hone.
Once the line hone is finished, I will install the main bearings then have the I.D. measured so that I can get the mains on the crank ground to spec for a specific clearance. Shooting for .0027" to .003", I know someone was going to ask. I mentioned earlier my crank is at Performance Crankshaft getting worked over, I am having the leading edges of the counterweights Bull nosed and the trailing edges Knife edged, with the rods & mains cut to size then sent out to be nitride.
A gentleman on another site was nice enough to post this blueprint of the bottom end of the 427, since you guys like pic's. And note the torque sequence for the cross bolts.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps5c9f8ae3.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psb8394595.jpg
-
-
Back Off.. Back Off.. I'll go up to a grand! rofl....
-
$1001.00 It was my plan!!!!!!!!
-
1 Attachment(s)
This one is for sale locally put clutch in it last year owner never drives it. $15K
-
I picked up the main cap spacers, and did a test fit and everything has a nice tight fit. But there is a problem, the spacers were made from a heat treated chromoly material and when I went to engrave the spacer locations on the spacers with an electric engraving tool it would barely leave a mark. I'll go by my buddies shop tomorrow and use his electric welding engraver that I have used before to number rods instead of using a numbers punch.
The crank I went with, from what I was able to find out, (C4AE 6303 G) came in the 64 427 HR and in the TBolts and is listed in the over the counter 427 7000 RPM Kits and was used as a Nascar Crank, and that the extra counter weights were welded on only on this model crank for use in the SOHC 427 Nascar program, to help keep the center main webbing from cracking during high rpm use. The program was dropped after Nascar banned the SOHC 427 from Nascar.
I mentioned earlier about a main bearing issue with this crank, as you can see it has grooved mains and is currently .010" - .010" and the mains need to go to .020". Back in the day the main bearings were not grooved, some cranks were, currently most main bearings are fully grooved and I didn't want to run grooved mains with a grooved crank. Now Federal Mogul have 3/4 grooved mains, but the problem is there no longer available in .020" under, so what I found out is the 351 Cleveland main bearings are the same size as the Ford FE and come 1/2 grooved, except the bearing tangs are not in the same location as FE bearings, and that gives you two choices, one notch the block for the Cleveland bearings or two remove the tangs from the bearings, I bought the Cleveland bearings and removed the tangs. My crank guy has given me the option of welding up the main grooves should I choose, I haven't decided yet.
-
Awesome story here and amazing that you still have the car. I've always loved these cars as they are always over looked it seems. That engine is a rare piece on it's own. Is that a Cobra replica in the backround of your first pic?
-
Yes a Cobra replica, the guy I bought the crank from builds them. The funny thing is I 've owned this crank for over 5 months, and have not seen it other than a few pics I got from the guy.
I gave up the storage units last year I had this car & other stuff in, that I've paid for over 30 years, and the money I was paying for the storage is now paying to put the Cougar back on the road.
-
Love the cougar, are you going to try and use nascar heads as well? It would be sweet if you turned this it to a turn grabbber, or is this just going to be a qtr mile runner?
-
I had thought about some HR heads for all of .5 seconds, but they won't fit under the hood. But I have always had a thing for Tunnel Port heads.
I am not building for big HP numbers, I'll go for an easy 450 to 500 HP. I am staying close to stock cubic inches, even at this HP & Torque level the car will have a problem hooking up, if ever...:cool:
Today, John at Costa Mesa R&D was telling me about a new Auto Cross SCCA class called "CAM" (Classic American Muscle) that would be fun playing around in. And I've been going out to the SCCA sponsored Auto Cross at the Old El Toro Marine Base for some time with my Porsche 914 friends.
SoloMatters.com - Introducing - Classic American Muscle (CAM)
-
Over the long history of the FE engines, I have ran many with grooved cranks, grooved bearings--in every thing from race cars to the tow trucks----------altho the nerd heads say that grooving a bearing will cut the load carrying ability into quarters ending up with just 50 % of load ability that a non grooved has, the importance of the better oil flow to the rods for both lube and cooling by far surpasses the reduced load capacity of the main--------
-
I had gone with the 1/2 grooved Cleveland mains cause I intended to keep the grooved mains.
The got the new spacers marked for their locations, installed and torqued. The line hone will hopefully get done next week, then I can get the bearings measured. I hate how some of this stuff just drags on.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps520449d5.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psd976f685.jpg
-
How much did you cut the caps???I was early on told by an old timer that it takes .007 to be able to get almost a complete new circle--and my experience has verified that----any amount less and the pattern doesn't clean up at the dividing lines------
Also---be advised that the Cleveland bearing is .032 shorter than the fe main ---then also subtract the width of the groove--you are loosing a sig amount of surface-----------
-
I didn't cut the caps, I got the machine shop too. I am just doing the mock ups & assembly to expedite the machine work.
What do you mean the Cleveland bearing is .032" shorter than the FE mains ? You talking length or bearing width ? With the Cleveland bearings it's the top bearing is the side that's grooved the bottom side has no groove and is why I went with them to use with a grooved crank, since I had some what of limited options on .020" mains 1/2 grooved.
Ford FE main bearing bore size range: 2.9417" - 29425"
351 Cleveland main bearing bore size range: 2.9415" - 2.9425"
Now I had found where one of the known FE engine builders, likes to go as tight as 2.9412" on the bores for extra bearing crush, then measures the bearing clearances, then has the crank ground for a specific clearance.
Now my machine shop likes to go on the tight side, and will go tighter should I say. And I'll ask my crank grinder's recommendation as he's has some knowledge of the FE.
So thanks for your advice & suggestions, all advice is welcome.
-
Awesome car! Looks really solid, too.
-
Well, actually its the width of the bearing ---the old bearing books list it as length as they are looking at direction of front to rear of the engine-----
and that's why I asked-----a narrower bearing, minus the suface over the crank groove results in signifintely less bearing area, especially in the Ford engines where the mains and rod bearings are a lot narrower than gm or mopar stuff--------
-
-
so did you replace the crank or weld the main grooves???????
-
Same crank, since it is a fairly rare item with the extra counterweights.
The machinist recommended welding them up, so I went ahead and had
it done since it was cheap enough.
-
I was finally able to get the car it in the garage and on jack stands, I got the headers off which was a lot of work, I had forgot some of the bolts can be only turned a 1/4 turn at a time to get in or out, which includes lifting each side of the motor to reach some.
I pulled the heads, and you can see on No.1 the clean spot where the piston was hitting the head, so I found which rod bearing I lost. Cyl's 5&6 you can see rust on top of the pistons from pulling coolant from where the int was leaking on the head, apparently I didn't seal the water jackets well enough.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pslzbagka8.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps0o3vwqje.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pskwt8kr0h.jpg
-
-
I had to save quite a while for these big ticket items
I've finally had these items just show up at my door. Heads are the NHRA legal casting CNCed Edelbrock Pro Ports, with stock location exh. Shock Towers made it necessary to go with stock location exh, due to how tight the 2 1/8" adjustable headers were, I couldn't take the chance with having the headers re-flanged to fit a re-located exhaust port, then dealing with fitment issues.
Then I had my "J" Sidewinder matched ported
Flow numbers @ .600" lift cam, which is what I am running: 330 Int & 232 exh with no pipe.
Intake valve 2.200 BP spec Ferrea
Exh. valve 1.650 BP spec Ferrea
There's this guy on one of the Ford Forums that has a program that from engine and car spec's, allows the program with a fair degree of accuracy
to determine an engines Torque & HP and how the car would run in the 1/8 & 1/4 mile, including a 60 ft.
Spec's: 67 Cougar, C6 3500 stall, 4:57 locker
427 @ 429 ci. flat tops @ 10.5 CR with Pro Ports, matched ported Sidewinder with an 850 Holley
Crower cam: 604/618 lift & 263/272 @ .050", with 108 LS - 104 IC
Exhaust 2 1/8 adjustable Hookers
Engine & Car Ratings:
427 car
Torq 560 at 4600
Powr 594 at 6100
1.60
7.18 at 96.7
11.22 at 121.1
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psuzzywqmd.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psdzmyqgws.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psbwkbwcyl.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psegwjqsqv.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pseypuvyk6.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psdpwnzsun.jpg
-
Nice looking parts you have there! It looks like it should be a beast!
-
Thanks, It took a while to save for this stuff. I was even thinking of using a 4.250" stroker making it 482, but at that level it would require a steel crank for that HP level and that's just more time saving for one of those. So I will have to be happy with a small beast instead of a big beast...:cool:
-
I'm confused, are you posting for 1967 XR7 GT? If not then maybe you should start your own thread.
-
Update: Still collecting engine parts.
Canton Alumnium 8 Quart Road Race pan & Pickup
POP'S Blueprinted Melling HV Oil Pump
Originally, I was going to run a Holley 850 DP, but because of intended daily driving, I was looking for a Vacuum Secondary carb around the same CFM, and came across this NOS Holley 1,050 CFM 3 Barrel, so I will see If it's any better.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pswqzuzrkc.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psvexm8wfg.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psom1knq59.jpg
I had previously sent out my Sidewinder to be match ported, when I got it back, I was very disappointed on how it turned out, so I just shelved it. Eight months later, I pull the manifold down and sent it out to get welded, and then got in touch with Joe D. Craine, who ports and balance flows each manifold runner, to make a long story short the manifold showed today, it will make a substantial improvement on my heads now.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psrx5sowwh.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psjfcw3xlz.jpg
-
I haven't seen one of those 3 barrels in close to 50 years. Production was pretty short lived as the release of the Dominators pretty much killed any demand for them.
.
-
These recently showed, Vacuum formed covers, so I mocked them up checking for enough clearance, looks to have plenty of room with the Harland Sharp steel end stands, Aluminum spacers, Cast Iron inner factory stands, Crane Cams 1.76 Ductile Iron Adjustable Rocker Arms with upgraded 7/16" 12 point ARP nuts, replacing the heavier original 5/8' 6 point nuts. Now, I will have to sit down, and shim all the rockers centered on the valves.
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pszx9wnheu.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...pse0oplus3.jpg
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...psr0kgfmdq.jpg
-
Those covers are slick. Neat way to cheaply verify everything.