Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Don't worry about posting the planes and stuff guys, that's what has made doing this thread so much fun. Very appropriate on Veterans Day too.

Johnboy, thanks, and I had noticed you hadn't been around lately. You must have been building something, huh?

We've had a few issues to deal with in Don's T. His roller rockers and high lift cam are causing one rocker to contact the Moon valve covers he is insisting on running. Supposedly they have enough clearance for roller rockers, but I think the X cam just lifts a little too high for them. We had that problem early on and took a die grinder to the offending area under the valve cover. It is thick aluminum so there is plenty of meat there. However, when he started the car tonight it was running rough, so we pulled that valve cover and the same rocker was off of it's stud. At first we thought the polylock had come loose, but closer examination showed that the screw in stud had broken off right at the polylock.

He also had a bent pushrod. One of two things happened. Either that valve hit the piston, or the rocker arm hit the valve cover and twisted it. There are some gouges in the underside of the valve cover in that area, and I pulled that plug and looked at the top of the piston. It seems to have no marks on it. Tomorrow I am going to try to pickup a new screw in stud and pushrod. I think we are going to double gasket the valve cover to see if that extra clearance helps. Need to get some miles on the car before Daytona to see if the problem reoccurs.

Cars are SO MUCH fun.

Don

Bummer about the valve cover and stud

Don't you just love it when these "bolt on " parts fit together so well?

Hope you get it worked out. You've came too far to have somthing like this mess up your plans.

Mike

You might want to use spacer plates. I've seen them for SBCs, I'm sure they must make them for Fords too. If you paint their edge the same color as the heads they don't look too funky either.

I just tried today to buy a set of those spacers Bob, and it seems they make them for Chevy but not Ford. I tried at two local speed shops, but am going to call Summit.

One speed shop that specializes in Mustangs came up with a theory of what happened. The screw in rocker studs we had are too short.........the polylocks were just sitting on about 4 threads of them. I bought a set of TrickFlows from him that are longer so the polylock grabs more of the stud. He felt it created a weak spot there and that is why it broke.

He also questioned our geometry, and to be honest Don and a buddy put the engine together and they didn't check that. I am going to install the new studs and run a test to see if I need longer or shorter pushrods to make it right. Any easy way to do the geometry test without using lighter valve springs and all? What kind of dye do you guys like for the tip of the valve stem? Any tips would be appreciated.

Sure glad there is FedEx and UPS overnight shipping......it may save the day for him yet. BTW, gotta go pickup my T today. The upholstery guy is done with it as far as he can go for now.

Don

Doug Hert has B&B plates in stock.....1/2 inchers>>>>>113 bucks

Hey Don,
I don't know how much clearance you need, but back when I was racing stock cars we used valve cover gaskets made by FelPro that were double the thickness of stock gaskets. They were two layers of cork and had a thin piece of steel laminated between them to make them hold their shape through repeated removal/ re-installation of the valve covers. If you can find some for a Ford, they might be just enough...

I like the idea of the thicker gaskets. I'll call NAPA tomorrow and see what they can turn up, or maybe the local speed shop can help. Thanks for the replys and thanks Denny for the info on checking the geometry. That is our project tomorrow night.

For all of those people who think I am a Vampire because you have only seen pictures of my T at night I took a few in the sunshine today when I got it out of the upholstery shop and blew the dust off of it. Sorry for the big size of them, but I wanted to finally be able to post some pictures of it almost done, and I thought I'd celebrate by using bigger ones.

I also took it for a little spin down the road today since I have my Antique license plates and am somewhat legal Man, I love this thing. It pulls strong, goes straight, and stops great. Gonna be a fun ride for sure.

The upholstery still have a few things for him to finish when we get back, like welt around the top of the body, but it's good enough for me and pretty comfortable too. Better than the foam I was going to use.

Still have to paint my grille shell and headlights black and do a few more little things, but for all practical purposes the hard stuff is done. Now we just have to get Don's running right.

Don

Man It's lookin' good Don. Very cool!

It does look like there's way too much tread on those tires, though. Maybe you need to drive some of that off!

Mike

Don, I will be down to pick up the T this weekend and bring your $3000 reimburstment cost........LOL
I really like the color combo.
Brad

Thanks guys. Brad, I couldn't take that much for it, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Just give me a couple of hundred, that will be fine.

Mike, I'm doing my best to clean those tires off, but I'm afraid I'll break something before Daytona. lol


Don

Uh, is this a binding contract??????????

John, no beer needed, but I get one in the Merc in return.

Don

Super cool don! I cant wait to see it in two weeks!I might have too trade you a beer for a ride,he he.

Your a brave man if you want to ride in that deathtrap! But it sounds like a deal to me.

I figured I'd have between $2500.00 to $3500.00 in my 26 T coupe Rat Rod when finished. After losing out on a 40 year old dropped axle for $100.00 I changed my mind and went with a Speedway 4" dropped axle and disk brakes. Car will now have paint and to date I have $3274.00 in it. Got some good deals at a swap meet last weekend but missed out on some Splash Aprons on E-Bay about an 2 hours ago.

Guys on this site have been VERY good to me;

brianrupnow - for his help on a rearend choice and other techanical advise.

Hemi T coupe - for some freebies, great price on a spare engine and goodies, CAD design help, sharing "T" information.

Dave Severson - also for some freebies, wow what a neat guy, he has sooooooooo much knowledge, AND likes the Old Barter System

Progress on the coupe this week has been limited to fabricating brackets for the running boards, rear shock bracket, and rearend spring pads. Also finally got the rest of the frame cleaned up and primered. Will be putting the car away for the winter after I get the body back from Dave (gotta work on my boy's house for a while), and then after Christmas I head out for Florida to do volunteer maintance work at the YWAM base in Orlando.

Oh ya, airplanes....... what's better than a P-51 Mustang? Take a look at a F/P-82 Twin Mustang. Theres one at the museum in Dayton OH.

If you think about it, that Speedway setup could end up only being a little more than piecing one together one part at a time. Plus, it gives you new stuff and a matched setup.

Good way to go Tom.

Don