This is the seventh in a series of tech articles on a Mustang convertible. If you've grown up in New York State, then it will come as no surprise that road salt can take its toll. This is a 33 year old New York car and the chassis and sheet metal condition will verify it. There are numerous structural failures and cosmetic deformities. We'll repair them one by one and bring it back to its once youthful beauty and structurally sound state.
Continuing to make excellent progress. The 289 has returned from the machine shop and with some help from Gene Falco, engine builder extraordinaire, we'll knock this off in no time at all.
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| Above is the engine block fresh from the machine shop. The
bores only had .002" taper so I opted not to bore the cylinders
oversize.
The first order of business is to hone the cylinder walls to provide the correct surface to seat the new rings. A standard drill and a medium stone on the hone and a little effort and you've got a clean bore for the pistons. |
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Once the cylinders have been honed to your satisfaction, the
crank shaft is installed and the main bearing caps are torqued to factory
spec. Once installed, you're ready for the pistons.
The pistons were prepared by removing the old rings and cleaning the piston bodies with a mounted wire brush. It's a fast and efficient way to get the job done. Be sure to check the wrist pins for excessive wear which can cause engine knock or being too tight. This can cause rod bearing failure. Next a piston ring groove cleaning tool is used to clean the piston ring grooves. The new rings are installed and the assemblies are ready for insertion. |
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Orient the block so the cylinder bores a parallel to the floor. There are a number of ring compressors available. I use the band type with better than average success. It's a matter of comfort handling the tool. Rent different tools and see which you prefer prior to investing in one for your shop. |
| Once the piston and rod assemblies are installed, torque the rod caps to manufacturer spec and verify that the crankshaft turns freely without binding. You can use a large wrench on the crankshaft balancer bolt to rotate the mechanism. |  |
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Installation of the cylinder heads is easy enough. Make sure that all the surfaces a clean and free of lubricant. All small block Ford engines of this vintage re-circulate the coolant through the back of the engine via the head gaskets. Be sure the coolant holes in the head gaskets are to the back of the engine. The gasket has a tab that extends beyond the contour of the head in the front of the engine as an indicator that they are installed correctly. If you look closely at the picture to the left you'll see the tab protruding directly below and to the outboard of the soft plug in the head. |
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We'll fast forward a little. The intake manifold and exhaust headers have been installed and a coat of paint has been applied. The engine is on the mounts in the car and the backing plate, clutch assembly and bell housing and clutch release arm are installed. |
| The transmission has also been readied. The shifter was removed and reconditioned. It didn't need much work. The usual stuff like the bushings, washers and pins. The gear cover was removed for internal inspection. All is well with the rotating members. No chipped gears and the syncros look like new. |  |
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| The transmission has been mated to the engine and the drive line is now installed. The drive shaft needs a little clean up and the brakes need to be bled. Not too shabby for an evenings work. |
That's it for this time and there's much more to come. See you in the next newsletter.
Joe Quaranto