'65 Landau

[mitch0537]

Well, I'm getting very close to starting my resto-mod engine. I went with the Eagle rotating kit to bring it up to 431 CI, Edelbrock heads with 2.09 intake valves and 72cc chambers 10.5:1 compression, Edelbrock Pro Flo 4 multiport sequential fuel injection with electronic ignition, Sanderson headers with 2 3/4 exhaust, Comp cam .533 lift 272 duration, March performance serpentine kit with Sanden AC compressor Ford Gen 3 alternator, aluminum water pump, oil cooler and external oil filter. For the tranny I took out the COM and went with a C6 with a different planetary which gives me lower 1st and 2nd and keeps the final drive the same, torrington bearings in place of the thrust washer, parking pawl with roller bearings, shift kit, high performance clutch. I've reduced a lot of weight and now the front sits a little higher. I have about 2.5 inches between the radiator and water pump pulley and need to find a slim electric fan that will push enough air to keep this beast cool. Any ideas? This setup is expected to bring me up close to about 550 HP per Edelbrock.

[stubbie]

550hp might be a bit of an over expectation for a 431. Most 445's are around the 500hp but if you get it I will stand corrected. I'd go to the junk yard and look around for fans you'll have multiple choices there.

[jtschug]

I'm sure you could get 550HP out of 431 with a bump in compression ratio and the right cam, but I think it would sacrifice low end torque and idle quality that might make it less satisfying to drive.

[mitch0537]

The calculations were done by Edelbrock based on cubic inches, camshaft, compression ratio all using their Pro-Flo multiport sequential fuel injection which helps a lot with idle quality. This wasn't taken lightly or done by me guessing. The Pro-Flo is also programmable where I can install larger injectors, reprogram the computer to get as much as 625 HP out of it. So, if you know more than the engineers at Edelbrock who helped me design this engine and you find different numbers let me know. But I don't want to hear about your guessing.

[dgalietti]

If I remember correctly you mounted your radiator further forward than stock right?

See my thread on the Derale fan that I used. It is a 2 speed fan and I believe it is around 2900 CFM. It was literally the only good solution that I could find. If you have more room, then you may be able to get a Taurus or MK8 fan to work. They move an insane amount of air, but are too thick to fit the stock location.

Also for springs... try Jamco. I got a set of 1" lowering springs and they are perfect. I also have a thread on those with measurements.

How did your paint come out? all finished?

[dgalietti]

Sorry Mitch.. I was thinking of a different member here! My recommendation on the derale fan and Jamco springs still stands though!

[mitch0537]

Bird Engine

[mitch0537]

It's been a little over a year but she's almost ready to start. 431 CI stroker kit 10.5:1 Compression, Aluminum heads with 2.09 intake and 1.76 exhaust. Edelbrock pro-flo 4 multiport sequential fuel injection 1050cfm, crane cam, Sandersen headers with 2 3/4 pipes, C6 with 4 pinion planetary and lower first and second gears and racing clutch with a torrington bearing in place of the thrust washer, bearings in the parking pawl, shift kit. Working with the folks at crane and edelbrock, this engine is expected to produce around 550 HP. Basically the only parts on this engine I reused is the block, caps, timing chain cover and coolant expansion tank.

[mitch0537]

This is the most recent pic.

Most recent

[Privateer]

Looks great! Be nice to see some more pics and a video for sure. What electric fan did you go with? I went with a Trimline 16" fan from Summit that works well but is a little loud, of course with my electric power steering pump running all the time I may just notice the noise increase more than normal. I really like the fan setup dgalietti used. Let us know how it drives.

[jtschug]

Yes, that looks really nice.

I'm making a little over 500HP in my 449 stroker, and at idle the roller cam only makes about 10 psi of vacuum. The brakes work great on the highway, not so much on the driveway. Now I'm adding a vacuum pump next week and hopefully that will fix some things.

[Tbirdgul]

JT, Do you have disc or drum brakes?

[jtschug]

Stock Kelsey Hayes '65-'66 discs in the front and Wilwood 11" discs in the back.

Wilwood 1-1/8" dual chamber master cylinder

[mitch0537]

Nearly done but I'm having a problem with the shifter linkage. The COM uses a bracket that mounts with the bell housing bolts. The C6 has a bracket that mounts on the side of the bell housing. Those brackets are made of inobtainium because I cannot find one. All that I've been through to swap over to the C6 and it comes down to this. Moving the crossmember/mount back 2 1/2 inches was hard enough. So now, I'm considering a floor shifter to mount on the center console. I would have to move the window switches rear and eliminate the door warning light. Use a cable between the shifter and the C6. Has anyone put a floor shifter in one of these?

[jtschug]

Which bracket are you missing? The kickdown bump stop that goes on a couple of bell housing bolts or something different?

Have you called around to the T-bird houses? A lot of them have parts cars they can pull parts off from for the right incentive.