Old Bird, New Build

[truesteve]

Yeah! figured out how to attach photos from a file, no more third party hosting! Probably 10 full hours of time to get the engine bay to this point. Cleaned with brush, scotch bright and ZEP water based De-greaser. Removed what little surface rust there was under old battery tray and a couple other places. Did a final wipe with grease and wax remover and then coated the previous rusty areas with rust encapsulating paint. The areas near the exhaust & radiator that will see high heat, I applied high heat black. Then I put a coat of bulldog adhesion promoter overall. Then I sprayed 2 layers of satin black overall.

[PeterW113]

I am really enjoying reading this story.

Please keep posting.

Peter

[truesteve]

When you're given lemons, make Lemonade. Modified FE motors in rocket-birds get hot. There is not currently a 4 core aluminum radiator made for our beloved Birds. And the nice brass/copper ones are $800. So I ordered a 4 core aluminum radiator for a 64 Galaxie (MC64GL) from Champion, had the stock mounting brackets cut off and 2 extra brackets welded on. Here's a photo of the stock hole originally in front of the stock Bird radiator;

Now here's the "Modified" section of our story, women and children look away;

I cut the lower radiused corners out of the bottom of the support, and cut about an inch off of the top. "And survey says"

Fits like a glove. Fabricated some corner brackets and got them spot welded in, and then ran out of welding wire... More to follow...

[truesteve]

I finished the radiator support...WARNING... if you look closely at the photo you will see UGLY welds. I am not a welder nor have I ever played one on TV. But I own a welder, I can achieve penetration, and it will be fine. Sorry photo came out upside down

I placed 1/2 inch hard rubber from a stall mat under the radiator and softer foam rubber along the sides and top. Still have to trim flanges and figure out mounting. The holes I wanted to use are front bumper mount hole and I'm not sure how to utilize those on the inside if bumper attach bolts are in the holes. Sorry photo came out upside down.

I got the oil and tranny plate coolers mounted on the modified forward wheel well shields. I cut the bottom of 2 of the beads on each shielf, flattened them out and bent them into louvers. Then I drilled and mounted the coolers 1 inch off of each shield as an air gap. With them mounted directly behind the grill and an air gap with a path for the air to travel, they should perform fine. The oil cooler is on the drivers side and tranny cooler on the passenger side.

Now I have to figure out where to mount the remote filters and then start fabricating lines

[truesteve]

Remote filter options;
Next to the cooler, pros; out of the engine bay & short lines to/from cooler. Cons; not so accessible, hard to get much torque on removal of filter.

Battery tray area, will have to fab drip tray, in line air filter from ram air takes up most of the real estate.

Next to radiator on support, still in eng bay, have to use a funnel or tray under when changing filters to keep from making a mess, easiest access to change.

[truesteve]

Found a place to stick it. Out of the way, out of sight, not too hard to get to, near cooler. Drivers side for oil, passenger for tranny.

Hydroboost from a 08 F250. Slot top right hole a bit and drill top left hole 1/2 in down in the original vacuum booster bracket and it fits great. $134 from NAPA (+$60 core). Only problem now is clearance for the forward brake line. It is ON the shock tower. So I was FORCED to order a wilwood master with outlets on both sides.

The biggest hassle is the lines and trying to find information about fitting sizes, which lines go where. What a pain. Apparently the high pressure lines go from the power steering pump to the hydroboost (not exactly sure which port) and then exit the other port to the power steering unit. The drains then use a "T" or "Y" fitting to connect and return to the pump. One of the outlets on the hydroboost unit is a 5/8-18 just like the output on the power steering pump & unit. The other outlet is a funky metric size. As soon as the local house of hose gets it all figured out, I'll let you know. I will have well over $500 in lines & hoses by the time this is all done. Stock is cheaper!

[truesteve]

A arm strut mounts arrived today. See if you can tell the difference;

If you are running stock 55+ year old mounts, your rubber is gone! Used my high dollar torch setup to apply a little heat and a 3/4 drive and 1 3/8 socket and it begrudgingly let loose of its half century home. Applied a little grease to everything and put the new ones on.

That's all for the night, squitoes are chewing me up

[truesteve]

Figured out hydroboost lines; large hole is 18 X 1.5 mm and is the high pressure input from the power steering pump. Smaller threaded hole is 16 X 1.5 mm and goes to the high pressure input of the power steering unit 5/8-18. Then the nipple return off of the hydroboost unit will "T" into the return line of the power steering unit and go back to the power steering pump. I'll try to get a list of all parts needed, prices, & supply options for the conversion.

[truesteve]

SAD DAY! Vise Broke. I would like to say it was my monster biceps that caused the large metal vise to separate, or that I was able of applying so much torque that molecules of Iron cannot hold the brute strength.... But I think it's a more accurate statement that the Chinese don't build tools capable of maintaining the Mighty Ford Thunderbird.

Tried welding it but the weld was stronger then the vise and it broke right away. The good news is I have a new boat anchor...I don't have a boat, but I have an anchor. Going on craigslist to find an old American made vise

[RedBird64]

Great updates Steve!
I've got a very similar vice that started to make (and still does) complaining noises after pressing in some new U-Joints. Have to be extra gentle with it now (not).

Photbucket is the worst. They lost all of my pics, family vac's, Tbird restoration, everything.
Then they told me "Sorry, it happens sometimes..." and offered me some kind of worthless upgrade. Started using Imgur and not only does it upload way faster than PB, there's no idiotic watermarks or constant sales push.

I've discovered that heat in the eng bay is kind of an issue for these cars. No matter how good the radiator is, there's just no way to get it out of the engine compartment efficiently and so the cooling system has to work extra hard.

Keep up the good work!

Scott

[truesteve]

Thanks for the replies fellows, I'll keep posting updates. Last night got my opposite headlight bucket complete. The glass was cracked when I opened the box, so I had to wait on the replacement. Then I got to work cleaning and de-burring the kingpin. 1 down, 1 to go

A brother from church has an old vise that I'll pick up this weekend so I can finish the A arms.

[truesteve]

Dreams are great. They give us ideas and escapes from life. But remember, everyone has dreams, every night of their life. Even animals have dreams. But it's when you Do instead of Dream that things get done. Stop Dreaming and Start Doing.

[truesteve]

Sorry fellow T-Birders I haven't posted in a couple of days. It's not that I haven't been working on the Bird, just too busy to post. First I replaced my broken vise with a little bigger one, but something tells me it's Chinese also...

Got the upper A arm strut & bushings completed, now for a little more cleanup and then paint

Replaced the lower arm bushings using a tiny C clamp and a few sockets. The one sockets just keeps the arm from flexing together when pressing the bushings in. Ready for paint

Made my 1sr AN braided line for the oil cooler & remote filter

Recieved the new wilwood master cylinder. Solved the shock tower clearance issue. Now to work on fabricating lines.

Will continue to post as time permits

[RedBird64]

More good stuff!
You say the new Wilwood MC solved the clearance issue with the brace but it looks like the new MC sits right under that brace? Or does the brace run behind it?

It may be Chinese but that vice sure looks sturdy!
I have a older Chinese vice similar to your old one and I've abused the heck out of it. The one thing that has really taken its toll is using it to press u-joints in. For some reason the gears took exception to that and continue to make unpleasant noises.

Cheers,
Scott

[truesteve]

The wilwood mc solved the clearance issue of the dual master that came with the classic disc brake kit. That master only had outlets on one side, and the front outlet was resting on the shock tower.

The wilwood has outlets on both sides with plugs to block the unused ports.

The shock tower to firewall brace that you refer to has not yet been checked. I was thinking of going to a custom brace anyway. After I get everything in, I'll determine the best path to brace the towers. I'm leaning towards a heim joint type of monte carlo bar. I might try to use an aftermarket one for a 71 to 73 mustang (modified of course) if the distance is close.
I've never really liked the stock braces, look cheap like a falcon (little bird).