Another 66 Town modification thread

[Privateer]

Hi all, I thought I'd start a thread with the mods and mistakes I've done to my 66 428 car.
My hope is that someone else can see what I've done and improve upon it or be able to avoid the errors and mistakes I made.
My goal is to be able to drive my Thunderbird on longer trips to out of state events, for it to have decent power, better ride/handling/stance.

Anyway besides just the regular things these cars need, so far I have done the HID headlights, converted to Hydro-Boost and used an electric power steering pump to replace the stock engine driven pump. Converted to electric fan, replaced the York style compressor with a Sanden style, replaced rear drums with the rear disc Explorer conversion, and upgraded sway bar

Up next is I've got a 428 block I'm rebuilding on my engine stand, using the Holley Sniper Stealth, and I have a 6R80 adapter kit.
I'll update as things get done.

Scott

[Privateer]

I will say so far my favorite mod is the Hydro-Boost + Wilwood compact master. I bought the 1-1/8 bore size. I have driven without the power steering pump powered up to test out and the brakes still work great without a high effort for the pedal. I used a unit out of a 1996 C3500 since it had a large flat metal plate attached. I had to make the firewall hole a little larger (still need to make a boot to seal it) then I used the factory holes in the firewall and drilled new holes in the plate after I cut it down. I had some 3/4" metal blocks I used to space out the unit. The input rod was to long and I also wanted it adjustable, though the hole size was just right for the brake pedal. I cut about an 1.5" out of the rod and then it was the right size to thread to 3/8-24 and I used a coupling nut from Leed Brakes and some thin jam nuts. Now it's adjustable to make sure I have the correct pedal travel. I will say I may be missing the last .1 to maybe .2 of full pedal travel in order to get the brake pedal height where I wanted it. As it is it's a little higher than stock but I don't really notice the extra height difference when going from gas to brake. Also buying the Wilwood master cylinder with the proportioning valve kit was a real time saver and I was able to just use all of the stock brake lines bent to fit. I did have to grind down the spacer included with the master cylinder as my boost unit was pressing in on the master about an 1/8". Also after mockup I ordered a rebuilt booster unit from Summit and I think it may be not so great.
I am thinking of trying one from Hydratech with that much better looking aluminum adapter.

[Privateer]

I used the Volvo Electric Power Steering Pump to try out something different. It does say FoMoCo on it so I don't feel to bad, however it's kind of an eye sore looking so new in the engine bay. I was thinking of using some black Plasti-Dip paint on it. If I liked it then I was going to see if the same unit but with remote reservoir would fit in the left fender area like the vacuum can in the right fender, then just have the remote reservoir in the engine compartment.

After putting around 200 miles on it I'm not really convinced it's a good idea.
I don't think the pump can keep up really when doing bigger back and forth turns such as in a parking lot, especially when you are on and off the brakes. I do have another unit and I'm going to swap them out to make sure it's not the unit itself. Also I was using a #6 Y block for the return, and I have separated out the two returns and I"m actually running the return from the booster unit to the fill cap, since it only has any return when you release the brake pedal and then it's not much, but I had read that to much back pressure on the booster return line can cause issues. After I made the routing change I didn't notice any difference. I'll report back after I swap out the units, but I'm begining to think a newer saginaw pump setup may be in my future when I change out the engine.

[Privateer]

I replaced the stock Escort 3G alternator I was using with a one wire Powermaster 200 amp alternator. With the electric power steering pump, the radiator electric fan on, the condenser electric fan on with the A/C turned on blowing on high, the HID headlights on, the stock 3G was lacking a little. The new alternator tested out at 142 amps at idle, and I have a strong 13.8 volts at idle with full load. I also used a Painless Performance power distribution block and Hella fuse holder for all of these add-ons. I really like the quality of the distribution block.
Please ignore my black power wire from alternator to distro block, it's all the 4 gauge the local parts store had at the time I could put new ends on and not have another 3 feet left over :)

[TbirdIntender]

Yikes! I am consumed with awe and admiration, Privateer! I felt tired just reading this thread.

Very good info, which I'll keep in mind as I progress with my car. It may take me a while to get to this level (understatement alert).

[Privateer]

Like a lot of projects, this one is definitely taking longer than I thought, with everything going on the past year, I had to reprioritize some things. Happy to say I'm back at it. I've pulled out the stock 428 and C6, and am working on fitting up the 428 I'm going to use and the 6R80 with the adapter plate. After looking at some of the other Ford forums I knew I'd be grinding down some of the case for fitment, and it looks like I will need to either move the existing transmission support, or cut the top portion to get my driveline angle where it was with the C6 (I'm only 2 degrees off now). I'm going to look at moving it as first option, which of course means also modifying the parking brake cable.

I did my first measurements with the original engine in the car, and did not realize just how bad the motor mounts were. I gained a half inch of forward and some up on the block with new mounts which were not separated and disintegrating.
Hopefully I can keep on this until everything is cleaned, fitted, assembled, painted and back in the car!

With new mounts

Initial Firewall fitment issues - ground these tabs off the trans and fits well now

after grinding

Tunnel fitment as noted above

Adapter

[stubbie]

Hi Privateer is this the Speed Gems adapter your using for the 6R80? I've been thinking of doing the same, but I may have to use a Chebby box and an adapter as the 6R80 are not available here in great numbers. When they are, they are like 7K. Good to see someone doing the ground work. Will be following.

[Privateer]

Hi Stubbie, yes this is the Speed Gems adapter kit, which is supposed to work with the other Mod Motor transmissions as well. Nice to finally be using it as it's sat on the "to be installed" shelf for over a year now.
I ended up removing some of the factory brace, as moving it back wouldn't really work well as the tunnel begins to change shape immediately after the brace. I used some plate to box the ends of where I cut and then welded it in so I could get some strength back. Next is test fitting again and making the rear mount setup.

[stubbie]

If anyone else is interested in this swap here are some dimensions of a 6R80 transmission.
https://pbhperformance.com/6r80-dimensi ... yote-swap/

[TBirdMan951]

What brand of adapter did you you use and where did you get it from ? We are building a 427 BBM for my 66 Hardtop and am building an AOD to go with it.

Thankyou, Greg Williams

[Privateer]

I used the kit from Speed Gems at transmissionadapters.com I do believe they list a kit for FE to AOD though to be honest I think you'd do better with one of the AODs which have the bellhousing conversions from a place like FBPerformance so you don't have to have the adapter plate, or possibly Lentech. This isn't an option I have found for the 6R80 so I had to go the adapter route.

Made small progress on my mockup of the trans crossmember. My end goal is to have a tubular crossmember, for now though I'm starting with this setup. I'll be changing this up slightly for exhaust clearance. Hoping to place the cylinder heads and headers on for mockup of clearances this weekend.

[Privateer]

Started checking fitment for the headers to the trans adapter and starter, along with just the normal fitment of how tight they fit from what I have read about on the forums. Fortunately it looks like they are clearing the adapter okay, unfortunately I've got to figure out re-clocking of the starter to clear the headers and engine block. Speed Gems has the starter going on with just two bolts, so I'm hoping I can have enough room to be able to drill and tap two new holes slightly over from the ones they did. Also just about done with another trans cross member mockup which will allow more room for the exhaust.

Starter hitting the header tube

[stubbie]

There is a starter that bolts into the usual place but has adjustment on the body for such adjustment. Can't remember the brand.
Edit
Just read that a Powermaster 9605M is specifically made for FE and header clearance.

[Privateer]

So unfortunately the transmission adapter kit comes with it's own specific starter. This starter does seem to be based on the same one Powermaster uses, only the one in the kit has it's own drive bendix to mate with the plate. The good news is I was able to mark where I needed the starter to be and then drill and tap new holes, it's a little more rotation than I wanted but I needed the room away from the existing mount holes. I'll send a note to Speed Gems and see if they have thought about a way to have the starter have the rotate function which would be a great addition. I'll show the included starter along side a Powermaster 9406 FE starter which I was going to use until I went off the deep end and decided to go with the 6R80.
Scott

Final starter fitment on the stand

New location holes - has the allen wrench by the top one

Starter comparison note how the starter bodies are similar

[Privateer]

I'm thinking of routing the wires for the transmission controller, and the EFI through the existing speedometer cable hole, since I won't be using that anymore. Not sure if I will need to enlarge it any, I'll get a new grommet installed and start looking at the wiring setup.
Next things are to get the engine bay cleaned up and painted. Then start on engine assembly.

Firewall hole for speedometer