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  • Stanger

    Now that the Volvo is back with its person and Mutt the Race Truck is ready to run (I hope) I've dug Stanger out of his long rest in the back corner of the shop. This is WAY overdue! I'll tell you, it's a workout moving a car around in the shop all by myself, even on car skates. When the remnants of TS Eta finally blow by I'll pull Mutt out, transfer Stanger to the hoist, and put Mutt in the flat stall.

    All of Stanger's fluids need to be changed and the fuel tank needs to come down. I can smell skunky gas from outside the tank so it's good and funky. I'm in a bit of a quandary on the paint - it needs doing but not sure whether to do it myself or take it to Harry, the guy who did Truck (the Dodge Diesel). Either way I'll strip the old boy with sandpaper (a couple of dusty days) and do something to make the terrible door gaps look better - they came from the factory BAD! If I pull the front fenders I might be able to improve them but I won't be surprised if I have to build up the rear gap with weld.

    So anyhow, the project begins. Pics of Stanger in the flat stall on his way to the hoist and of the rear area under the mezzanine with the tool boxes moved and the shop space better utilized.

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    And the rear space:

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    More better!
    Last edited by DanStokes; November 13, 2020, 09:59 AM.

  • #2
    time for that LS swap (LS from a Buick, of course)
    Doing it all wrong since 1966

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    • #3
      I have been hoping we would get to see that 351 powered Fox someday. Looks good even with being a little dusty. Whats it say on the hood?
      Of all the paths you take in life - make sure a few of them are dirt.

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      • #4
        I feel your pain. I've had an Alfa 164LS sitting on my lift for the better part of a year. I've accumulated enough crap underneath it that I'll have to clear storage to move the stuff just so I can drop it down to work on it.

        Love them Foxbody Fords.

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        • #5
          1) No LS! I don't DO bellybutton engines. I'm not saying they don't make power - they certainly do - but I always do somewhat odd stuff and this is about as conventional as I get. If I did any engine swap it would be a BBB or maybe an LA Chrysler as I like the odd stuff.

          2) On the hood it says NO N2O. When I built this in the 90's it was standard saying that if it was a Fox it was on nitrous. You wouldn't believe how many people walk up, look at the hood call out, and ask "Is it on nitrous?" DUHhhhhhh.

          3) Yes, this is WAY overdue. I'm thinking about 10 years overdue.

          So today's activities. I got it moved into the hoist stall, Mutt in the flat stall, and the trailer back on the pad outside the flat stall door. Lots of shuffling.

          Now for pics of the crappy door gaps. Remember, this is how Ford shipped the car back in 1988. I did change the RF fender and corrected that gap a bit but I should have fussed with it more. The plan when I put the car together was to flip it (we like him so we named him and kept him) so I didn't put as much into alignments as I should have. All these adjustments are complicated by the fact that the gap along the bottom is more or less straight!

          Passenger's rear, the worst one:

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          Passenger's front which is pretty good until right after the upper body line. Not sure what to do with that - it's an aftermarket fender and that may be as good as it gets. Given the crappy factory fits maybe it isn't so bad.

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          Driver's Front. Not too bad but I'm thinking the whole driver's door could slide back 1/8 or so.

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          Driver's rear. Here's why I'm thinking it'll look better if I slide the door back.

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          I'll include one more pic here but I'm also going to post it in "General" as not everybody looks at these build threads. I need input! What to do about the leaks? I installed it according to Trick Flow's directions and it was dry before I parked it. (Yes, I'm changing the fluid in this pic.)

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          Dan
          Last edited by DanStokes; November 13, 2020, 03:28 PM.

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          • #6
            It's a racecar, the only gap to worry about is to the guy behind (hopefully) you.

            Pull the cover, reseal.

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            • #7
              that's interesting.... the shell is bending on the passenger side, driver's side... not so much
              Doing it all wrong since 1966

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              • #8
                Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post
                that's interesting.... the shell is bending on the passenger side, driver's side... not so much
                It seems to have been welded together wrong at the factory. These were built as coupes w/o top then shipped to Brighton, MI and turned into converts there. Reinforcements were added in Brighton so the car didn't fold in half but if they were added to a crooked body well, it stayed crooked. Guessing that's what happened. I tried to stress it back toward straight when I added the roll bar but didn't have much success. It aligns and drives out well (or at least it did the last time I drove him) so it must not be TOO far off. Still, it's annoying.

                Dan

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                • #9
                  interesting stuff.
                  Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                  • #10
                    Say Dan

                    Looking at the door gaps, about how many times would you say you've jumped it? - just approximately?
                    Last edited by Red_Kitty; November 15, 2020, 04:11 PM.

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                    • #11
                      Did someone jack it up wrong? Fox mustangs are pretty flimsy (especially convertibles!).

                      If I remember right, doesn't this car have a 351 and AOD? I could be remembering that wrong...

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                      • #12
                        Replies:

                        1) Never jumped it but I wonder if it would help. Seems like it might tighten that right side rear gap.

                        2) It's always been that way. When I installed the roll bar I tried to "jack it up wrong" to get the body to bend before I welded in the down bars, hoping to improve that right rear gap. It didn't bend even though I tried jumping up and down on it in an effort to bend things a bit. So yes they are flimsy but not THAT flimsy.

                        Dan

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                        • #13
                          you never jumped it or never realized that you were jumping it?

                          I give you grief, but I had an 89 IROC Camaro that spent as much time on a frame machine as it did in my possession (all under warranty)....
                          Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by pats91 View Post
                            If I remember right, doesn't this car have a 351 and AOD? I could be remembering that wrong...
                            I believe you are correct. Lentech valve bodied AOD. I can't remember if the whole trans came from them or not. Dan?



                            Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs.

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                            • #15
                              It's almost a Lentech. I had calls back and forth with Len Bertrand in Canada and it turns out that (at least at that time) it was REALLY pricey to import a whole trans but relatively cheap to import transmission parts so he sold me everything that makes a Lentech a Lentech and the trans was built by a good shop in Ann Arbor using all of Len's goodies including the converter he recommended.

                              Interestingly, the pan is off the trans right now as I replace the filter and ATF as part of renewing everything so Stanger can get back on the road. It all looks great in there with only the slightest bit of black stuff in the bottom of the pan. I'll need to check on what ATF they recommend but I think it's just Mercron or synthetic equivalent.

                              As far as the diff leak: I pulled the girdle and found that I had just sealed it with RTV and no gasket. I got a Fel Pro gasket from Advance and put the lightest coat of RTV on each side and bolted the whole deal back together. BTW - Advance didn't show a blue gasket so I went with the regular one. Mobil 1 fluid is now back in and so far all looks dry. I feel better seeing the girdle all clean and fresh.

                              Pats91 - The engine is actually a real 5.8L from a '96 pickup. It was a Ford Engineering sample that they left at a machine shop that built some assembly fixtures off of it - it was "abandoned in place". Anyhow, the 5.8s have the taller lifter bores and has the bosses for the roller lifter spiders so essentially the same changes as between a 302 and a 5.0. Minor but it matters when buying valve train bits.

                              Dan
                              Last edited by DanStokes; November 17, 2020, 10:35 AM.

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