The War Wagon... decaring wars on the grocery store since 1966

[RustyRodder]

Still sticking with the column shifter?

[Shelty]

Looks good! And great to hear from you. I suspect you've made a great choice - crate engines are generally cheaper than getting machine work done, gathering up parts, building the engine, etc, etc. If you don't have access to a dyno you're then going to spend who knows how long honing in the combination. So way to go!

Dan

thanks!

This one came dyno tested, made 393 hp at 5800 rpm

[Deaf Bob]

I am starting to see LS engines in derby cars.. They seem to do real good..
One has a 3 speed manual. Does not lift when he shifts 1-2...

[DanStokes]

Looks good! And great to hear from you. I suspect you've made a great choice - crate engines are generally cheaper than getting machine work done, gathering up parts, building the engine, etc, etc. If you don't have access to a dyno you're then going to spend who knows how long honing in the combination. So way to go!

Dan

[Shelty]

well long time no post... think its time for an update.

couple months ago I purchased a 4 bolt main 350 from a local guy for 150 bucks. the motor was grungy but looked useable, or so I thought. got it apart, took her to the machine shop and learned that the front main has spun and put a bevel in the journal. when it spun it also wiped out the teeth on the timing gear, tho didnt destroy the chain surprisingly. However the seller was cool and gave me my money back, dumped the paper weight off with him and searched for the next one.

after researching an LS swap and the cost of that, I decided against it. and due to the scarcity of the worlds most common engine in my area, I decided to purchase a crate motor.

So I bought a Blueprint Engines 355 with the iron vortec heads. Holley 600 carb and an HEI dizzy.

she should scoot the wagon down the road nicely.

Idk when I will get to the swap, probably some time in the next month. I need to get motor mounts, balancer, flexplate, a better converter and a few other small bits. I am excited and cant wait to get it in the wagon. Been burning up some OT at work to finance everything. as of now however, Im still on schedule to get the car ready for PowerTour next year. I plan on going on the tour pending budget and getting time off work...

[Shelty]

The Brembos bolted on directly? The reason I ask is I bought a set of 13.2" x 1.25" rotors and two pot calipers from Roush Racing last year for my 66. There's a guy, www,mustangsteve.com that makes the brackets for my 66. I'm wondering down the road if I couple simply replace the 2 piston calipers for 4 piston.

yeah the brembos were a direct bolt on for my car. It came with a new dust shield and then the caliper bolted right on to the factory spindle. They are the same kind found on the GT500s. most of the parts on this chassis fit regardless of its a V6, a GT or a GT500. what kind of spindles do you have for your car? are they similar to the S197? are the roush brakes for an S197 or a Sn95 platform? Im just asking because the S197 is completely different from the previous generation, I dont see why 4piston brakes wouldnt fit on your 66 if the kit you have will allow for them. your going to need some decent sized rims. my brembos are huge calipers. they just fit with my 18x9 inch rims

[Huskinhano]

The Brembos bolted on directly? The reason I ask is I bought a set of 13.2" x 1.25" rotors and two pot calipers from Roush Racing last year for my 66. There's a guy, www,mustangsteve.com that makes the brackets for my 66. I'm wondering down the road if I couple simply replace the 2 piston calipers for 4 piston.

[Shelty]

In addition to the wagon getting some minor improvements, the Mustang got an upgrade too. After some spirited driving last summer, I discovered that brake fade happens in that car fast, which is scary. factory the car came with 12.5 inch rotors up front with 2 piston calipers. I was going to simply upgrade to some better rotors and pads, until I found a guy in the next town over selling factory 14 inch 4-piston Brembos (standard on the 07-12 GT500s) for a price that was only a bit more than better pads and all new rotors would have cost me. New the kit costs almost 1200 bucks, I got these with a set of replacement rear brakes for only 700 bucks. they maybe had 10,000 miles on them and aside from being dusty were perfect. The V6, GT and GT500 all shared the same 11.5 inch single pot rotors in the rear. I got them put on over the weekend and bled and this car will stop on a dime now.

I included a pic of my mustang, which is a 2005 GT with the 5speed. One year only Mineral Grey Metallic of which a handful were painted. She has only a few powertrain modifications, but most of the money is in the suspension, rims/tires and these brakes. Im the 2nd owner of the car and she only has shy of 80,000 miles

[Shelty]

Well its been quite a while and I didnt realize I havnt updated this build thread in 3 months. Between some home improvement stuff, some stuff for my guns and general laziness, the wagon has had some stuff done but not a whole bunch.

I fixed the leaking fuel line, I also patched the bad spot on the frame with the finest booger welds one can produce. lol

then I fiddled with the governor on the transmission, got it as best as its going to be for now.

next up was fixing the issue with the alternator. When I ditched the old iron manifolds, the driver side manifold had a boss in it to bolt the alternator to the head. To remedy that, I made a quick homebrew bracket out of some angle iron I found in my garage. well needless to say, said homebrew bracket wasnt the most secure and eventually the bracket just began to rattle and shake. so in order to find a solution, I turned to ebay and found that the alternator bracket from a early 80s corvette will work with my car.

45 dollars later, I have a nice secure alternator. well, I will tomorrow after I get a longer bottom bolt, just too short to fit in the new bracket.

[Shelty]

lock repair kit showed up today. also due to me being unable to reach the holes from the rear, I glued the bel air emblem to the side, will see how that holds up, the dumb fuel tank is in the way and I dont feel like dropping it to add the emblem on.

speaking of fuel, last few days my garage has reeked of gasoline. jacked the car up and I blew out a fuel line. the line i n the rear goes from hardline out of the tank to rubber line, crosses from the driver side to the pass side, where it turns back to hardline as it goes over the axle and routes around the frame, where it turns back to hardline at the front of the car. the hardline over the axle looks like it came from the titanic, so I got some new hardline to bend up and fix that. have some work to do this weekend. might roll out of work early this weekend to get some work done, supposed to be in the 50s, so If I can bounce out at 2 I can get a few hrs of work in before the sun goes down.

[Shelty]

To get out of Scott's thread, plus he doesn't have a wagon.. They can be made to bend where you want by nicking the bodywork at a window .
C-pillar is usually blown humps on a coil sprung car, but leaf sprung cars do it just as easy..
Tow package cars have an extra plate on the humps..

I did not know that. of course Ive not been to a derby in probably a decade. I miss going, they were fun to see.


and a quick update on the wagon. pics to come sometime soon

ebay hunting landed me a replacement set of Bel-Air scripts for the 1/4 panels. The driver side script has been missing since I bought the car. Surprisingly, not the easiest thing to find for that car. the scripts are 65-66 specific and no one sells reproductions of the Bel-Air emblem. Scored a matching pair for 40 bucks, should be here tomorrow.

Also, after much research and hunting, late night internet searches and countless Google entries, I discovered that the manual tailgate window crank for my car was later used on the mid 70-80s Blazers, Suburbans and Jimmys not equipped with power rear glass. I was able to find a replacement lock cylinder, pawl and spring that will repair the lock mechanism on the rear crank, which is sort of broken. That should hopefully arrive here beginning of next week.

now the hard decision, to flip the coin to see if this paycheck will go towards new rear tires/spare or inner/outer tie rods and adjusters to tighten up the steering a bit.

springtime will see the finishing of the interior.

[Deaf Bob]

To get out of Scott's thread, plus he doesn't have a wagon.. They can be made to bend where you want by nicking the bodywork at a window .
C-pillar is usually blown humps on a coil sprung car, but leaf sprung cars do it just as easy..
Tow package cars have an extra plate on the humps..

[Scott Liggett]

Buying a crate motor drops a chunk of change in one shot. Sad truth is I have that much invested in my stroker built 15 year ago and I already had a good block. Point is, you'll spend roughly the same amount either way so the decision is to either save up and spend it all at one time and get a warranty or buy parts as you can afford them and have no warranty.


[/broken record]

Some just don't have the knowledge or skill to build an engine, much less pick the parts necessary to get good reliable power. That's where company's like I work for come in. You know what you are getting and how much power it makes. Our buying power makes it hard to build one for the same cost, much less just buying the parts necessary.

Personally, I don't have anything against people building your own engine. I applaud them. I am much the same myself. You do what is necessary for your skill, budget, and time.

As an alternative, BluePrint's small block heads are fantastic pieces for the price. They handle over 500 hp naturally aspirated.

[68scott385]

tomAYto, tomAHto

[G-Motive]

INSTIGATER...

I prefer to be called a motivator.... lol