Thread: Project Special K

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Well I spent today to try and put my 460 in to the truck. It was interesting using the CPP engine mounts. Spent most of the day taking parts off the front of the truck, and engine to try and drop it in place. By five pm my neighbor and I had a few trial fits with the engine and tranny I have to modify the cross member to get the tranny to drop down into place with out hitting the shift linkage and had to cut the tubular mounts down to size to fit the width of the frame members. I think by tomorrow we should have the engine mounts and tranny cross member in place to where I can get the engine permanently installed. It was fun wrestling a c6 tranny and 460 engine in the tight space that it once fit before! Anyway it's a start towards the finish of getting this beast up and running and felt good spending a day with a friend working on it! Padron went a long ways towards easing sore muscles tonight!

Spent the last two days fitting the engine and tranny to their new mounts in the truck. I'm close but need to get the engine back about 1-2 inches more for my crank pulley to miss the front cross frame member. It involves cutting out an old cross member in back where the stock tranny mounted and then getting the engine to sit in place on the new cross mount engine mounts, which are on a tubular steel bar with the ability to pivot front to back for angle placement and can be slid foward and back to line up correctly with the engine. Monday my friend is volunteering yet another day to help get the big mother in! Thanks Mike I owe you.

Well even though I'm working this weekend I've been posting to get help on my two current issues. 1) the tranny binding up on the engine when the bell housing is torqued on, and 2) the positioning of the engine and tranny into the truck to get all the necessary clearances. The positioning is solved thanks to those who have boldly gone where I'm trying to get! Some folks on another forum that specialize in Ford trucks, helped out. I have to cut the old transmission crossmember completely out to get the engine in the right place. I was held up by this because the former owner had managed to keep it in place but had also mounted the engine at a twelve degree angle to do it!
Also the old crossmember is the stock brake mount as well, which is used for the new brake booster as well. The solution, it seems, according to several F1 drivers, is to cut off most of the old cross member just leaving the chunk that the brake booster mounts too. This should work because it has a massive bracket that bolts to the frame as well, so it should remain plenty strong, yet is far enough to the side that it shouldn't touch they c6. Also the new mount winds up being about 5 inches further back!
As to why I'm binding the tranny, a more experienced Ford guy will have to let me know! Just a update.
Here is a shot to show the old position and engine angle

and here is a pic of the brake member where it is bolted to the old modified crossmember.

Here are some shots of the new mounts I'm working with.


and the old tranny mount which is in the way
.

Steve,
You’ve come a long way, I wish I had your energy, and motivation to carry on like you. You will be on the road shortly, it’s going to be really nice driving along the coast with the accomplishment of building your truck. It's a great feeling when they are finished.
Some people really like the build, I like it when they are sitting in the driveway wait to cruise. I like cars but get frustrated to easily. The rear tire was low on the 54 Mercury I thought I would take the skirt off and air up the tire. What a pain in the butt that was, I had to raise the car up get my arm between the tire and the inside of the fender skirt to take out three screws. Then I noticed a gas leak, the rubber line from the tank to the hard line going through the frame. Yeah at my age and condition I would rather have them waiting for me to fire up and go for a nice ride.

Richard

Thanks Richard. I like em ready to drive too

You'll be drivin' soon enough Steve! Just think how much more satisfying it will be to get that in there properly, a straight bolt in is no fun. At least from what I hear, I've never had anything go in easy.

Sean

Got the new torque converter today. The hub is definately smaller than the old one and will fit the pilot bearing no problem, though it may be too small. I haven't had a chance to put it in yet. The transmission guy named Sam, said if this isn't it it may be the flywheel itself. He said Ford made all sorts of flywheels, some are indented, like mine, which sometimes pushed the torque converter back a little causing clearance issues. So round three of the transmission vs. Steve will commence this weekend, unless I'm still sick tomorrow, in which case I may skip work and try to see if it fits! I rarely get sick other than headaches, but when I do, I'm usually down for the count for weeks. I'm on antibiotics, but they don't seem to be doing much! Still if I'm home, I might as well sweat it out in the garage!

Cut out the cross member today and relocated the brake lines that were in the way. Also bolted the emergency cable up and hopefully out of the way of the tranny. Things progressing slowly, but still nice to get the little stuff out of the way. Brains been getting in the way of progress, I think I'm what-ifing myself to dealth!

I put the new torque converter in today, and it fit like a charm. Easy assembly and mounting, no binding up. Went with Mobil 1 ATF as recommended by the transmission shop(the stuff stinks!). I contiplated trying to get the engine in by myself, but even with the cherry picker that beast is a monster to move by yourself! I guess I'll wait until next weekend when help arrives! Here are some shots of the culprits to the original fitting issue where the diamer on the torque conver was bigger than that of the pilot shaft(these are the new matched set).


and the newly modified engine bay with new mounts for engine floating in place

and the transmission crossmember which will go in after the engine is in place.

Here is a shot of the motor mount

Ignore the last picture it was a demo for Evolvo.

Well today I got the engine in with the help of my neighbor. We fit the engine in place, tack welded the mounts, then took it out, pounded the fire wall back a few inches right in front of the accelerator linkage(didn't want to cut and patch, then welded and bolted brackets in place and put engine in for last time. What a great feeling! Tight fit, but it works and the new engine angle is 1-2 degrees once the tranny is bolted up!

The engine looks great in it's new home!!!!! Some very nice work on the truck, Steve! Gonna be a tire smokin' beast, for sure!!!!!

Thanks Dave it may not seem like a big deal but it is the culmination of at least a half a dozen fittings, measuring and cuttings, not to mention at least a few months of effort. I hope things progress more smoothly from here! I realized if I cut the fire wall, I would be cutting into the accelerator linkage and petal, and leaving myself no room for my feet, so all it needed was about a half inch pounding back to give me the clearance necessary to clear the driver's side valve covers and you can't really see the dent anyway. As my wife says Perfection is the enemy of good enough!