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Junkyard Dog Build

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OK, so finally got all the accessory drive system worked out, have waaayyy more money in it than I wanted to but I could not locate the parts in the local junk yard, the big issue was the right side bracket was a victim of the parts car wreck, so I had to source that, the pulleys weren't available, so they are BBK, then after all assembled, the fabricated valve cover wouldn't fit behind the alternator, fortunately...the guys at Forte's classic garage bailed me out by creating a step in the valve cover for the back of the alternator. Bottom line, it fit's and I can get the cover off and on.

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I still had to trim the bearing area of the alternator to fit..but fit it does.

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and done...

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and a shameless plug for Forte's Classic auto, I've worked there part time over the last 35 years, they've built everything from Cobra Jet's ot Shelby GTs to Sunbeam Tigers and Panteras and everything in between..

https://www.fortesonline.com/

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So..putting everything together for assembly, waiting on my solid mounts and doing some routine checks, I was always taught to check the pilot bearing, disc and throwout bearing fit when it was all apart so you don't have any surprises..all of this will be bolting up to my junkyard SPEC lightened flywheel.

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And in it is...in spite of the mounts moving the engine back an inch there is still a ton of weight over the nose.

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A bit more got done, the radiator is installed and the driveline is all in..I acquired a used aluminum drive shaft..that was discarded because something made a lap on it, but the price was right..brakes and driveline are in, I need to finish the fuel system and electrical.

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OK..here's the bill so far
Keep in mind the original goal was $5K...we didn't make it, hosed too much money away on the engine
The good news, the free 95 mustang was a gold mine.This is how it shakes down so far, I've inflated some of the misc items to cover nuts and bolts and whatever.

Car..........................................................$250
Diff..........................................................$450
Adjustable training arms.............................$275
Rod Ends ..................................................$25
Misc..........................................................$50
Fuel tank with bladder................................$200
More misc .................................................$50
Engine H/O 302.........................................$300
BBK headers..............................................$150
Pistons......................................................$129
Rods.........................................................$150
Crank........................................................$150
Gaskets.....................................................$100
Plywood......................................................$25
Steel..........................................................$50
Wing hardware............................................$25
Wheels on sale...........................................$400
Cam B303, Trick Flow springs, HEI, intake .....$725
Clutch.........................................................$85
Pulleys.......................................................$115
Radiator and fans........................................$200

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Total so far ...............................................$5254

there's plenty of scrounging going on, like the Torsen was pre scrounged, the roller rockers from FP , same thing, there is a lightened flywheel that was also a freebie, so was the cobra front calipers and brake components..
 
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OK some bad news..I suffered a pretty significant back injury, I wish I had some really cool story to go with it, but with all the beatings that my body has taken over the years (being struck by a vehicle while working at an accident on FD, multiple kart crashes, playing football, injured pulling this chick out of a fire) it was actually caused by moving some furniture in my house....not sure where this project will end up, one option is to remove a vertebre and replace it with a printed one.
in any case..

the radiator is in

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this was a much bigger PITA than it would appear, but the fuel pump battery and fuel cell are in and plumbed ..although it's a bit temporary to get the engine running.



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So, these days, there's not much need for carbs, the modern fuel injection can do wonders for power and mileage, something never imagined in the carb days, however, for those of us who had to deal with mechanical injection, and things like the old corvette "fuelies" many of us preferred carbs, the reason is that a carb..as antique as it is, would still meter fuel better over most of those primitive injection methods. Carbs also have several enduring qualities for us old guys...they're cheap and they can be fixed with a screw driver.
So in this case, we've procured a 3310-1 Holley 780s carb, while that's a bit big..it does have vacuum secondaries so I'm not that worried about it.

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so the carb was in good shape, not being full of skanky methanol fuel..so it was disassembled into it's subsystems.

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The heart of a Holley carb is this..the power valve, somewhere on it is a marking say..6.5, what this means is that any time vacuum drops below 6.5 it will open up and dump more fuel into the engine, this is critical for 2 reasons, if the carb backfires, it can blow out the power valve causing the engine to run rich, the same goes for a performance cam that doesn't develop much vacuum, this extra fuel will cause the car to "lope". for that reason I try to seek a power valve with a small value on it, to keep the valve shut, unless you are on the gas.

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So took the carb apart and threw it in my mill to cut the choke horn off of it, this will let the carb flow a bit more air, and also meter fuel a bit better.

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and lastly, the carb was deburred, the edges rolled and the whole center of the body bead blasted to knock off any sharp edges..that is also a good trick on pistons, I used to bead blast them to get rid of any sharp edges that can cause hot spots and possibly pre ignition.

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xr7

TMO Addict?
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Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Minnesota
More fun stuff, are you going to do the anti-backfire mod to prevent power valve blow out?
Loved doing Holleys, simple and straight forward. Quadrajets were a pain to setup and had too many issues.
 
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No. it will have a stock power valve, I loved Q jets because everyone else hated them..lol I'm finding out that some of my skills are now needed by those guys restoring old cars, I just did a set of WCFB Carters for a guy's 59 Corvette dual quad setup.
The biggest thing with Q jets is the well plugs that leak and they are a fairly light casting, and when guys tighten the crap out of the screws, they warp..that's a big problem with all carbs but Q jets in particular. My favorites will always be the Carter AFB Competition series, ultra simple, dependable as an anvil but don't quite have the performance of the Holleys.
99% of carb problems can be remedied by a light file and making all the surfaces flat, that or sandpaper on a piece of glass.
 
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