Bearmans Engine Rebuild

[Bearman]

This has been a long time coming and very excited!! I have been given the green light and have a budget allocated which I have to stick to.

My coupe has always been a bit of a sheep in wolf's clothing but now that is about to change. My budget has to do the engine, paint the engine bay, replace the main cross member and fix up any ancillary items that need doing.

After much agonizing over numbers and different permutations of doing the engine it effectively rules out the idea of a 500hp alloy headed stroker. After discussions with my engine builder what I will end up with is a pretty stout 351 with more than enough for the way I use my coupe and have some added fun. It also means I won't outstrip the rest of the car and should stay within budget.

Looks pretty good.....


Interior is nice and schmick.....


Lift the bonnet and things head south.....



Yep, it's a pretty worn out & wheezy 302. Stock apart from extractors and Holley 600 carby. A nice big cloud of smoke on start up and pretty weak oil pressure.

The drive line is a top loader, 11" clutch, standard 9" disc brake diff with 3:00 LSD. Tri-y extractors and 2+1/4" twin system.

This is the starting point.......

[Bearman]

Took it around to Stu's factory for a once over and start pulling everything apart. Stu is my beat mate and I'm so thankful to have him in my corner. I'm a dufus with the spanners and he's done a lot of these in his time. I have theoretical knowledge but he's been there and done it. Needless to say I'll be getting an education!!

A few things we found, thankfully no nasty surprises yet.

A heat shield for the steering box fashioned up by the previous owner. Clever!!




Some misadventures here!!! The front is fairly low and boy, has the sump and cross member copped it!! The sump has had plate welded to it. I have a NOS cross member to go in. This isn't anything I didn't already know about.


Tailshaft loop. Everyone should have one of these!!


Koni's front and rear.


Nice fat front sway bar.


Reinforced front lower control arms. Noice!!!


K-mac heavy duty camber kit.


Twin system still in good nick. Extractors are buggered though.


I need to replace the extractors but don't want to go 4 into 1 as they hang too low. I don't want to raise the front as it'll ruin the driving character of the car. It handles great as it is. Good quality tri-y's will flow decent horsepower and it turns out Stu has that configuration on his Moffat City Ford coupe. That's the way to go for me. It would be good to replace the rest of the system but I don't think the budget will allow. This can be done down the track though.

[Bearman]

We have disconnected most of the accessories and drained the oil from the engine. Tomorrow we disconnect the exhaust and the shifter and the engine comes out.

The gearbox has a slight leak from the extension housing seal and the diff is a bit weepy around the pinion seal. Nothing to be too concerned about as I will probably change the diff ratio in the not too distant future. The gearbox we'll have a closer look at.

All the suspension and steering joints are spot on. All the bushes are urethane and in good nick. The power steering high pressure line has been done at some stage but I may get it done anyway because it is such a pain if it goes when the motor is in. Will most likely throw in a reco steering box for the same reason.

Will replace all the hoses and rubber lines. The radiator is spot on. This engine has never ever even looked like overheating but will get the radiator inspected and flushed out anyway. Starter motor needs replacing. New unis are needed, these ones are chewed out.

Anyway must sleep now, tomorrow is a big day!!

[AllCoupedUp]

Awesome stuff!!!

Let the fun begin and the wallet start emptying...

[gcg2503]

You going 4v heads or sticking with the 2v?

[Bearman]

Hi George, staying with the 2V's. These will flow well enough, no real need for the 4V's.

We have a base configuration of 351, 4MAB crank, solid cam, rollers and reco existing heads. Nothing exotic but will be fun!!

[AllCoupedUp]

Thought you said you were going to sleep?!

Can't sleep can you when there's fun to be had on engines...

[greenjgs]

Nice work Craig and Stu. If you need any help with the build let me know, done a few of these in my time. One thing I strongly suggest is the engine is run and tuned on an engine dyno before it is re installed in the car. I can put you on to my guy if need be. It's not that expensive for piece of mind and saves hanging over the guards to tension heads, fit the inner valve springs, set valve lash etc. Much better when you have the unknowns of an engine rebuild known. Drop it in and drive away.

I'm here if you need me. G

[neptune blue]

So here we go Craig
Is the aircon staying ?

Is that an after market steering wheel
If it is it really suits

[Bearman]

Cheers Graeme, great idea!! There will be downtime between getting my motor and getting the body back, this will be very good use of that time.

Hey Tony, the AC is complete and intact but not working. Will get the compressor recoed and gassed, see how it goes. I was going to flick it but I've decided to see how it goes. The steering wheel is aftermarket, an Autotechnia. Looks good and feels nice.

Big day today, am knackered. Will post again tomorrow. Having a day off.

[King Neptune]

Well done Craig. I have got the impression you have been wanting this for a long time. Hope it turns out to be everything you want.
Cheers Rob.
Ps, If you get the opportunity to give Stu a few jabs in the ribbs while he's stuck half under the car that would be great! Tell him, they are from me!

[Cabbage]

Stoked for you, you must be looking forward to the new engine going in. I wouldn't worry too much about the engine bay not being to the standard of the outside. Restoring cars is bloody expensive. It makes sense to do it bit by bit and its spreads the excitement out over a longer period. The outside looks mint by the way. More pictures I think.

[smciner1]

Great stuff Craig. Keep us posted.

[Bearman]

Yesterday was a big day. We got the motor and gearbox out and separated them. The gearbox has a leak from the front seal so that will need to be seen to. Luckily it hasn't leaked onto the clutch and contaminated it. While in the car it looked like the rear extension housing seal was the culprit but we could see oil seeping out from between the gearbox and bell housing and running along the bottom of the gearbox and dripping from the back. Removal from the bell housing confirmed this.

The clutch looks spot on, heaps of meat on the clutch plate and the pressure plate surface is mint. I'll get the pressure plate tested and if that's up to scratch I'll re-use this clutch. It felt really good when the car was mobile.

All of my suspension and steering joints and bushes are nice and tight, nothing needs to be replaced but I will have the steering box given the once over regardless and put a new pitman arm on anyway.

The tailshaft has been dropped off for new unis and a balance.

Went shopping and came back with a dented bank balance. Got the carby, dizzy, rocker covers and several other bits n' bobs. Also ordered a new steel flywheel and new bolts.

Day off today, will be back to it next Saturday where we'll finish stripping out the engine bay and get the body ready for the panel shop. Will send the gearbox off to Vic Diffs and hopefully get the engine off to the engine builder during the week, if not on Saturday.

Now for some pics.

Engine bay before and after:




Motor out and on the floor:


Hurst shifter. Much nicer than the standard top loader shifter:


Another look at the home made steering box heat shield:


Retail therapy for blokes!!

[neptune blue]

Nice when you've got all those goodies in the box
As your car has factory air it would great tomhave it going
Will come in handy for cruising in the summer
I wish mine had aircon
I'm too old to be sweating profusely while I'm driving

[Bearman]

Originally Posted by neptune blue

Nice when you've got all those goodies in the box
As your car has factory air it would great tomhave it going
Will come in handy for cruising in the summer
I wish mine had aircon
I'm too old to be sweating profusely while I'm driving

I know what you mean Tony!! I've been sweating it out for the last 7 years. When I got the coupe the aircon pulley had no belt on it and the previous owner advised it needed re-gassing some time before then. I assumed it was all shagged and was going to leave it out and just plug up the system at the firewall. Stu reckoned it is worth getting going again as everything was intact and sealed and nothing has been exposed. The hoses all look really good.

When it came apart it had a tiny bit of gas still in!! Don't tell me I could have put a belt on and had a/c in all this time??

For the sake of a couple of hundred to reco the compressor, fix one idler pulley and put some gas in there is a very good chance it'll work. Great for the summer and my wife will be very happy!!

[Bearman]

Does anyone have a good battery tray??? The one I have is pretty knackered.

[neptune blue]

I was just taking another look at that heatshield... pretty nifty. get it ceramic coated and it will not only look great but do the job better

[JG65TE]

Hey bear. Good stuff mate. I like that box of stuff. Be a few hundred shekels in there. U will love the straight pull carb bracket. Made my accelerator much easier. I can hook you up with a battery tray. Also have a couple of sets of extractors layin about. Can help u with a good v8 cross member too if u are on the hunt..

[Bearman]

Hey Doc, the battery tray would be great!! Maybe catch up at the AFF Toy Run?? I've got a NOS cross member to go in so I'm right there. I'm looking at going stainless for the extractors so once they're in they're in forever. If the budget starts to hurt I'll get in touch.

Cheers mate!!

[JG65TE]

All good. I just re read ya posts n saw u had a x member. They gunna get gard to find so I may put mine away for a rainy day. I just gutted obe of my old fairmonts so keep it in mind. I will look up the toy run n see if I can make it. Should be able to. Stainless seems to go blue at the top after a while but its a nice blue.

[ianxy351]

Good work Bearman. You will love the new engine and reco'd drive line. Will be like a new car.

Maybe consider using ceramic coated Pacemaker tri-y's rather than stainless extractors. Stainless can get a bit fragile from heat cycling after a while. May not be an issue but I like the idea of mild steel tube and the ceramic coating makes a huge difference to engine bay temps.

[daytona1965]

Craig,

Great work, I am pulling my motor and box out in December to give it a

Freshen up ( mainly to stop the leaks ) and to add a few bits I found in

America

Is heat an issue for the steering box, or does it depend on the exhaust

system?

I concur with the Cramic coating, it drops the heat and is cost effective

( and stops burn legs with side exhausts ).

Great Work

Rohan

[Bearman]

Hi Rohan, sounds like ceramic coating is the way to go. The steering box would get pretty hot when you consider how close the RH side extractors are. In pretty extreme use it could overheat the power steering fluid. I know Stu has a cooler for it in his coupe. I'd imagine ceramic coated extractors would negate this.

See you at the club Xmas party??

Cheers, Craig.

[neptune blue]

Ceramic coating may be an effective alternative to stainless steel headers as well
It reduces the temperature inside the engine bay and prolongs the life of the headers provided they are coated internally as well as externally
they also wont turn blue
if you go to the high performance coatings web site it will give you a run down
I got my brake calipers done as well

I wanted to do both my engine block and heads as well but they dont handle heavy items
too bad as my engine would have looked good for a very long time

[AllCoupedUp]

Powering along Craig - great progress!

Who's doin your tail shaft work?

Lovin the box of goodies too! Given me a few ideas there.

[daytona1965]

Craig,

Andrew from Competition Coatings in Coburg ( 9354 8021 )

great bloke and well priced ( he is always busy so book them in ).

He is a Ford guy to boot.


Rohan

P.S. Stu do you want a new friend I will be dropping my 351 and box out next weekend

[Bearman]

Big day tomorrow, gotta finish stripping out the engine bay and have the rolling body ready for the panel shop. The priority then is to clean up and paint all the brackets and bits I'm reusing.

The engine is almost ready!! Ray (the engine builder) picked it up during the week. He reckons my block came up a treat. He'll run the cam in for me on the stand, install the spring inners and have it ready to run so we can drop it into the car and take it straight to a dyno place.

I've ordered Pacemaker tri-y's and going for the ceramic coating. I'll also be seeing the same place for a fuel pump and fittings for a 3/8" fuel line. Will need to get a fuel sender unit done as well.

Wednesday will be full on. Got a day off and will be running around all over the place picking up and dropping off. Will be glad to have a breather!!

[greenjgs]

Originally Posted by Bearman

Big day tomorrow, gotta finish stripping out the engine bay and have the rolling body ready for the panel shop. The priority then is to clean up and paint all the brackets and bits I'm reusing.

The engine is almost ready!! Ray (the engine builder) picked it up during the week. He reckons my block came up a treat. He'll run the cam in for me on the stand, install the spring inners and have it ready to run so we can drop it into the car and take it straight to a dyno place.

I've ordered Pacemaker tri-y's and going for the ceramic coating. I'll also be seeing the same place for a fuel pump and fittings for a 3/8" fuel line. Will need to get a fuel sender unit done as well.

Wednesday will be full on. Got a day off and will be running around all over the place picking up and dropping off. Will be glad to have a breather!!

Hi Craig

If you need my engine cradle let me know and I will try to throw it in the boot of the Goss and bring it to the Xmas party. Unless Ray has some secret for running in the cam, let Zoran do that and install the inner springs, that''s all included in dynoing the engine before it goes in. You'll probably need him to regraph the distributor as well so make sure you go there with any extra clips, springs etc. that come with the dissy.

See you tomorrow. G

[Bearman]

Had a good day yesterday. Stu and I were both feeling a bit flat yesterday so we took it slow and easy. The engine bay is now completely stripped, grille and headlights are off and we've re-fitted the bonnet so the underside of it can be painted. Tied the bonnet down with cable ties for transport and it's ready to go to the panel shop. Paul will organize a flatbed for Wednesday and off she goes!!

Will probably get it back late Jan/early Feb, depends how busy Paul and the boys are. In the meantime I've got lots of cleaning up and painting of various bits n' pieces to do.

Some pics:





The electrical spaghetti. Hope Stu knows how it all goes back in 'cause I sure as hell don't!!


The NOS cross member to go in: