Nice Job and lots of needed motivation for me. I'm just getting back in the garage and working on my 54F100 again and I love the way you are moving along on your truck. I'm planning on doing POR15 on my frame also.

Couple of questions, how did you prep your frame for the POR (wire wheeled, blasted, ect)? Also, what are your thoughts on the longevity of it?

Keep up the good work and looking forward to seeing how the transmission rebuild went.

 

i wire wheeled the entire frame years ago thinking i was going to paint then realized how much welding i did. when you get the POR15 they have all the metal prep chems youll need. with the wire wheeling you only need to knock off the flaky rust but i cleaned as much as i could. i am not sure of the logivity but i have read it holds up well. i have had thoughts of throwing another coat of something on the frame before sheet metal lays on top again. the POR gods say you can top coat over POR.

update- trans rebuild complete. took the 351w block to the machine shop today at 0900. will see it back in 2 weeks.

 

Ya I was going to wirewheel mine once I'm done with all the welding and banging on the frame. Then going the POR15 route. Your frame looks really good. How much of a pain was the transmission rebuild? Auto Tranys are a mystery to a lot of people. I know a lot of guys that will try almost anything mechanical but when it comes to a transmission it's hands off. All those parts are scary I guess. I've never been in an auto transmission myself (always been a standard kind of guy) but Im sure my luck will run out some day soon.

 

i bought the ford tech C4 trans overhaul manual, read it twice (not understanding most of it) then thought i'd give a go. i read online a guy said "why not try yourself? the worst that can happen is you screw it up and have to have the trans shop do it right, which you would do anyway if you didnt try." you can't buy experience. i think i have learned a lot. this does not mean i did it corrently (we wont know that until go time) just that i gain something that not many have. i just took my time. at total disassembly step one of assemble started at 1730 last friday night and 7 sprites later at 0333 saturday morning i was finished. the worst part was the spring with the forward friction plates housing. you need a spring compression tool to get the snap ring off so you can remove the spring and put new O-rings on the clutch. i used my table vice, and some shade tree mechanic tools made of blocks of wood. it worked smooth as assembly lube once i figured it out. the one and, i think, only thing i'm worried about is the steps that tell you to air check the friction plate clutch through the oil port. this is to ensure you didnt damage the O-ring when you installed the clutch back into its housing. i did not have the tool for that so, we'll see what happens. they have a note to ensure the clutch goes in level so i was careful and took my time. for your statement of the amount of parts, as long as you lay all the parts out in the exact order of dissambly it doesnt matter how many parts because you just assemble in opposite order. overall it was easier the i thought it would be. l am looking forward to doing a manual to see the difference.

 

In August I tore my engine down for rebuild and sent the block, connecting rods, and crank off to the machine shop to get the treatment. They finally called and said it was ready so I ordered .030 over pistons and rings, .010 crank and rod bearings, stock type cam and lifters, and oil pump. I have a lot more engine parts to buy but this will do for now. Also, finally got me an official ford tool.

 

Been spending too much money lately even with OEM purchases. I replaced just about everything on my engine except the block, crank, intake and connecting rods but these were all worked over by the machine shop. Lots of new parts. I last calculated 2K with core purchase. I still need to get a new distributor and finish up the carb rebuild. Of course there will be other things to buy that I haven't discovered. When I gave the machine shop the cylinder heads for a work over and picked up the block they called shortly after and said one of the heads was cracked. That explains the rust on top a couple cylinders. Found a couple E7TE heads on ebay and after a few clicks on the old mouse FedX dropped them off at the front door. Originally I had E5AE heads. All reading that I found online says the 7 heads are better (a little). Blah, Blah, Blah....So I just painted the engine my favorite color, flat black. Oh, I need to buy headers but need to put her back on the frame first to see what I got going on. Also I am haunted by figuring out what emissions crap I can plug.

My goal later when the burn of these expenses cools to touch I want to add performance items so I can buy tires more frequent.

 

So I got the engine and trans tied together and dropped on the frame. I have a lot of items to complete before I will be able to start it up. I will update with pics as I go along.

 

I just did not like the way the donor truck radiator looked so I decided to go with a stock looking radiator. It is a touch brighter than original but over time I will dull it up real nice like. I also got the exhaust manifold installed. Can't afford headers just yet and I need to figure out fit/clearance. I also got the new spark plugs installed. I have a new distributor and wire set. Lots more work to get done. I used the old wire hander trick to form up radiator hoses. I will go get them tomorrow.

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Your progress is showing that you are getting it done and correctly it appears. good work.

 

Sorry but the only video recording machine is my iphone 3GS. If you click on the image it will open another window for the video.

 

Looking really Nice and sounds great too!

 

Thanks. Glad to hear my first video post wasn't a disaster.

 

I'm hoping to fire my engine up pretty soon once I get a radiator. Like you I have no wiring at all in my truck so it should be fun rigging it all up. I maybe shooting a few questions by you when I get that far

 

Took another video. I cleaned the garage and turned the frame around. Changed the break-in oil and filter and re-adjusted the distributor. This run is at lower RPMs. I really need to get a tach but for now I am just going by sound. Before I shot this video I had ran the engine for about 15 minutes and the oil pressure and temp looks perfect. I do not have the transmission connected as you can see the torque converter laying on the ground.

 

Ran the engine the other day and noticed coolant coming out of the lower weep hole on the water pump. Drats. Removed it tonight and plan to swap it out not a new one at the parts store tomorrow. It only had about 6 starts so still under warranty. We'll see.

On another note, I have thought and thought about my decision on the C4 automatic trans on my build. I really want the manual transmission feel. This is a toy that I am building so I want that as part of the drivetrain. On a whim, I searched craigslist and found a 4 speed top loader just 10 miles away. The guy accepted $100 and I took possession. He said it is good to go, said. An inspection via the fill hole shows good gears. Everything seems to turn nicely. I will take off the top cover later to do a thorough inspection. The ID plate says it is from a '68 mustang/comet and is 28 spline wide ratio.