After working on my truck through many days of summer vacation, I got the motor to run today. After finishing the brake plumbing, I had my 77 year old father in-law come over to help bleed them. I then connected the inertia switch for the fuel pump and tested the pump to see if it would kick back off if the engine wasn't cranked. I finally put about a gallon of gas into my tank and turned over the motor. The first try ended with it back-firing out of the headers. I then switched the firing order to the HO version for my 5.0 SBF. That didn't help any. So, I popped the distributor cap, pulled #1 plug, bumped the motor, and found the rotor was off by more than one spot. Next, I pulled the distributor and put it into roughly the correct position. She fired right up. I still had #1 plug out, and still had the O2 sensors and the Mass Air meter unhooked so she ran a bit rough. With a little modification, the T-bird H-pipe actually fit onto the headers pretty well. I also mounted my rear 1953 GA plate using those LED plate lights; they're pretty cool, but I'm not sure of their lighting abilities .

The only issue I'm having is the harmonic balancer apparently isn't made for this year and/or model's engine???? The timing mark seems to be about 180 degrees off. Knowing that it's weighted to one side, I'm a bit worried. As it's keyed, I know it's in the right position, but for what? I'm not sure what vehicle I bought this for(ie. 93 Mustang or 87 T-bird. Come to think of it, it may have come from a 95 Mustang engine I had or the original 87 T-bird. Maybe it had spun around? Making a new timing groove isn't an issue, I just don't want to mess up the motor. Maybe I should just go ahead and buy another one? Any thoughts?

 

I want to add my 2 cents and congrats on progress. I will chime in tomorrow, when i can read,think, and maybe process though intelligently! its been a long day at work! im excited for ya though! thats awesome! catch ya tomorrow!

 

Apparently, the outer ring on the balancer must have "spun" as the balancer for a T-bird and 95 Mustang are the same part #'s. I'll check into it more today to make sure, but apparently that's what happened.

 

That's a very rare occurrence, and if it did, you'd have a horrible vibration. Is there any other thing you changed on the front of the engine?

 

I agree with 52 Merc, i have never heard of a harmonic balancer doing that. not saying it isnt possible maybe but that just doesnt sound right. obviously its hard to sit here and troubleshoot, but did you have the timing light on the number 1 wire? and you switched the wires/firing order? I don't have all the details, so pardon me if i am asking redundant questions. The engine is running so ya got something right! thats sweet!

 

I bought a rebuilt short-block. I also had an old motor out of a 95 Mustang and the motor that came with the truck from an 87 T-bird. I pulled both harmonic balancers off of the old engines and used the best looking one(the other one had the rubber squirting out between the center and outer ring) on the rebuilt short block. So, I'm not sure what it's off of, but apparently they're the same(I know I compared both of them about 18 months ago when I put the motor together) according to O'Reilley's and Advance's web sites. All I know is that when I pulled #1 plug and bumped the starter to check on compression, I could see the timing groove from under the truck and the narrow part of the balancer was seen from above. It started fine from this position, but I didn't attempt to set the timing as we quickly shut it down due to no coolant and a questionable amount of tranny fluid. That said, previous to this, when I originally eyeball-timed it using the mark it wouldn't start. So I'll follow up on this later.

We wired the tail lights today and fine fitted the wooden boards on the bed today. I didn't attempt to start it today, or even look at it again. Maybe tomorrow if I get home from work at a decent time?

 

you are almost there tom !!! looks good

 

87 and 95 5.0's same balancer, as for timing marks I have had/seen several harmonic balancer outer rings spin in relation to the centre over the years.
Even had one on my wife's Olds 88 completely bust loose, but stayed in place. Made for a neat sound on start up and shut down as the outer ring spun up on start or spun down on shut down, took some head scratching to find that noise
A new balancer isn't very expensive, I just picked one up from Napa for an 87 stang 5.0L for $60 Cdn, then you can be sure of the marks and condition of the balancer. I would be hesitant to use it if it appears the ring has separated from the rubber.
My rambling thoughts.

ps
Just remembered I believe the timing strip on the 5.0L balancer I just bought was on the narrow part of the balancer, so maybe it just needs to be cleaned up some to see on yours?????

 

Wow! Carnut! Your truck looks great! Holy Moly! I had a completely different picture in my head. Are you sure the mark you are looking at is a timing mark? Seems like i remember a balancer off something (Ford) in my past, that had this groove machined into it. I remember thinking it was awfully wide for a timing mark. and later realized when cleaning it up that the actual timing marks were hiding under some rusty grimey greasy gopher guts

Probably not but...and from your pictures there i would have to guess that you don't have any rusty parts that close to your fresh paint! Anyway...nice looking job!

 

Thanks! It's been a long road. It was nice to hear it fire up. I can't wait to get the rest of the carpeting in. I'm finishing up on the wiring harness. After that, I can put in the carpeting console, and seats. I'm not sure about my door panels, so they'll be last.

 

I hope you're correct about the narrow part. If I get e chance, I'll check on it by the week-end. There's one on Ebay for $43.00 shipped

 

Maybe you're correct and I'm just assuming it's the mark? I'll dig further. Thanks for the complement!