Frankenstein T-5 Waggin' Chronicle (vast doesnt do it)

[Freshmeat]

Wow. I finally got out there to retorque the header bolts. I managed another 1/8-1/4 turn on each one. I never realized how much the gaskets compress after being heated up.

I free-revved it while the rear was still on jackstands and I can't get over how much better it sounds. The cats make a lot of noise at idle, but once the air is really being forced through, it's a beautiful sound. It doesn't pop any more when dropping from higher RPMs... even with three plug wires melted to the core and one 75% of the way through even the core.

I'm ready to do the valve springs and fuel pump so I can really feel the power this thing is gonna lay down. You can count on some new pictures and video coming as soon as this stuff is done.

[grandpaslincoln]

Shweeeet!!!!

[mrltd]

did you loctite the header bolts?

[Freshmeat]

No- I tried that on the first motor and sheared off head bolts trying to get them out.

[mrltd]

Have fun...keep tightening the bolts every week.

[Freshmeat]

We'll see how it goes. If necessary, I'll save and get a set of locking header bolts.

[Freshmeat]

Frankie

In the middle of swapping valve springs for some CompCams beehive springs. The rate differences are immense. I can palm the stock springs and squeeze them (pretty sure I shouldn't be able to do that), but I can't squeeze the Comps with both hands.

Also installing Taylor Spiro-Pro cut to fit wires. If I can't find them at a good enough price locally, I'm gonna order 'em from Summit. I guess I could stand to wait for them to come in... but I really don't want to.

To get to the springs on the #8 cylinder, I need to pull the wiper motor and box. Can't fit the compressor on the springs with the box there. It's needed a new motor for a couple of years (wipers don't go down after use, any more) so I'm gonna go ahead and replace that while I'm in there.

If I can get teh springs finished tonight, tomorrow I'll put the top end back together and install the 255lph fuel pump. After that, I'll just start setting money aside to go hit a dyno.

[gadget73]

Good deal. I've heard from world+dog the stock exploder valve springs were weak, but I never imagined they'd be weak enough to compress some with your bare hands.

[gadget73]

I loaded mine with anti-seize. All of them are still tight *shrug*.

[DuceAnAHalf]

Have fun...keep tightening the bolts every week.

Mine have never backed off.

[Freshmeat]

Pretty much everyone I know has said get the strongest bolts possible, torque the fuck out of 'em, get it to temp, cool it down entirely, then torque the fuck out of 'em again.

[Freshmeat]

Yeah. It's frightful. These have 100k on top of the original weakness.

For the intake spring on the #8 cylinder I had to remove the wiper box, which was a complete bitch. I'm gonna do a write-up on the removal for the archives, in case it comes up again.

[RugerP97DC]

ARP header studs. Best shite out there!

Anyway, header gasket swaps are cake. Except on sidewinding V6 and V8s. PHUCK DAT SHITE!!!!!

[Freshmeat]

Driver's side is reassembled. Wiper box wasn't that hard, but it was a bitch hunting down all the bolts. Times like that make me wish I hadn't left my Chilton in the rain. Would have been a lot easier if I knew what I was looking for.

Passenger side valve cover is off. I had to rotate the A/C compressor out of the way to get the spring compressor on the springs, but that's no huge ordeal. I was about to start swapping the springs, but my mother called. She was over an hour from the house and was falling asleep at the wheel, so Andree and I went out there to meet up with her. I'm hoping to finish everything tomorrow.

it was smoking fast with 4,700 RPM valve float, insufficient fuel pump, and blown header gaskets... I'm extremely anxious to see how it runs after all this is fixed! It'll be even better when I manage to get some money together and replace the exhaust... but that'll probably be a while.

[Grand Marquis GT]

Pics and results, or I kill your fucking dog.