Month: October 2017

So over the last 2 days, I filled the transmission with 3 qts of Royal Purple Synchromax, filled the rear axle with 2 qts Royal Purple Max Gear (both synthetic), torqued on the wheels and got her off the dollies, charged the battery, bolted on the sidepipes, filled the cooling system with just distilled water (for now… leak checks), manually checked the clutch engagement and finally put 5 gallons of premium in it…

Then this happened.

It’s freeking alive.

 

Continuing to work towards first start. Got the oxygen sensor mount welded to the passenger header yesterday by Tony at Tony’s custom exhaust in Glen Burnie. Today got the header mounted…

and all secured. Tomorrow I’ll pickup some 3/8 x 1.5″ bolts and get the sidepipes bolted on.

Checked and adjusted the pinion angle so that the pinion is pointing downward 1-2 degrees more than the engine. This helps keep the u joints on the driveshaft happy and hopefully prevents any driveline vibrations. Speaking of which… installed the driveshaft.

Took the top of the transmission to fill it, will be doing that tomorrow after I buy some fluid. Using Royal Purple Synchromax for the trans.

Also serviced the rear axle today with 2 qts of Royal Purple Synchromesh 75w140 synthetic gear oil. This also contains the friction additives needed for the Ford 8.8 rear.

Getting so close I can almost smell the exhaust…

Have taken a bit of time off from building the Boss 427 as its beautiful weather and difficult to stay working in the garage when friends are calling for fun.

I did get some time this last weekend to work on my switch panel. Got it covered with foam and leather matching the dash…

…and installed the switch harness with the switch labels this time. I custom ordered these from Carolina Laser

My brother came up for the weekend and we went to celebrate Nephew Nicks’ 30th birthday in Harrisburg (see previous post). Good times indeed and I managed to get some work out of Doug.

We finished the install of the dash, hooking up the connectors and making sure there was no leftover wiring.

As you can see, it all lit up and everything works except the brake lights, which were working before. I’ll look into that.

Meanwhile, we turned off all the shop lights and closed the doors for a night photo. I think its pretty cool and is going to look great in both daylight and at night.

Doug helped me do some final bleeding on the brakes and we filled and bled the Forte hydraulic clutch. I’m using a McLeod Super Street Clutch, capable of holding 600 ft/lbs of torque, so it’s a pretty beefy, strong unit. The hydraulic clutch feels good yet still reminds you that you are driving something significant.

Not much left to do for first engine start… maybe I’ll be ready by next weekend…