The 300

[Jeff Norwell]

Another congrats on a fantastic repair.

Image #1 seems to show "dust" below the failure.
Almost looks like aluminum shavings.
I wonder if the previous Helicoil job had left the hole packed with leftover cuttings?

Rancher.. thank you,.. the dust you see was caused by me(I failed to mention this) After I removed the housing.....and before I disassembled the top end... I took a small file to remove a little bit of fragments..I have 3-4 different T-Housings(style wise) and I wanted to make sure all fit.
The reason was... Ford had a larger diameter t-Stat from 58-66.... then a smaller T-Stat diameter from 66-76.
Within each housing.. its groove cut to let the T-Stat sit into the housing.... so..I was checking the fitment for both styles.
I have the part numbers on my phone..... somewhere in a text.

Funny enough..I picked up (2) 180 Thermostats made from Mr Gasket..... Never installed them... put them back into the bench... Chinese made.
I always use NOS or NORS stuff(when ever possible!).... I use Pre-60's that has a lot of NOS replacement stuff.
Not cheap... but.. Chinese off shore garbage is and will fail.
Bottom line.... I don't wanna do this again.....

sorry-long winded reply! hahaha

[hiball3985]

Thats a good precaution, MR Gasket thermostats have a bad reputation.

[gasman826]

I've went through so many 'big box' store thermostats.  I've been using Milodon with satisfaction.  I still prefer no thermostat but my EFI car wouldn't get hot enough to go into closed loop so I had to install a thermostat.

[Ford Blue blood]

T-stats are an amazing discussion thing.  Back in the day, some of use remember then, if it went over 160 it was too hot.  How many years did we run with no t-stat to get more HP?  Not sure that wasn't anything but urban legend....My 90 T-bird Super Coupe had a 209 t-stat.  Made really good HP with that and the EFI was real happy.

Old hot rodder friend gets real nervous when his temp gauge starts to get close to 180, I just keep on telling him "Burney, if it ain't loosing water it ain't hot", he just rubs his flat top hair cut head and smiles.....

[Jeff Norwell]

Well. last night---Success!
Went over the entire systems.. checking for any potential leaks.. after a few hours .. with the help of my friend Terry Redmond(Ford Tech guy)
we fired the car and it ran perfectly.
Oil pressure was at 65psi cold,. and then at 40-45 Hot.... engine is very responsive.... so much so Terry just smiled and said"She sure is snappy".... he is a man who says very little.
....all electrical is perfect,system was charging and all systems are functioning.I have fired the engine only very briefly, but never for more than a 30 second interval....
The FE is new and tight... not in a bad way... it just needs some hours on it.Tuned a wee bit but that will come a little later after the exhaust is done(which is the next move)
Set the idle around 800-900 rpm.... the cam gets too choppy and rough under that... again... the car needs to be fine tuned in the future.
Could not yard drive it.. it was too late and dark.... man.. with no exhaust... that thing is L O U D! I don't think my neighbours would have appreciated me rolling down our road last night.
Heat rose to 180 and stayed... after the first fire up(15 minutes of run time) did it again for 20 minutes and the heat was still at 180.

So.. it was a very happy evening.

[RICH MUISE]

 

[mustang6984]

TA DA!!! Sounds good! Summer is gonna be GREAT!!!

[Ford Blue blood]

Great news Jeff, I know that ear to ear grin will be there for a long time!

[FiveSevenLiter]

That is exciting news Jeff.
The neighbour factor is seven.  I know that when my FE fires up, they guy 7 houses down says his wives plates rattle.  I told him to put paper napkins between the plates.
Terry

[Jeff Norwell]

That is exciting news Jeff.
The neighbour factor is seven.  I know that when my FE fires up, they guy 7 houses down says his wives plates rattle.  I told him to put paper napkins between the plates.
Terry

HaHaHa ..Funny Terry

[Jeff Norwell]

Great news Jeff, I know that ear to ear grin will be there for a long time!

Thank you Bill.. and again... thanks ever so much for ALL the help on my wiring time... Your a GREAT member here..... This build has been drawn out and more to go... this darn virus has played havoc here with constant lock downs and work has gone to a crawl..... Keeping a float is always on the horizon.

[gasman826]

Your build is coming along great.

In my neighborhood, more than half still leave 9-5 weekdays.  I have tried real hard to keep my circus to weekdays.  There are a couple of light duty car guys and that doesn't hurt.  I was spoiled when I lived on the farm.  I could do any damn thing I wanted.  Well almost, I drew a little attention with that dynamite thing.

Michigan just removed all outdoor restrictions.  Michigan International Speedway is planning for a sell out.  No mask if you're vaccinated.  Still haven't gotten adjusted to shipping cost and reliability but with the shortages, shipping doesn't matter.  I hope the border opens soon.

[djfordmanjack]

Great news Jeff ! she will be ready for the street very soon !

[hiball3985]

Great news, I have visions of smoking tires 

[lalessi1]

When I started my FE for the first time (no exhaust system) my neighbor came over to see what it was. There are few feelings better than starting a cool engine for the first time. Congrats! Make me want to build another engine....