Building My Custom 300

[57AGIN]

Well I guess it's time for looking at the next stage of the refurbishment.  Brakes.  After I bought my "dream" Custom 300, some 34 years after trading my original 57 in on a Mustang, I took it out on the road for a test drive.  I was thrilled with the power (some what sick 302), loved the 4-speed (popped out of 2nd frequently), and beautiful paint job.  But, I had completely forgotten how much I'd grown to like power disc brakes.  Stopping the 57 was a chore, so during the early years of owning my "new" 57 I never drove it very far, maybe 6 or 7 miles from home and kept the speed way down.  This was probably a good idea anyway as some pretty raunchy bias plys were all I had for tires.

With the front end of the car torn apart, I decided to install a reliable set of power front disc brakes on the car.  I chose an ABS Power Brake conversion, which was installed when the front end went back together.  It was reputed to have plenty of stopping power with a 9" booster acting on the Granada/Monarch front discs and the rebuilt stock rear drums.  Little did I know at the time that my 351W was only going to generate about 12 - 13" Hg (vacuum) and the power unit needs at least 15" Hg to work properly.  The people at ABS Brakes (Orange, CA) were very helpful and suggested either I get a vacuum pump or a vacuum accumulator.  With the costs of a vacuum pump being a bit steep, I opted for the vacuum accumulator (a standard polished aluminum cannister that fits quite nicely nest to the power booster and is mounted on the driver fender well just under the top of the fender. 

I've been very pleasedwith this setup.  The car stops as quickly as any of my other more modern vehicles with a disc/drum combo.  It stops straight and doesn't give me any surprises.  The only time I have to be careful is when the engine has been off for some time and the car is on a slope, as vacuum hasn't had a chance to accumulate and my darn "emergency brake" isn't working as well as it should.  When this occurs, the only power available is in your right leg, which might be trying to pump the gas pedal to get the engine up and running.  Repair for this are in the near future and I can live with it for now.

Here's a couple of shots of the setup.  Nothing exotic and there have been a number of different approaches to braking 57's submitted on the Forum.  All I can say is that this was very inexpensive (compared to many of the other issues being resolved) and has worked very well for the 10,000 miles I've driven since getting the 57 back on the road. 

Looks like my file size is limiting the pictures on this message to just 2, a couple of more shots will follow on the next message.

Bob
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[fomocochoptop]

I Purchased my disc brake set up from ABS Power Brakes in Orange, Ca.  I Purchased the Rear end Conversion- Front DBC and Frame Frame mounted mastrer withBrake  Pedal assembly.(want to clean up the firewall). I haven't installed yet but can't wait. 

[shopratwoody]

I've bought some stuff from ABS. They did my booster on my 78 and I purchased my p/valve from them.
I'm only a couple miles from them. I just don't like the way they mount the p/valve on the M/C. Don't
care for the spagetti up there. They also act like its a big secret what spindles fit the car. I got mine at
the junk yard for a hundred or so. They wanted a bunch more like they were really a rare thing. I still go
there when I need something I can't find anywhere else.
Later, Ron

[57AGIN]

Yes Ron, they can certainly charge more than finding it in a pick-your-part.  Anyway here is the shot of the vacuum accumulator mounting and the brake booster installed.  I had to go home and take a clearer picture than what I had.  When I get some bucks ahead I'm thinking of getting a nice chrome hydraulic brake booster to make some room for other goodies I've got in mind (no, it never ends).

Bob
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[FORDNUT]

I'm sure that a number of us would be interested. I'm getting too old and hefty to crawl under there any more than needed.

[shopratwoody]

Bob,
You're sure right about the never ending thing! Nice vacuun pot and a good place to put it. That's the
main reason I did'nt go with power brakes was the size of the cam. I just use the term "ongoing". It keeps
her happier. I think She's happy we aren't Drag Racing anymore and just doesn't mention it. At least now
there is lasting results instead of thousands of dollars in time tickets. It was fun though.
BTW, I did get the seat back in my car. So I can drive it to Knott,s.
Later, Ron 

[57AGIN]

Guess it is time to do the engine.  When I bought the car in 1998, I looked under the hood and saw a 302 small block with headers, Accel distributor, Holly carb, a set of M/T valve covers and a bit of a lope.  I figured I'd really made a killing.  During the first year I owned the car, I really took it easy in my driving.  Between the questionable brakes, poor tires and 45 year old wiring that occasionally sparked, I knew there was considerable work ahead.  I turned out that the engine was the part that finally gave out.  At 35 mph in high gear, I heard some valve noise that hadn't been present previously.  Being semi-prudent, drove home and put the car into the garage and pulled a valve cover.  I found a valve spring retainer broken and sitting at the base of the spring, in looking closer I also found 4 more valve spring retainers cracked on that bank.  A similar condition was present on the other side.  And so began the rehabilitation project. 

I got a hoist and pulled the engine.  Since I'm not a skilled (or even semi-skilled mechanic), my decision was to have a shop do the rebuild of the engine.  I talked to a reputable shop near where I work and outlined my goals and what I wanted in terms of power and how I was going to use the vehicle.  When I was a 20 year old and my old 272 Y-block swallowed a valve, I had faced a similar situation.  But, the best I could do at that time was just get it put back together and slap a set of dual exhausts on it.  Now, however, I could afford to realize a few of my dreams.  I told them I'd like about 400 reliable horse power and the car would be a daily driver, cruiser and occasionally put onto a drag strip.  I was advised that getting 400 hp out of a 302 was relatively easy, but unless I opted for fuel injection, it would be running pretty much on the edge.  I was advised that a 351W with Edelbrock RPM series heads, cam and intake would provide the power to meet my goals and be very reliable (he showed me an article from Hot Rod about the Edelbrock built 351W).  Note: this was at a time just prior to the market being flooded with crate engines produced by many different vendors, probably any of which would have met my stated goals.  I agreed that the 351W was what I wanted and the project was begun.

The engine used was a 1974, 351W, it was hot tanked, bored .030 over, align bored and decked.  The stock crank and rods were sent out to be shot peened and ground for stress relief.  The pistons used were TRW forged, a Centerforce flywheel, clutch & pressure plate used were purchased and all the rotating assembly was sent out for balancing.  While the engine was being built, I stopped over at the shop daily to check on the progress and shoot some pictures for a scrap book.  The shop I used was Advanced Engine Machining located in Huntington Beach, CA.  They have been in the business for many years and do work for a variety of racing interests; the one I'm most familiar with is Gale Banks Eng.

Here it is 10,000 miles and 3 years later and I couldn't be more pleased with the engine I wound up with.  Here are a few pictures of this part of the rehabilitation.  The pictures will require several postings.

Bob
57AGIN

[57AGIN]

Here are a couple of more shots.

Bob
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[57chero]

Are you running headers on your 351W , If so what brand and application are they for.

[57AGIN]

57chero:

Yes, My 351W has a set of headers.  When I was ready to get back on the road I had the car towed over to Doug's Headers (when it was still located in Anaheim, about 7 miles from where I live).  Doug's used a production set of headers built for 66 Fairlanes using a small block.  They only had to do a slight modification to the pipe closest to the steering box.  I've got a few shots of the headers and wonder of wonders they are of a size that will fit in the attachments.

I had Doug's do the full tri-y headers, X-pipe, Flowmaster mufflers, electric exhaust cut-outs, and powder coated them from the header flange to the exhaust tips.  They turned out wonderful.  The system flows and sounds great.  When I had the car on the dyno, I did runs with the cut-outs open and closed.  There was no appreciable power difference between the runs.

Bob
57AGIN

[57chero]

Can you get a shot from the top drivers side around the steering box, thanks looks very nice.

[57AGIN]

57chero:

No problem.  Tomorrow morning I'll see what I can do.

Bob
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[57AGIN]

57chero:

It's tomorrow morning.  I took three shots on the left bank one on the right bank.  As you might guess, there is plenty of room in the engine compartment to work on things from above.  But, the clearances are fairly tight down near the frame and steering box.

Hope these do you some good.

Bob
57AGIN

[57AGIN]

Well, the next area to take on is the drive train.  While getting the engine and engine compartment ready, there remained a lot of other oh-by-the-ways to get accomplished.  The braking system, floor pan & tunnel rehabs have been covered.  The next in line was the transmission, clutch, pressure plate and flywheel setup.

I decided, based solely on finances and the fact that I've had success with a Borg Warner T-10 in the past, to have the T-10 rebuilt.  In hind sight, I think I'd have been better off going to either a Tremac 5 or 6-speed or an AOD.  My gas mileage is between 7 and 10 mpg and a tranny with an overdrive gear would increase flexibility in a number of ways.  With 350 to 400 horse power on tap, the T-10 is, I'm told, marginal.  If, in my rowing it through the gears, I manage to miss one too many shifts I may seek an improvement.  Anyway, I had the T-10 rebuilt and it has worked very well for the first 10,000  miles driven.

I elected to go with a CenterForce Dual Friction clutch & pressure plate and flywheel setup.  I've been pleased with these and I have piece of mind by having everything enclosed in a bullet proof Lakewood bellhousing. 

[57AGIN]

Here's the second portion of the drive train rehabillitation.

I replaced the drive shaft with a Unitrax shaft and Spicer H/D U-joints 1330 up front (to fit onto the T-10 tailshaft) and 1350 at the rear. 

The Ford 9" was given a complete overhaul.  The original 3:70 gears were retained, as they had a very good wear pattern and are a good compromise street/strip gear.  An Auburn positraction was installed, as were Strange 31-spline axles. 

I replaced the rear springs with a pair of Eaton Detroit H/D leaf springs that were to be 1" lower than stock .  Originally, I used H/D Monroe shocks, but I kept bottoming out on minor road dips.  I now have a really good set of Strange Engineering adjustable shocks (the lower bayonet type mount for the shock absorbers had to be changed to an eye bolt  :smtree2:type).

Bob
57AGIN