Last week I obtained a set of rubber biscuits that will be used to fabricate engine mounts with for my Mercury Marine engine when installed into my 1975 Hornet. The engine mount clears the block hugger headers which normal automotive mounts won’t. And when the actual mount is fabricated the down tube from the headers will go through the cross member that hold the engine and the lower control arm this way. All has to be fabricated. Today my friend Bob and his sons who have become excellent fabricators from:
http://wesiescustoms.com/
stopped by after the Glendale swap meet where I picked up a $10.00 gauge package that will let me know the alternator is alive, oil pressure is up and it ain’t overheating.
His sons will do the fabricating, they are good and I got a complement.
The 700R4 transmission uses a computer control lock up for the torque converter. It is a 4 speed with a lock up torque converter.
I have a set up that monitors the 3/4 servo in the transmission and ported vacuum off of the carburetor. If it is 4th and the vacuum is high, the torque converter will lock. They are builders and use this transmission a lot because there are a lot of them, they are reliable and inexpensive and can be built to handle upwards of 1000 hp.
But my control system is better than the one they use.
And I got a complement.
That felt good.
Of course if either of the above change, the transmission kicks down to 3rd or Ported vacuum falls off the toque converter un-locks. The advantage is AZ has multiple mountain grades and these transmission are prone to burning themselves out of you use a simple lock up control and don’ unlock when the loading gets high.
And I am using a 2200 rpm stall converter.
And a lot of them are lost driving from here to flagstaff.
4l60’s are rumored to be better however they are full electronic controlled and require an expensive stand alone computer to run in a hot rod and hate heat. And Arizona has a lot of that.
I also got a compliment on my custom fabricated accessory drive brackets for power steering, Smog Pump, A/C and alternator. Fabricated from a factory package used on a 93 Firebird tune port engine. And some trucks. They can be purchased, if you have about 2 grand.
In addition the marine boat motor mount on the engine used to bolt it into a 4X4 in the boat, is beefier AND better looking then the hot rod equivalent. They like that too.

 

Unc send me a Jpg (picture) that you would like as your AVATAR.

Send to

SW2CAM@yahoo.com

Subject
AVATAR

Be sure to add your username if it's not the same as your e-mail address so I know who is sending.

 

I will, sorry I have not done it sooner, my bad. I think you announced this about the time my computer was loosing it's powersupply and I was trying to get to SanDiego. I'd do somthing to get it running, start sorting things out and then everything would quit again. I lost a lot of reference data.
I'm gonna get some breakfast and feed the dogs. I am thinking of My Mark Donohue Javelin or my Built up Mercury Marine motor that will end up in my Hornet.

 

Today I could put quality time in trying to remove the engine cross member which is also the mount for the lower control arm of the front suspension. This requires pure dog work of taking apart the suspension in order to remove it.
I've done it a lot of times and have the special tools for it. Some of which I have built myself. And this car has never seen salt so other than crusty road crud, there is not much rust after 36 years. It is still a thankless, dirty, hard job to do and after both of us have aged that much more, that much more harder.
Dang, youth is wasted on the young.

To continue. I spent the day today 11/1 striping parts out to get the cross member out. On this car it supports the engine and the lower control arm. I can remove it and set the engine on the tie rod so it won't fall out while I am modifying this. The dog work is disconnecting the front suspension components. Something I have rebuilt about 2 dozen of on these and can almost do it blind folded.
AMC cars became throwaway cars long before they went out of production in 1988 so maintanence started falling off rather quickly. It still surprises me that absolutly horrible condition the bushings are for the suspension pieces. And when they wear to a certain point then they start wearing through the control arms. I have a stock of about a half dozen extras and have started welding them back up and reworking them by hand so they can be rebuilt. This wagon has about 75,000 miles on it and I think orginal miles. And it is shot. Not destroyed, shot. I have seen them with so much slop in them that they clanged going into driveways and people still driving them. Saturns repesent on one hand a modern throwaway car. But on the other hand, the front end parts were no maintainence and no grease fittings yet they lasted 100s of thousands of miles with out beginning to show the wear I see on these 1975 vintage cars.
Yes they don't make them like they used to and in many cases a whole bunch harder to figure out what is broke due to advanced technology. But they don't break that often and the wear dang near forever.
But thankfully! They don't make them like they used to!

 

Getting in and re-working a tired worn out car frankly is a lot of effort to get it done right. I have built more than a few. But when it comes to engines, I built the one in the car or one I could bolt in. Actually fabricating the installation of something else is a bit of a problem. I am trying to accomplish that, there are no bolt on modification parts, everything must be fabricated. I am now sort of stuck on the engine mounts. I am beginning to think the best way is to grind off the old mounts on the engine mount cross member and then fabricate new mounts that go to the uni-body frame rails rather than try to fabricate replacement mounts on the cross member. I'm gonna have to take a look at that. Both ways have problems, the frame rails are welded up sheet metal with nuts welded into the inside parts to hold cross member etc. on. But some mouting is done by using long bolts, going completly through them with a sleeve over the bolt that buts up against one side and something resembling a fender washer reinforcing the other side. If I do not run into a problem with the steering box, that may be the best way to go.
Dunno, wish I did. But first have to clean of inches of undercoating. That is messy!

 

Fast forward a bit to today, 1-1-12. The engine mount has been fabricated and the engine now fits on it as does the lower control arms and a notch has been cut out and sectioned in to clear the exhaust pipes as the come off of the block hugger headers. The last of one of a couple major hurtles in installing this moter. An exhaust system from the exhaust manifolds or headers back that the pipes do not interfere with the suspension, steering, oil filter and starter and misc. bits and pieces of the car. I have become over time anti-headers as a tremendous waste of money and time and feel that they are a number one source or pure agrevation. This is not a race car, if it was, the expense of headers would be worth it. Street use in my opinion negates any benefit headers may have and the expense it takes to install and maintain them.
so today I have spent the morning figuring out how to bend some exhaust pipe so that everything fits from the motor I am building. It is doable, but I have to do everything by hand so I have to create some tooling to let me do it. The prototype went o.k., It sure would be nice to have some power tools for this. Dang. But it is he first time I actually needed to do some thing like this ever. Probably not a good reason to buy power tools.

This is a project that was an objective when I decided to use this motor. Getting exhaust system, more specifically exhaust manifolds or headers to actually fit and work and not be in the way of everything that requires routine maintenance and also not cost a small fortune and in most cases other than bragging rights or pure racing conditions not worth the expenses of doing it. This afternoon I set out and accomplished one of in my opinion, major hurtles in doing a motor or engine transplant. The head pipe comes off the individual block hugger headers and points to the back of the car while missing suspension components, steering components, oil filter and starter installations and generally makes it turn key to hook up the rest of the exhaust system. It also lets me make this smog legal as soon as i figure out what I have to actually meet as a criterion.
This is a project that has taken a lot of work to make right and I am proud of it. I wish I had figured out how to do things of this nature 40 years ago.
I have learned that while I have watched automobile build ups on T.V. as to taken a clapped out beater and creating something special with it with in a few 1 hour T.V. shows more or less while interesting and I admire some of the paint jobs. Doing it for real takes up to a year and tons of fabrication and design time.
Or
A crew of 20 people and enough money to float a battle ship and I would not be surprised to discover most of the T.V. builds are Bogus.
But to each there own I guess.

 

The engine and transmission including the fabricated front cross member and the exhaust stubs on the end of the block hugger headers are now ready for install in the car. How ready? 4 bolts and it is in. 1st one has to pull the old engine and clean and paint. Talked to the paint people yesterday and all of the paint I need is available and I have decided that I will use catalyzed enamal. I can also by what is needed to repaint my Saturn with out having the clear coat fail and this also includes the "Dye" needed to re-do the interior.
And today I turned out to be a fortunate day. When buildings a car, cosmetics are all important. The right color, aura and stance are a key to having the ugly duckling turn into a swan. And of course it is highly individualistic. But ------ Stance!
The right wheels and tires.
Factory OEM for this car is the Factory X package wheels that were an upgrade for car. Nice enough looking and highly desirable. OEM tire size is about 195X75XR14 and I generally upgrade to 205X70XR14’s for both looks and a better tire. Personal preference. They are about 6% bigger around than OEM which basically means they are larger tires and at any give speedometer speed you are going to be going 6% faster than it reads. As to that, speedometers in 1975 were not that accurate so it did not make a whole lot of difference.
However the objective here is not to restore it to OEM appearance but to modify it so it looks Righteous with the illusion of restoration. All on a budget.
Today I scored a set of 285x35xR19 wheels and tires. Way kool looking and when checked for dimensional comparison, they come out only 5% larger than OEM size which is actually better than using the 205x70x14 I would generally use and as to stance? It’s gottem.
Along with the score also came a usable cross flow radiator, pressure over flow tank like the Saturn’s use, a pair of mufflers and hangers and some misc. brake and suspension pieces that I have to see if I can use. I will have to see if I can fabricate mounting for these pieces with out looking as if they are cobbed into place. These are all pieces needed to complete the installation of the Mercury Marine Engine and would have to be bought and fit into the car.
I guess I will learn some new fabrication procedures. The radiator would be neat to have if I can get it into the space allocated for it. The remote pressurized expansion tank appears to do little more than T into a heater hose which is pretty much how it works in my Saturn which I also bought a replacement for today. Funny how some of these things are coming together where you learn something new all the time.
It appears I will get more chance to practice welding!

 

i need to learn welding.

Would you teach me, Unc?

I'm in Jersey.

Be there in three days.

 

Derf, you’d be welcome any time. As to teaching you to weld I am not sure I would be the best teacher. I have had a good one though. A couple of basic rules of thumb keep a spray bottle of water handy. It puts out fires! When I front clipped an AMX (it is still together after 10 years and winning car shows) I set it on fire a half a dozen times.
And recently I forgot a spray bottle and set my pants on fire. That got a bit exciting. I have a low ball simple wire feed welder. I sort of make it work o.k. and a Stick Welder that I have yet to use. And remember, a grinder is your friend.
But my friend and his sons make welding a work of art. Dang I wish I could do that!
What I am pleased about recently is that I think I know more about painting then I give myself credit for. I am actually looking forward to re-painting my Saturn and doing the painting on my Hornet as it gets to that point. I am not a big Rat Rod fan. I know some of them are done well and are works of pride. I guess I see one and relate to a time when I could not do any better and also could not afford any better. Having spent half of my life in an area that used a lot of salt in the winter, a 5 year old car looked worse than a Rat Rod on any given day and I really don’t want to go there again.
Today I enjoyed going through and cataloging the takes offs of a Super Shelby Cobra upgrade to a what was already a Shelby Cobra offering from Ford on a 2 year old Mustang drop top.
The take offs were something most people hope to upgrade to. They are going to have to be swap meet items though as nothing will fit onto my Hornet. I had hoped the wheels and the radiator would. The radiator is an inch too wide to fit into the engine compartment. And the wheels? P285x35xr19’s, are so wide that they hit the springs before the wheel lug bolt enter the holes in the wheels. I think I would need a 2 inch spacer to make them work. Although I need to check again, I just found that there are 1 ½ spacers at about $120 a pair. If those would work I would go for it.