Big Blue's Transformation

[kramttocs]

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Oh, the good news! One bit of good news is that there is no bad news. Just another layer needing to be peeled - and that is finding a dip stick.

I actually have three dip sticks: The universal braided one that is on Big Blue's old engine; the NOS one Vernon included with Big Blue; and the one that came on Huck, which fits the pan I'm using and which has an o-ring fitting. That leaves the one on the old engine out as it screws in. And the NOS one is way too short. So I tried using the one that came on Huck, but it is going to take a lot of bending in order to get around the header, and I'm not sure I am good enough to do that.

Given that, I called Scott and he recommended getting one from Lokar. But, I took a look at their site and got confused. Do any of y'all know which one might be needed? Or do you know of other options?

But, back to the good news - the passenger's side header didn't move when I torqued it down, so I have the same 1/8" of clearance to the tranny as I did before torquing. And, I did torque it down, to the best of my ability. The book says to start torquing in the center and work out, so I did. And luckily the one I started with was accessible with a socket, so I torqued it to 30 lb-ft. Then I tested it with my 3/8" Craftsman box/open wrench and learned that 30 lb-ft is about all I can do by hand. So that's how I "torqued" the others, twice around.

With that done I added the tranny crossmember and gussets and took this shot:

But, you can see in that pic that the clutch slave cylinder isn't installed. However, about that time the postman brought the clutch lever boot, so I installed the lever, boot, and slave, as shown here:

That was my day and now I'm toast and awaiting your comments, especially on the dip stick.......

Looking good!

Been following along with your header fun. While nowhere near the magnitude of your pain, I will say that I am not impressed with my experience with that company.

On to the dipstick - my main suggestion would be to double check the length of whichever one you get.

The Lokar ones look a lot like the proform stainless/braided/flexible one that I am temporarily using as it has been one problem after the next. I would be interested in seeing the braided screw in one you have.

I gave up on trying to bend my factory one around the headers. It got to be a mangled mess and then the ear fell off...

Hopefully someone with a later 460 pan has experience with an aftermarket dipstick that works.

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Oh, the good news! One bit of good news is that there is no bad news. Just another layer needing to be peeled - and that is finding a dip stick.

I actually have three dip sticks: The universal braided one that is on Big Blue's old engine; the NOS one Vernon included with Big Blue; and the one that came on Huck, which fits the pan I'm using and which has an o-ring fitting. That leaves the one on the old engine out as it screws in. And the NOS one is way too short. So I tried using the one that came on Huck, but it is going to take a lot of bending in order to get around the header, and I'm not sure I am good enough to do that.

Given that, I called Scott and he recommended getting one from Lokar. But, I took a look at their site and got confused. Do any of y'all know which one might be needed? Or do you know of other options?

But, back to the good news - the passenger's side header didn't move when I torqued it down, so I have the same 1/8" of clearance to the tranny as I did before torquing. And, I did torque it down, to the best of my ability. The book says to start torquing in the center and work out, so I did. And luckily the one I started with was accessible with a socket, so I torqued it to 30 lb-ft. Then I tested it with my 3/8" Craftsman box/open wrench and learned that 30 lb-ft is about all I can do by hand. So that's how I "torqued" the others, twice around.

With that done I added the tranny crossmember and gussets and took this shot:

But, you can see in that pic that the clutch slave cylinder isn't installed. However, about that time the postman brought the clutch lever boot, so I installed the lever, boot, and slave, as shown here:

That was my day and now I'm toast and awaiting your comments, especially on the dip stick.......

Man! That's a lot of work.

I'd be toast too.

Ummm Gary, you DO have the heat reflective boot that protects take the line and slave from boiling and melting, don't you?

Because I see that being a big issue with the header that close.

[Gary Lewis]

Man! That's a lot of work.

I'd be toast too.

Ummm Gary, you DO have the heat reflective boot that protects take the line and slave from boiling and melting, don't you?

Because I see that being a big issue with the header that close.

Scott - I'm not going to defend L&L. The fitment of this set hasn't been good, nor was the last set. But the 1/2" thick flange appears to solve the leaking problem I've heard so much about, or at least seemed to on the last set, so I'm hoping will on this one.

On the dip stick, I'm calling Lokar today to see what they say. Scotty thinks they have a good one, but I can't find what I think is the right one.

On the screw-in one, I don't think you want it as it is too short. Vernon had a piece of hose on the handle to be able to reach it

Jim - I think I may be getting old. A day like that was a walk in the park a few years ago.

But, I don't have a heat shield for the clutch. Didn't have one before, either. But do you have a recommendation?

[85lebaront2]

Scott - I'm not going to defend L&L. The fitment of this set hasn't been good, nor was the last set. But the 1/2" thick flange appears to solve the leaking problem I've heard so much about, or at least seemed to on the last set, so I'm hoping will on this one.

On the dip stick, I'm calling Lokar today to see what they say. Scotty thinks they have a good one, but I can't find what I think is the right one.

On the screw-in one, I don't think you want it as it is too short. Vernon had a piece of hose on the handle to be able to reach it

Jim - I think I may be getting old. A day like that was a walk in the park a few years ago.

But, I don't have a heat shield for the clutch. Didn't have one before, either. But do you have a recommendation?

Gary, the original carbureted one on Darth comes up past the outside of the manifold then curves forward. It is a long enough tube that it could probably be "snaked" through the headers with the help of a tubing bender. Unfortunately it is still in use. I have the original one from the 1990 parts truck, but it has no gland nut so I am not sure it would seal in the 1986 pan.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, the original carbureted one on Darth comes up past the outside of the manifold then curves forward. It is a long enough tube that it could probably be "snaked" through the headers with the help of a tubing bender. Unfortunately it is still in use. I have the original one from the 1990 parts truck, but it has no gland nut so I am not sure it would seal in the 1986 pan.

Bill - I'm using the later pan, like you are. You can see our exchange about it here. So I need the push-in style dip stick.

As for bending the one I have, I tried that a bit yesterday and it is so far off of being "right" that I finally gave up. A little bend "here" made it all wrong "there", and it is so hard to see around the headers. And there's not much "through" with them. The four tubes are quite close and you basically have to go outside of them or inside of them.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bill - I'm using the later pan, like you are. You can see our exchange about it here. So I need the push-in style dip stick.

As for bending the one I have, I tried that a bit yesterday and it is so far off of being "right" that I finally gave up. A little bend "here" made it all wrong "there", and it is so hard to see around the headers. And there's not much "through" with them. The four tubes are quite close and you basically have to go outside of them or inside of them.

Gary,

As with other hard lines I've often used a piece of TIG rod or something similar to play with the bend before I committed to tubing, which will only bend once and kink if it needs 'undone'

The later 460's and diesels have a reflective "sleeve" that covers the front of the slave and the bottom of the line.

I think I've shown pics

[kramttocs]

Gary,

As with other hard lines I've often used a piece of TIG rod or something similar to play with the bend before I committed to tubing, which will only bend once and kink if it needs 'undone'

The later 460's and diesels have a reflective "sleeve" that covers the front of the slave and the bottom of the line.

I think I've shown pics

Jim, I've done the same with lengths of 10awg romex. Put some vacuum caps on the ends if you will be near paint.

Sounds like Vernon may have used a similar one to mine if it needed an extension. It's way down in there.

With the lokar, a push in is a push in right? The crate reference seems odd.

[Gary Lewis]

Jim, I've done the same with lengths of 10awg romex. Put some vacuum caps on the ends if you will be near paint.

Sounds like Vernon may have used a similar one to mine if it needed an extension. It's way down in there.

With the lokar, a push in is a push in right? The crate reference seems odd.

Well, once again the plot thickens. Called Lokar and talked to Marty, who said "We have just the right one, the 5011... wait a minute, it says 'crate engine only'!" And I said, "Yep, that's why I called you." He said he'd call back.

He did and said "We don't have one we recommend. In fact, the owner's '32 is sitting in the show room with a 460 but it doesn't use our dip stick."

So I called Scotty. He sent me links to the 5011 on Summit saying his customers have used it successfully. But, the page on Summit says "Fits Ford 460 and 514 crate engines with the original crate engine oil pan only."

(Where's the "I'm heading back around this bush, again" emoticon? )

So I called Marty back and he said something like "Ok, but which length? It is available in 12" and 24" lengths." I said "I'll call you back."

I went out and took this shot of the dip stick on BB's old engine. It is way too short and is 14" long from the pan to the top of the tube.

On the other hand, the dip stick that came with Huck is 24".

So I'm gonna use a piece of #10 ground, with vacuum caps on, to see what it would look like to be bent to fit. Then I'll see if I can bend Huck's dip stick to fit and put a 3/8" all-thread in to capture the "ear".

[Gary Lewis]

Well, once again the plot thickens. Called Lokar and talked to Marty, who said "We have just the right one, the 5011... wait a minute, it says 'crate engine only'!" And I said, "Yep, that's why I called you." He said he'd call back.

He did and said "We don't have one we recommend. In fact, the owner's '32 is sitting in the show room with a 460 but it doesn't use our dip stick."

So I called Scotty. He sent me links to the 5011 on Summit saying his customers have used it successfully. But, the page on Summit says "Fits Ford 460 and 514 crate engines with the original crate engine oil pan only."

(Where's the "I'm heading back around this bush, again" emoticon? )

So I called Marty back and he said something like "Ok, but which length? It is available in 12" and 24" lengths." I said "I'll call you back."

I went out and took this shot of the dip stick on BB's old engine. It is way too short and is 14" long from the pan to the top of the tube.

On the other hand, the dip stick that came with Huck is 24".

So I'm gonna use a piece of #10 ground, with vacuum caps on, to see what it would look like to be bent to fit. Then I'll see if I can bend Huck's dip stick to fit and put a 3/8" all-thread in to capture the "ear".

Well, shucks. I got Huck's dip stick bent to sorta fit, but the tab/ear is not going to work. You cannot see it in the pic below, but it is ~2" from that piece of all-thread that replaced a header bolt. So, it is not going to work w/o lots of effort.

I called Lokar to order. They confirmed that their ED-5011-24 will fit. But that I need to buy it from one of their vendors. So I went to Summit, and their site says it'll ship on May 15th.

So I called Jegs. They don't have it and said it'll be "Mid next month" before it could ship. But, they suggested we look for an alternative, and I agreed. He went away for many minutes and came back to say "We don't have any alternatives."

To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. Am I back to Huck's and extend the tab?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well, shucks. I got Huck's dip stick bent to sorta fit, but the tab/ear is not going to work. You cannot see it in the pic below, but it is ~2" from that piece of all-thread that replaced a header bolt. So, it is not going to work w/o lots of effort.

I called Lokar to order. They confirmed that their ED-5011-24 will fit. But that I need to buy it from one of their vendors. So I went to Summit, and their site says it'll ship on May 15th.

So I called Jegs. They don't have it and said it'll be "Mid next month" before it could ship. But, they suggested we look for an alternative, and I agreed. He went away for many minutes and came back to say "We don't have any alternatives."

To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. Am I back to Huck's and extend the tab?

Seems to be in Stock Amazon Prime.

"3 left in stock."

They're showing me Apr 27th delivery