Rembrant's new non-Bullnose project

[FuzzFace2]

Even the V6’s are getting hit hard. I filled Blue up the other day for $142. But those 33 gallons will take it well over 600 miles. About twice what I’d get on Big Blue.

Cory, that is looking good

On the heat shield I was thinking the same as Gary, use 1 of the flange bolts to hold it.

I did not look to far on this site on the size of his starters end to end and I dont know if mine would be the same as any of the others because of the nose / bolt parts could be different.

https://www.robbmcperformance.com/products/starter_home.html

I have 2 of his starters, no pinion support in the drag car and have a pinion support on the shelf for a higher compression motor if I ever build one.

Its a great starter and the customer support is also great from what the AMC guys that needed to use it have said, I have not needed to use it.

Dave ----

[grumpin]

Hey Folks,

Happy Sunday am, I hope the coffee is good. I'm just on my 2nd large while I'm cruising the web for more junk parts.

I can't remember the last pics I posted of my little 5.0, but here she is as of this weekend:

I just got all my serpentine drive system parts back from the sand blaster yesterday, so I hope to have all of that fitted and re-installed this week. It's important for me to have everything ON the engine so that I can get it placed/fitted into the frame properly. I don't to get it all bolted and welded in place only to find out that the alternator doesn't fit next to the inner fender lol.

Things are tight though...the shorty block hugger headers fit between the engine mount and starter, leaving NO room. I'm going to notch the header collector flange a little bit. Bugger.

I temporarily mounted the starter/separator plate on the back of the block, so the good news is that the starter can be installed and removed without having to touch the headers, but the fit is still super close. I'm told that there are high torque mini-starters for the SBF, so worst case scenario I might have to get one of those. However, for now, this pmgr starter is going to work. I guess the lifespan with the heat exposure is TBD.

For the power steering swap, I'm going with a Toyota box out of a 1979-1984 Toyota 4x4 pickup with the solid front axle. Rebuild kit was only $28 on Rock Auto, but the Borgeson double joint was not cheap...ack that stuff is expensive. Going to take quite a bit of fab work to get this installed...just starting on this today, so I can then drop the engine and trans in the frame and make sure it clears the steering box.

Have I mentioned lately how much I miss that big Bullnose open engine bay???...lol.

The pitman arm is a custom made piece from CPP in California. It was only $39 bucks, but it has the Toyota tapered splines on one end, and the 1" ball on the bottom end for the Ford drag link.

Lots of hacking and welding going on this week!

Nice! Looking good!

Why the Toyota box? Good fit for a 302?

[Rembrant]

Nice! Looking good!

Why the Toyota box? Good fit for a 302?

Thanks Guys!,

Why the Toyota box? Good fit for a 302?

Well that's a good question Dane. The Toyota 4x4 box is a good match because it used a "push/pull" steering system like the old Ford pickups had. The steering box mounts to the inside of the frame, but the sector shaft pokes THROUGH the frame and the drag link runs parallel to the frame and connects to a ball joint on the driver's side spindle. Here's a picture I saved from one of the forums showing the drag link outside the frame.

So the 1979-1984 Toyota 4x4 trucks were probably the most modern vehicle to utilize this type of steering...I'm not sure. From what I can tell, the Toyota steering swap was really common in the 1990's and into the early 2000's, but it has since been replaced with some better aftermarket options. Problem is, the aftermarket boxes have been unavailable due to Covid delays, and nobody could say when they would be available, so I went "old school" and scrounged parts to do the Toyota swap. The problem with THAT, is that the Toyota steering boxes and the associated parts that go with them are getting really hard to find. I was lucky enough to find them all, but it took a lot of scrounging.

I was faced with two bad options lol. Wait for the aftermarket boxes to become available, with an unknown ETA, or try to do a Toyota steering box swap (which in basically an obsolete option in 2022) haha. Anyway, I lucked out. Ask me in a couple months how it's working, and maybe it will have been a terrible idea in hindsight. I'm pretty good at those, too.

There are also complete front end swaps, and aftermarket rack and pinion kits as well, but I was trying to avoid both of those options. There have been some rumors floating around here in recent years that the qualifications for Antique plates and basic roadworthy-ness are going to tighten up by quite a bit, so I wanted to leave the front end as stock-ish as possible.

The Ford C2 pump should run the Toyota box just fine, or at least I have read reports that they do.

 

[grumpin]

Thanks Guys!,

Why the Toyota box? Good fit for a 302?

Well that's a good question Dane. The Toyota 4x4 box is a good match because it used a "push/pull" steering system like the old Ford pickups had. The steering box mounts to the inside of the frame, but the sector shaft pokes THROUGH the frame and the drag link runs parallel to the frame and connects to a ball joint on the driver's side spindle. Here's a picture I saved from one of the forums showing the drag link outside the frame.

So the 1979-1984 Toyota 4x4 trucks were probably the most modern vehicle to utilize this type of steering...I'm not sure. From what I can tell, the Toyota steering swap was really common in the 1990's and into the early 2000's, but it has since been replaced with some better aftermarket options. Problem is, the aftermarket boxes have been unavailable due to Covid delays, and nobody could say when they would be available, so I went "old school" and scrounged parts to do the Toyota swap. The problem with THAT, is that the Toyota steering boxes and the associated parts that go with them are getting really hard to find. I was lucky enough to find them all, but it took a lot of scrounging.

I was faced with two bad options lol. Wait for the aftermarket boxes to become available, with an unknown ETA, or try to do a Toyota steering box swap (which in basically an obsolete option in 2022) haha. Anyway, I lucked out. Ask me in a couple months how it's working, and maybe it will have been a terrible idea in hindsight. I'm pretty good at those, too.

There are also complete front end swaps, and aftermarket rack and pinion kits as well, but I was trying to avoid both of those options. There have been some rumors floating around here in recent years that the qualifications for Antique plates and basic roadworthy-ness are going to tighten up by quite a bit, so I wanted to leave the front end as stock-ish as possible.

The Ford C2 pump should run the Toyota box just fine, or at least I have read reports that they do.

Well that’s interesting! That picture looks like a cool setup.

I had an 87 4Runner, traded it for my truck probably 5 years ago now. It was getting hard to find stuff for it.

Competing with a lot of the world for parts for the older Toyotas. Particularly South America is what I read and heard.

[Rembrant]

Well that’s interesting! That picture looks like a cool setup.

I had an 87 4Runner, traded it for my truck probably 5 years ago now. It was getting hard to find stuff for it.

Competing with a lot of the world for parts for the older Toyotas. Particularly South America is what I read and heard.

Update...SNAFU. Ran into an issue with my serpentine drive. RockAuto box arrived with a whole bunch of goodies, so I was able to get my serpentine drive all installed. Problem is now, the tensioner under the alternator goes all the way to the stop. I tried shorter belts, and same issue. (It rotates clockwise fyi).

The smog pump has been deleted...it was below the alternator. I guess I mistakenly trusted some information I found on FTE that this setup would work with this particular belt...and maybe it does work...but I'm not going to risk driving with no tensioner.

The simple solution would be to install a smog pump delete bracket like below:

https://lmr.com/products/79-93-Mustang-Smog-Pump-Components

But the smog pump mounting points have already been removed...ugh. So I guess I'm off to the junkyard today to look for a new old bracket.

There's always something lol. One step forward, 3/4 of a step backwards, always lol.

[grumpin]

Update...SNAFU. Ran into an issue with my serpentine drive. RockAuto box arrived with a whole bunch of goodies, so I was able to get my serpentine drive all installed. Problem is now, the tensioner under the alternator goes all the way to the stop. I tried shorter belts, and same issue. (It rotates clockwise fyi).

The smog pump has been deleted...it was below the alternator. I guess I mistakenly trusted some information I found on FTE that this setup would work with this particular belt...and maybe it does work...but I'm not going to risk driving with no tensioner.

The simple solution would be to install a smog pump delete bracket like below:

https://lmr.com/products/79-93-Mustang-Smog-Pump-Components

But the smog pump mounting points have already been removed...ugh. So I guess I'm off to the junkyard today to look for a new old bracket.

There's always something lol. One step forward, 3/4 of a step backwards, always lol.

I wouldn’t take that chance either. Install it and find out it slips.

I’m surprised a shorter belt doesn’t work.

Bummer!

[Pete Whitstone]

Update...SNAFU. Ran into an issue with my serpentine drive. RockAuto box arrived with a whole bunch of goodies, so I was able to get my serpentine drive all installed. Problem is now, the tensioner under the alternator goes all the way to the stop. I tried shorter belts, and same issue. (It rotates clockwise fyi).

The smog pump has been deleted...it was below the alternator. I guess I mistakenly trusted some information I found on FTE that this setup would work with this particular belt...and maybe it does work...but I'm not going to risk driving with no tensioner.

The simple solution would be to install a smog pump delete bracket like below:

https://lmr.com/products/79-93-Mustang-Smog-Pump-Components

But the smog pump mounting points have already been removed...ugh. So I guess I'm off to the junkyard today to look for a new old bracket.

There's always something lol. One step forward, 3/4 of a step backwards, always lol.

This is the very project I am working on now - swapping '95 donor truck serpentine stuff into my '81. I'm not quite as far along as you, but I probably will be tomorrow, so following this thread.

[Rembrant]

This is the very project I am working on now - swapping '95 donor truck serpentine stuff into my '81. I'm not quite as far along as you, but I probably will be tomorrow, so following this thread.

This engine is a 1996 5.0, so the serpentine drive is the same as 1995. I picked up another bracket today from a junked ‘94 F150. I need to disassemble it and remove the smog pump and order a smog delete bracket. The good news is that this will allow me to run a stock size belt and the tensioner will work as it is supposed to. The downside is that it backs me up at least a week. Oh well.

 

[Gary Lewis]

This is the very project I am working on now - swapping '95 donor truck serpentine stuff into my '81. I'm not quite as far along as you, but I probably will be tomorrow, so following this thread.

This engine is a 1996 5.0, so the serpentine drive is the same as 1995. I picked up another bracket today from a junked ‘94 F150. I need to disassemble it and remove the smog pump and order a smog delete bracket. The good news is that this will allow me to run a stock size belt and the tensioner will work as it is supposed to. The downside is that it backs me up at least a week. Oh well.

It is still progress, and as Jim says, progress is good.

[Rembrant]

I’m surprised a shorter belt doesn’t work.

I think it is because the tensioner has such a short radius, and the arc it travels makes it almost impossible to work properly with any belt. The shorter belt did go on with some force, and then it felt too tight...and the tensioner still pushed to the stop. What a bugger. Serves me right for taking the advice of some old random thread on FTE lol.

Anyway, I got a new bracket yesterday, same as the one on the truck now, but with the smog pump still intact. Will be working on it today to see if I can get it apart, so that I can have it blasted this week.