Spring Projects Completed

Last time we left off I was describing how what started out as a simple project has grown into a monster project.  Long story short, I was going to pull the engine and trans in order to freshen things up and replace things like a new radiator, clutch, flywheel, shift kit, and the infamous rear main oil seal that I have been trying to avoid since I've had the car.

Coming out party

Here's a rundown of each of the projects:

Rear Main Oil Seal and Engine

Whelp, this isn't going to work

Once I got the engine out of the car, I had to break down the engine from the flywheel back.  Once I removed all those parts, I could put the engine on the engine stand.  Except there was one problem.  The new engine puller has legs that come out in the shape of a 'V' and the engine stand has boxed legs.  Have you ever put a square peg into a round hole?  Doesn't work.  So I had to go out and get a new engine stand.  The good news is I have an engine stand for sale.  Anyone interested?

Once I was able to finally get the engine on the stand I went to work on the rear main oil seal.  For the rear main oil seal I went with a Fel-Pro Fluoroelastomer gasket from JEGS.  Except, when I ordered it I got an email saying it was out of stock and on back order and they requested the vendor send it directly to me.  After some research I found out that it was out of stock everywhere!  I was scrambling everywhere trying to find this part.  I even called Fel-Pro and they said they were waiting on production and it could take up to six months.  Right when I was ready to cancel my order with JEGS, a package showed up at my door and it was the rear main oil seal gasket!

I also picked up some Corporate Ford Blue engine paint, new freeze plugs, intake and exhaust gaskets.  I was also able to check the oil pickup depth since I had the engine out (something I didn't do when I installed it).  I never had any problems with it, but I just needed the peace of mind knowing that it is now 1/2" above the bottom of the pan.

Spring Projects

Since this winter was spent building a new garage at our new house, my car projects have pretty much been on hold.  But now it is spring and I am chomping at the bit to start some projects.  What started out as just a couple of projects though has grown into some really big things that I am starting to question my sanity (thanks Greg for talking me into this!)  The original plan was to redo the cooling system and change that rear main oil seal that I have been chasing since last year.  But now this has grown to be:

• Pull the engine and transmission out.  Why replace the rear main oil seal with the engine in the car when you can pull out the whole thing and detail it??  Duh, this is a no brainer apparently.  My goal is to replace the rear main seal and then clean up the engine block and paint it Corporate Ford Blue.  If nothing else, this will help give me more "authenticity points" at car shows and just clean up the engine bay.  It fits with what I am going for, the "stock" look with stealth mods that improve reliability.  The only problem is right now I am having trouble finding the upgraded rear main seal that everyone recommends.  For some reason FelPro is out of their 2901 gasket and no one has it in stock.  Hopefully I will find something out tomorrow when I call them.

Cherry picker is ready to burst its cherry

• Up next is a cooling system rebuild.  I have been wanting to do this one since I have been struggling with the car running hot.  I am just going to do the whole thing new including:

• Griffin radiator
• New fixed blade fan with thermal clutch
• High performance water pump
• Thermostat and housing
  

• Finally, since I am going to have the transmission out, I thought I would fix that up some too.  I plan on upgrading to a 10.5" clutch, including new flywheel and pilot bearing (and potentially a new starter).  I also plan on detailing the transmission and installing a Hurst Competition Plus shift kit. This is the project I am most nervous about.

The way I see it, go big or go home.  Honestly I didn't want to tackle this all at once, but they are all projects I wanted to do.  After talking with Greg, it just makes sense to do it all now.  Luckily I am not in school so I should actually have time to devote to this and get it all done before June.  Whelp here goes nothing.....updates to come.

Under Construction: Part 3

This is part three of a three part series:

• Part 1:  Laying the Foundation
• Part 2:  Building the Structure
• Part 3:  Finishing the Job

Before I could move my stuff over, there were a few things I wanted to make happen.  First I wanted to epoxy the floor which I went with the 100% solid epoxy floor from Epoxy-Coat.  I got the gray epoxy with black, red, and white medium flecks.  I have to admit though I think my impatience got the best of me on this one.  The instructions say it is best when applied over 40 degrees, and by then the cold had really come in and I had laid the floor down in 30 degree weather (at best) and the floor application just really didn't go on smooth.  Especially the clear top coat.  Overall it looks fine though, probably not as smooth though as if I had done this in the spring, but I am okay with it.

The other thing I had to do was get an electrician out to wire up the garage.  My plan is to set up the single door side as the work bay with the double door being the parking bay.  I had a 100 amp subpanel installed in the garage.  This should give plenty of room for expansion for things like a compressor or welder someday. I also went with plenty of overhead shop lighting and outlets around the perimeter especially in the working bay side.

And finally, I went with Cardinal Door for the garage door openers.  They have Liftmaster openers that connect to your home wifi through a gateway, that way I can monitor activity through my cell phone.  Also as a little bit of a splurge, since I was surprised that I ended up with almost 10' to the trusses, my eyes started getting big thinking of getting a lift someday, so I went ahead and ordered a side mounted unit.  The LiftMaster 8500 Series mounts directly to the wall and opens the door from the side.  This frees up then the overhead space for the future (not going to be this year).

Lighting and epoxy floor

Under Construction: Part 2

This is part two of a three part series:

• Part 1:  Laying the Foundation
• Part 2:  Building the Structure
• Part 3:  Finishing the Job

So now the foundation is poured and ready for the structure to be build.  For the structure I went with Coach House Garages. My real estate agent recommended them and I am glad he did, these guys do a good job.  Although I don't think they were ready for how determined I was to get a garage up as soon as possible, they finally came through.  The tried to tell me I had to wait till the spring, but I was determined and able to sub out the concrete in order to meet their timeline before their winter shutdown.  The cool thing with Coach House is that they pre-build everything in their warehouse, which allows them to get everything installed quickly.  There was a crew of seven guys that showed up at 7:00 am and they were done by 3:30 pm the very same day.  They are a well oiled machine and pictures don't do it justice.

Three walls up within the first hour

Progress by 9:00am

Under Construction: Part 1

Hello there dear dusty blog.  Yes, I am still alive.  It has been a wild 6 months or so.  The fall was packed full of trying to finish school.  And then there was graduation and the holidays.  And now somehow we have decided to buy a house, so there was a move.  I swear each move there is more and more stuff that we have accumulated and it makes it that more painful.  Although I will say the only part that is not painful is moving all the toys in the garage.  That is always fun.  I hope you can forgive me.

The new house is pretty cool.  It was built back in 1899 and the previous owner has gone through and updated all the infrastructure.  New heating & cooling, plumbing, electric, fixtures, etc.  What we like the most is that all of the old architectural details were kept.  These houses just have character.  But there was an added bonus / challenge.  There was no garage.  So on one hand I potentially got to build the garage of my dreams, and on the other I had to deal with building it on a tight time frame as I needed to get my stuff out of the old garage sooner rather than later (I don't think the old landlord would appreciate the squatting).

My original thought was to go with a 3-car brick garage like the picture below.  Once I got a bid though for what that would cost, I quickly reconsidered going with a nice vinyl siding garage.

My original plans

The new lot is 50' wide, so being a responsible person, I went with a modest 24' deep by 34' wide three car garage.  I am going to break this up into three different posts:

• Part 1:  Laying the Foundation (this post)
• Part 2:  Building the Structure
• Part 3:  Finishing the Job