289 build

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amulheirn
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289 build

Post by amulheirn »

Hi all -
I thought it was about time for an update in case anyone's interested. I'm building a 289 slabside, at the same time as getting an extension done, so progress is slow.

In summary, work on the car hasn't started, but I've rebuilt the 302 V8 myself over the course of the last year. I taught myself to weld, stuck it on a home-made stand and started it up last Thursday. It started first time - well, second time if you disregard the fact I forgot to turn the fuel on the first time :wink:

I bought the block and heads from eBay for £400 in late 2012 - the plan being to see if we could rebuild it with stock components, and if it worked, upgrade it a bit. My friend Dave and I started stripping it down in early 2013 (I think - seems a long time ago now). We had the block cleaned, checked and honed at Roe Engineering in Fleet. They did a light skim on the stock heads for us, which are the rather poor-performing E6SE castings (they'll get an upgrade at some point). Cylinder bore was standard, with the crank ground 10 under. Then we took the rotating parts for dynamic balancing at Bassetdown Balancing in Newbury - the chap there is building a Dax in his spare time, so he's pretty cool. Started reassembling it in about May last year, measuring everything very carefully - ring gaps, lands, cylinder roundness, oil clearances, you name it - to make sure it's all absolutely within tolerance.

We sprayed it dark Ford blue, which I since discovered is probably wrong. Hopefully the finished car will get a 67 plate, so I think the motor should be black, but I'm sure someone can tell me for sure. It got an aluminium water pump, a Weiand Stealth intake, a Holley 600 CFM carb and some fancy rocker covers. Now I've done more reading and looking at original cars, I'm thinking of de-blinging the whole thing to make it look more authentic. Kind of regret buying the shiny alternator and pulley set, but hell - you don't always get things right first time around.

Roger kindly sold me a few parts I needed (radiator etc.), and my friends and I finally got round to plumbing/wiring the whole thing over the past month. Checked and re-checked everything and then bravely pushed the start button. It sounds pretty amazing - the video doesn't do it justice.

There's a video here if you want to take a look: http://youtu.be/3MS2JjKjOVM

The lack of reading on the oil pressure and water temp gauges is due to the puny voltage regulator I fitted. They worked for about 10 minutes of the initial run-in period, but then stopped working - the voltage regulator having gone bad. I knew I should've bought the proper thing rather than a transistor off eBay!

Comments and suggestions appreciated...

Andrew
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amulheirn
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by amulheirn »

Getting along with the axle last weekend - here is a video I've put together showing how to pull the half-shafts out of an MGB tube axle.
https://youtu.be/YgVn68hzunI


This weekend was supposed to be building up some RHS aluminium cylinder heads, but I went cheap on the valve spring compressor which can't be used with Comp Cams' double springs. Dangnabbit.

Might have to build the brakes instead tomorrow. Still - progress being made at last...

Regards,

A.
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StewbieC
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by StewbieC »

Hi Andrew,
Nice of your other half to let you dismantle your axle on the kitchen work top, either that or your giving Clive a run for his money in the high class workshop stakes.
Nice to hear that I wasn't the only one to scorn on those who said removing the hubs was an easy task!!
Good progress, well done.
________________________________________________
Stu
Hawk 289, 66 Mustang Fastback with a 289 maximum smiles per mile..
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Roger King
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by Roger King »

amulheirn wrote:We sprayed it dark Ford blue, which I since discovered is probably wrong.
Just a little note for completeness' sake - all 289 Cobra engine blocks were painted black.
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Phil Riley
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by Phil Riley »

Roger King wrote:
Pythagoras wrote:Clients who get this update should understand that there is a possibility of slightly increased engine noise levels under certain circumstances.”
I should bl**dy well hope so!
Now the 'Bots' are speaking your language Roger!
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Phil Riley
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by Phil Riley »

[quote="amulheirn"
There's a video here if you want to take a look: http://youtu.be/3MS2JjKjOVM
Andrew[/quote]


Was this film made after you bed-in the cam Andrew?
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amulheirn
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by amulheirn »

Roger King wrote:
amulheirn wrote:We sprayed it dark Ford blue, which I since discovered is probably wrong.
Just a little note for completeness' sake - all 289 Cobra engine blocks were painted black.
Yeah - thanks Roger. It was from you that I discovered I had painted it wrong originally! Ho hum. I could do without prepping the darn thing for paint again, but it has to be done. Does anyone have recommendations on block paint?
Last edited by amulheirn on Sun Sep 20, 2015 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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amulheirn
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by amulheirn »

StewbieC wrote:Hi Andrew,
Nice of your other half to let you dismantle your axle on the kitchen work top, either that or your giving Clive a run for his money in the high class workshop stakes.
Nice to hear that I wasn't the only one to scorn on those who said removing the hubs was an easy task!!
Good progress, well done.
Haha! Well actually I bought some worktop and cheap cupboards for the garage, which works fairly well. But she was out when I cleaned the new aluminium heads in the sink yesterday:

Image
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amulheirn
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by amulheirn »

Other progress today:

Fitted the new shoes, adjuster and brake cylinder to one end of the axle, and then bolted up the diff cover finally.

Of course there's always one bit you forgot to paint, isn't there?!
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amulheirn
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Re: 289 slabside build

Post by amulheirn »

philriley427 wrote: Was this film made after you bed-in the cam Andrew?
Yes it was Phil. And after the hokey voltage regulator behind my temporary dashboard had blown up too - hence the zero readings on the water and oil...
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