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From Junk to Mean Machine |
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This is page 10 of the series.
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| I wanted horses in this car but I didn't want the weight of a big block. I had come to the conclusion that a 351 Windsor best suited my application. I had selected Rod Kendall of AA Engine in Fayetteville, Georgia to put together the engine, while we were attending to the vehicle restoration. By the time the body was ready for the engine and driveline Rod was ready for us. | |||||||||||||
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| The 351 Windsor had come from a 69 Mustang Coupe and the block was machined and balanced. We had decided to follow a build up published in Mustang Monthly September ’97 issue entitled “How To: Edelbrock Performer 351W Engine Buildup”. Basically I decided if Edelbrock had done all the guesswork that was good enough for me. It met all my requirements: around 400 h.p. at the flywheel, a ton of torque and a 9:1 compression ratio. | |||||||||||||
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| Rod followed the recommended engine buildup pretty much to the word. Hypereutectic pistons, Performer RPM aluminum heads, dual plane intake and cam setup. Crane Gold Race rocker arms, Edelbrock 7500 cfm carb. We added a Fluidampr harmonic balancer and direct drive timing gears. | |||||||||||||
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Hedman full length headers had been trial fitted with the engine in the car, slightly modified for fit then sent out for performance coating. The photo shows a before and after coating. | ||||||||||||
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Likewise my friend and experienced restorer Sam Murphy specially coated the valve covers and dual plane intake so that they retained their brushed aluminum look but were now totally resistant to fuel and oil stains Same with the Cobra air cleaner housing (not shown in this photo) and Cobra oil pan. Note also the Edelbrock high flow fuel pump which would be fed through an upsized fuel line. We added a chrome alternator and later added chromed brackets to enhance final appearance. | ||||||||||||
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Our final pulley solutions were from March Performance. | ||||||||||||
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| Cooling was at the top of my “do it right the first time” list. Nothing is more aggravating after a new buildup than overheating problems caused by inadequate planning. I went with a Griffin Aluminum radiator, Edelbrock water pump supported with Cool Flex chrome over copper hoses and connectors. These hoses can be easily adjusted to fit your specific application and also help dump a lot of heat. Finally we also added a 7 blade big-block clutch fan to force plenty of air while not robbing horsepower. In addition we installed an overflow retention system. Having now driven the vehicle over 6 thousand miles, I can tell you from experience that the cooling setup was a good one, it runs as cool as a cucumber under all driving conditions. | |||||||||||||
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The original plan for a vintage Top Loader had been scratched early in the planning stages and supplanted with a Tremec 3550 5-speed setup. The rear 3:73 Postrack gearing would give me low and high-end range using this transmission. | ||||||||||||
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After installing the tranny we would go up top and install a Pro 5.0 shifter. | ||||||||||||
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Owner Danny Bahn of D.B. Performance Engineering worked with me on the entire tranny setup. He engineers the transmission mounting bracket and also set up my clutch pedal for a cable clutch solution. Far stouter than the vintage mechanical clutch setup. | ||||||||||||
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| The Tremec turns an aluminum driveshaft which feeds the 9 inch “N” case rear end, featuring 3:73 Postrack and 31 Spline axles. You can also see a portion of the sub-frames we had welded in for additional body rigidity. | |||||||||||||
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| Shots from front and rear, as though you were looking under the bumpers at ground level, show you the final appearance. The exhaust system featured 2 ½ inch Aluminized exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers (slightly angled for maximum heat dissipation) and an H pipe feeding out of the long tube headers. | |||||||||||||
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| To add further rigidity to the chassis and minimize any twisting from the torque this motor would create I decided to use the bracing system offered by Total Control. This is a step beyond the original Export Brace and Monte Carlo bar originally used by Ford and compliments the Pro Motorsports lower shock tower reinforcement kit we had installed during the sheet metal phase. This beautiful setup includes aircraft billet aluminum and reversible threading for custom adjustment. | |||||||||||||
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It also added a lot of sizzle to the final engine compartment appearance. Note the aluminum overflow receptacle in the lower left hand corner, forward of the radiator support. | ||||||||||||
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| For a final
touch I took what was originally a reproduction Shelby GT 350 grille emblem
and had special lettering created so it now read as a Cobra GT 351.
Similarly the rocker striping was customized to read “G.T. 351”. New SN
95 Cobra adhesive emblems were used on the fenders.
Since there were no GT 351’s anyone familiar with the ’67 Shelby would now know instantly that this was a modified car not a fake Shelby. |
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| Page 10 of
?..... To Be Continued - come
back in the next few weeks for more
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Classic & Late Model Many of our used and NOS Mustang parts are available in our eBay Store. Both Classic and Late Model parts are being added daily. Check back often for new listings. |
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