A long way to go and a short time to get there.

[Hawk231]

I finally decided to post some pictures of the Skyhawk revival. Let's see how much I can get done in the next seven weeks.

[Hawk231]

Some more pics.

[OldsStarfire]

Nice garage - BIG !

How is that motor coming?

Jeff

[Hawk231]

I measured the crank bearing clearances last night. My brother came over and we got half of the guts back in the trans.

Today is measuring rod bearing clearances and misc stuff.

[stage169]

Looks like fun! Hey I think I saw a spec of dirt on your shop floor I have only seen the one pic of your tan Skyhawk. These pictures make me want to see more. That car looks pristine!!! The tan car is what you are working on now? Brian

[Hawk231]

Dim lighting does wonders for the floor and car pictures. The car isn’t pristine by a long shot, but it’s clean enough to have some fun with. It’s the target of my latest efforts.

Hey, the block in the paint booth is from the engine you gave me. And, the 2.92 rear is now in the coupe, which let me put the 2.56 out of it into the blue hatchback, which allowed me to have the 3.23 to do the rebuild on, without having to touch the Skyhawk.

I trial fitted the crank today and checked the end play. The rod bearing clearances have been measured. I ran into a problem with the timing cover though. There seems to be excessive taper on the oil pump housing opening. It's a new aftermarket (china) timing cover. I’ll look at it again tomorrow with some fresh eyes. My brother has to come over later this week to finish the trans, and bring his tool to put the cam bearings in it. It could have had the rotating assembly in it today.

[Hawk231]

Here’s the latest update.

The trans is back together with correct spedo gears. I decided to give it a coat of paint too. Don't shoot me because it's Ford gray. The aluminum trans pan is supposed to be here Tuesday.

The rear end has gone through a minor transformation. Watch it happen before your very eyes through the magic of time lapse photography.

The timing cover I'm pretty sure will work. I had to call up TA Performance to get a set of various thickness oil pump housing gaskets. I ordered an adjustable oil pressure regulator while I was at it.

The carburetor is apart and soaking in cleaner. It's an ebay Holley that I rolled the dice on.

I put the rotating assembly in the block on Saturday. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to check the cam bearing clearance. We had installed the TRW cam bearings late Friday night. The clearance is just too loose. I've been having terrible luck with TRW bearings. The first set of main bearings I had where TRW. They ended up being too loose too. The crank and cam are both machined spot on. I ended up replacing the main bearings with Federal Mogul and they came in perfect. The Clevite rod bearing were perfect from the start. I'll be pulling the rotating assembly back out tomorrow evening. I'll decide tomorrow if I'm getting Federal Mogul cam bearing or calling TA back to order a set of dual grooves.

[Hawk231]

For what it cost it better be good stuff...

[Hawk231]

The trans pan came in today. Too bad it was for a TH400 instead of a TH350. I've already emailed the ebay seller.

My oil pump housing shim kit and regulator came today too. Guess I'll have to settle for working on the front cover.

The cam bearings didn't come today like they were supposed to.

[Hawk231]

I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

The static compression ration came in right at 9.1:1. It’s a little lower than I’d hoped for but far better than the original 7.75:1.

The rear is scheduled to get the guts installed this coming Tuesday. I’m going to be working on the carburetor tomorrow.

Never trust a part even if it’s new. Check out what I pulled out of the oil filter housing.

[Hawk231]

Some more

[Hawk231]

A few more

[Hawk231]

The carb is done... Whew


I trial fitted the air cleaner with a dummy distributor... I'm going to quit the whole project There's no way that air cleaner stud is going to fit under the hood


Oh, I dusted off the headers too.

Now I can take some measurements using the valve covers and air cleaner top as reference points. I sure hope it fits under the hood.

I ordered the parts for the distributor rebuild.

Also, the metric bolts I need for the accessory brackets are due wednesday. Those 8445's are just a little different than the original heads. The Grainger dude is my new best friend.

[Dannyboy]

Hey man!
Very nice work, truly...!
Is that headers you got on it?
BUT why black?

[Dannyboy]

Hey man!
Very nice work, truly...!
Is that headers you got on it?
BUT why black?