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84 XR-7 Project

Reply #45 –
So the 4V "C" heads are going on the 2V block correct?
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #46 –
That's the last resort plan.  I'm hoping to find a Mark engine that isn't owned by some pain in the ass douche who thinks he has the last 4V in existence, or from EZ Pull.  They had a few Mark's in the past year and a half but I wasn't ready for an engine.  Kicking myself for not buying one of them when they were out there.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #47 –
Engine crisis has been resolved.  I hadn't browsed for any parts for a while and decided what the hell, let me take a quick look.  This came up in nearby areas when searching "cobra" under auto parts on the Philadelphia Craigslist.  $500, you come get it off my floor.  I have vacation coming up next week so I was going to wait until after that to do this.  I'm glad I didn't, I doubt it would have still been there.  Only had to drive for about 8 hours round trip to Maryland to get it.  I don't mind the drive, but it wiped me out for the rest of the day.

96 Cobra engine, complete from intake to exhaust manifolds.  All the parts I was worried about finding in time are on the engine.  My Mark VIII has a new intake, or if I decide to not go that route, I could sell and recoup most of my money.  Forged 8-bolt crank for the Cougar, as well as RWD Teksid block, timing cover and everything else I need.  Guy I got it from was a cool dude, but wasn't a hands on car guy, he buys his speed, doesn't build it.  He told me this engine might be set up for a blower.  So I had to take the valve covers off to see if it had cams....my biggest remaining expense.  Well it doesn't have aftermarket cams....nor the 96-98 Cobra intake cams I would have liked to have for the Lincoln, but it has 03/04 intake cams, which were the same across the board, Terminator/Mach 1/Marauder/Aviator etc.  Still a score but not the greatest since I'm not going blower at this stage....of course by the time that stage starts, the F150 Coyotes might be cheap enough to throw one of those in....who knows.  I have to run the numbers on the Conti C head cams I have, some sites claim the 99 Conti's had identical heads from the 99 Cobra, cams and all, so that would be nice for the Lincoln.  Also the guy said it might have pistons and rods...which would totally make me happy.  We'll see as I tear this down in the next few months.

Here are some quick pics:



84 XR-7 Project

Reply #48 –
F150 Coyotes run ~$3000 here.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #49 –
Same here, about $3000 for an engine.  But with the Coyote, it's a lot more involved to get it to work.  There's the ECM and sensor pack that runs $1500, swap headers that run $500-$1000, intake cams to get it to Mustang spec, and all the other odds and ends to make it work.  It's crossed my mind.  But as of getting this engine, I have everything I need to get my car to run and drive, minus maintenance items (tune up, clutch kit, etc.).  Even if I didn't put another dime into this car, I could get it to run.  And I'm under $1500.  It'd be fun, but with pistons, aftermarket cams, and a tune, I'll be at Coyote Mustang level power.  That's the next step though, Coyote Cougar.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #50 –
The big problem with the Coyote swap isn't so much the engine cost as much as the cost of the control pack/swap parts. You can supercharge a 4.6 4V at that point and be ahead.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #51 –
Quote from: thunderjet302;453917
Well if the 2V isn't the final plan then yeah just make it work and don;t worry about boosting it. Any idea what the final engine plan is?

Your wife wanting a 99-04 isn't bad. I my wife and I ended up buying this new off the showroom floor for her:


Replying to a very old post, but I cringe whenever I see a front  license plate on a new mustang.  Why oh why?
T-Birds can't fly.  Ask how I know...
 

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #52 –
Quote from: Lodemia;457314
Replying to a very old post, but I cringe whenever I see a front  license plate on a new mustang.  Why oh why?

Because Illinois law requires it. Plus it already had it mounted :(
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #53 –
Quote from: thunderjet302;457364
Because Illinois law requires it. Plus it already had it mounted :(

With my wife's 50th anniversary, tossed the license plate and the plate holder in the trunk and told her to simply claim that her husband hasn't gotten to it yet if she ever gets pulled over.  The dealer almost installed it and I said that the deal was off if he did!.

What is wrong with us that we're working on 30 year old iron and our wives are driving beautiful new machines :shakehead
T-Birds can't fly.  Ask how I know...

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #54 –
Quote from: Lodemia;457376
With my wife's 50th anniversary, tossed the license plate and the plate holder in the trunk and told her to simply claim that her husband hasn't gotten to it yet if she ever gets pulled over.  The dealer almost installed it and I said that the deal was off if he did!.

What is wrong with us that we're working on 30 year old iron and our wives are driving beautiful new machines :shakehead

Well it already had it mounted before we picked it up. We ordered the car too. If I remove it then there are holes in the bumper cover :hick:

The Thunderbird is not my daily driver. A 2011 Focus is. The 30 year old iron is just a hobby car to keep me occupied.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #55 –
I've been steadily working on the car.  I just get too lost with everything to document it steadily.  I'll do a series of updates over the next few nights to get caught back up to the current status.

Key points:
  • Plan and timeline ironed out and finalized (let's just say it's going to be a mad rush)
  • All major components have been bought except for a tuner which I'm waiting on finding a tuner to tell me which tuner they use....ha
  • Money has been tight and a major life changing event is on the horizon, so things were cut, I'm not happy about it.
  • Prior to June 1st the car MUST be road worthy or else no Carlisle....like not even to spectate, it means that much to me to get this car into that show.

So with that out of the way, my timeline is as follows:
  I have one month to get the engine fired up inside of the car.  That leaves two months to get the car street legal.  I am, at best, two weeks away from having the engine mounted in the car.

Now on to some sweet new parts pics:


Maximum Motorsports extreme-duty rear LCA's and Fox CatBird C/C plates.
Also a hint at my life changing event, 10 points for correct guess.


Clutch kit with chromoly flywheel, disc and bearing kit are questionable quality, pressure plate is Valeo brand, which is the same PP that Ford sources for their King Cobra clutch kits.


UPR Chromoly k-member for 96-04 Mustangs with spring perches.

Last but not least, the engine rebuild components, no pic.  I got Perfect Circle rings, King main and rod bearings, Victor Reinz gasket kit, and bolts.  For those curious, the minimum amount of money spent to rebuild a Mod motor "properly" is in the neighborhood of $2000, not including any machine work, if so inclined.  It can easily cost you $1000 to time a 4v alone!  I'm taking a risk by not buying a timing kit and replacing every single fastener with ARP stuff, but I'm not made of money and the true cost only became clear after I started looking for parts.  My educated gamble says I'll be fine with the stock bottom end, assuming that the main bolts and rod bolts haven't been torqued more than 5 times, which according to a Ford engineer, the TTY bolts can handle.  Fingers crossed.

As I said above, I'm not happy with some of the cuts I had to make.  The clutch kit and flywheel were $300.  If it makes it to Carlisle and back, I'll be happy.  If it dies 1 mile after that, it's a $300 mistake on my part.  I can't spend $1000 on a clutch and flywheel.  I had to cut the long tube headers, coil over suspension, finished body work and paint, full interior, and the list goes on.  I didn't want to buy a K-member twice, but this is the only k-member that I could use stock A-arms, springs, and doesn't mess with the wheelbase.  The MM K-member costs over 3 times as much after including all the required parts.  Hell my order for LCA's and CC plates was almost $700.  I know it's quality.  I'm not complaining that their prices are too high.  I will be upgrading down the road.  I just can't build my dream car right now. It sucks I even had to buy those LCA's, because I'm going IRS in the future and these LCA's are Fox CatBird specific.

I've been against taking a work-in-progress to a car show, but the 50th will be the last big meet in my eyes.  I'll get over it.  It's unique and needs to be shared.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #56 –
I have those Maximum Motorsports extreme duty rear lower control arms in my Thunderbird. They are really nice pieces. Worth the money ;).
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #57 –
Yeah, that's why I went with them.  They look really good and I'm already happy with them, even though it'll be a while before I get to try them out.  There aren't many choices when it comes to LCA's for our cars, and even fewer with spherical bearings AND sway bar mounts.  I'm sticking with stock uppers and rubber, just need to find bushings for the UCA's.  I'm ordering the MM kit and tool for the rubber housing bushings.

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #58 –
As far as I know only the axle bushings are available in rubber for the UCA's.  You can still get new Fox UCA's with new bushings in them.  On MM's site they have the new rubber bushings that install in the rear end and they say they come from Ford or a "trusted source" and they both get them from the same manufacturer.  What I want to know is if the body side bushings are the same from a Mustang to a Bird/Cougar would MM be willing to contact their source for the Mustang UCA's and see if they would sell the bushings being our control arms are longer.  May be worth a call to MM.  I have Global West units in my car with hemispherical rod ends at the body and rubber bushings in the rear end so I am not in need but I have always wondered.

Great project by the way and keep focused on the project at hand.  Go for the 4V motor naturally aspirated for now and then add forced induction later as the stock configuration with some boost make some killer numbers.  My buddy's stock Mach 1 makes over 600 at the rear wheels with about 9 psi.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

84 XR-7 Project

Reply #59 –
UPR makes a spherical housing bushing.  I just don't know if using the UPR's and a pair of CHE's spherical uppers would allow for enough twist to eliminate bind.  I trust what MM says about using the stock uppers with rubber on both ends when using spherical lowers.  If I can't find any upper bushings on the body side and if mine are trash, I might be forced to get a pair of CHE's.  Of course I might have to go that route anyway depending where my pinion angle sits once the 3650 and shortened driveshaft are in.