The Time Machine

[69timemachine]

Not too much new here guys. Sorry I've been quiet lately! The truck is running pretty good, but a little rich, so I'm waiting on some new jets and rods to arrive so I can try to lean it down a little and squeeze a few more MPG out of it. It has been running well enough that I have taken it to a couple local shows and had a good time with it. I know some of you have been waiting to hear the truck run, so I shot a video on my girlfriend's phone with the truck idling and I did a walk around it. Only problem is, she's having heck getting it to post to youtube for some reason. I'll be sure to let you all know when I can get it posted successfully. Thanks for your patience!

[dablack00]

Sounds good! Keep at it. Those last couple of things always take the longest.

[GHOST]

Thanks! It's .030" over on the bores, .010/.010" on the crank, and has a fully balanced rotating assembly using ARP hardware everywhere. It'll be running a StreetDampr and aluminum flywheel with CenterForce clutch. Intake and heads are gasket matched, and the heads are sporting Beehive springs, Comp Cams stainless steel roller rockers, screw-in studs, and guideplates. The cam is an Edelbrock Performer RPM to match the Edelbrock Performer RPM AirGap intake manifold. The stock distributor has an Ignitor III (which includes rev-limiter) installed and will be paired to an Ignitor III Coil. The carb is a Jet Performance Stage 2 Quadrajet with electric choke, and the air cleaner will be a Spectre Ram Air that has been smoothed and painted blue to look somewhat factory. Fuel pump is a Holley and water pump is a Weiand aluminum. Valve covers are Ansen and the headers will be ceramic-coated Sanderson Shorties. The exhaust will be fully stainless 2.5" diameter with an X-pipe and a pair of polished MagnaPacks. Transmission will be a '67 Mustang TopLoader 4-speed, and the rear end will be stock 3.70 ratio for now, but will have LFP 58" traction bars to control spring wrap.

I haven't brought myself to adding up receipts, but I know for a fact that I have almost as much invested in the engine as I have invested in the purchase and modification of the entire truck so far! But I'm thinking it should be a blast once I get it all together!

nice

[69timemachine]

Other than installing my airdam, I've been tinkering with my tuning on the truck, putting one size larger rods and one size smaller jets to lean it down a little. It seems a little happier now, but I haven't really seen a mileage increase just yet since I've been punching it alot during tuning. I'm also going to change my secondary rods to larger ones since I still have a pesky little hesitation on the secondaries.
I found that my wide exhaust band clamps were leaking pretty badly, so some of the narrow stronger ones are on the way to replace them. I'm also going to header wrap my exhaust pipes just below the headers since they are within about 1.5 inches of the oil pan and I'm sure it's warming the oil up pretty good. The ceramic coated headers definitely run cooler, but they seem to send that heat further on down the exhaust system and make it run hotter.
So, that's about all the news on the truck for now. I'm just adressing some small stuff so it will be ready for a few carshows coming up. I'm gonna take it out and have some fun with it! And yes, I'm still working on that video of my truck; my fiancee's phone is giving us grief and still not allowing us to load any videos. If I had a money tree growing in the back yard, I'd just buy one of those GoPro video cameras! Maybe one day.......

[69timemachine]

I finally got the video posted, with help from my brilliant nephew! I hope you all like it! Check it out in the videos category!

[69timemachine]

I got a new cell phone, so I shot and posted a couple more videos.

[69timemachine]

Some new updates to my truck; I yanked the TopLoader 4-speed and installed a TKO-600 5-speed not too long ago. I have a thread in the Drivetrain section detailing all of that process, so I never really got around to posting it on this thread. I also yanked the 3.70 gears and open differential in favor of 4.56 gears and an Eaton TrueTrac while I was swapping the tranny. I just completed my 500-mile tranny break-in period and in the 5 or so tanks of fuel since the swap, I've already shown a 17% increase in fuel mileage. The truck is more fun to drive now and I have been driving it more than before.

[69timemachine]

Been a while since i checked in, so I thought I'd give a progress report. The new transmission, gears, and differential have been running excellent! I've been recurving my timing to make the cam a little more happy down low in the RPM's and it is running great! I also rebuilt my rear brakes with new shoes and new drums.
My wife and I have been taking it to some local car shows and cruise nights, and to my surprise, this beast is racking up some trophies, even with the factory paint! I don't go to shows for the trophies, just to have fun and talk to other car people, but it is a nice surprise to win them! So the moral of the story is, don't be afraid to take your truck out and have a good time with it at a show just because you think the paint isn't pretty or because it has a few dents. Patina is all the rage right now!
I don't have many plans for it right now other than just to keep having fun with it. I need to install the poly body mounts still, possibly a winter project, and I'm working on a set of deepened '60's dog dish caps to fit over my disc brake hubs, but that's about it.

[dbarker]

fantastic!

[rkeeme]

Absolutely fantastic!

[69timemachine]

I've changed a couple small things on the truck. I had the chance to get 10% off an order from Summit Racing, so I decided to pull the trigger on changing my rear rims from 15x9" to 15x10". They're the Wheel Vintiques 62 series, with 4.5" backspace, which means they're pretty much exactly centered in the wheel well of a 9" rear equipped F100. I still had primer and Lunar Green paint from when I painted my wheels originally, and I kept my 275/60/15 tires, so no expenses there. I basically gained .5" of backspace and .5" of frontspace. It's not a big change, but I can see it. It looks a little more agressive for sure!

[69timemachine]

Another project I just finished is making a set of the '60's dog dish caps fit the front of my '74 disc brake swapped truck. After the conversion, the '60's caps would no longer pop on, so I ran a set of '70's FOMOCO caps. I trimmed the mounting ring off of a pair of the '60's caps and trimmed the mounting ring + 5/8" off of a pair of '70's caps, then had a friend MIG the '70's ring onto the '60's cap. After grinding the welds down, getting the caps sandblasted, minor body filler & sanding, primer, and paint, they were finally ready for me to hand-paint all the black details back on. Just that alone took 1.5 hours per cap, times four! I probably have 25 hours tied up in these caps, but they look great in the end!

[69timemachine]

Some more photos of this project.

[69timemachine]

Here's the finished product. I've always been a fan of the '70's FOMOCO caps over these, but seeing a set of these restored and on a set of deep dish wheels makes me appreciate them much more! I'm really happy with the final result!

[69timemachine]

Other than these projects, not much has been going on. I've been taking it to some of the local shows and having fun with it. While my trophy count is at a respectable 'four' after a couple years of showing it, I just enjoy seeing people's reactions to the truck and talking to them about it. I can be parked next to some really nice rides at these shows and people come to talk to me more than the owners of the nice vehicles! Some people even enjoy seeing the original paint over the fancy paint jobs! It's really fun! Future plans? Well, I don't really have any plans for changes, because it's nearing perfection as far as I'm concerned.