The Official Hot Rod Thread - Part 4: Burnouts for Distance

[femurphy77]

Muscle cars were made to have massive deep dish wheels

I hear ya! I just got the RFP1's installed on the 89 GT and I'm having difficulty with the lack of a dish on them. Granted it's not a "muscle car" but old habits die hard.

 

[femurphy77]

Well, this looks like fun! And the price doesn't seem that far off base.

Big block 1966 fastback Mustang - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

66 Mustang fastback, tubbed, 468 BBC, Procomp aluminum heads, 1050 Dominator, two speed powerglide 650 HP of old school thump. Shelby front end, Still little bit of a project. Had to cut the...

washingtondc.craigslist.org

 

[thunderchicken]

Well, this looks like fun! And the price doesn't seem that far off base.

Big block 1966 fastback Mustang - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

66 Mustang fastback, tubbed, 468 BBC, Procomp aluminum heads, 1050 Dominator, two speed powerglide 650 HP of old school thump. Shelby front end, Still little bit of a project. Had to cut the...

washingtondc.craigslist.org

View attachment 199487

In the pictures with the front end off it almost looks like the front suspension has been moved forward. The engine is completely behind the front struts and the gap between the firewall and wheels seems longer than it stock. That's not a bad thing though
Still needs a lot of work though

 

[churchmouse]

In the pictures with the front end off it almost looks like the front suspension has been moved forward. The engine is completely behind the front struts and the gap between the firewall and wheels seems longer than it stock. That's not a bad thing though
Still needs a lot of work though

There has been some offset. Hard to figure from the pics and yeah its barely 70% done.

 

[femurphy77]

Looks like the distributor is completely under the cowl grill so the engine has been setback close to a foot. I've intentionally bought worse basket cases. It's tempting, good thing I'm out of room.

 

[jeffsqartan]

Got the old bearing out and the new pilot bushing in. Flywheel and clutch are in. Decided I would re-shim the input shaft in the transmission cause I wasn't happy with how sloppy it felt. Don't remember it being that sloppy last year when I assembled it....
Got it all tightened up, found out that my only tube of gasket maker had completely dried out. And it was after 9pm, small child was sound asleep, and wife was at work. Had to call it for the night.

Grabbed new sealant today. I should have the transmission back in the car within an hour or so after work and will finally find out if this fixed my issue.

 

[ChristianPatriot]

One for CM

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[jeffsqartan]

Ugh. This car can suck an egg.
Need some help.
Trans is back in. Was gonma run through the gears in the air. Car doesn't want to stay alive.

It's reminiscent of a vacuum leak I had when I first got it. Car would start, run just fine until you revved it a few times, then it would die and wouldn't restart until you popped the battery.
It's doing that now.

But here's what is also weird, and I don't remember this from 5 years ago but hey, that was 5 years ago:
When it first starts, you can hear it actually trying to start. Then when it dies and you crank it again, it's almost like it's not trying to start. It's extremely weird. The sound is entirely different. I can't tell if it's not fueling or if it's not sparking or what. I can 100% tell it doesn't sound the same.

Gotta stop for the night. Way too tired and annoyed to keep going.

Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[thunderchicken]

Ugh. This car can suck an egg.
Need some help.
Trans is back in. Was gonma run through the gears in the air. Car doesn't want to stay alive.

It's reminiscent of a vacuum leak I had when I first got it. Car would start, run just fine until you revved it a few times, then it would die and wouldn't restart until you popped the battery.
It's doing that now.

But here's what is also weird, and I don't remember this from 5 years ago but hey, that was 5 years ago:
When it first starts, you can hear it actually trying to start. Then when it dies and you crank it again, it's almost like it's not trying to start. It's extremely weird. The sound is entirely different. I can't tell if it's not fueling or if it's not sparking or what. I can 100% tell it doesn't sound the same.

Gotta stop for the night. Way too tired and annoyed to keep going.

Any thoughts are welcome.

Well what did you do to it? Lol
This has the factory 5.0 correct? If so, obviously check for vacuum leaks. It's been several years since I messed with those regularly. I do recall several of those that would either not idle and or not start because the little ignition module (flat rectangular module) on the distributor was failing. But if it starts I would start with looking at vacuum leaks

 

[indyblue]

Muscle cars were made to have massive deep dish wheels

I always wanted a set of American Vectors. Thought they were the coolest when I was a kid.

 

[churchmouse]

One for CM

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I love the Road glide but not the skinny front wheel on that one. Just not me.
Proper engine package on this one. I am sure it emotes ear to ear grins and giggles.

 

[indyblue]

That front wheel looks a bit big and out of proportion. Not a large as those bikes with the giant front wheels and those look ridiculous. Why? Makes them look like the old Big Wheel toys.

And people pay big bucks for those. Fools and their money I guess.

 

[churchmouse]

That front wheel looks a bit big and out of proportion. Not a large as those bikes with the giant front wheels and those look ridiculous. Why? Makes them look like the old Big Wheel toys.

And people pay big bucks for those. Fools and their money I guess.

Huge money for those wheels. They are the new thing. And those ****ing stereos.
That’s not what being in the wind is about. Not for me anyway.

I like a skinny (21”) front wheel on a Dyna wide glide or a Springer. Not a full size Road Glide or a dresser. Just how I see it.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Ugh. This car can suck an egg.
Need some help.
Trans is back in. Was gonma run through the gears in the air. Car doesn't want to stay alive.

It's reminiscent of a vacuum leak I had when I first got it. Car would start, run just fine until you revved it a few times, then it would die and wouldn't restart until you popped the battery.
It's doing that now.

But here's what is also weird, and I don't remember this from 5 years ago but hey, that was 5 years ago:
When it first starts, you can hear it actually trying to start. Then when it dies and you crank it again, it's almost like it's not trying to start. It's extremely weird. The sound is entirely different. I can't tell if it's not fueling or if it's not sparking or what. I can 100% tell it doesn't sound the same.

Gotta stop for the night. Way too tired and annoyed to keep going.

Any thoughts are welcome.

You got to know when to walk away when you get frustrated. Spark checker or pull a plug and see if you have spark. Then check all the vacuum lines, fuel pressure start walking down the obvious suspects. Could also be the ignition module if it's losing spark.

 

[jeffsqartan]

You got to know when to walk away when you get frustrated. Spark checker or pull a plug and see if you have spark. Then check all the vacuum lines, fuel pressure start walking down the obvious suspects. Could also be the ignition module if it's losing spark.

It's super weird that it will work the first time the battery is reconnected, then die and not restart.

I tried looking for the old thread that I found 5 years ago, but no luck last night.
I'm gonna check spark tonight and maybe throw some fuel in it, just to make sure it wasn't guzzling fuel. My gauge doesn't work, so I have no idea how much is actually in there. Been 107 miles since my last fill up and it usually gets 15mpg or better, so I should still have a couple gallons left. Who knows.

 

[Jaybird1980]

It's super weird that it will work the first time the battery is reconnected, then die and not restart.

I tried looking for the old thread that I found 5 years ago, but no luck last night.
I'm gonna check spark tonight and maybe throw some fuel in it, just to make sure it wasn't guzzling fuel. My gauge doesn't work, so I have no idea how much is actually in there. Been 107 miles since my last fill up and it usually gets 15mpg or better, so I should still have a couple gallons left. Who knows.

The running just fine until you rev it can be associated with a failing ignition module. The IM is basically the crank sensor. Is the unhooking the battery and then it runs again 100% of the time, that is unusual and may just be coincidental if it isn't 100%. Of course it could be vacuum or fuel also.

 

[churchmouse]

It's super weird that it will work the first time the battery is reconnected, then die and not restart.

I tried looking for the old thread that I found 5 years ago, but no luck last night.
I'm gonna check spark tonight and maybe throw some fuel in it, just to make sure it wasn't guzzling fuel. My gauge doesn't work, so I have no idea how much is actually in there. Been 107 miles since my last fill up and it usually gets 15mpg or better, so I should still have a couple gallons left. Who knows.

I am not sure but is the resetting the ECU when you cycle the battery connection.
Again no direct knowledge of the blue oval electronics.

 

[jeffsqartan]

The running just fine until you rev it can be associated with a failing ignition module. The IM is basically the crank sensor. Is the unhooking the battery and then it runs again 100% of the time, that is unusual and may just be coincidental if it isn't 100%. Of course it could be vacuum or fuel also.

As of last night, every time I disconnected the battery and hooked it back up, it would fire just fine. Idle rough and felt rough, kinda shaky like it had a misfire. I'd try to rev it a little, it would go up, and then on it's way down if I didn't catch it, it would just die.
Go to crank again and it would sound like it's cranking just fine, for maybe a second or two, and then it would just.... I don't know how to explain it. The sound changed, like it wasn't even attempting to fire anymore.

I am not sure but is the resetting the ECU when you cycle the battery connection.
Again no direct knowledge of the blue oval electronics.

Yes, disconnecting the battery removes the learned functions from the ECU. That's why I could get it started when I had that vacuum leak a few years back. Something about the ECU not struggling with the vacuum leak the first time, but then it knows that it can't feed the system right and it won't start after. I can't remember where I saw that or even how I found it.

I wish I could remember if it had the same sound that it does now.
Really leaning toward a vacuum leak, but I guess it could be TFI.

Leaning vacuum leak because of how far back the engine was tilted during this process. Very possible that a vacuum line was popped off under the intake or something. I will have to pull the intake tonight to check. Looked around the back side of the engine and didn't see anything glaringly obvious last night.

 

[thunderchicken]

As of last night, every time I disconnected the battery and hooked it back up, it would fire just fine. Idle rough and felt rough, kinda shaky like it had a misfire. I'd try to rev it a little, it would go up, and then on it's way down if I didn't catch it, it would just die.
Go to crank again and it would sound like it's cranking just fine, for maybe a second or two, and then it would just.... I don't know how to explain it. The sound changed, like it wasn't even attempting to fire anymore.


Yes, disconnecting the battery removes the learned functions from the ECU. That's why I could get it started when I had that vacuum leak a few years back. Something about the ECU not struggling with the vacuum leak the first time, but then it knows that it can't feed the system right and it won't start after. I can't remember where I saw that or even how I found it.

I wish I could remember if it had the same sound that it does now.
Really leaning toward a vacuum leak, but I guess it could be TFI.

Leaning vacuum leak because of how far back the engine was tilted during this process. Very possible that a vacuum line was popped off under the intake or something. I will have to pull the intake tonight to check. Looked around the back side of the engine and didn't see anything glaringly obvious last night.

My first thought last night when I saw your post was vacuum leak from engine being tilted back. But as I pondered it for a moment I remembered the ignition modules used to do some funky stuff when they were failing. But you're right probably a good idea to splash a little fuel in just to make sure that's not it

 

[Jaybird1980]

As of last night, every time I disconnected the battery and hooked it back up, it would fire just fine. Idle rough and felt rough, kinda shaky like it had a misfire. I'd try to rev it a little, it would go up, and then on it's way down if I didn't catch it, it would just die.
Go to crank again and it would sound like it's cranking just fine, for maybe a second or two, and then it would just.... I don't know how to explain it. The sound changed, like it wasn't even attempting to fire anymore.


Yes, disconnecting the battery removes the learned functions from the ECU. That's why I could get it started when I had that vacuum leak a few years back. Something about the ECU not struggling with the vacuum leak the first time, but then it knows that it can't feed the system right and it won't start after. I can't remember where I saw that or even how I found it.

I wish I could remember if it had the same sound that it does now.
Really leaning toward a vacuum leak, but I guess it could be TFI.

Leaning vacuum leak because of how far back the engine was tilted during this process. Very possible that a vacuum line was popped off under the intake or something. I will have to pull the intake tonight to check. Looked around the back side of the engine and didn't see anything glaringly obvious last night.

Make sure to check it with a spark tester while it's in the fail mode, before messing with the intake. The IM is a known high failure point especially if it's older. If it is the IM make sure to get it clean and good coating of dielectric grease on the new one. I can't picture anything in the back would be prone to damage from pulling the trans, but it's been quite awhile since I've been around them.