A little bit of Ford History as my next project

[yeahloh95]

very cool that you found one , I saw a Huber sticker on a car this week and thought about the 79 that used to run a 2.8 liter

[Martin0660]

When that car was in the 8’s, it was much larger than 2.8 liter…

I’m keeping this one on the small side. Should only be 3.810 bore (.030 over stock) with a 3 1/2” stroke. This should build out as 2.6 liters as long as the crank I have checks out.

lots of room to grow it in this block, but not going to “use it up” on the first build. We are going to sonic check this block so I know thicknesses for the future.

[Martin0660]

My goodness is the bottom end of this stout, lol … oversized studs and 1” thick straps. It’s a little odd they went this far with the mains. These blocks have thicker main webbing. I’ve never seen any cap walk on multiple short blocks with stock stuff and just ARP studs.

I guess I’ve got some head room, lol

[Ares]

That is one beefy bottom end for sure. That block was built to take a beating.

[Martin0660]

No doubt very solid, hopefully next time the pan goes on, I won’t have to see it for a while.

a task I dreaded that did not disappoint in the dread department… this block had SS O Rings that was pretty smashed and have to come out to deck the block. Spent some quality time getting them out. That sucked, but block is ready to go to hot tank to start this build.

[Martin0660]

And so it begins … dropped off at machine shop to have plugs removed, hot tank, and wash for the next steps …

[Martin0660]

This has been slow coming together with the supply chain issues. Finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel …

block is ready (sort of)
crank is ready
custom Diamond pistons in hand
custom Total seal rings in hand
down to waiting on rods from Dyers … they exist, just somewhere between heat that and finish machining.
I have all the supporting stuff for assembly (oil pump, bearings, gaskets, etc).

[Martin0660]

This might be an interesting change. The biggest issue I have with my junk is head gasket sealing.

I went past where the race gasket would remain sealed. Went to o rings in the block, with a receiver groove in the head and a copper gasket. This was better, but still would push water on my high boost set up.

started looking for another alternative and run into similar challenges the Aussie see with the Barra and also only having 4 head bolts per hole. Started talking to Atomic performance and they seemed to have their hands around it with a bit different set up, so sent gasket samples over to Australia and had them build me a “fire ring” set up. They claim guys running 70+ pounds on boost, so we are giving it a try …

[Martin0660]

Here is a video from Brad at Atomic on the fire ring set up. He was wonderful to work with.

shipping stuff in and out of Australia was a PITA, but hope it was worth it.

https://youtu.be/hVBNau4r0Hs

[Fast Gypsy]

Glad to see your making progress. It's been a long haul!

[Martin0660]

Glad to see your making progress. It's been a long haul!

we basically gave up even trying to get parts for 6-8 months. When you couldn’t get mostly common parts for SBC or BBC, getting my odd ball stuff was a waste of time.

still suck and expensive, but it feels like suppliers are mostly making promise dates anyway.

still waiting on my Dyers rods … they are running a few weeks late.

[Martin0660]

Rods finally came in.

Dyers makes one hell of a rod

[Fast Gypsy]

That's an understatement! I've never seen rods that hefty.

[Martin0660]

Here’s the silly crap I’ve got to deal with…

The only headstuds ARP makes for my junk is the 8740 alloy. Good studs, but the fire ring set up needs a better material.

they don’t make them in 2000 material, so here come the modifications needing modification. The studs for an Audi / VW 1.9L turbo diesel are available in ARP 2000 material and have the right threads on both ends, but are longer than needed. Now to make spacers out of 4140 and they will work.

nothings easy with this stuff, lol.

[Martin0660]

That's an understatement! I've never seen rods that hefty.

Dyers is pretty unique. Father /son operation. You call out there and you are talking to one or the other. Rods are 300m material, all USA made.

the oddity is, to order custom rods, I had to pay for 5 rods, they start the process with 5 blanks in case one gets scrapped somewhere in the process, you still get your 4. All 5 of mine made it, so I have a spare rod.

not cheap, but likely as good as you can get, and in my case, willing to make a custom rod to what I needed. As beefey as the look, rods are 640 grams. Not lightweight, but for a 5.65” rod they aren’t bad.

[Jeff95TA]

I was talking cars with a roofing contractor at my house and mentioned your ongoing project and how you've taken things way beyond the normal upgrades on a relatively uncommon platform.

[Martin0660]

how you've taken things way beyond the normal upgrades on a relatively uncommon platform.

im starting to get to the point, to do anything else on the bottom end I will need a 5 axis CNC, lol

[Jeff95TA]

im starting to get to the point, to do anything else on the bottom end I will need a 5 axis CNC, lol

Here's a nice compact Haas for only $115K. Fit in a few side jobs and it'll be paid off in no time!

https://www.haascnc.com/machines/ver...umc-350hd.html

[Martin0660]

This has been sidelined a bit over a number of issues, but short block is back on track.

Also, the while I'm at it bug bit and I've scrounged up another piece of ancient Ford Performance history to add to this build. Pictures when I have it in my hands.

[yeahloh95]

im here for the pics