Hi guys and gals,
I thought it would be fun to document the work on my wife's car here on the forum, so here goes! My wife's '66 GT coupe is a San Jose car with 83,989 original miles, zero rust and lots of options. It is Emberglow with Parchment interior. It was given a cosmetic restoration in 1985 ( paint and interior, I believe ). On top of the GT package, which gave it the 289 A-code ( 4 bbl ) motor, the front disc brakes, heavier coil springs, a bigger front sway bar, GT fog lights, and trumpet exhaust through the rear valance, the car came with power steering, factory AM/8-track complete with door speakers, factory A/C, C4 automatic, console, and the convenience group ( interior lights and remote driver's mirror ). I first saw the car 15+ years ago when a friend of mine was replacing the water pump in it for his neighbor who owned the car at the time. I was really impressed in that the car still had ( and has ) all of the original California emissions equipment on it. If you haven't seen this setup before, let me tell you - there is a LOT of plumbing involved!! The car has never had a speck of rust on it or been in any type of accident, so it retains all of its original sheet metal. Anyway, when I heard it was for sale 8 or 9 years ago I couldn't pass it up, as the price was right and we were ( somehow ) able to come up with the cash to buy it.
We drove the car sparingly for several years, never having the slightest problem other than small leaks of all the usual kinds. When I noticed that some coolant was slowly seeping from the head gasket area, the oil pan leak had worsened, the power steering leak became a steady drip, and the tranny was leaving larger red puddles on the garage floor, I figured it was time to dig into the car and give it the attention it deserves.
Because I want to take my time and do a show quality job on the engine and engine bay, I decided to look for a low mileage motor to drop in while I rebuilt the original motor. So I found a 1994 5.0 out of a Mustang GT with 62,000 miles on it for what I thought was a great price ( $350 ) and got started.
So far I have pulled the motor from the GT, as well as the exhaust and transmission. Next, I completely cleaned the undercarriage ( which is actually a lot of FUN when the car is totally rust-free and doesn't have undercoating on it!!). I'm in the middle of cleaning up the engine compartment right now, while also tearing down the stock 289 and the 5.0 motors to prep for the swap. The 289 intake, timing cover, water pump, and oil pan are all bead blasted and ready for primer / paint, as they'll be swapped over to the 5.0 so it will look like the old 289. The 5.0 motor is all cleaned up and sprayed with a few coats of primer. I'll be swapping the oil pickup from the 289 to the 5.0, and I already have a Professional Products 50oz balancer that will keep things rotating smoothly along with the 50oz flexplate that I still have to buy. Before the 5.0 goes in, I'll check the rod and main bearings and install a new double roller timing chain that will accomodate the 289's fuel pump eccentric. I also have to buy a distributor gear that will allow me to run the original distributor with the roller cam in the 5.0. I'm sure I'm missing a few details, but that's the bulk of it.
So that's pretty much where I am with the project right now. There's a ton of work to do, but hopefully everything will be done by spring in time for cruising season. My own '66 coupe isn't quite as "family friendly," so I need to get the GT back together so our family can make our weekly ride to Bruusters in style!!
Here are a few photos of the project in progress... I'll try to post updates as I find time to sneak out into the garage to get some work done.
Last is a photo of my two girls, who are looking forward to our maiden voyage sometime in the spring of 2008.
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Originally Posted by fork5o
I'll have to post a few photos of the Bird on another thread...
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