68 valiant signet 2 door

[mygasser]

thanks dave,
yeah i like pictures. i had to pick from the 16 i took through the day and of course i could've took many more

[mygasser]

i've decided to make this a 2 part build. part 1 will be to get the 383 and box mounted along with the 9" ford axle, then get it freshened up and refitted. i can then put some miles on it to work out any bugs while i collect the rest of the parts needed for the turbo conversion. i'd rather use it sooner than have it sat all next year too. i can do bodywork while it's in use, working on 1 panel at a time until it's ready for paint.
for me this is a good plan as i tend to lose interest in inanimate objects so.....
this weekend i'll bolt on the schumacher headers to make sure the engine's in the best position then i'll make the engine mounts.
neil.

[Mossy68]

Work in progress.
A good way forward imo

[ScottyDave]

Sounds like a good plan

[mygasser]

been out to the garage this evening, first chance all weekend but hey ho. tonight's job was to get the headers in place to finalise the motor placement allowing me to make the new mounts. i dropped the passenger side in first and bolted it up. that was the first problem. round to the driver side and that one wasn't going in from above or below. ok, tip the motor over for clearance i thought. still not enough there's a pointy casting halfway along the block sticking out. so, out with the sawsall and that's gone then. sorted? er.... no. bugger the other header has to come back off so the motor can tip over further. finally with all that done and the steering on lock (thought i'd have to drop the centre link for a while) it went up from below . lastly i sat the motor back down and refitted the passenger header.
it's close to the steering box but i do have power steering so i kind of expected that. 1/4" is enough anyway as the motor will try to pull up that side under load so increasing the gap.

[ScottyDave]

A miss is a miss

[mygasser]

A miss is a miss

exactly dave

[mygasser]

today i made/remade the motor mounts. i started on the driver side by cutting and re angling the old mount from the ford pilot. i added some bracing and then bolted the new h/d escort rs2000 mount to it. next cardboard templates transferred to some 1/8" plate were welded in place under the mount. a couple of bracing pieces and some black paint and that side was done. the passenger side was a bit easier as the pilot mount only needed a slot adding and a new slotted hole further forward on the k member and it was done too. i did raise the motor another 3/8" as the drivers side header didn't curl nicely round the steering box like it should. a bonus of this is the bottom of the sump is now about an inch higher than the bottom of the k member so i can deepen the sump (and pickup) for more oil capacity when it's off.
more soon, neil.

[Pete]

Excellent stuff.

Why did you not opt for a Motorplate?

[autofetish]

Good work !!!

[mygasser]

Good work !!!

Excellent stuff.

Why did you not opt for a Motorplate?

cheers guys .
motorplate? it's an option for the future, especially if i end up with a straight tube axle and lose the k member later. for now this'll do fine

[mygasser]

got some more done today. first i made the torque bar (like a torque strap but tube), then before i refitted the p/steering pump i trimmed the 2 bosses back 1/8" (3mm to you youngsters) where the pump bolts up to better align the pulleys. next i made the brackets for the alternator, as coincidence has it the 2v pulley lines up with a 2v part of the crank pulley too so i can use 2 alternator belts. that's good as i've had a rew where the belt has to be bow string tight to stop squealing. lastly today i fitted the mopar/jaguar xj6 hybrid fan and the radiator. i've got almost an inch from the fan hub nut to the rad' so that's better than i expected. i had to trim the bottom of the core support for rad' clearance so i'll add some steel rod to the cut edge for strength when it's blown apart.
all in all quite a productive day despite the cold.

[mygasser]

here's wishing all you lot out there a very merry christmas

[ScottyDave]

and you too

[mygasser]

at work i was told today we are going to stock 9" ford helical gear (atb type) lsd's in 28 and 31 spline. so when the first batch arrives my name's on one.