Jay

I'm in between projects, and the home improvement has a lot of waiting for paint to dry just like the auto stuff. So, at some point this year I will be completely overhauling the entire engine compartment since the current motor is going into the Backdraft after a freshening. This will leave me with a clean canvas to start over.

I'm going to strip the whole thing and start from the metal up. I intend to fill all the unnecessary holes and blend all the seams and welds. From there I'm stumped on how to carry out this build. My basic intent is to use a stroker motor of some 351W variety, I think I'll stay carbed but FI is an option. Even a SC setup is a possibility.

I want to go understated, meaning semi-flat sheetmetal in black, and the items like the intake and valve covers are gonna be some form of subtle black. I want these clean without any bling if you know what I mean. I think the best overall feel that I'm after is the FFF ... but I wanna hear some ideas and suggestions.

Inspiration:

future9er24

^ thats noice! waitaminute...that lookx familiar.


oh just saw the ebay thingie now

bnickel

i lke the idea Jay, but don't take it quite as far as the FFF, that one is a little too clean if you know what i mean. there is a new base/clear system with a color called hot rod black (i'll find out the manufacturer ASAP) that would look sweet as an under hood paint, it is the color we went with on my car for all the blackout stuff, hood tail panel, etc. and it is absolutely awesome and it's smooth as glass too. i think that would look good on the intake an valve covers as well. another thing that might be cool too is to have them mix some ford blue for the base coat and use the flat clear like the hot rod black uses and paint the engine with that. i wonder how natural aluminum valve covers would look with a flat blue engine and flat black intake, might look pretty darn sweet.

Nathan_H

Just make sure not to clean it too much. Some things are better left seen than not. What kind of power are looking for??Better yet, how much money are you alotting yourself to spend?A 406 stroker would be very nice. Raw power without the whine.

GT350Clone

"Less is More".

I'd like to see the Toreador Red carried into the engine compartment as well. If not on the sidewalls, on the aircleaner and/or valvecovers. It's such a nice color...

If you can find any pictures or info on Willie Keimig's 65 Mustang - there's some great street-rod inspired ideas there - generally smooth everything, and hide all wires and hoses...
I think at some point we'll also see an integrated aircleaner/upper engine cover that hides everything between the valvecovers...

bnickel

i'm not a big fan of hidding everything like all the wiring and hoses and stuff. as Indian Larry once said "if you do all that you take away all the mechanical-ness of it" that's one of the things i like about cars and bikes is all the mechanical stuff. when you start getting things too clean you take away all the stuff that makes something cool, nothing wrong with hiding some things as long as you leave enough of the "mechanical-ness" of it

Jay

Well there will be some mechanical action going on, no doubt about that. But I'm thinking of doing things like going back to black hoses instead of the stainless and black cables instead of the stainless. Can you get AN fittings and hose in black?

I think the FFF sheet metal is EXACTLY what I'm looking to do, that is clean as clean ban be.

Bryan I'd like some more info on that hot rod black, that's a possibility.

The fuel injection is getting more and more favorable.

I like the engine cover idea, have not seen anything aftermarket yet that I really like though, or even something custom to mimic.

GT350Clone

I seem to remember seeing something (recently) about somebody coming out with a new 5.0-based intake, like the old BXR. It's symmetrical, with a small plenum on each side, and dual throttle bodies. I see the symmetry as a visual issue with the 5.0/5.8 EFI intakes.

Some other engine covers - might spark some ideas...

Jay

Will be using these: http://www.pi-thon.com/Spanner.htm in black with black rubber or if I can find it black AN type hose...

Jay

Anyone seen any new or interesting Fuel Injection intakes and setups? I agree the sort of stock setup is not "balanced". Best one I have seen is the deal on the Year One fastback, but that a 4.6.

BLAKE

I think symmetry is bad criteria for choosing a fuel injection setup. There is a definite beauty (to me anyway) to how the factory Ford 5.0L can look. Both the '93 cobra and the GT 40 intakes look good, and other aftermarket intakes look nice, or would be great candidates for customization as well. The Trick Flow intake comes to mind.

Jay

Yeah, but there's gotta be a way to work a setup along these lines on a Windsor:

66HertzClone

I like the clean idea, I continue to "mentally toy" with moving some underhood items to other locations. When the baby sleeps thru a night I might get a chance to do more than just look at the car.

Anyway here is a link to Black AN fittings,

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?...EAR-AT800106ERL

and black AN hose,

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?...t=EAR-350306ERL

Has anybody tried using the chromed flexible radiator hoses? Couldn't these be powdercoated?

I have been spending a lot of time rethinking heater hose plumbing. I may try to use some molded heater hose elbows and some copper tubing to replace the existing hoses. Not intending to Hijack, just something else to think about.

One more thing, add the Trouble firewall stripes.

Jay

Heater hose is an issue as well. The idea you suggest was carried out recently by someone on Stangnet. I'm thinking you could perhaps run a hardline below the valvecover instead of across the intake to remove it from view as well. http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=529530

BTW... Fuel hose in AN black...

pakrat

Any chance you could link those photo's here for those of us who are learning to live without Stangnet? :bang:

Jay

Can't since the person attached 'em and this forum does not allow dynamic links .... and I'm to lazy to download and host 'em etc.

66HertzClone

I read that post. Since I have no access to the fancy equipment he used, nor do I care to pay someone else to make it for me, copper will do. I thought about using elbows on the copper and extensions soldered together, then use short rubber connectors to couple everything together.

As someone mentioned in the Stangnet post, the BG fuel line takes up a lot of space. I definitly want the hoses (tubes) to run between the valve cover and the carb. I have considered making brackets that attached to the tubes, with tubular extensions that would line up with valve cover bolt holes. This way I could position the tubes high enough to clear the fuel line and still keep them below the top of the valve cover. A big advantage of the copper tubing is that it is smaller than the heater hose it will replace, I could even solder the tubes to each other along their length. There are some many 5/8 ID molded heater hoses available today that I am sure I can find ones that will fit between the heater core connections and the ends of the new tubes.

I can't stand worm of spring hose clamps, but I will use them until everthing is positioned correctly, then replace them with those neat Gates shrink to fit clamps that Bob used.

bnickel

hey check out the newest issue of Hot Rod mag for a cool fuelie setup. it's basically like the e'brock pro-flo, but uses stock ford EEC-IV processor and sensors and stuff. you can get two versions, on with the computer and wiring and all the sensors, etc. or you can get it as a conversion for existing EEC-IV cars, which is about a grand cheaper and if you are creative you can everything you need from a wrecked 5.0 for much less than a grand. they have them for a SBF engines including the 351w

Nathan_H

66hertzclone, i have used those flexible radiator chrome hoses before. they were used on the 327 corvette engine put in my buddies porsche. They looked alright and werent that hard to use.

66HertzClone

Would they hold up to being Powder Coated?