Somewhere during all this, I spent too much of my life wire wheeling and cleaning the intake manifold. Yes, all the screwed in sensors and doo-dads came out and were either cleaned up or replaced. You'll see.
And I know what you're thinking. "Is he keeping that 2 barrel? C'mon man!"
In my defense, a new 4 bbl and intake is a pretty good chunk of change, plus I'm a sucker for originality. And I know for sure the 2 bbl actually works on the engine and how the linkage works. So I figured the 2 bbl goes back on for now, and later when the engine's actually running again, I can beg the wife for the 4 bbl and intake in another phase of this restoration (if I still have the energy at that point).
The intake got bolted in (after cleaning all of the bolts). As did the timing cover, heads and oil pan. These weren't torqued down, just snugged without any gaskets. Then the masking tape and masking paper came out.
So now it's time for the small block to be Ford Blue once again.
I was and am pretty happy with how it turned out. But looking back now about 5 months later, if I had to do it all over again I would have passed on the rattle can engine paint, and used a 2K paint for better resistance to solvents. But all-in-all, it don't look bad. In real life, the color is darker than the photos.
Once the paint dried (I waited a couple of days, actually) the cover, heads, and oil pan came off. Time to put things on for good. Fortunately I remembered that the new oil pump and pickup needed to go on before the oil pan does. I also torqued that harmonic balancer back onto the crankshaft. You have to have the pan off to wedge the crank so it doesn't turn while you apply torque to the balancer.
That little shaft in the photo above is pretty important. It's part of the mechanism that makes the pump, well, pump. Without it correctly in place, no oil pressure. Personally, I'm a fan of oil pressure.
Time to mount the heads. The spark plugs are in just to keep the holes plugged up so paint, dirt, dust, etc doesn't get in. These are the original heads, btw. Cool.
The heads are torqued down pretty tightly. It's important to lubricate the bolts, to torque them in the right sequence, and to torque them down incrementally so that the heads don't warp under uneven pressure.
New head gaskets, of course. I bought one of those complete gasket kits. It was worth it.
And for my encore, the other side. I did use photos to note which head was on which side and made sure they ended up in the same place. The two 302 heads are the same - there's no right or left in terms of manufacturing. They can be mounted on either side of the block, but I wanted to make sure they went back as they were from the factory and how they'd worn to the block and intake manifold after 45 years of rubbing on each other.
Yep, I put the new water pump on, too somewhere in here. Had to paint it, and figure out which of the different sized mounting bolts went into which hole. The rag stuffed into the distributor hole is so that nothing falls into the engine from here out. A bolt falling in could mean taking things back apart. And dirt is my enemy, too.
TIP!: Bag and mark everything and take lots of pictures! Doing both has saved me from big headaches.
Looks fantastic. I hope you aren't skimping out on little things like gaskets with a stock rebuild. It pays off spending a few more dollars for better quality seals and gaskets.
Looks fantastic. I hope you aren't skimping out on little things like gaskets with a stock rebuild. It pays off spending a few more dollars for better quality seals and gaskets.
The lifters need to be primed with oil before inserting them, and they each got a big dollop of moly grease on the bottom, too. The oil is needed to give them some hydraulic action so the rockers can be tightened down reasonably accurately. The grease reduces the friction when it's first started. Here the lifters are all in, and the push rods are back home - each in the same spot it came from.
Now we're rockin'!
The rockers go in. These were lubed up good with some assembly lube, too. You have to turn the crank and cam to tighten these correctly, and the trick is to turn the cam as few rotations as possible so that you don't rub off all the moly grease that's on the lobes to protect them during the initial start.
Can I steal that for me signature line?
And if you like peeking under manifolds and valve covers, just wait till you see the body with the hood and fenders off...cold shower time, for sure.
Can I steal that for me signature line?
And if you like peeking under manifolds and valve covers, just wait till you see the body with the hood and fenders off...cold shower time, for sure.
Actually the text in most camshaft installation instructions tells you not to prime the lifters. They should be installed empty, so that they will not apply full force to the camshaft for a few rotations of the engine. Also, it is easier to adjust hydraulic lifters while they are empty, because you can feel where they top out.
The lifters need to be primed with oil before inserting them, and they each got a big dollop of moly grease on the bottom, too. The oil is needed to give them some hydraulic action so the rockers can be tightened down reasonably accurately. The grease reduces the friction when it's first started. Here the lifters are all in, and the push rods are back home - each in the same spot it came from.
Hey folks, Does anyone here happen to do any writing? Let me know if you do. I might have a very casual writing gig or should I say, the opportunity is there, to write a column in the Friday paper in the "Wheels" section. Although i don't know all the details, most of it will be restored...
Hey everyone~
I’m a new cougar owner and new to the forum- this is my first classic ford/mercury project
I just picked up a 69 cougar with strong running 302 motor and four barrel carb.
I am planning to do a 2015 or newer boss 302 swap with supercharger. I also wanted to do a more aggressive...
So with some health issues behind me and winter upon us I figured I'd get some work done on Panther. here is her new mill and trans. I will finish the engine this winter and start prepping the car for the transplant. She is evolving from a fast street car to a Hellcat killer.
I have a 69 Cougar Eliminator 351W with FMX transmission, power steering. What brand & Model # of headers will bolt up with no modification. I was provided Hooker Headers & they are hitting the floor pan on both sides, too high to clear transmission support, & on driver side hitting frame area...
Hi all I am new here, I'm picking up a used 70 cougar steering column I need the upper column part The collar that tilts is cracked if Anyone has one please let me know.. also will a 70 Mustang tilt steering column work in a 70 Mercury cougar base model? Thanks!..
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