After three-plus months of work, and nine months after the MCCS engine arrived, today, April 11, is the day I try to start the car.
While I took the black 948 that I ran last season out in last Fall, I didn’t start work on the car until January. That work includes:
- Disassemble engine bay entirely.
- Clean (and clean and clean), grind, sand, Scotch-brite old paint and corrosion.
- Weld up some of the many extraneous holes in the fenders (and some that turned out to not be extraneous).
- Weld back missing captive nuts.
- Run tap through all captive nuts.
- Re-paint engine bay and bottom of car forward of firewall, POR-15 base, then two coats of Eastwood Aero-spray 2K epoxy primer, two coats of Duplicolor Ford Engine blue (close but not exact match to the car), three coats of Eastwood Aero-spray 2K clear.
- Remove “tool shelf” (heater core platform) and replace with brace.
- New up-rated competition front swivel axles from Winner’s Circle.
- Rebuilt front and rear Armstrong lever shocks by Worldwide.
- Powder coated front coil springs and spacers.
- Cleaned and painted front control arms.
- Cleaned front dust tubes (after new Moss dust tubes didn’t fit).
- New king pins from Winner’s Circle.
- New “Clancy” front A-arms from Winner’s Circle.
- New poly A-arm bushings (king pin trunnions are solid aluminum).
- Repair right rear A-arm fulcrum pin washer hole.
- New A-arm fulcrum pins and washers.
- New chro-moly rear axles from MiniMania.
- New rear double-bearing hubs and bearings from Winner’s Circle.
- Cleaned and re-packed front hubs and bearings.
- New rear brake drums.
- New rear brake cylinders.
- Changed from welded 4.55 differential to welded 4.22.
- Upgrade from 3/8″ stock to 7/16″ Moroso wheel studs, including reaming front and rear hubs for press fit and enlarging holes in rear axles, drums, and existing 1/2″ spacers.
New VTO 6″ wheels(haven’t been able to make the fronts fit yet)New Toyo 205/60-R13 tires(haven’t been able to make the fronts fit yet)Added 3/4″ front spacers.- New EBC front brake rotors.
- New outer tie-rod ends and boots from British Parts Northwest.
- Switch to Newby Racing annular throw-out bearing and slave cylinder.
- Switch to Speedwell triple-master pedal box.
- New Speedwell rear end links.
- New Speedwell 7/8″ front sway bar.
- New HS4 carb set with Maniflow intake manifold.
- New Maniflow CLM033II exhaust manifold.
- New 2″ exhaust with Cherry Bomb muffler.
- Larger 12″x12″ “clutch detonation” guard in engine bay.
- New oil lines from block to filter to oil cooler back to block.
- Re-engineer fuel lines to accommodate spacers needed for HS4 carbs and Maniflow exhaust manifold.
- New Bosch Alrace 55 amp alternator with over-size Moroso pulley.
- New front and rear braided steel brake lines.
- New braided steel clutch line.
- Oh, and I almost forgot…switched from a +40 948 (980cc) engine to a +60 1275 (1330cc) engine built by MCCS.
Here are a few photos.
Engine bay after SO MUCH cleaning (but not all of it), headed toward final wipe, mask, and paint.
Engine bay after paint.
Left wheel well after cleaning, before paint.
Left wheel well after paint.
Right rear with new hub and wheel cylinder, and 7/16″ studs.
Left front suspension fitted (but not done).
New alternator with oversize pulley. Looks simple but the pulley had to be machined and I spent a couple hours myself clearancing the front mount arm so the pulley lined with the water pump and crank pulleys.
MED flywheel, clutch disc, and pressure plate.
About ready to try starting it…1:45 PM on April 11, 2024.
Footnote:
After some fussing and consternation and a beer and head scratching, I had the key “Aha!” moment and the car came to life. Still lots of little things to do, plus tuning, but this was a momentous day.