so i accidently bought a car and started a challenge team last night. have questions.

I always prefer to paint the manufacturer color. It kind of points out hey we swapped this engine but made it look like it came from the factory.

Lookung closely at the trans, it was, at some point, black. So i took the easy way out.

If parts will just show up....

Challenge Budget: Car/parts $200

Donor Lincoln town car: 410

Engine crossmember: 120

Sold transmission crossmember from Lincoln: 10 Sold rear axle from lincoln: -50 Scrapped what was left of lincoln: -89

Sold AOD from lincoln (300, but can only recoup 261)

Engine swap: 5.0 plus 300 boot

Sold kelstar wheels-200 (cant recoup more than we spent)

2x2 angle iron, tractor supply 12.05

Brand new Watkins glen nascar slicks and wheels, which were bought for $50, and promptly sold to Dallas dad for $50 and some weld wheels with really old drag slicks. So, slicks were $0, but $50 taken out of the recoup limit.

6 5/8 heim and jamb nuts, as well as threaded tube for the front suspension: $65

Pair of aluminum seats, $40 and on;y usng 1 so $20. .

Sheet of flame retardant high density foam $10

Fire suppression system parts (not included in challenge budget. But ive had 2nd degree burns on the boys before, so were getting safety gear come hell or high water)

1/4 plate, scrap metal yard: 7.50

Mustang convertible mounts 22

Bending plate cost 25

Swedged tubing, ebay: 31.90

Threaded adjusters and 650lb springs, SRI performance: 65

2 used billstein shocks, pull-a-part: 14

Cage materials: 271.40

Spool welding wire: 33

Leaf spring sliders: 40

Clamps for spring adjusters: 23.59

Adjustable brake bias valve 18 (amazon)

2 cans of flat black spray paint (lowes project source) .97 ea

Half melted, used 21 circuit ez wiring harness cut from my duster after the mice chewed it up and it had a meltdown. $5 is what I was quoted as FMV due to the fact that copper prices are down.

Accessories and flexplate: see link in update

Battery cables and relays, pull-a-part: 12.75

Steering box, pull-a-part: 27.50

25feet 3/8 steel fuel line, ebay: 25.75

Bypass fuel pressure regulator, ebay: 29.23

fuel pump: 23

Used mix and match nitrous kit: 32

Two half cans of ford engine blue $7

3/8 plastic line clamps, lowes: 1.78

1/2 metal line clamps, lowes: 3.48

Throttle return springs and brackets: 5

3/8 2x compression fittings, 3x npt-compression, 1x t fitting from plumbing supply house: 6

battery hold down, oriellys 5.99

2x 36 inch 1x1 holey tube: 2

Driveshaft safety loop (dad bought it at an auction last week) 5

Tractor supply run for bolts and angle iron: 18.08

Wheels for monster slicks: 50 from facebook marketplace

Lower radiator hose: 14.82

Oil filter: 4.17

Bucket of hose clamps (pull-a-part doesn't charge for these, so I added the admission charge to the yard): 1

Scrap chunk of 16gauge sheetmetal: .25

Suspension and 3.73 posi 8.8, offerup: 100

Traded ultralights and sun tach for pro-tach, mechanical 2 5/8 gauges and chunk of diamond plate from a 4x4 buggy guy down the street

Rear brake hose: Challenge budget exempt

Spark plug boot insulators, ebay, 11

Spring perches, amazon 17.49

Pipe standoffs (5) and 3/8 allthread, rhulens supply 8.22

Chunk of diamond plate: unknown. dad scrounged it somewhere, and said he got got for free. I just dont know where, or if I need to FMV it.

Misc crap (zipties, sheet metal screws, wiring terminals, used toggles, nuts and bolts, etc.

Pretty much the little oddball crap that goes into every build that I had laying around from over the years) 50

Starter solenoid: 12ish (placeholder till I find the receipt or a cheaper one)

2 inch glasspacks, chunks of 2 inch exhaust tubing, and a little bit of stainless 2 inch: steves buddy: 15

Tow hook: 3?

Steering wheel from swap meet 5

Quick release, ebay: 19.99

Manual trans: 50

Flywheel: 45

2 dog leases 1.98

2 u joint straps 5.99

Clutch kit, clutch master, clutch slave: 107.13 shipped

Power steering hose: 15.99

3/8 coupler: 2.50

Welding: 5

Alternator plugs: 2

Starter: 34.39

Driveshaft from 99 explorer 4wd: 22.95

ARP pressure plate bolts: 12:50 bradley auto parts

New challenge budget total: 1787.31

Things are looking up! Friday night, Dallas and I got the manual transmission swap done. He stopped on the way to the shop at out local speed shop, Bradley auto parts. I've been using them for years. Great guys, and very knowledgeable. And comparable prices to summit/speedway, without the shipping! If you're ever near Charlotte, go check them out. The local speed shop is a dying breed, so support the ones you have!

Anyway, we dressed the flywheel with a brown SOS pad on the die grinder, checked it for damage, chased all the bolt holes, cleaned it, and bolted it up. Made sure to follow torque specs and use locktite. I like my feet, so we sprung for the good ARP hardware on the pressure plate. Factory ford flexplate bolts were the same as the ford flywheel bolts we had picked up, so for budgetary purposes we reused the flexplate bolts.

Before install, we made sure to clean and paint stuff, as concourse is a concern. While cleaning the trans, I found indications that it was black at some point. Seemed like the easy button to just spray it black. We also shot the bell housing in ford blue, with a VERY thin coat, as the can was almost empty. We are now out of ford blue. Hopefully nothing else needs painted ford blue. We don't have the money for it.... [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170525_173318_zpsehamtfxs.jpg.html][/URL]

So, install was shockingly easy. Everything fit like it was supposed to. Except the starter. Turns out the nose depths is different between automatic and manual. So we had to buy the cheapest reman that we could find. Oriellys beat autozones prices, thanks to their price-match guarantee. So we grabbed one for a 77 f150. Fit like it was supposed to. We did have to change the holes in the crossmember to meet up with the new location, and reused the rubber mount form the AOD. Then cut a hole in the floor, and kept tweaking the hole and linkage until it fit perfectly and the knob fell easily to hand. Check out the knob that came with our trans. Its awesome! Bass boat flake 70s red knob. Its the perfect size for my hand. Also falls perfectly to hand from the steering wheel, with a very good and easy 2-3 shift. Should be a good thing for track events. [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170526_212547_zpsu83dbasp.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170527_151109_zps4bcgwmxk.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170527_150925_zpsyw2zelkb.jpg.html][/URL] Saturday morning at oh my god its early, Dallas and I went to the Charlotte pull-a-part. This is the one I haven't been to in years, and for various reasons. This trip reminded me why... We were on the hunt for a collapsing driveshaft that would accept the explorer rear flange and had a 47.5 inch distance between the u-joints in the middle of its travel. As luck would have it, the explorer driveshaft (remember we had one?) was 47.5 centered. And the front u-joint was the same part number as the 77 f150 the trans was from. So we bought it. While we were pulling it, a dude literally defecated in the van next to the explorer we were getting parts from. I'm not lying. Refuse to ever go back again to this one. Which, if current record holds, will only last about 4 years until time crunch and desperation sets in....

[URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170527_151054_zpszkqmpec3.jpg.html][/URL] today I worked on the hydraulics for the clutch. After bunches of research, I discovered that the 80 amc spirit iron duke used hydraulics foe the clutch. No others. Except the eagles....

Anyway, after more research, and then some research for something different, I figured out that the slave cylinder ratio would probably best be served by mounting the slave at the edge of the bell-housing and hitting the clutch fork at about halfway between the pivot and the factory mechanical linkage end. Well see if that holds out to be true when I actually get to test it. The master cylinder was a royal pain in the ass to mount, as there just is no easy way to get to the area, or drill the holes with the pedals/dash/cage in the way. But its done. All that's left is the line between the two, and modifying the clutch pedal to pick up the pushrod for the master. And o also have to figure out how to fill the thing.... [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170528_085709_zps2kpbe3kw.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170528_085713_zpszttnii5x.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170529_161437_zpsdqcktfxx.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170529_161445_zpsq3oc7pyc.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170529_181816_zpszpr3cnln.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170529_181823_zpsptdfylc7.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/amc/20170529_181837_zpsofwrouxs.jpg.html][/URL]

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Dusterbd13 wrote: And o also have to figure out how to fill the thing....

Turkey baster? (like one of the big, 2 foot long ones)

sleepyhead wrote: .

Dusterbd13 wrote: And o also have to figure out how to fill the thing....

Turkey baster? (like one of the big, 2 foot long ones)

You realize that you are a genius, right?

Hopkins part #10704. I'm too lazy to find a not thread destroying giant picture of one at this hour, but its a funnel with a graduated cup and a long hose. I imagine most parts houses should carry them. I know Autozone does.

Fab bracket to mount clutch master under dash, higher than and rearward in-car of pedal pivot, and backwards of current orientation. Extend pedal above pivot enough to get correct pedal ratio. In use, Pedal goes toward firewall, extension goes toward tail lights, pushrod attached to extension pushes piston in clutch master rearward, everybody's a winner.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

For some reason my mind keeps asking what did he wipe with after he took a dump in the van?

In reply to Stampie:

Pro tip: when selecting junkyard van in which to defecate, select one with cloth bench seat. Rock deuce, then drag ass on cloth bench, like a dog trying to scrape off a dingleberry.

In reply to AngryCorvair:

I think I'm glad I'm still an amateur.

In reply to Stampie:

Wait, are you saying you'd rather drag ass across a leather seat? Man, that's bad news bears in the summertime.

This thread has gone to E36 M3.

Dusterbd13 wrote: This thread has gone to E36 M3.

And here I sit having read all this, was wondering what became of the 'bug' eyelids for a pack of cigs ? Still in the mix? I know runnin' stoppin' trumps (can I say that ) cosmetic surgery (fender augmentation). Way late, but GREAT news on the chillrenz!!!

&

Bug fenders are laying out behind the shop. Doubt im going to use them, both due to cosmetics and time. If the fenders get flares instead of dirt track hack by the challenge, they will either be a custom glass widebody, or sheetmetal. I need to take those fenders back to the guy and tell him thanks.

And i didn't WANT to pay enough attention to learn how van dude wiped his ass. Ir if.

I don't know about you guys, but I always keep half a roll of TP in a Ziploc in each of my vehicles for emergencies.

Crackers wrote: I don't know about you guys, but I always keep half a roll of TP in a Ziploc in each of my vehicles for emergencies.

Optimist. Full roll. One bad gas station burrito 100 miles from home......

DB13 how much does 'SCARY GARY" weigh?

We don't know yet. Were guessing 2500 wet no driver.

What are the numbers on the SBF.....ballpark HP/lbft?

We are guessing 250/250 before the spray.

That shift knob ties the whole project together.

If you can't find a store to buy more before using half a roll, you probably need to find a doctor.

mazdeuce wrote: That shift knob ties the whole project together.

It wasn't intentionally done, but turned out perfect. Even the stick matches tge theme of 80s imsa privateer.

Crackers wrote: If you can't find a store to buy more before using half a roll, you probably need to find a doctor.

You apparently haven't met some of the gas station burritos i have....

Food poisoning blows goats.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

I can't believe you'd look down on the van duece dude yet you're willing to eat a gas station burrito. I'd duece a van way before I'd eat a gas station burrito.