The Bean

Alright, 

Finally a bit of progress. First mount the power steering fluid reservoir:

Next, assemble the steering rack for the (hopefully) final time:

Assemble everything back onto the car and do a quick rough toe adjustment:

Snap a quick shot of the turf interior to share:

Then test drive:

The steering feels great! The test drive was short lived though. The slip ring for the horn button detached from the steering wheel adapter and tried to take out the electrical system. Once the glue dries I can put it all back together for a longer test drive.

Seeing the overall shot with the car outside reminded me how kickass this whole build is.

Much appreciated Gumby!

After some longer test drives, the steering feels pretty good. The effort to actually turn the car is much reduced and feels great. However the small corrections to keep the car going straight down the road still feel pretty stiff. I'll need to correct the intermediate shaft phasing before digging too much deeper though. Hopefully that solves the issue. The system also hasn't taken much fluid. I expected to fill the reservoir a couple times in order to fill the system but it has only consumed maybe half of a reservoir. I popped a hose off the cooler to make sure there were no blockages, and was able to blow through the line and hear bubbles in the reservoir. This test has me thinking the system is fully bled and just doesn't contain as much volume as I predicted.

I have also had the "stiff" feeling in a number of cars I have driven. One thing I have learnt is that it may be wise to disconnect one joint at a time and see when the stiffness dissapears. Sometimes it is the steering column itself that just needs some lubrication or work with bearing alignment. Sometimes it has been a steering wheel hub rubbing on a column or housing too. It´s surprising how little binding is needed to give that "stitchy" feeling.

Gustaf

This past weekend my brother and I participated in an scca road rally. The night before, we discovered the alternator was dead. I have a 1 wire jegs unit in the car and this is the second one to fail (in 3 years). The only logical choice... a 3g conversion. Thankfully one of the flaps had a '94 mustang gt alternator in stock. After the evenings commitments were finished we swapped in the new alternator and rewired (motortrend has a great article that spells out the wiring). At 3:30am we finished up and the test fire showed we were charging again. Needless to say I didn't take many pictures

At 7:30 we made it to the event. We had alot of fun for our first road rally. As an added bonus, I realized halfway through the rally that I had already driven the road we were on. It just so happens that it was the last mountain road I drove before the IRS install. The car handled so poorly during that drive that I removed the gas tank and axle when I got home. Here's the throwback to page 3: 

I am happy to report that the work has all paid off. This time the drive was fun and engaging, the car was easy to modulate near the limit, and both driver and passenger were comfortable. I am very pleased. There is still a huge list of things that can/will be improved going forward, but its nice to have such a noticeable result confirming the choices made so far. Cheers!

In reply to Shavarsh :

This is so irrationally one of my favorite GRM builds ever.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

I agree.  I love this thing!  It's such an unassuming oddball at first glance. Also a great example of what GRM is all about.  

Many thanks for the kind comments. I am really enjoying following both of your builds as well.

The before/after feedback is fantastic. Im glad it's all paying off for you!

Thanks Duster!

So, in an effort to resolve the on center stiffness in the steering, the intermediate shaft had to come back out. In order to get it back out, the cross bolt had to be released from the steering column. After pounding on it for awhile, and realizing I was just pulverizing the steering column bearings, I headed to harbor freight and made a simple press. Here is the corrected steering shaft and the press:

A note for my future self:

the Sweet Mfg steering joint universal uses a bearing code BCE66. Replacements are available (I needed 2), but not in the time scale I wanted. On a gamble I ordered a cheap steering joint online hoping the bearings would be the same size. Thankfully, this worked out. The bearing code CN-34 fit as a replacement. The bearing is likely not a perfect match (the press fit into the yokes is looser) but functions fine for my use. 

Unfortunately this hasn't solved the on center stiffness however its nice to have the peace of mind that the phasing is correct.

Have you turned the rack by itself to confirm the binding isn't happening there? Is it just when the rack is actually centered, or at a specific angle in the rotation of the wheel / column?

Thanks for the info on the borgeson joints.

In reply to Nukem :

Good question, simple answer is I haven't checked. There are a couple other possible reasons I've been thinking about. If the tube is slightly worn where the power seal sits when centered (which is likely), then the assist will be less in that area as more fluid can escape past the seal. Could also have to do with the momentum of the fluid or the transient effects of closing the pressure bypass valve.

Nifty build ! ! 

I keep forgetting to ask/post . . . could I ask what distributor are you using?

I'm popping my old 5.0 /AOD into the '65 Mustang and won't be using the electronic distributor that came on the engine. Looking to buy a nice reliable replacement that doesn't require a remote  electronic module to run. Thanks !

In reply to MuSTANK :

Thanks!

I am using a pertronix cast "Stock look" distributor with built in ignitor 3. Its a 2 wire hook up with external coil. I have been happy with it after I fed it clean battery voltage. If you feed it less than 12v it gets funky. I had an advance limiter bushing disintegrate after 2 years of use, but its not hard to replace.

Well, I have been toying with the idea of an engine swap ever since I put the 302 in. For awhile I was sold on the lfx, then a 2.3 ecoboost, then the j35... I'm sure I'll keep pondering, but I decided to put some more time into optimization for now. The 302 platform is not the most refined, and my major complaints are nvh, and a feeling while driving the car that it is "heavy" and takes alot of input to produce power. I haven't been able to really put my finger on what makes the car feel heavy until now. A few months ago I lengthened the throttle arm at the carb to reduce pedal effort. Then I made a pedal pad with a more positive feel. However the throttle action still left alot to be desired. Long story short... the spring on the stock pinto throttle cable was super stiff, giving the perception of drag in the action. After cutting off the stock spring and adding external return springs, the pedal was so light that the throttle arm could be reduced until it was shorter than stock. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures, but its alot more fun to drive now! The shortened pedal throw gives the impression that the power is right there, ready to go. I still have some work on pedal alignment, but this is a nice result.

You need a bigger garage and another project to scratch your engine swap itch.

In reply to Nukem :

For Ford swaps, I'm hung up on putting a 7.3 godzilla into something. Mod motor bellhousing pattern means lots of manual trans options, available at the junkyard or a crate engine. But it is quite the investment since they arent laying around yet and I am not sure on how many go-fast parts you need it to feel less trucky and more racey, if at all.

In reply to RossD :

Considering what you could spend building a Windsor (aftermarket block, etc. etc.) the 7.3 seems like a pretty good deal.

Nukem said:

In reply to RossD :

Considering what you could spend building a Windsor (aftermarket block, etc. etc.) the 7.3 seems like a pretty good deal.

Oil pan options are limited with the 7.3 making swaps a bit challenging.  I hope that is resolved going forward as the engine is very impressive.   

One thing that has always been an issue with this car is a shake at highway speeds. The steering wheel, dash board, and seats all start shaking at about 75mph, limiting the time that can be spent there. After balancing the wheels a few times, replacing the rear suspension/adding a frame, new driveshaft, rebushing and repairing the front suspension, replacing the steering rack, etc, I still have the highway shake. Finally I discovered the term "cowl shake". This perfectly describes what this car is experiencing. It also makes alot of sense, the front end of the car is basically stock with some of the support cut out. I planned to build fender braces as a first step, however I have an autocross this weekend, and I didn't want to remove the fenders. To explore solutions I put together a quick cowl brace inspired by the export brace:

After taking it out on the highway, the shake has definitely changed frequency. Instead of high amplitude low frequency shaking, we have switched to low amplitude high frequency. After proving the concept is worth investigating, the brace got a shot of paint:

The results point to an identification of the issue, but not a full fix. The inner fender, where the ends of the brace bolt, are very flexible. These points need to tie into the horizontal rail where the fender bolts. I'll be adding some reinforcement in the fenders soon. I don't want to leave it this way for too many miles for fear of damaging the inner fenders.

If you can complete the third leg of the triangle the brace will be much improved.

Hmm, definitely some room for improvement here:

I am actually quite pleased with how little rust I found. I plan to add some simple stiffening to the top rail without going too crazy for now. I need to have the car back together for an event in 2 weeks. Suggestions are welcome.

What about a setup similar to miata frog arme? Then, the forward point of those tie to a Montecarlo bar, which triangles to the firewall?

There's a popular brace for Hondas that goes from the door hinges to the inner fender. Do something like that to the brace you made then another from the radiator support back.