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Lord Gruntfuttock's 1971 XY Fairmont


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Too buggered to do much today, plus had surf to city with the kids. But did give the shed a real good tidy up this morning as it was a tip. Tools, rags, oil and rubbish everywhere (a consequence of fitting in bits of work when I get the chance). Floor is now spotless, makes it easier to find bits when you drop 'em...

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And put all my painting stuff in a surplus packing crate I scored from work. One of my best purchases was a bulk load of measuring cups, about 20c each and really make mixing ratios easier...

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And pulled some more bits off the front and waterblasted some crud off in prep for painting...

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And tidied up the timing cover. I was concerned about the state of the water passages, but they cleaned up ok...

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So now just gotta paint random bits etc while I'm waiting for parts to arrive, so's can begin the fun stage...

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Oh and I picked up the headlight buckets. I grabbed these off the Bay as they were cheap enough for a punt (came to around $35 delivered). Donated from a F100 of unknown vintage (picking mid 70s) and arrived 90% blasted clean and very sound...

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And just needed a slight mod to fit, cut a shaped slot, tapped in a recess with a punch and drilled it for spring attachment...
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and ready for paint...
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They will sit around 5mm further out than the originals but that won't be noticable, and I quite like the thought of these things travelling from Robinson, Crawford County, Illinois (pop. 7000) to Invergumboot (pop. slightly more) to be used again... :)

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Been putting some hrs in commissioning at work so not a lot of progress, but today I was home and weather was great so I stripped a lot of the front grille area parts. These have suffered many years of exposure to the elements plus the odd immersion in rusty radiator water...

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Sanded the bits attached to the car, and began masking...
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And laid down some epoxy, looks much better already...
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Also got a lot of little bits painted, will try to get another couple of coats on tomorrow...

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So busy day yesterday, got a bit more painting done.

I looked at getting the brake booster out, but from memory these are a bastard to get at, so painted it in situ...
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Came out pretty well, not perfect, but far better than it was, I'll paint the master cyl cover grey when I do the grille surround...
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And got lots of fiddly bits done...
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And the front end looks pretty good with the masking removed (did this at 5:30 this morning, visions of overspray on the guards were keeping me awake)... :)
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And it'll be nice to put this together when the paint has hardened a bit...
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Quite pleased with the durepox finish, although I have no idea how it'll last - should be ok under the bonnet as it won't be exposed to UV, although I expect I'll scratch it to buggery lifting the engine back in... :-D

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In between paint coats I thought I'd check out my torque wrenches before reassembly (both Sidchrome clickers, one newer than the other). Last time I used the newer one I could have easily boogered a thread but I realised it was WAY out of spec doing it up (just didn't feel right) so I backed off and borrowed another tool. Then I picked up an older one (long story, but basically me taking stuff as part reparation from a loser who owed money) and thought I'd compare them to get some confidence in my tools...

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Testing these together the older one clicked at much less effort, so something was wrong, I thought mine may have siezed up through lack of use, but couldn't see any way to get it apart without drilling out the rivet, then I realised I had lent it out, and that someone may have overwound the setting dial. Sure enough, turning it as high as it would go, and keeping going resulted in a click as it overwound. I did this twice and tested it again - felt much better...

So calibration - I asked at our depot (where the proper workers live) but they send theirs out, so looked into doing it myself. Basically did maths to see what the torque relation was to weight applied at a certain distance from the socket... :study:

  • Torque = force applied x distance of lever arm
  • 1 kilogram-force metre = 9.80665 N·m (actually easier to work on kg-cm)
  • Calculate for Newton metres then convert to foot pounds

So with a handy dandy excel chart and some test weights I marked distances on some tape and set to, basically hanging 10kg, 20kg and 30kg weights at certain points to see where it operated. It was still out on the first try so overwound it another click, and it went bloody well at the 10kg settings (15, 18, 20 ft-lbs were right on the button). Changing to 20kg it was correct at 30 and 40 ft-lbs, but seemed out any higher, but at 30kg it was spot on at 60 and 90 ft-lbs.

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So a little confused but much happier. Initially (doing some reverse maths) it was operating around 1.5 times the setting so seems some ham-fisted lunk overwound it when returning to zero, not once, but 3 times over.

(lending tools - Gah)... :scratch:

I'll redo the tests with both wrenches as I'm not sure why some readings seem out, could just be the vagaries of hanging weights along the shaft (or my dodgy maths). Ideally, hanging a known weight from the middle of the handle should coincide with the expected setting, it seemed ok across a fairly wide range though and if I get some consensus between the 2 tools I should be pretty much right...

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^

So figured out why my results were slightly skewed... :-D

Repeated the test but did it in reverse. Set wrench then positioned weight/s along shaft until it just clicked, and measured the distance.

Then maths (adding 0.8 kg to account for weight of toolbar) and looks like we're good to go, the numbers line up well from 15 - 90 ft-lbs. With my nerd on I get an average error of 1.0207% over that range.

Quite an interesting exercise really...

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Haven't updated for a while cos, well, haven't done anything. Financial year end, closing out projects, long work hours etc etc so over Easter only managed to put a bit of the front end back together. Did have a bit of a tidy-up though, old stuff...
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And new stuff...
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starting to get excited about putting it together...

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I had to drill water passage holes in the block to suit the new heads, which was a little daunting. Older (pre-72) blocks have steam holes at the 12 o'clock position above each cylinder (I think they were relocated as people were overtorquing the intake and gaskets were blowing out at this narrow point). Looking at old vs new heads you can see the old arc shape that catered to a few locations, while the new heads have a triangular recess the block hole has to line up with. These correspond to about the 1:30 position on the block...

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I put the new gaskets in place and centre punched the location of the new hole...

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Interestingly the old gaskets had the holes in a slightly different position to the new Felpro set. Both located ok on the new heads though, new ones are more centred, old ones are the lower mark right on the edge...

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I taped up the block and used an old speaker magnet to catch any loose swarf...

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And they drilled ok. I used new 1/8" bits, kept the revs down and only snapped one as it caught on a protuding bit of casting as I broke through into the water jacket. Gotta admit I was getting nervous on the first one as I had read the thickness was between 1/4 and 1/2", and I was 20mm into it before I broke through. No dramas, just tapped the broken bit through with a nail and picked it up with a magnet. Rest of them went much easier, and I gave the holes a slight chamfer to tidy them up afterwards...

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And they line up well, pretty pleased to get this over with, next step is sliding in the new cam then putting bits back on...

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Got the bump-stick in today... :)

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No dramas except when I went to torque up the thrust plate and a bolt snapped (at 9 ft-lbs)...? Hardly even felt any resistance so must have been something wrong with it. I just twisted the remnants out with long nose pliers...

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Was worried as it was supposedly grade 8 (according to online experts) and thought I'd have to order one or machine something, but shot into Southern Bolts and Fasteners and they gave me a free grade 5 off the shelf, and since the last one seemed to be made out of plastic I'm happy it'll be fine - rapt with that service, cheers SBF... :thumbleft:

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And fitted the new double roller timing chain. It's a Rollmaster gold series, billet steel set with nitrided sprockets, flash eh... :mrgreen:

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Bit of trouble determining if I needed the shim or not, as the instructions were pretty vague. Looked online and it is supposedly to give chain clearance from the block. You 'stick' it to the sprocket with oil while sliding the chain on so it locates in place - can just see it inside the sprocket here and I checked it was even all way round...

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And I was going to carry on fitting stuff till I looked at the water pump plate gasket, will either grab another or make one to suit so will be a couple of days before things happen...

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Also bit of debate on whether to flatten out the oil slinger at the crank sprocket or toss it. Apparently you can do either with a double-roller, but might be easier to go without, I'll do a bit of research... :study:

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Cleaned up the block in preparation for her new top end, while I could turn it upside down and not get shit in everything. Started chasing out the threads but I was concerned my cheap tap was going to screw up the threads (felt like it was cutting too much) so backed out, and cut down an old toothbrush to use instead. Worked well with a bit of solvent to flush out any bits...
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And the pistons had a good costing of carbon. I used a sharpened chopstick to scrape it off (soft wood so no scratches) and cleaned up with a bit of brakleen...
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Then an oily rag to clean up any debris.
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And loosely fitted the first head, just to see how she looked...
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Had to check pushrod length before I order hardened ones. Since I have a lightweight (ie cheap) adjustable pushrod and didn't want to break it, I tried fitting a spring from the old heads, but it was about the same weight as the new ones, so tried just the inner with some washers. Didn't work worth a damn. :-D  

As soon as I screwed up the locknut, instead of the rocker tightening on the pushrod, the spring compressed, until the valve hit the piston. Failed bodge...
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So just decided to use what I had. I'd packed an old lifter with washers so it was effectively a solid one and wouldn't compress...
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With a stock pushrod (approx 174mm) the pattern the roller made on a bit of vivid maker was ok, but a little close to the intake side, indicating the rod is too short. This would probably be fine, but I wanted to experiment while I had the chance...
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Screwed the adjustable rod out to around 180mm and the mark was too far towards the exhaust side (blurry as shit sorry)...

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And at around 177mm it was spot on, perfect narrow pattern in the middle of the valve stem. Just got to order some hardened rods that are approximately this length and I can start properly assembling things...
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Yet to see what lengths are available, and what the imperial equivalents are. Bit of a bugger waiting for this but couldn't check things till I had it together...

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Looked into pushrod sizes, and after seeing the price thought I'd better re-check things, so shot home at lunchtime and re-tested with the head torqued down (onto an old gasket) and took a bit more care measuring. The results are much the same, but I am more confident in spending some coin after measuring twice... :)

With stock pushrod, got the same pattern indicating the rod was a little short (stock rod is 174.75mm...

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And setting adjustable rod to 177mm, got a nice neat pattern centred on the stem...

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Now, pushrods have theoretical, actual and gauge lengths (to account for oil holes and where the ball seats). Looking at the Comp Cams website, the actual length is approx 0.017" longer than gauge length, so I need a rod 177mm - 0.017".

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So maths... :study:

177mm = 6.968"

6.968" - 0.017" = 6.951"

And I see the 5/16" Magnum hardened rods come in 6.950"

(as a check, 6.950 + 0.017 = 6.967, which = 176.96mm)

Sorted, and ordered... :)

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# 1 daughter was sick today, and I kindly offered to stay home to care for her and let wifey go to work. Was awesome, got to sleep in, watch movies with a 6 yr old, score some Dad points, AND blag some bonus time in the shed. Having (slightly) sick kids is a great gig... :)

Here's the temporary solid lifter I'd bodged up to check the pushrods, just washers and shims cut from a speights can to pack it out...

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And I pulled the head to refit the valve spring and new gasket, and gave the heads the first torque after lubing new head bolts and bushing/washers with ARP torque assembly goo. Never used this before, seems good stuff, it just 'felt' right torquing up the bolts...

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Also fitted water pump as the gasket had arrived...

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It's really starting to come together now, should probably do a lot of the remaining fiddly jobs while I'm waiting for those pushrods, though it'll seem tedious after playing with shiny engine bits...

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I'm hoping the steel rockers I bought will fit ok under my stock covers, being smaller (and more expensive) than alloy rollers. There's not too much info on line unfortunately, most people chuck aftermarket (tall) covers on. The polylocks obviously hit the baffles on a test fit though, so I 'borrowed' some playdoh from my girls to see what the score was...

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No too bad really, decided to try knocking some holes in for clearance. Just used a 1" hole saw in the supercheap drill press...

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And cleaned them up a bit...

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And clearance looks ok. No idea if these holes will affect the purpose of the baffles, will see how it goes. I'll recheck clearances with more clay after the valve lash is set, while rotating the engine. If I had to I could rivet some stepped baffle plates in over these holes I guess...

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And stripped the covers for some fresh paint, hope it sticks as well as this stuff did, it was out of a rattle can and took a lot of effort to get off. Wish I could remember the brand it had cured really well..

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Getting bummed about the short evenings now too, makes it harder to chuck paint around, so will be a weekend job...

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Was looking fwd to long weekend to sort out some painting, but forecast looks a bit shit, so took yesterday off as it was a cracker of a day and I'd rather be skinning my knuckles on something interesting than processing paperwork. :-D

Stripped and prepped the air cleaner base, rocker covers and misc brackets etc, and got a couple of coats of epoxy on them. Some I'll leave as-is, the others will get a top coat of colour...
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The shed of 1000 projects...
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I had intended to prime the front grille section too, but it was a bastard to strip, all angles and sharp edges, and couldn't get any tools inside the recesses, so all hand sanding. I thought I'd just rub it back and spray over, but found my half-arsed effort umpteen years ago just meant rust under the shoddily applied spray-bomb, so needed to come back to metal. Just ran out of time to get it done properly, another day of labour required unfortunately. I'm thinking of just applying aluminium silver wheel paint once it's primed, should be a fairly hardy paint, and easy to touch up when it gets chipped...
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So, a job frustratingly half-done, but still better than being at work...  :)

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Pushrods arrived and looks like I did the maths right...  :) 
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Chucked them in some solvent for a clean and soaked the new lifters in clean oil...
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And gave rockers and polylocks a clean too, I wasn't sure I had to do this but didn't know if they had a grease coat or not, certainly a lot of crud came off...
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And once blown out and dried I gave them a coating of fresh oil and all ready to go in. Would have done it this arvo but wife has gone to netball so I'm doing family duties. Heads are all torqued up and next step is installing rockers and setting valve lash...
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Might get some time tomorrow, we'll see how things go...

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