Starting my build very soon

Have accomplished quite a bit since the last update, and have the parts in hand to accomplish quite a bit more.

Since the last update:

The battery, which hasn't been in a running car in about 18 months but has been on a battery charger, has finally died.

Mounted the Holley 2300, "500 CFM" carb - throttle lever hits the intake manifold unless I use a phenolic resin spacer to raise the carb, which I did. The carb spacer meant I needed longer carb bolts/studs. On one corner of the carb, a bolt couldn't be started because it was too long and hit a linkage mounting point, so a stud had to be used.

Used a 1" fan spacer from summit / allstar performance to install a low-profile flex fan. The 250 sits so low that the fan was hitting the radiator outlet neck and the blades had to be shortened.

For the immediate future:

Install the Moroso battery cut-off switch I received from summit on a new Optima red top battery.

Install the new 1-wire, 1G, natural finish PowerMaster alternator I received from summit using the original alternator brackets and an original style v-belt. I hope the alternator clears the battery, otherwise I'll have to relocate the battery.

Install the Dayco 1.5" X 10.75" upper radiator flex hose I received from summit.

As it turns out, the "stock length" cup and ball pushrods CI sells for a 250 with the CI adjustable rocker arms are significantly too long, and even the "- 1/8" " cup and ball pushrods CI sells for that same combo are still too long, so I ordered some shorter custom pushrods from Smith Brothers, ETA next weekend. My block is decked, but only .030, and my head wasn't milled at all. I don't see how the CI pushrods would fit in any 250 with adjustable rockers.

Thanks
Bob the Builder
 
You sure have a nice engine build coming together, been following the progress avidly. What machining was involved to use the 300 rods?
 
bmbm40":2epjos7k said:
You sure have a nice engine build coming together, been following the progress avidly. What machining was involved to use the 300 rods?

I used "early" 300 rods.

IIRC, the 300 and the 250 have the same rod journal size, and the early 300 rod has the 912 piston pin bore (the late 300 rods have a .975 piston pin bore). No machining would have been involved to simply use the 300 rods "as is", although I had them machined for ARP rod bolts, the beams polished, and balanced, so some minor machining was required for those procedures. Use of the 300 rods will require a very short custom piston.

Thanks
Bob
 
Good to know, was hoping the 300 rod would zero the deck height with a stock piston. So for me it will be 255 pistons when able to build my 250 block. Thanks.
 
bmbm40":dbp80n5f said:
So for me it will be 255 pistons when able to build my 250 block. Thanks.
Make sure you have sufficient combustion chamber size or your static compression will likely be higher than you may want.
 
The Powermaster alternator did interfere with the battery tray, but it wasn't difficult to raise the battery tray about an inch to clear the alternator:



Received an upper radiator hose (a Dayco flex hose) that fit, and the Smith Brothers pushrods I ordered. The pushrods are significantly shorter than even the "-1/8" pushrods from CI. Also, the cup is slightly larger in diameter and shaped a little differently, I think it will fit the balls on the pushrod adjusters better.



Thanks
Bob the Builder
 
Greetings Ford Six Fans,

I hooked up the new Optima battery and experienced a strange electrical issue - accessories would work, but the engine would not crank. I wasn't ready to start the engine, but needed to crank the engine to get each cylinder into position to adjust the valves.

The battery was grounded to the engine on the thermostat housing stud, which threaded into the aluminum head. When I bought the car, the battery had been grounded to the thermostat housing stud, but that was an iron head. Finally, I moved the battery ground to a stud I was using for the upper alternator bracket, and the engine cranked with no problem. It seems that the ground through the aluminum head wasn't good enough - a small current flow could be supported, but as soon as I tried to crank the engine, the ground wasn't good enough for that higher current flow.

I wasn't aware that aluminum wasn't as good for grounding as iron - has anyone else encountered this?

On other notes, managed to spin the oil pump with a drill while copilot noted the oil pressure - a maximum of 55 psi at the drill's highest speed to 850 RPM. Also, cranked the engine with a compression gauge on #1 cylinder and noted a maximum of 150 psi cranking pressure.

Still have to finish making up the lower radiator house, the transmission cooler lines, the throttle cable bracket, and hooking up the DUI.

Thanks
Bob the Builder
 
Adjusted all the valves - the adjustors are almost all the way down - most of them only have about two threads above the lock nut. I still believe that the CI 250 cup and ball pushrods are too long for the adjustable rocker assemblies CI sells now. They might work with OEM adjustable pushrod assemblies, most of which are from 144s and 170s if I remember correctly.

Think I figured out how to make a lower radiator hose that works with a Jeg's 1 3/4" aluminum 90 degree fitting (200 radiator outlet and 250 water pump inlet are different sizes) . Unfortunately, someone stole the FedEx box from my front door before I got home from work, so I have to order another one (about a ten day delay).

While I'm waiting on the fitting, I plan to make up the transmission cooler lines (C4 to radiator, a little tricky to route through the headers), make the throttle cable bracket for the Lokar cable (I've done that before), and hook up the DUI (only two wires to hook up, 12V for ignition and the tach lead).

Once I get the engine running, I have to take the Ranchero to a muffler shop and to the transmission shop for adjustments.

Thanks
Bob the Builder
 
Since the last update I ran the transmission cooler lines using 5/16" coated steel lines from O'Reilly, and installed the DUI. The stock distributor clamp seems to work with the DUI. Wiring to the DUI is a little short; may have to extend it, but maybe not, depending on which way I have to turn it to set the timing.

After considering several options for the throttle cable bracket, decided to use the boss on the extreme left front of the block (between the water pump and the distributor) where the stock lifting tab was mounted. Used fairly heavy gauge steel because I don't want it to flex. The bracket basically looks like a large "L" - like a carpenter's square, with one leg of the "L" being vertical between the water pump and distributor, and the other leg being horizontal slightly above the top of the valve cover. The bottom of the vertical leg, where the bracket mounts to the boss, is offset to accommodate the DUI, which is larger than the stock DS. I cut out a cardboard pattern first, then used that to cut a 1' square plate of mild steel into the desired shape with an angle grinder and a metal cutting disc.

All that remains is to prime and paint the throttle cable bracket, then I can permanently install it and hook up the Lokar throttle cable.

Still waiting on a radiator hose fitting to replace the one that was stolen from my front door (FedEx delivery). :(

Decided to reuse the "Power by Ford" script valve cover that I had on the 200; it will need to be sanded and repainted the Ford dark blue.

Thanks
Bob the Builder
 
You mentioned your transmission cooler lines and your headers. I don't know how close they are, but if you are concerned about heat radiating into the transmission cooler lines - DEI (and others) make heat insulating sleeve material. I had that issue on the brake lines of my 1957 Chevy.
 
Greetings Ford Six Fans,

It was a very long night, but managed to start up the Ranchero last night.

Started on it right after work; had a friend from my Falcon club to help me. Just before starting for the first time installed an inline fuel filter, then the final battery cable. Friend noticed that one of the trans cooler lines was TOO close to one of the header collectors; wrapped the collector in DEI insulation.

My initial distributor stab was a bit retarded (literally), but after a timing adjustment (no need to re-stab) the engine fired up fairly quickly. Oil pressure was at 65 PSI when first started, falling to 55 PSI after a full warm-up. Fast-idled car for 20 minutes to break in cam, then checked/set the timing and idle speed. The 250 idles well enough with the 274/274/108 in park and after idling for 45 minutes or more was at 180 degrees.

My plan was to drive the car to the muffler shop the next morning, but a lot of loose ends needed to be tied up before that could happen.

Thanks
Bob the Builder
 
Once I had the Ranchero running, there were still a lot of things that needed to be done before I could drive it. The old exhaust pipe needed to be cut off - it was hanging down low enough to get caught on an obstruction; hooked up the emergency brake cable - it was also hanging down quite a bit; installed the adjustable rods to the export braces; put five gallons of gas into the tank; cleaned the windows - the Ranchero has been sitting for a year and half; and looked at the vacuum modulator on the C-4 trans. Couldn't find a place to attach a vacuum hose to the modulator, will create another post about that. All this kept me up until 2 AM on a work day that started at 5 AM.

Fortunately, there's a muffler shop only about four miles away. As I feared, without the vacuum connection to the modulator, the trans wouldn't shift out of first gear, so I drove to the muffler shop in first gear at about 30 mph. When I arrived at the muffler shop, the temperature was about 160. When I get the Ranchero back from the muffler shop, my next concern will be to get the C-4 shifting. I'm thinking this has something to do with the vacuum modulator.

@Gene, it doesn't idle all that well in gear so far, about like the 264/264/110 cam with my old 200. However, I haven't even adjusted the idle mixture yet, nor connected the vacuum advance to the distributor. Am installing a wideband air-fuel ratio meter, I hope that with this help I will be able to tune it to idle better.

Thanks
Bob
 
I know it's late to talk about it but thought I'd ask...

the motor mounts, why no rubber?
how does the car feel with no rubber engine mounts, extra shakes/rattles?

IIRC - I believe when swapping to a t-5 one has to replace the trans bracket to move the trans back, I'm sure that a t5 bracket should work for you as they both can use the c4 rubber mount and existing holes as no holes need to be drilled as it's a direct replacement that relocates the entire mount back almost 2 inches giveing enough room to get your head to almost an ideal 1.5inch from the firewall

on the other hand...
Awesome job, looks great, and I'm glad the idle it's too bad, your patience really paid off and overall top notch job. I'm sure you're gonna enjoy it crusing the roads soon.
 
@MPGmustang,

The motor mounts have no rubber because that's the best I could do in the limited time that I had my friend with a welding truck available. :D Have never learned to weld so I had to ask someone from my Falcon club to help.

Thought that with the solid motor mounts , there would be a subjectively excessive amount of vibration ... but surprisingly, it's not bad at all, much less than expected. Don't know if that's because the rotating assembly was statically and dynamically balanced, or if the 250 inherently has less vibration than my previous 200. Haven't driven it over 3,000 RPM though, so I can't say what it will be like above that to 5,000 RPM (my intended redline, at least for the break-in period). Haven't really tuned it yet, so I'm sure I can get a smoother idle from mixture adjustments and maybe jetting and/or accelerator pump adjustments.

The T5 crossmember sounds like a really good option - wish I had known about it before I made the motor mounts. May still consider doing that, would have to at least redrill the motor mounts, and also shorten the drive shaft.

The muffler shop has virtually adopted the Ranchero - I don't think they really want to give it back. Am going with 2" true duals (two mufflers) all the way, exiting on the side just behind the rear tires, an "X" crossover pipe and Flowmasters, will not be exactly subtle, but should not reduce exhaust gas velocity (and thus scavenging), nor introduce unnecessary backpressure.

Once the shifting is sorted out and at least one supplementary electric fan is installed I will feel confident to drive it to local cruise-ins.

Thanks
Bob
 
Starting with the CI stainless three-piece headers, the muffler shop added true duals, 2" all the way from the collectors to the tailpipes with Flowmaster Series 10 and an X-Pipe.

Note how tight the clearance is between starter, trans cooler lines, collectors, and steering linkage. The trans cooler lines may be relocated slightly.

http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx31 ... 9e530f.jpg

The X-Pipe is just in front of the mufflers:

http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx31 ... 07ec8c.jpg

The Flowmasters are in front of the axle and the tailpipes curve over the axle to exit at the right rear:

http://i767.photobucket.com/albums/xx31 ... b19cb4.jpg

Thanks
Bob the Builder
 
Yeah, that battery cable looks a little close to. Totally awesome though :beer:

So how does it sound???
 
@econoline,

At idle and mid-range, it doesn't sound like any six I've ever heard before. Am a member of my local Falcon club, so have heard quite a few sixes. Have not revved it up beyond 3,000 RPM or run it at WOT yet, waiting for the transmission to get sorted out before I do that. Will hold judgement on whether it sounds like a V8 until then. Maybe I can arrange to record a video so that I can share the sound.

Thanks
Bob
 
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