If there is one you'll find it.
If there isn't one, You';ll Invent one!
(';')

 

I had two goal today: finish up the brake system and run the engine on the starter to check oil pressure. I was successful on both fronts.

To wrap up the braking system I needed to finish the parking brake. On the left is the original parking brake lever and on the right is the new one I designed.


The pivot point was moved up 1.5" on the new lever which will now pull the cable enough to activate the parking brake.


It's hard to see but the shaft is a piece of .750" steel with the center opened up to .500". Two bronze bushings are in the shaft to prolong the life.


I wanted to test fit the exhaust manifolds today so I bolted both of them to the engine. The curing process dulled the paint from a gloss finish to something closer to semi-flat but this view is the most you will ever see of them.


I had picked up a new starter for the simple reason I don't know the history of the one that came with the engine. I consider it a cheap insurance policy.


After replacing the oil filter and filling the engine with a gallon of 5w-40, I hit the starter button to check oil pressure. I was happy to see 45+psi on the starter motor with out spark plugs.

I've been thinking about how I am going to run the alternator and AC compressor. The LT1 has a really nice mount system; this was from the Series 2 XJ6 that was my last project. The alternator is on the top left, the power steering pump is driven by the back side of the belt and is below the alternator, the AC compressor is below and slight to the left of the power steering pump, and the belt tensioner is to the right of the AC compressor.


In the Mark VII there is not enough room to even put the accessory mounting bracket. I am going to have to work up a solution.

 

I found this Lokar throttle pedal and while I thought it would work, I thought the price was excessive. The pictures don't really show how it works but the instructions do.

So I fired up which looks very similar and was about a third of the price. When it gets here in a few days I'll see if it's a keeper.

 

Thorsen
Lovely work on the brakes. A joy to read about.
I have a feeling that only a pendulant (if this is a word) throttle pedal will look, and feel right in use, alongside the other two, such as this type:

 

Greg,
That exact pedal is my Plan B!

Thomas

 

Not only that, but it's nice, new and Shiny!
It Absolutely belongs in any refurbishment coming out of your shop!
I mean Really! Ya go to all this work and put on a Dirty, Filthy starter with a questionable past?
Fie on that!
(';')

 

Today was a busy day but I feel accomplished. I spent a fair amount of time last night looking at what options were available for mounting the alternator and AC compressor. Also, since I already had the alternator and AC compressor from last summer, I really wanted to use those. They only had 800 miles on them so I know their history, plus the AC compressor still has the factory plugs in place so it's pretty much brand new.

After looking at what was out there, I decided that mounting the accessories like this was the best compromise. The kit is really designed to mount a modern motor in an old Chevy pickup truck so it was a great way to solve my problem. It's not perfect though; the major downside with this arrangement is that I will need to remove the radiator hoses to replace the belt. Belts and hoses have a similar replacement schedule so that is mitigated to some degree.

Then there was the price. $850, plus another $60 for a hub adapter. I mean it's all CNC machined and looks snazzy but that goes against the spirit of the project. So I decided to make my own.

First up was a spacer plate needed to clear the pipe fitting on the front of each head. There is a port on both the front and the rear of the heads; the rear ports are connected to a steam pipe that goes to the radiator. The steam pipe helps to eliminate air pockets in the head. The front ports are just plugged off. The spacer is also needed to clear the front edge of the valve cover.
It took 8 attempts but I finally got the correct alignment of the three holes.


After making sure the three mounting holes were properly aligned, I designed a tower that stands 6.75" from the lowest bolt. I will explain why I went with that measurement later.
Here it is 3d printed out at .500" thick.


With the tower bolted in place I was able to loosely mount the AC compressor to verify the belt path was clear.



Back to the 6.75" tower height, I have been on the fence if I wanted to clean up the stock valve covers or replace them. Today I bought a pair of finned aluminum valve covers; once I get them in place I will make sure 6.75" is high enough to clear the fins, then I can have the brackets cut from aluminum.


The nice thing is I will be able to flip the bracket over and use it on the other side for the alternator.

 

I was quite surprised to find out today that the bolt patterns on the left and right side of the cylinder have different patterns and spacing. There was a solid 5 seconds of confusion in the garage tonight when I tried to bolt the mount for the right head onto the left head and it was not going to happen. I pulled out my tape measure while I said "surely both of the heads are the same" - and quickly realized they weren't.

It was a problem easy enough to fix and I have the mounts that now work for both the left and right. I did realize that there was an easy to make improvement that would significantly improve the rigidity of both mounts but I'll take a picture tomorrow after I finish 3d printing two more pieces.


Tonight I was also able to put one of the rear wheels back on and check clearance to between the tire and the fender skirt. Converting from drum brakes to disc brakes moved the rear wheels out around .02" which is minor and caused no issues with wheel/skirt clearance.

Finally, I pulled the trigger on my new radiator solution. I went with a 3-row aluminum radiator made for the first gen Ford Mustangs. Size wise it is a perfect fit and these are easy to find and cheap to purchase. I put the exact same radiator in my MGB about 5 years ago when I upgraded the engine and it has performed flawlessly for about 10k miles.

 

I am feeling pretty good about the brackets for the alternator and AC compressor.



I ended up doubling the brackets to add extra support. This will prevent the ac compressor and alternator from twisting in their mounts.


I need to work out the alignment but I will be using bolt spacers to fill the open areas where you see the bolt shank. This will help increase rigidity. I'll probably pull the engine this weekend and put it on the stand so I can wrap up this part of the project.
While the engine is out I need to get serious about insulating the firewall and floor boards. I also need to finish up the fuel lines.

 

Thomas
I know you are considering some sort of support at the rear of the compressor; but if this is not possible and the two vertical brackets are the sole supports, may I respectfully suggest, assuming you can find an alumin(i)um welder close by, that you weld in some bracers between the two vertical brackets, in addition to the bolt spacers? There is a lot of weight aft of the brackets to hit the compressor's 'tail' if engine or other vibrations hit the sweet spot.

 

Today the new Mustang radiator came and the fit is perfect. I am slightly concerned about the location of the radiator cap but if it is a problem I have options.



I haven't take it out of it's plastic wrap yet but there is plenty of space between the fan and the electric water pump.
As a general rule the fans that they include with these are very cheap and don't pull enough air, but it was cheaper to buy the radiator with the fan and the shroud than it was to buy a radiator separately and a shroud separately.
I'll hang this fan on the wall and use something better.


I also have a date for when I want to be done by. 2026 is the 100 year celebration of Route 66 and many of the towns along the route are holding celebrations. My aunt and uncle live in Cuba Missouri so it seems like a good place to join the celebration. I'll meet up with my parents who live outside of St Louis and we will make the drive to Cuba - me in the Jaguar and Dad in his 1966 Charger.

 

Today I settled on a gas pedal and installed it. The pedal I went with is cast aluminum and was actually pretty decent.


I took it apart, sand-blasted it, and sprayed it with some 2k paint I had.
The action feel good but I don't love the pedal pad; I'm going to see if I can pick up a Wilwood pedal pad to make it look better.


This fan has been hanging in my garage for about 5 years. Every time I need a fan I pull it down - I thought today was going to be the day it gets used but it was not meant to be - it's just too big. It's a VDO fan from a 1995 Volvo 850 and even though it has good performance I am going to pick up a Spal for this project.


I did pull the engine this afternoon and put the new valve covers on. I am a big fan of the look.


Last week I noticed that the dipstick tube had a couple of holes worn in it. I'm not sure how that happened but I wasn't going to use it like that.


I found a universal dipstick that was the right size and I now have a dipstick.


I spent the rest of the afternoon by cleaning up a few wire circuits that are no longer needed, like the Park switch for the transmission being in the starter circuit.

 

Really like the dip stick set up, simple, basic, functional.

 

Love the rocker covers and the accelerator pedal, the three pedals look dead right together. You could buy a Wilwood rubber and cut and glue it on, maybe, if nothing they supply is the correct size?

 

The priority today was finishing up my taxes but I was able to sneak into the garage for a couple of hours. I put the engine back on the stand so I had a sturdy place to work on the accessory brackets. When I re-engined my MGB about 5 or 6 years ago I learned that it is incredibly difficult to determine when the engine goes back in for the final time, but I think on this project we are getting close. I started putting in spark plugs, engine sensors, and getting serious about the wire harness.



It was also time to atone for my sin of the cutting the inner fender to make room for the AC/alternator combo last summer. This is mid-way through the removal of the bump-out I made.
I really like this picture. First, you can see the 6-speed transmission on it's crate through the hole in the fender. Second, the piece of sheet metal laying on top of the fender is reflecting the MGB trunk lid painted with a union jack hanging on my garage wall.


After shaping the piece of sheet metal, riveting it in place, and painting it. I need some seam sealer for the edges and the paint needs to dry but we're back to a normal inner fender.


Tonight I got a fairly large shipment of wiring accessories and pieces I need for the fuel system. With more deliveries this week of brackets and some other items I need, plus warmer weather making its way to Chicagoland, I am about to start picking up the pace. I have a goal of running the engine by March 15.

 

Today was a short day but I sketched out the plan for the fuel system. This pretty closely follows the path I followed with my XJ6 project a few years ago with the exception of the fuel surge tank.
The goal here is to treat the left and right tanks as redundant systems. Having a left and right system means that a fuel pump failure doesn't mean the end of the day.



We'll look at more of the system over the next few days but tonight I started the fuel line from the 10 micron filter into the engine bay. For this project I am moving away from rubber/nylon AN hoses to PTFE. PTFE hoses are a little more difficult to work with but the benefit is that you have a hose that is much stronger and lasts longer.

 

Your diagram shows high pressure fuel pumps - I assume that means this engine is direct injected? Somehow I missed that detail.

 

Oh no, it's not DI. It's the normal port injection that runs around 58 psi if I am remembering correctly.
The high pressure pumps feed the engine the 50-whatever psi it needs it.
The low pressure pumps are similar to the 3-4 psi pumps like the SU style pump. All they do is transfer fuel from the left/right fuel tanks into the fuel surge tank. I am considering re-using the Hardi pumps I installed last summer but need to see if they have enough volume to keep the high pressure fuel pumps wet.

 

Aha! Now I understand. Is there not a practical way to use only the high pressure pumps and eliminate the low pressure ones?

Thanks,

Don

 

It is possible to have the high-pressure pumps pull directly from the tank, but the two main advantages to the surge tank approach is that it reduces the noise level of the fuel pumps, and it helps them last longer by keeping them cool.