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burnout289's 67 coupe project

I'm confused. Are you saying a 3/8" NPT thread size is incorrect? Not sure how that can be as that is what everything I found says is standard on that pump. I have the same one and it is 3/8". Or are you not finding a 3/8" NPT fitting with a 5/16" hose barb?
 
That's the thing, I did find a 3/8 NPT to 5/16 hose fitting...and the threads were smaller than what is on the pump. I agree, everything I see says 3/8". I'm contacting Holley, I'm sick of trying to figure this out.
 
Some progress today...

Fuel pump fittings saga is over! Confirmed by Holley and the rest of the world, the threads are 3/8 NPT. The fittings I have are just slightly fatter in the threads, like they start at a different point in the taper, but both will screw in. Since the fitting I want doesn't seem to exist in real life (just on the internet), I used a couple of 1/4 NPT to 5/16 hose fittings from O'Reilley then went to Home Depot for a couple of 1/4 - 3/8 NPT adapters. DONE. There's still the steel line to sending unit hose to deal with, but I'm going to ignore it for now.

Mock up of the worst headache of this project so far.



Not to mention this little gem. Doesn't fit? Make it fit.



I mocked up the water pump, looks good. Made sure new bypass hose will fit...just needs a trim. I also reinstalled the oil pan. There was some sailor talk. We removed it pretty easily without taking the crossmember out, but it wasn't going back in that way, what with trying to keep gasket sealer off the internals. So the crossmember came out. Of course, I can't put a filthy part back on, so it also got cleaned, wired, blasted and painted (also with black BBQ paint...it's some sturdy stuff).



Then came the new Grab-a-Track front sway bary from Mustangs Plus. Guys...get your crap together. Nothing here was end-of-the-world, but I wasn't impressed.

1) I was being fun and asked for a joke on the box in the memo section of my order. No joke delivered.
2) The endlink bolts could have a good bit more length and not have clearance issues. But NOOO, they are exactly the same length as stock, but the bushings don't compress. What a PITA trying to get the nut on the top with no threads exposed. An extra 1/4" wouldn't have killed anyone.
3) I was looking at the bar trying to remember which way the stock one went. I looked at the sticker..."Oh, it goes this way." No, it doesn't. It goes the way I had thought, which is with the sticker upside down. I probably would have removed it anyway, but look at this...(OK, it's hard to see with the flash, but trust me).



Lots of hardware was soaked then put on the wire wheel.

Here's how she sits now.

 
Last night I finally got the fuel system all buttoned up. I blasted the line with an air hose and it seems nice and clear, so my original fueling issue was likely just the pump which has already been replaced.

We also modified the air pump fittings in the heads. I'm not really sure what they're called, the bajo-style tubes that bolt on next to the exhaust manifold and normally route to the air pump. I had removed that years ago and plugged the hoses. Well, last night we cut the tubes off of the part that actually bolts on, ground them down and welded up the holes. Just needs a splash of paint then I can bolt them back on and they won't look quite so hideous.

I had to get a new stud for the air cleaner, no idea where the old one went. Got that cut down to size and installed the filter...starting to look like an engine again.

What are people doing with the alternator regulator wires? I see it's wrapped up with the headlight harness and I am converting to a one-wire Powermaster. I didn't see any harnesses that excluded these. The American Autowire full kit is on my list, but I don't want to spend that kind of coin unless it's really necessary. That money can go to a rearend swap!
 
Last night I finally got the fuel system all buttoned up. I blasted the line with an air hose and it seems nice and clear, so my original fueling issue was likely just the pump which has already been replaced.

We also modified the air pump fittings in the heads. I'm not really sure what they're called, the bajo-style tubes that bolt on next to the exhaust manifold and normally route to the air pump. I had removed that years ago and plugged the hoses. Well, last night we cut the tubes off of the part that actually bolts on, ground them down and welded up the holes. Just needs a splash of paint then I can bolt them back on and they won't look quite so hideous.

I had to get a new stud for the air cleaner, no idea where the old one went. Got that cut down to size and installed the filter...starting to look like an engine again.

What are people doing with the alternator regulator wires? I see it's wrapped up with the headlight harness and I am converting to a one-wire Powermaster. I didn't see any harnesses that excluded these. The American Autowire full kit is on my list, but I don't want to spend that kind of coin unless it's really necessary. That money can go to a rearend swap!
I just unplugged the reg. Plug
Last night I finally got the fuel system all buttoned up. I blasted the line with an air hose and it seems nice and clear, so my original fueling issue was likely just the pump which has already been replaced.

We also modified the air pump fittings in the heads. I'm not really sure what they're called, the bajo-style tubes that bolt on next to the exhaust manifold and normally route to the air pump. I had removed that years ago and plugged the hoses. Well, last night we cut the tubes off of the part that actually bolts on, ground them down and welded up the holes. Just needs a splash of paint then I can bolt them back on and they won't look quite so hideous.

I had to get a new stud for the air cleaner, no idea where the old one went. Got that cut down to size and installed the filter...starting to look like an engine again.

What are people doing with the alternator regulator wires? I see it's wrapped up with the headlight harness and I am converting to a one-wire Powermaster. I didn't see any harnesses that excluded these. The American Autowire full kit is on my list, but I don't want to spend that kind of coin unless it's really necessary. That money can go to a rearend swap!
I just unplugged my regulator and taped the connector.
 
After cleaning off all the alternator and water pump bolts the other day, I decided to just purchase new hardware anyway. The old stuff is mostly pitted and mismatched. Sure, it all held together, but as cheap as it is, I felt better replacing it. I also threw in a new alternator top bracket, the stamped steel type. I removed the thermactor pump ages ago and see no need to reinstall that huge hunk of metal just to save a couple of bucks. Yes, I bought the correct bolt kit to use the new mount.

I feel like I'm mentally getting ahead of myself on this project. The main goal while it's in the shop is to get it running and get some rust areas patched. Possibly primer as well. But then my mind starts to wander and I find out my friend has a 17/32 drill bit. Why, that's what I'd need to lower the upper control arm. Ooh, we could make me some subframe connectors, too. Even just going to a one-wire alternator makes me want to replace the whole damn wiring harness...
 
Made some more progress last night. Finally got to drive! Well, I got to steer. We towed the car around the building to a hose bib so we could flush out the block. Took a while, but finally ran clear and after drying it all off I mocked up the water pump and alternator. The new hardware won't be here until tomorrow, so I didn't get too crazy yet.



Here are the freshly painted air injector banjo thingies. All welded up closed. Much cleaner look now.



Radiator was freshened up, but I'm a bit disappointed. They didn't even bother to clean off the tanks before respraying them, so now I have gloss black crud, mostly on the bottom tank but it's frustrating. I'm a bit confused on the mounting, and it's been a while since I took it off. Who knows if I ever had it right. The 4 corner bolts are easy to figure out, but I always see people talk about "the 24" radiator from a 67." Mine is around 20.75" wide (core) and about 21.5" across the shroud flanges. I have plates that go on the sides, to fill the air gap I am assuming, but those don't seem to line up very well with the bumps on the mounting flange (pics below). Do those plates go on the front of the support?





 
Who "refreshed" it and didn't even clean it let alone painted the dirt? That's down right scary. Not to mention ridiculous
 
Yeah, I was a bit miffed at the radiator, but at this point I'm just glad I could bolt it up and keep going.

I finished running wires for everything, just need to repair the battery apron so I can mount it up and see if this all works. Also need to fab up a shroud for the fan still, but the relay and everything is in place. I didn't want to cut any of the wires just yet, so I have a really fat spool dangling in the engine bay from that relay. The Spal relay kit is really nice, it makes me want to get a new harness sooner rather than later. I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what some of the wire colors were, even after stripping back some of the coverings...what a PITA. I do not envy Midlife's work, but I'm glad he's doing it.
 
I found a use for the stock alternator's voltage regulator...


Does this mean I have a HiPo block?


Current progress:


 
I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what some of the wire colors were, even after stripping back some of the coverings...what a PITA. I do not envy Midlife's work, but I'm glad he's doing it.
Aw shucks...it's easy if you're color-blind like me!

JK!
 
On Thursday night, I picked up a little jug of gas and headed over to the shop. My friend Jake repaired the battery apron, I threw some paint over it and mounted up the battery. All we got was noise from the solenoid, so I swapped it out with a spare I picked up just in case. Just barely got a little cough out of her and it died. Either his battery charger is going out, or I need a new battery. Heading over there again this morning and will find out for sure.

I'm excited to hear this thing again!
 
Got the engine fired up and gave the intake manifold a fuel bath. We found that the rear float was not engaging its valve and caused fuel to spew up out of the vents. Once that got under control and cleaned up, I took her for a ride around the shop. Felt good!

Now to fix everything else.
 
Progress has slowed down a bit, as work has been hectic and this week is chock full of birthdays.

Last weekend I picked up a sheet of ABS plastic and cut out some gauge retainers. I didn't go for the big one-piece plate that the vendors sell, I was only concerned with the smaller gauges. Right now, it's a bit mix-n-match. I have two UltraLite gauges (fuel and volts), one random water temp gauge under the dash and a column-mounted tach. The AutoMeters are definitely 2-1/16", pretty sure the others are as well, but I've been working on this at home and those are still on the car.

Where was I? Ah yes, I rigged up a hot knife and the ABS was still a PITA to cut. I only used it for the gauge holes and that was so slow. I used tin snips to cut the pieces out of the sheet. If I were to do this again, I'd start with a hole saw, then cut out the profiles with a jigsaw. In the end, they fit up just fine. Now I need to clean up the wiring...I was pretty messy back in the day. Hadn't even heard of shrink tubing!

The driver's fender got patched and back on the car, which is when I found out I needed a new fancy cage nut for underneath. That'll go on tomorrow. I also picked up hinge rebuild kits, the driver's door is pretty bad.
 
Various pics over the last week or two.

My two blue coupes...


Looks like I don't need so much spacer after all.


The Flying Dutchman at work...






Gauges...




After some soap and water (just the plastic, duh).


Definitely needs some alignment work. UCA drop and less spacer should help here. Also need to roll the fender lips.
 
I reinstalled the headlights, as well as the rear valance and bumper. Also replaced the under-fender cage nut things with the Scott Drake replacements with those little tabs on them. It was impossible until I looked up the trick. Very handy little parts! I also ordered new hardware and gaskets for the tail lights. I have a bucket full of screws/bolts/etc from when I disassembled the car and for the price, it's far less hassle to buy new than to sift through everything to figure out what went where. Nowadays I keep things in separate zip-loc bags!

I'd been ordering everything I could from CJ Pony Parts, mostly for the points system. But after going through NPD for some little random bolts, I'm kind of hooked on their shipping times. Seems pretty much everything they have is stock-style replacement items, but damn they have a lot of them, and everything gets here quick!
 
I'd been ordering everything I could from CJ Pony Parts, mostly for the points system. But after going through NPD for some little random bolts, I'm kind of hooked on their shipping times. Seems pretty much everything they have is stock-style replacement items, but damn they have a lot of them, and everything gets here quick!
You simply cannot beat NPD for stock and selection. I too buy a good deal from CJ's but expect to wait for most stuff to deliver. Catch something pricey on sale with them and you can save some money (plus get RPM points). For me, NPD is next day delivery if I order by noon. Plus, NPD does try to only sell the very best re-pop parts available.
 
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