Engine and Drivetrain - Where the go-go juice goes
This is the MAN's version of a ring box. Just ask any man to pop his hood, and watch the smile sprint across his face, as he shows off his "diamond." A simple "What's under the hood?" comment can lead to a doctoral thesis rant about the in's and out's of every little detail underneath that unassuming piece of sheet metal. From little rice-rockets with high-pitch inline-4's to the big meaty detriot v-8's. Everyone engine bay has a different story to tell. More often than not it they are filled with stupid acts of ingenuity about how much a pain in the butt one thing or another was to do on the car. My car already has bubbling pool of funny acts, that if were video tape would probably lead to a weekend laughter fest equivalent to watching SuperBad back to back with Black Dynamite, with a bit of Monty Python for good measures. If you don't know what I mean, well that's just another inside joke that I'll keep to myself. Well on this page you'll see the evolution of how to fit a snake back into it's skin.
Old Engine Bay
Ahh the stripped down, nothing but hamsters and their wheels engine bay. I actually cleaned this up quite a bit since I bought it. Don't think you can ever get that classic sound of secondaries opeing up on a 4-barrel carberator when you mash your foot through the firewall and feel the front end pick up like a dog that just figured out what it feels like to pee on a electric fence. Click on the picture for a bit of reminising.
Out with the Old and In with the New
The easiest explaination of all the fun and excitment I'm having at the current moment. I have to shoe-horn that monster 5.4L DOHC motor into the space that was previously occupied by the old 289 push-rod class. Oh yah, that 5.4L DOHC is out of a 2008 Shelby GT500, hence why I will soon have a 1966 Shelby GT500. Click for a bit more information.
Wrestling the Snake in.....part 1
Oh yes, now the part that everyone has been waiting for. There's been a few people that said they do this all the time and it's not bad at all since the tranny is the same size an an old AOD one. Ummm, yahh....let's just see how easy it is to squeeze 10 pounds of post-processed potatoes into a 2 pound sack. Shall we? Igor, BRING ME A BRAIN!!
Long road to transmission satisfaction
Well now that the engine technically "fits," it's time to comeplete the drivetrain and get the transmission in there also. This was the first of many very invasive surgeries on the car. Mainly due to every component for this engine is just way oversized compared to what I had. But hey, that's what the fun part is about a Restomod. You can make it anything you want it to be. So pull up a chair, crack a cold one, fire up the welder and Let's get to it!!
First sheet metal welding project
At this point we have the engine and transmission all set snugly in their new homes. Now I have to fill in that big gaping hole that they chewed out of my floorboards. Kinda looks like what a leaf-cutter ant would do, but hey I'm having a blast working on it.
Thy engine giveth, and thy engine taketh away
So after a break of building this website, I was finally about to crack out the tools again and get back to work. Well last time we left off I had finally gotten the radiator all situation and was about to work on the A/C evaporator and the intake. Only problem was that I had just about 3/4" from the right hand side of the engine and the firewall. So after I took the engine out to work on the intake I remember all those hoses, etc. that ran along the backside. Yup, the engine was hungry for more room...
Exhaust
After test fitting some aftermarket GT500 headers and seeing all the clearance issues, I decided it was well worth the money to seek out some professional help on this one. Jim and the crew down at Barillaro Speed Emporium were more than happy to take on this challenge. All I can say is WOW!!! Click on the picture to see how this jewel turned out...
