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  #111  
Old 10-31-2018, 09:34 PM
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Thanks. It's fun to challenge yourself once in a while with something completely out of one's automotive comfort zone. I never worked on a Ford before. It seems that a 460 Ford is just a blue-painted, big block Chevy with the distributor at the wrong end. Look at the valve cover bolt pattern and the way the staggered valves are laid out.
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  #112  
Old 10-31-2018, 11:20 PM
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And the cylinders are numbered wrong.
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  #113  
Old 11-01-2018, 01:31 AM
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Naw, the engine is just backwards.

Look at where the sump is in the oil pan, combine that with the distributor location and it's a backwards 454.
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  #114  
Old 11-07-2018, 09:24 PM
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Picked up the transmission today. Total rebuild cost was $950. They also sent out the torque converter to be rebuilt since there was a lot of sludge in the transmission due to the fact that the seals were so petrified that the servos were not fully engaging and all the front clutches completely burned out. All the friction material wound up in the fluid and pan. Probably that last couple miles of driving did the most damage. Should be good to go for install this weekend. I have been cleaning, painting and trial fitting the brackets and accessories over the past week or so.
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  #115  
Old 11-10-2018, 11:25 PM
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Plopped the old 460 into place this afternoon. Rather uneventful when you don't have the transmission attached. It took, at the most, twenty minutes. I did have the take the wheels off and lower the nose down so the engine would fit over the front header panel without the hoist hitting the garage door.

After it was in place I used a floor jack to support the back of the block til I get the transmission installed tomorrow or Monday. I borrowed my buddy's truck jackstands so I can get the transmission and trans jack under the car.
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  #116  
Old 11-11-2018, 10:05 PM
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Got the transmission installed today. Boy that was not fun. The transmission jack's deck height is 10 inches off the floor and there is no way you can slide the trans under and into the tunnel area and then try to manhandle it onto the jack. Too darn heavy. So I put the car up onto the truck jack stands which are still not high enough. I ended up putting the trans on the jack and finagling it under the car by angling the base and dropping the bellhousing area and then moving it around between the right side brake rotor and the wheel well.

It then took four tries to get the transmission to bolt up to the engine. I thought I had the torque converter seated with two "clunks" but it turns out this one is supposed to clunk a third time to be fully seated into the front pump. (Things you learn when this is your first Ford project). Otherwise you get within 3/8" of bolting up and then no go. Very frustrating. But in the end I got it done by the time it was getting dark. I have a large railroad tie section holding up the rear of the trans till tomorrow when I can put in the crossmember and get it all into position, once and for all.
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  #117  
Old 11-11-2018, 11:20 PM
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Nicely done Macgiver! Adapt and overcome!!! That thing is a BEAST! Thanks for the update!!!
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  #118  
Old 11-18-2018, 10:25 PM
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Well today wasn't much fun. I have been attaching accessories and hoses, etc. I went to tighten the transmission cooler lines to the transmission and the adapter that is attached to the case snaps right off...flush with the case. Gee, how about pulling the trans for a fifth time?

No way.

So I jacked up the transmission from the back end and pulled the transmission cross member. I then angled it down as far as possible to get a clear shot at the fitting area. After an hour with a tiny chisel tapping in a counterclockwise direction I was able to see the remaining threaded section move. Luckily I had a 40-year-old Easy Out that I bought back in high school in the bottom of my tool box. I gently tapped it in with a small hammer and it stuck enough to be able to wrench the piece out. I'd get maybe an 1/8th of a turn and the Easy Out would fall out. (hence the name, I guess???). I reinserted, tapped and wrenched for another half hour til I got the sucker out of there. Thankfully no damage to the threads in the case.

I then went to the local NAPA which of course had every other fitting but the one I needed (Of course their inventory said they had it in stock). They called the other store in town who's inventory said they had two...I had him ask them to put their hands on one and tell me if it was actually there. IT WAS! So off across town I went.

They had the correct fitting for $1.80 and I was happy again. Installation went fine and the transmission is back up in place. Of course the hydraulic cylinder in the transmission jack failed so I had to use a floor jack for support of the tail shaft but all is well again.

Here is the offending fitting:
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  #119  
Old 11-18-2018, 10:48 PM
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And here is crazy 1970's gas crisis modification #1.

I bet this was some trick that my Grandfather probably got out of the J.C. Whitney catalog back in 1972 or so. He was the ultimate tinkerer and backyard mechanic wanna-be. I know he is smiling right now and slapping his knee, while winking to my Grandmother and saying: "Well, the kid found THAT one...lets see what he finds next..."

:-)

I couldn't figure out why the heck I could not get the transmission kick down lever to adjust and operate the transmission lever. I would pull the throttle all the way back and it would never contact the lever. Then it occurred to me to check full throttle to see if it was fully opening all four barrels of the carb. When I disconnected the cable I could get about an inch more travel in the throttle arm than when the cable was attached. I then I looked closer. The cable has a built in return spring in the form of a tightly wound coil spring on the cable itself. When you pulled all the way back it would stop.....up against what looked like two octagonal spacers.

Only they weren't spacers, they were 1/2" threaded nuts that someone had cut a notch out of and then slipped them over the cable behind the spring and clamped them closed with a vice grip. Thereby preventing the throttle from opening the last inch and/or engaging the four barrels, and/or activating the kickdown/internal pressure adjustment in the transmission. So that probably didn't help the lifespan of the transmission either.

Anyway, I used a cutoff disc on my Dremel tool and removed the offending spacers and lo and behold I now have full throttle capability and a working kickdown lever. Whodathought?

So, in conclusion, I imagine that not only will the rebuilt engine be a bit peppier than it was originally, it should be a helluva lot peppier than I ever experienced in this car either driving it in my adult years, or as a passenger, in my early childhood, now that it has a functioning four barrel.
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Last edited by njsteve; 11-18-2018 at 11:07 PM.
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  #120  
Old 11-22-2018, 01:28 PM
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More stuff going on. Got the original date coded alternator and smog pump back on. Jeez - these Fords have everything bolted to everything else with individual belts for everything, as well. That monster 460 engine looks tiny in that enormous engine compartment, doesn't it? Looks like a 289 in a Mustang engine bay. At least there's room to work!
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Last edited by njsteve; 11-22-2018 at 01:32 PM.
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