Rebuild progress all in one thread

m37_power · Post by **m37_power** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 3:08 am

I dont even know what to say.....your work is amazing. Even on a hot rod forum this would be insane! keep it up!!

monkeymissile · Post by **monkeymissile** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 4:23 am

Josh,
I hope you'll post a video of this beast when you first fire it up!

paul · Post by **paul** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:05 pm

this is nuts , i wanna hear this gas engine run, you must be some kind of computer wizz to get all this running toghether, we had quadruple turbo and twin root blower on the v16 on the ferry i used to work on and those deisel where wicked, gaz is a lot more prime , i would love to see this thing on a dyno

k8icu · Post by **k8icu** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 6:05 pm

monkeymissile wrote:Josh,
I hope you'll post a video of this beast when you first blow it up!

There fixed it for you...

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:45 pm

Thanks guys! It will be nothing short of insane... thats the goal! Everyone keeps asking me WHY?!?!?! to which I reply: WHY NOT! When was the last time you saw a twincharged big block in a 55 year old military truck... exactly, NEVER! It's NOT another boring 32 Ford clone with a 350 chevy in it, and that is exactly why I love how it is turning out.

Made the jackshaft tonight... ran into a BIG snafu... My dad had one of his friends with a lathe make a bearing sleeve and a snout extension for the supercoupe jackshaft, and, the sleeve fit perfectly over the bearing, but, the hub extension was 1.25" too long... UH OH!

So, I did the first thing any good,s elf respecting engineer would do: I tried to pin it on the machinist... LOL! unfortunately, after consulting the print, it quickly became clear the part was exactly as ordered and it turns out the guy operating the CAD program (me) didn't understand how to operate a tape measure.

So, I ended up growing a set of big steel ones and cutting the center out of the stock supercoupe pulley, then rewelding it at the proper offset. Took me a few hours to get it so that there was no raidal runout, and a few thou of axial runout, but, I finally got it...

Next thing was to bore the escort timing gear out, and bolt it to the hub extension. I put 4 small allen screws in it, as well as the center bolt to carry the load.

I heated the hub extension to 500*F and it slid right onto the end of the bearing shaft with a few whacks of my 2 lb sledge. Let it cool and it is one TIGHT shrink fit. Runout is excellent on the fit, measuring almost nothing.

Complete assembly. The cogged crank hub will turn the cogged pullet on the jackshaft:

The sleeve my dad had made. It fits over the stock thunderbird supercoupe unit bearing. that is one BIG bearing! 2.75" long!

I'll weld mounting brackets to the sleeve that will bolt to the engine block. That way if I ever need to put a new bearing in, all I have to do is press the old one out of the sleeve, and then heat the hub extension till it comes off, and press it onto the new bearing... Completely serviceable.

our puppy investigating the weld quality on the supercoupe pulley:

the pulley after I got done fixing my SNAFU. For a while there I wasn't so sure Iwas going to be able to fix it!

Master Yota · Post by **Master Yota** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 10:25 pm

Apparently a set of "big steel ones" will also give you the street credit to cut pulleys apart and weld them back together with factory-like tolerances...

I am truly impressed...

And I'm with you - every engineer worth his salt would blame the machinist first...

HingsingM37 · Post by **HingsingM37** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 1:39 am

Josh, Again, amazing work. Your project should be a show on the Discovery channel

Your work is refreshing to watch. I am curious as to where you got all of your fabrication talent and gearhead skills? Very impressive. Self taught? What is your automotive/mechanical background?

monkeymissile · Post by **monkeymissile** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:59 am

k8icu wrote:
monkeymissile wrote:Josh,
I hope you'll post a video of this beast when you first blow it up!
There fixed it for you... :) :lol:

I hope that's not the case, don't want Josh to cry after all that work!

k8icu · Post by **k8icu** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:50 pm

I'm just funning...I'm sure with his knowledge and his mad skills it will pure like my tomcat when he's sleeping on my fat belly...

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:15 pm

oh, I fully intend to nuke it one day... its a disposable tuning engine. Once I get an Eaton 5 speed, rockwell T case, and Timken 7500 lb SDF75's under it, I'm going to turn it up... way, way up

The fuel system, ignition system, and quad chargers are capable of around 1200 HP before they max out!

Borrowed a dial indicator and mag base from work to check runout. .007" axially, and .012" radially. The powdered metal escort timing gear on the other end actually has more!

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 6:31 pm

Just tacked in place, nowhere close to aligned properly but:

GAWD does that look fierce!!

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 7:03 pm

finished the clutch master cylinder. I am fully aware that the upper brace is not parallel to the lower one... it was intentional to clear the bolts on the frame. I reused the bolts that mount the clutch and brake peda gear outboard of the frame so that I did not have to drill any additional holes in it.

I am not too impressed with the coverage of the POR 15. I see surface rust coming through the seams everywhere, and it's irritating me to put it lightly. Once I get the cab tub back off I'm going to have to go over the frame and drivetrain with a fine toothed comb and make sure I cover all those spots.

The grey arm is the link arm off the factory clutch pedal rod. I cut it from a solid block of 1"X2", and then welded on some 3/8" plate to make the rest. I slotted it and burned it in all the way around to give it plenty of strength.

Pedal travel is perfect. Pedal sits right in the middle of the adjustment on the rod to pedal, and I have adjustment at the MC rod to fork. The pedal bottoms against the floor at the same point that the MC bottoms:

Also did some work on the fuel system. Got my 4 lines set up on the tank cap. The two on the drivers side are returns, and the two on the passengers side are feeds.

Dual fuel pumps. Lower one is not the right one, it's a spare from another project, but ti happens to be the same type as the right one (Walbro GLS392) so it makes a good mock up:

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Sat May 08, 2010 9:24 am

ordered the radiator... fits PERFECT. Sides drag on the stock core support on the way in. Beast is made in the USA by Flex-a-lite, and comes with a 3K CFM fan on the backside that could be relocated to the front if needed with the included parts. I'll leave it on the back side, as I like the looks better. Rated to 600 HP continuous. If you look at the tanks, you'll see they have a unique way of mounting. the T grooves are there for mounting with the hardware they include. comes with brackets, hardware, electric fan plug and wires, fueses etc, everything EXCEPT a friggin radiator cap.

Kinda bummed about that, but, oh well. VERY nice piece, and would still order it again.

Master Yota · Post by **Master Yota** » Sat May 08, 2010 11:31 pm

Looks good Man!

Is that a factory crossmember accross the top of your core support? Mine dosen't have anything like that. Come to think of it, neither does the any of the other Cdn. M37s I've owned have it either.

How much did the rad set you back - If you don't mind me asking.... Its a shiny piece and I'm naturally attracted to it...

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Sun May 09, 2010 6:36 am

it hurt... $650 big ones.

The crossmember is factory, it's been on every M37 I've seen...