1967 Cougar build (over 700 pictures and videos)

[andrewb70]

I like the build Andrew. I'm working on a '65 Mustang now (sold the RX7) and keep bouncing between LS and Coyote (mostly because I like the idea of playing with the Coyote). Hard to argue with LS performance vs. size/weight/cost though.

Well...fancy meeting you here (Blake, right?). Welcome to our little slice of internet heaven.

Get a build thread going and join the fun.

I have nothing against Coyote engines, or any Ford engine for that matter. I think it will be impossible to use a Coyote unless you get rid of the shock towers. I see plenty of people doing that and the Ford guys don't seem to take issue with hacking up a car. For me leaving the integrity of this car was more important and building a SBF for this project was just not in the budget.



Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Glad to have you here.

Andrew

[digitalsolo]

Andrew, yep, it's Blake.

Here's a link to a build thread I just started:

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...ng-Coupe-Build

It's going to be a slow build (looking to build a bigger house with an attached shop in the next 18 months) but I've got a TON of metal work/improvements/reinforcement that is cheap to do. I'll catch the build thread up to my current progress, just lots of prep for new suspension and such. I'm happy to see the attitude here isn't so anti-crossbreeding. Some of the other forums are, uh, less friendly, which is weird for me, coming from NoRotors. ;)

[andrewb70]

So....I wanted to run a dog-ring trans in this thing, but I ran across a good deal on a f-body T56 here locally, and I picked up it tonight. Pictures to follow.

Andrew

[andrewb70]

Here is the T56 that I got. Looks sweet...





Andrew

[andrewb70]

Had a little time to mess around with some small stuff on the engine today. I was unable to use the truck style injectors with the Holley Hi-Ram intake. I ran across a good deal on some stock LS3 injectors, which are shorter than the truck injectors. Holley make little adapter brackets that allow the use of the shorter injectors with the Hi-Ram.



The injectors slip nicely into the Holley fuel rail, but the OEM o-rings on the bottom of the injectors are too big for the Hi-Ram.



In the kit with the little brackets Holley also includes the right o-rings to work with the Hi-Ram. Stock o-ring on the left, Holley on the right.



Even with the smaller o-rings the injectors fit very tightly in the Hi-Ram. I used a little o-ring grease to make the job easier.



All assembled.



I also got my engine rotated and lined up the cam. I'll do the cam swap tomorrow.



Andrew

[andrewb70]

Today I had a chance to play with the engine. I bought a ASA cam and all of the various parts to make this cam work in my engine. The first step in swapping a cam in a LS Gen IV engines is to remove all of the valve train components:



Once I lined up the cam gear with the crank gear, it was time to take off the timing chain and the chain tensioner.



In order to make the cam removal easy, I turned the engine upside down. If the engine is still in the car, there are various other procedures that you can follow. With the engine upside down, there is no chance of lifters falling down, which make swapping cams very simple. Here is the old cam on the left and the ASA cam on the right. The difference is pretty simple to see!



The stock cam was a single bolt design, which is common for Gen IV engines. With the engine on the engine stand, the best way to install the cam is to flip the engine upside down. This will keep the filters from falling down after removing the stock cam. The new cam is a 3 bolt design, but it needs to be compatible with the 58 tooth crank gear and the 4 pulse cam sensor. The best way to install the cam is to use the water pump bolts and slide her in:



Once the cam is installed, bolt in the cam retainer plate to spec:



Here is the new cam, with the 3 bolt cam gear, and the 4x signal. I also like the Gen IV timing chain tensioner.



Once the cam is installed, I use the oil pump alignment tool to make sure that the oil pump gear is properly seated:



After the oil pump was installed, it was time to install the front cover. Aligning the front cover is fairly simple in the "up and down" direction, but it gets to be challenging to align the cover "left and right." I knocked out the front seal from the front cover and I used this tool to align the cover properly over the crank:





With the front cover aligned with the tool, it is still important to make sure that the cover is level with the block:



With the front cover bolted in perfectly, you need to put some RTV between the block/front cover/oil pan to make a perfect seal:



With everything lined up, the pan can be installed:



The Holley valve covers add a very nice touch to the engine:



Taken together this is turning out to be a pretty awesome looking engine package:



I was looking at the front steam vent cross over tube and the one that came with the engine didn't have the right tube exit. I found an older front cross over tube that had better routing, but I noticed that the seals to the heads were different. So it you are ever in a situation where you want to swap the front crossover tube, make sure that the gaskets are right. The tube on the right (top) has the later style tube that uses an o-ring, while the earlier tubes used a gasket with an integral o-ring:



I also drilled the water pump for the steam vent. There is a lot of drama on the forums regarding the placement of this line, but this solution has been good on my GTO since 2008, so I am sticking with itL



I tapped it for 1/16" NPT. I will find a fitting to go with the 1/16" NPT to 1/4" barb and call it a day.



Here is the engine in its present state...stay tuned for more updates...



Andrew

[85coupe50]

Nice Cougar

[andrewb70]

Went to the dealership today and got the little gaskets for the older style crossover tube:



Also picked up a front crank seal and installed it using my nifty tool from Sacks Corvette...



Rented a "universal" balancer install kit from Advanced Auto, and of course, it doesn't work. The threads inside the LS crank don't start for quite a ways so the shank was too short. I did what I probably wasn't supposed to. I lubes up the balancer and the crank and started to tap on the balancer with a dead block hammer. The balancer actually slipped on fairly easily for about an inch. After that, I just used the old bolt and gently tightened it until the balancer was fully seated. Easy as pie...



Andrew

[csouth]

You always make quick work of your engine upgrades. I just need to get mine running in stock form...lol

[andrewb70]

You always make quick work of your engine upgrades. I just need to get mine running in stock form...lol

Thanks Chris. Getting a stock engine running is plug and play! Get on it!!!

Andrew

[csouth]

Thanks Chris. Getting a stock engine running is plug and play! Get on it!!!

Andrew

Yeah, I was being lazy... My tank arrives tomorrow, so I'll get it together. Anxious to see what this will look like when its done.

[andrewb70]

....Anxious to see what this will look like when its done.

Mine or yours?

Andrew

[csouth]

Mine or yours?

Andrew

Yours definitely...

[andrewb70]

Yours definitely...

It'll look like a crappy old Cougar with a shiny engine...LOL

Andrew

[andrewb70]

Got a couple of beautiful driveline parts today from The DriveShaft Shop. Goodbye 100 years old u-joint technology and welcome to the 21st century...



First is this 27 spline slip yoke for my T56 transmission:



It is set up to use one of their 100mm CV joints.



This beauty is a pinion flange for the 9" rear end.



It is machined to accept one of their 108 mm CV joints.



Once I get everything installed I will measure for an aluminum driveshaft to go in the middle. Concerns about driveline angles will be a thing of the past. The front and rear operating angles don't have to be equal and opposite anymore, as long as the operating angles don't exceed 9 degrees.

This should be one smooth running cat...

Andrew

[RMMiller]

Love the engine combination! I can see an LS in my future, just need a car for it.

With the front cover aligned with the tool, it is still important to make sure that the cover is level with the block:

This made me smile! My dad has been a carpenter since before I came around and I followed in my grandpa's shoes with a love for wrenching. He went into orbit the day he pulled his speed square out of his box to find it covered in grease and oil. I was a stupid high school kid that didn't see the point in cleaning tools once I was done. That same square is hanging on my peg board in the garage next to my ball peen that I used when we framed my old shop. He has no love for that hammer and even tried to throw it away a few months back when we built counters for the shop at work.

[Rick Dorion]

Hey, I have one just like that! This thread is a great roadmap for the future.

[andrewb70]

Got a few more goodies the other day. The scoop is from Holley and I needed to mock everything up before having the top for the Hi-Ram machined for the throttle bodies. So here is the final mock up:



I basically centered each throttle body over the front and rear ports. This should result in good air distribution to all cylinders, not that I am overly concerned about this.



I also picked up a few fittings from Earl's to start working on the plumbing. I like the look of the hard anodized fittings and to keep from marking them during installation I used some painters masking take:



The fuel rail fittings seal with an o-ring so no need for over-tightening.



I'll be using the Dominator EFI system, so I ordered the injector and main harness to see how it all fits together. I was thinking that running the injector harness through the middle of the Hi_ram would give a cleaner look, but there wasn't enough length to do that. I am probably going to modify the harness for a cleaner look:



I ran a portion of the main harness down the middle of the Hi-Ram. With the exception of the cam, IAT, and fuel pressure sensors, I won't be using the other plugs. There are previsions for an IAC, TPS, and a couple of other plugs that aren't needed when running DBW throttle bodies. So this harness will be opened and re-loomed.



I'll be sending off the intake top do be machined and that should just about take care of the engine build. Now if only spring would get here already...LOL

Andrew

[Bob in St. Louis]

Great build, thank you for the pictures and captions.

[digitalsolo]

This thing should look pretty wild. I'm intrigued by the driveshaft setup! Your T56 reminds me I lost one on eBay last week that just need a 3/4 synchro/fork. 650 bucks. :( That's what I get for falling asleep at the keyboard!