I knew the Executive Engineer at T&C Livonia, where I worked at the time, and he released to me a then-not-yet-in-regular-production big in-'n'-out Toploader to replace it.

That would have been a Big in Small out, No big in big out until 66.

All sorts of things were around if you knew where to look and who to talk to. Bruno was always very kind to me. Big in-'n'-out.

KS

I ordered my '64 Custom/427-T with the mandatory 'HD' suspension and brakes and a 4.11 rear end. It was delivered to me in February and within several weeks I had installed Traction Master anti-spring-wrap bars, created and installed a deep oil pan to limit oil-pressure woes, and put spring jacks in the front coils and a re-calibrated front alignment. Eight inch M&H Racemasters took up residence in the trunk and for daily use a set of tall Atlas Bucrons went on the back to go with the 6.70-15s that came on the front from the factory. In March, we decided to go to Florida to spectate at the Twelve Hours Of Sebring. I swapped the 4.11 for a 3.50 and disconnected the speedo cable to preserve what was left of the 90 day warranty that was specific to the 427 engine. I'd installed a Sun 'Super' tach so we matched engine speeds in 4th gear with a friend's speedometer and I made up a small chart on a 3X5 card and taped it to the dash.

3000 on the tach equated to about 70 MPH. Except when I planned a weekend at Milan or Detroit Dragway, I left the unlocked 3.50 in the rear. I replaced the speedo gear with one that matched the gear and tire size.

The spring jacks in the front coils raised the front of the car by a couple of inches. Conventional wisdom said that raising the front of the car helped weight transfer to the rear and assisted the launch. It helped create the highly desired 'Gasser Look' and the only drawback was at high speeds. Starting at about 130 the front end feel would get light and float-y.

I'd busted off the output shaft in the T-10 trans and ended up walking home one night. I knew the Executive Engineer at T&C Livonia, where I worked at the time, and he released to me a then-not-yet-in-regular-production big in-'n'-out Toploader to replace it. I put it in, along with a Hurst shifter, and including the necessary new clutch disc, throwout bearing and output yoke. (I had to get the last three pieces from a dealer who specialized in big F-Series truck parts.)

I discovered that, when I came upon some sort of chibrolet 'performance' car on the highway, and a challenge ensued, it was possible to shift back into 3rd gear at a speedo-indicated 100 MPH. It not only made for an excellent 'passing gear', it often discouraged the 409 or corvette.

If we actually got it on, I could not only watch the tach, the speedometer was marked to 120, and the needle would go past the markings. Just to the right of the speedo was a red 'idiot' light marked 'GEN'---although the engine came equipped with an alternator. The speedo needle passed between the indicator bulb and the lens and was visible behind the red lens at about 130. If I shifted back into 4th when the needle disappeared, I was doing about right.

Coming back to Detroit from East Lansing one very early morning after taking the girlfriend back to school after a weekend home, I got into it with a corvette. I was probably going about 70-75 and he came up on me at about 80. I pushed it up a bit, and he did the same. Previous experience required me to look over at him with a big grin as I, quite ostentatiously, downshifted to 3rd at 100 and then nailed it. Soon after going back into 4th, I began to notice the float-y-ness but I was only half-a-dozen cars ahead and he hadn't quit.

Luckily we were on a long straight area of I-96, because I didn't let off until I was past 6000 on the tach. The car was so float-y and light that I was steering with only thumb and finger of each hand so as to not put in too much input. With the already-established extra altitude on the front of the car, the air-flow under the car was almost enough to have me doing a wheely.  It settled down when I let off.

The corvette was simply a pair of lights in the far-back distance. God is sometimes extra kind to fools.

KS

Back when my '64 Custom/427 was only a few months old, I let the pump jockey at the local Sunoco station (our regular stop/hang-out) put in a tank of gas. When I left the station I put my foot in it and 'let it eat.' When the 260+ in the carbs ran out, the gas in the tank started to flow and the new load (oops) of 190 didn't like the compression. The result was quite savage sudden detonation. Ring lands on one piston collapsed and seized the rings therein. I immediately began laying an oil fog behind the car from the passenger side.

I was past the 90 day warrantee, but Bill Brown Ford was relatively easy to get along with. They gave me a piston and a set of rings and a head gasket. I managed to get the head off without disturbing the intake. I disconnected the iron header at the 'H' pipe and left it attached to the head also. Everything came off and went back together, although it was somewhat of a struggle working all by myself, bundled up in the unheated garage in the cool of the springtime. It probably worked because I didn't realize I shouldn't have done things that way.

KS

My last leaf-spring car used a 4-link kit with roller mounts for the leaves. I made clamps on the fronts of the leaf springs by blacksmithing 1/4-inch thick strap that I formed to be tapped in place from the outside inwards. Bolts through the extended inner ends pulled them tight. The rear axle was a brand new Lincoln Versailles with the 9" center and factory disc brakes. Clearance on the outer ends of the clamps was just fine.

The car was a '72 Pinto with a 466 CID engine built from a 429 SCJ. It was a project car for Super Ford Magazine. I got the very first pair of aluminum heads that came out the door from the Smith Brothers experimenting, before they sold out to Summit. The car weighed 2260 with 1140 on the rear wheels. The engine was set back under the original dash space and the seats were mounted on the back seat foot space. Entire front clip, doors and rear quarters were fiberglas. Top was chopped four inches. We used a full length 2X3 ladder frame integrated into the floor pan and an 8-point cage. Konis at all four corners. Traction was excellent with Pirelli 345-35X15 P zeros at the rear and 285-40s on the front.

KS

Aside from differences in tuning parameters, the materials used in manufacturing the injectors for TBI injection are unlikely to be 'happy' if one were to expect them to ingest methanol on a regular basis.

KS

Back about a zillion years ago, when Holley first started talking about EFI, I was writing for Super Ford Magazine. I called Holley and asked if they'd given any thought to doing a package for factory dual quads. They first told me that it'd be six months before they went to dual quads, and after several months they'd decided not to do it at all, "For the forseeable future."

I told them I had a car to work on---Brother Lon's '67 Mustang with 427 TP engine---and offered to do all the work if they'd help me with the tech stuff. We agreed, and over a few weeks, installed two complete systems, with separate electronics, but a single paired fuel delivery system. I won't go through the whole scenario, but we did put together the very first dual system that Holley was aware of. By the way, it worked great when we got it all sorted out. I wrote several articles for Super Ford as we did the work, and Lon's car was on the cover when we wrapped it all up.

Now, to your proposed project. First, throttle body EFI systems that have the injectors mounted in the throttle bodies are set up in such a way, that all four injectors run all the time. They are not staged, with primary and secondary barrels like a carb has. Therefore, with two throttle bodies, you'll have one injector for each cylinder, and all eight will run all the time. There will be no imbalance if you were to mount the TBs sideways.

Don't expect to be able to switch to methanol and use the original TB injectors. Methanol is a wonderful competition fuel. It's much more desirable than gasoline. But stoichiometric values for gasoline are about 12.5/1 if you are looking for greatest performance (14.5/1 for driving down the street). The equivalent performance value for methanol is more like 4/1. Very likely injectors for TBI aren't available that are that large, and the system isn't designed with enough tuning latitude to work. Drag-'n'-drive engines such as are used in Drag Week have a completely separate set of eight njectors for the 'drive' activity on gasoline, and use sixteen much larger injectors to provide the methanol for the 'drag' activity.

For what it's worth, I'll never use carburetors again. EFI opens up a whole new world of performance.

KS

woo-hoo

KS