My 427 SOHC Build..... Finally the time has come!

[cobracammer]

Hey Jay,

Its weird right?  I must have been at Napa for a good 45 minutes as he looked up different year 427 FE engines by ford and pulled the thermostat.  I ended up just purchasing the one for a 1963 Ford Galaxie 7.0 2X4 barrel carb and it fit perfectly into the recess.  Like you said..... as long as its done!  I am hoping the 195* thermostat will be fine with the Saleens electric fan and modern radiator.

[R-WEST]

You've gotta' get that thing done/installed, Jason. 
We're all on the edges of our seats, here!!   

[cobracammer]

LOL  Me too!  I just actually purchased the wiring harness that will make a 3G alternator work with the 6G alternator harness for the Saleen.  I also picked up an alternator (internally regulated) that will work with the FE engine (200 AMPS) just because everything is electric in the Saleen.  I have the V belt pulley that came with the March Pulleys, so good to go!  Nothing else to do but put in the rear cam tunnel plug (blocked while on the engine stand) and drop in the car!  I am soooooooo glad to be done building.   

[cobracammer]

Ok bolts came today. I filled up the K&N oil filter with joe gibbs, oiled the seal and screwed it on!  I took the electric drill and attached the engine oil pump priming tool. Since i cannot see inside anymore, i ran the pump ( counterclockwise) for about 5 minutes at full speed. Not sure the PSI that creates, but no leaks anywhere yet!

[jayb]

Jason, have you got an oil pressure gauge you can put on the engine while its on the stand?  It's always good to monitor the oil pressure when priming, just to be sure.  If you don't, I'd at least pull a valve cover and make sure you have oil coming out of the rockers.  It can be messy to prime with the valve cover off, because the oil will want to drip over the edge of the head, but its better than starting without oil pressure.  When I prime the oiling system I can always feel a major drag coming on the drill when the pump primes and starts forcing the oil into the engine.  Did you feel the drill spinning pretty free at first, and then getting dragged down within a few seconds of starting?

[cobracammer]

Yes!  Drill was wizzing for a few seconds, and then there was resistance  i will see if i can find a cheap oil gauge and hook it up

Exciting

[cobracammer]

Here is another good question.  I am sure not many (if any) Cammer engines had power steering since they were all mostly used for drag racing.  However, I would like to retain power steering in my Saleen.  Since the Cammer engine was built in 1963 and the water pump for this engine is a modified FE water pump ....  Would this bolt right up to the 2 right hand side bolts on the water pump?  Its either this, or I have to have someone fabricate some special bracket with custom attachment points to keep the ford 4.6 modular power steering pump.

[WConley]

Jason -

I would strongly suggest keeping the modern power steering pump.  It's engineered to work with your existing rack (pressure and flow matched).  Hopefully the crank pulley you're putting on the SOHC is close to the same size as the original 4.6L pulley.  Are you rev limiting the SOHC close to the limit of the 4.6?  If so your alternator and PS pump should be OK.  Just be careful revving to the moon, especially if the SOHC pulley is bigger.  You could make dents in your hood.

FYI at Ford we tested two-speed accessory drives for the high-revving SHO Yamaha V6.  That was one trick setup!  It would spin the big crank pulley 1:1 at idle, giving plenty of steering boost and good alternator output.  Above a certain rpm, I think around 4500, the drive would shift down using a planetary reducer, which would save the accessories from over-speed.  We could shift the test cars beyond 10,000 rpm with no bother!

[cobracammer]

LOL  Purchased it last night.  My plan is to use the steel bracket to allow me to install a power steering pump on the Cammer while only using to bolt attachement (both on the water pump).  I will use the power steering pump from the Saleen, but it mounts differently, so with a small piece of steel, a drill press and a welder, I believe I can get the saleen pump to mount up.  Only issue I will see is getting a V belt pulley for the Saleen Pump (as it comes serpentine and I seriously doubt they make a replacement pulley in V type for a 2005).

[cobracammer]

OK Alternator and Pulley arrive tonight.  I will hopefully get those sorted this weekend.  Here is another picture of the engine with the water pump, Oil filter, water neck (with the #@!*@ thermostat installed.  I temporarily bolted the water pump pulley with some washers and bolts just so I could get an accurate measurement to the Dampner face for when I was ordering the crank pulley .

[turbohunter]

Can you imagine the puzzled looks your going to get at your first get together/show with your hood up?

[cobracammer]

LoL. I bet!  Ok so alternator is on.  Large case and 200 AMPs, i needed to trim the bracket a tiny bit, but other than that, perfect!
Unfortunately, the small block crank pulley that came today is off like 0.5 inch. Sucks!  I could use spacers on the water pump pulley, but the the alternator will be out of line. Looks like i will need a spacer for the crank pulley after all. 2 steps forward and 1 step back

[cobracammer]

[cobracammer]

Hey Jay.  I cant really make out some of the measurements.  the "0's" and "6's" possibly look the same (Or maybe they are 5's  LOL).  I wanted to use this to double check my measurements.  I don't have the measurements I sent you with me, but from what I can remember, they look close?  If that's the case, I will most likely go with your measurements!

[cobracammer]

OK, Sent out my Crank Pulley to Jay for a custom Machined Spacer so I can finally slap the belts on this puppy and get her installed.  I also checked in on MSD for the gear swap on the distributor...  They received it on the 9th and I should expect it back about 3 weeks later.... so that's also pending.  The March Pulleys look so nice on this engine, that I decided to pick up a March Water pump Pulley cover. (March is located just a little drive away from me).  Since this car will retain its electric fans, there will be no fan/clutch on the front.  My pulley kit came with the cover for the alternator Pulley, but the water pump cover was separate.  It came yesterday and fits perfectly!

Also, I have been going back and forth with this.  I got the Power steering pump and bracket (newly rebuilt).  I was told by the tech I purchased it from that it produces 1,000 PSI.  I have called all over to find out what PSI the power steering pump on the 2005 Saleen produces with no luck.  I then tried to find out what was the optimal PSI the 2005 Saleen (Mustang GT) rack operates under.... Also no luck.  I called every since Auto parts store (including Napa who usually always has the answer).... Nothing.  Then I contacted 3 or 4 different Mustang specialty shops what rebuild power steering pumps for the 2005 Mustang GT....  even though their advertisements say they test the pressure, etc, they didn't know what that pressure was!  How do you check the pressure on these remanufactured units but not know what the pressure is/ should be?>  HAHAHA 

I tried the ford dealership, I tried looking in Mustang II rack conversion PDF instructions....  Nada!  I did read somewhere that you will only run in to trouble mismatching power steering pumps if you turn the wheel all the way to one direction (Lock?) and then raise the RPM's.  The article said that the power steering rack will only use the pressure its supposed to under normal driving conditions, and the highest pressure is when the wheel is turned as far right or as far left as it will go.  Since I will still have the saleen pump set aside, I am going to try the 1963 Ford power steering setup I got and see if it works.  It would be the easiest as I have the correct brackets and Pulley.  If it doesn't work, I can always bring the car somewhere to have them fab a custom bracket to hold the Saleen Pump in its stead.

Last weekend I picked up zip ties and card labels.  I am going to start disconnecting the harness on the Saleen engine and labeling it as I go.  I will need to re hook everything back up to the Cammer engine so my stock gauges continue to work.  I may have doubles on the temperature sensor as the Saleen computer needs one that runs the fans and gauges, and the FAST EFI setup I have needs one for the throttle bodies.  I have installed the EFI temp sensor already in the intake manifold, and have 2 other openings (currently capped with pipe plugs) that I can utilize for the saleen sender.  I will need to fit the Saleen oil pressure sender onto the Cammer and figure out how to either make the Saleen Tach work with the FAST system, or get an aftermarket tach (which is what the first person to try this project did).

Anyway, just a little update.  Getting closer and closer with each passing week!