Herman's Factory Five Racing 65' Roadster Build Site

April 2005

4/8/2005 - Another month, another task. I'm slowly inching towards mating the tranny to the engine. I was thinking of a McLeod / FRPP saftety scatter shield but according to Max at Five Star Ford, he has had conversations with other customers and they are all saying they can't find a bellhousing for the T5. I've seen a few on E-Bay and they get snatched up; typically about $30 below what a new one would go for; used ones go for a little less but so far, they are hard to find. However, today I just submitted an order to Summit Racing for a Lakewood Bellhousing #15203 and a pair of Energy Suspension Motor Mounts w/tranny mount. There was no indication of a backorder so I'm guessing I'll be receiving it sometime next week. Maybe it was just a timing issue.

Since I was on the phone with Max, I did buy some of the other parts such as clutch, clutch fork, quadrant, firewall adjuster and cable. I decided after a lot of thinking, that I will go with FRPP King Cobra after all, NOT the Centerforce Dual Friction. I just could not see spending that much money at this point. It just means I need to exercise that left leg a little more! :)

I went back to tackling the Jeep Master Cylinder and getting the proper Brake Fitting Adapter for a 3/16" line. This was a lot tougher that I first realized. I eventually did a search on FFCobra.com and found the answer through Northern Racers (Richard Oben). The part numbers are for "Weatherhead" fittings number 7818 and 7909. But when the information was relayed back to me with the sizing, it was a bit confusing at first. But I did a Google search and found a site, Impreial, Inc. which has a cross reference to the Weatherhead fittings; here's a description below:

7818:
Inverted Male Thread: 1/4 (7/16-24)
Inverted Female Thread: 3/16 (3/8-24)

7909:
Inverted Male Thread: 3/16 (1/2-20)
Inverted Female Thread: 3/16 (3/8-24)

I was able to get the 7818 from Napa but they did not have 7909. I found this fitting at PepBoy's as a pre-packaged fitting with a different number but I sized it up and it works out perfectly:

While on FFCobra.com, there was also a discussion on oil pumps and it appears after much reading and thinking of my own motor, that perhaps the Melling HV pump is not such a great deal after all. I'm convinced now that I should go with a standard oil pump. This isn't such a big deal considering the 331 came with it. I'll have to see what I can do to sell the HV pump once I get the standard pump.

4/112005 - Part of the Summit Racing order had arrived, along with my Five Star Ford order; I essentially have nearly everything for mating the transmission to the engine. Before anything else is done, there is one small matter of the oil pump. One thing that's been said many times on FFCobra.com is to have the oil pump checked and blueprinted. I decided after much self-debate, to open up the bottom again and either send out the pump to be blueprinted, or try to detemine if it's something I can do. Most likely it'll be sent out but at least I'll have a look inside before it does!

One of the things I'll be venturing into, which according to all articles I've read, isn't very difficult but is rather critical to the life of the drivetrain: bell housing alignment. Basically, we need to ensure that everything is centered about the crank as it transmit the torque throught the flywheel, to the pressure plate and ultimately, to the transmission. The bellhousing is the critical medium between all of these components. If I'm lucky, things will be within specifications. If it's like most, purchase of a few off-set alignment dowels will be purchased for a few dollars. Should be a lot of fun!!!! :)

The 2nd half of the Summit Racing order should come by tomorrow, which includes the adjustable clutch fork pivot, and the Energy Suspension polyurethane motor and transmission mount kit. However, since I've decided to work on the oil pump, the engine won't be going into the cradle for probably another month base on my best guess.

4/122005 - The 2nd part from Summit just arrived today:

Tonight I've removed the oil pump for inspection. Using Tom Monroe's guide, it will give me a starting point on specing the oil pump.

4/212005 - *EDIT 7/6/2006* The Melling M68HV pump (Blueprinted by Precision Oil Pumps) is no longer being used. A HV pump is not necessary for a street motor such as the CHP 347 Stroker that I purchased in June 2006..