Back in the Saddle so to speak

[84stanggt-top]

Hey all,

Well, back from a trip with the Family to my Parents out in Edmonton. The "nothing really planned" statements I heard pre-trip were not really accurate, as is usually the case. Not much time for me on my own, but hey, family can be entertaining too. I did get some mustang related time in hooking up with Mark at Pro SC for a chat and some truly fine powder coating on my headers and intake. Pics are at home and will post them up tonight, the intake colour is really neat.

Passed by the machine shop this morning, dropped off the ol B303 cam, 1.7 RRs, Timing set and lifters for final short block assembly and pushrod length check on my roller engine, was going to do it all my self, but figured a pro would take less time and be much more accurate. I looked at my heads that were done and couldn't believe how much nicer they look all assembled. Seeing them built with the double springs in there, nice shiny new valves...started to drool a bit.
I think there is a VERY good chance of getting a drive in this year (or at least a startup), even if I don't get my subframe connectors in. Might be a good thing since it will keep my focused on breaking in the clutch (that 500KM is gonna kill me, but next year I'll be able to tear it up). Torque boxes will at least get done so I don;t leave the axle behind somewhere.

Looking forward to rambling on about my progress as is starts to get interesting now, and will post a video for y'all on the first startup and hopefully first ride. And yes, pics will be following shortly...

[GT4MT]

Sounds like slow, but more importantly, steady,methodical progress man. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics of your headers and intake...really liked the work Mark did on Darren's project car- judging from the pics, he does a top notch job.

Glad to hear you had a good trip...don't know about you, but for me, family's great and all, but sure is nice to get home!!! lol

[UK PONY]

slow & steady wins the race....well not really but it does help when building an engine - better to take a bit more time & know it's done right first time around. looking forward to pics & updates

[Pro SC]

Its always a pleasure to do business with a guy like Dan, very accomodating and thanks for the bottle of Crown Royal, going to have to throw
a party at the shop if this keeps up!
Hopefully it will be a late start to the winter and you can get some miles on your car before you park it.
Mark

[freakshow12]

not to hijack but do you do the chrome look powdercoat? I have a set of cobra cam covers and intake lid along with a STB and some other small stuff I want done

[lone sailor]

Not to speak for him, but I actually just commented in one of his for sale ads on a sweet TFS intake that he powder coated. The lower was a chrome powder....Mmmmmm

[84stanggt-top]

Originally Posted by freakshow12

not to hijack but do you do the chrome look powdercoat? I have a set of cobra cam covers and intake lid along with a STB and some other small stuff I want done

Mark will explain better, but from talking about it is all in the powder and how it bakes, although sometimes a two step process, base color then the chrome/clear over coat.

If I could have done it, I would have the entire engine powder coated instead of painted. The durability simply cannot be matched, and the effects you can get can be really cool.

Anyhow, here are some pics of the work, the intake is (as we were calling it to shorten the powder name) in smoked chrome. The effect on my intake didn;t turn out as good as it should have due to the poor aluminum casting of the Pro Products part. Check out the water neck, it came up real nice. Also, there had to be a clear coat applied to protect the smoke chrome from oil/gas etc, again, this would further reduce the "chrome effect".

As for the headers, back from the dead in effect. First photo is before with the bare steel after blasting before coating, second is once finished. With all these great looking parts I have to clean and paint my brackets and get new bolts now!!


Note how the powder coat process gets the paint even within the air gap

and the result:

Again, can't beat the coverage of electrostatically applied powder, paint got into every little space.

Engine should be assembled in the next week or so, I'll post up the results in a new thread.

[GT4MT]

Holy sh*t does that ever look good!! Awesome comparison with the headers....top notch work. Gotta be happy with that!

I think the intake looks just fine IMHO...not quite the "oooohhhh" "ahhhhhhh" that the headers give, but then there's no before pic to judge against. Hats off to Pro SC!

[Pro SC]

Well i will tell you guys something that the pics don't show. To get the proper impression of that intake you need to see it in person as the cam is just a cheaper digital, i have alot of problems taking pics of items with my camara to get the real look. Darren has a killer cam and he can get the chrome powder coat to look like it does in person. As far as Dans intake is concerned, the 95% gloss black smoked chrome coating is not affected by the poor chinese casting the color stays the same, but that pic does not reflect how it looks in person. Dan wanted to do a regular gloss black but i asked him to try this color instead. It has a very nice effect when looking at in person, it is hard to describe but when you see it you know it is powder coated, not painted. Also with this color clear is not needed to protect it but it does help. As for the headers, that picture is not a fair one as the sun is showing alot of reflection. Unfortunately there is not alot of color choice in high temp powders, either black or silver. If you look at Darren 5.0's thread on his free car, the exhaust/turbo manifold is done in the same powder. The before pics show one header media blasted and the other untouched. To do the high temp powders you have to use an expensive blasting media, aluminum oxide, in order to be sure the powder will not flake off when they get hot. There will be a slight color change on the headers once they are "broke in" but they will last for along time, much better than what any header company offers besides ceramic coating. I always try hard not to sound like a commercial on here at MC, as i am a Mustang guy first and foremost, and i am sure people don't want't to hear me spam my business on here so i try not to, but i thought i would just add this information on so everyone knows what the deal is. Mark......

[Pro SC]

Originally Posted by freakshow12

not to hijack but do you do the chrome look powdercoat? I have a set of cobra cam covers and intake lid along with a STB and some other small stuff I want done

Yes i do, my shop email is promotor@telus.net
I have some FRPP 4 valve covers coming and cam covers for them too, i was planning on coating them and listing them here on MC, was thinking that i could do a core charge with them and refund the charge when someone mails me back there old ones so i can coat and resell them....
I have a bunch of parts i will be listing this fall when people start modding this winter. Mark....

[Pro SC]

Originally Posted by GT4MT

Holy sh*t does that ever look good!! Awesome comparison with the headers....top notch work. Gotta be happy with that!

I think the intake looks just fine IMHO...not quite the "oooohhhh" "ahhhhhhh" that the headers give, but then there's no before pic to judge against. Hats off to Pro SC!

Thanks Mike, you are too kind...

[84stanggt-top]

The effect on my intake didn;t turn out as good as it should have due to the poor aluminum casting of the Pro Products part.

My bad wording, was thinking one thing typed another. What I meant was that if the intake had been polished, the casting cleaned up etc the intake itself would look better. Kind of like great paint on a poorly prepped car body.

I like the bit of burnout on the floor by the headers in that pic, and can't wait to hear this thing run again...leave some rubber of my own

[Pro SC]

Dan, try to do a video of it when you first fire her up so we can all see!

[84stanggt-top]

Oh for sure! Going to borrow a good camera for that moment

And a warning to anyone coming to see my car in person: I'll probably put you to work on something (my kids are eager, but lacking in skill, strength, and mostly attention span)

[Darren5.0L]

Too bad you're two provinces over, I usually like to spin the occasional wrench. (bold understatement)