So I'll admit I skipped thru the build a bit, what's the plan for the rear end?

 

Prayer.... don't worry about skipping a bit of it only the last month or so has anything about the 302 going in

The MGB rear is a baby Salsberry axle. They are generally good for 300 plus horsepower. So that will do for now. Well the 8.8 ford rear end is getting narrowed. That rear will has a traction lock but I still need to pick a gear ratio for it

 

oh and these came in last night from speed hut, it will be cool to know how fast I'm going and engine rpm for once lol.

 

Gotcha, 8.8's can also feature disc brakes. I used a Chebby Monza rear axle on mine....no narrowing required...forget what gears I settled on...they weren't very steep as it wasn't required. (350/350 auto combo)..

 

I'm debating between 3.27 and 3.55. I'll have more to base the decision on once I get her rolling on the stock rear. It currently has 3.91's in the back.

 

Well on the good news front, the steering column arrived, along with the adjustable fan controller kit and the gear reduction starter.

I had past by another issue we had last weekend earlier with the billet Alternator mount. It did not work at all the way it was set up just didn't work with the motor or frame rail. After a long search to find exactly what I wanted I ended up getting a nice billet set up from March Performance. It should be here tomorrow, along with a purely decorative piece for the grill, a old style ford V8 emblem.

This week is going to be mostly planning and trying to order everything I need for a weekend in the garage. My helper has packed it up and headed Southwest until Thanksgiving. 5 more days before I get back to wrenching....

 

Ok had a delay and lost a pretty much 2 days of the 4 I had to work on it this weekend. My wife was in the hospital and I couldn't feel right with myself if I bailed on her lol.

So today really wasn't much better.... Combined progress from last night and today.

I decided to redo some work done earlier, some will remember this picture from earlier in the thread.




Well I swapped the stock rockers out for some Ford SVO 1.6 roller rockers.





Then I pulled the stock column out. So far things are going well and quickly so I'm happy! I stopped for the night as it was getting late.

So today I get out there and get to work. I pull the new column out of the box. I find that the seller had shown it coming with the retaining ring at the fire wall and the u-joint assembly. Both are now missing and there is no damage to the packaging. So I email the seller and he promises to send them asap. What he did not show was the mangled threads on the shaft for the hub nut and the steel being mushroomed. I now know why it came with the steering wheel.....

So now I have the time to do the work but a bad seller has left me with none of the parts I need to do the job. He is going to look and see if he has another column tomorrow doesn't help me now though. To be honest I'm not sure if I want another column from this guy either. Hopefully I'll be able to get a refund on it. So I can find a good one.



So I test fitted the gear reduction starter to check clearance, and set up the wiring. No issues there.

Figured out where to put the oil filter assembly and got measurements for the lines so I can get those made Tuesday at work.

Took a look at how to run the wiring and mounting locations for the cooling fan controller and relays.

Primed the hood, tomorrow will be some light sanding than a coat of Hot Rod Satin black.



Than I moved on to the gauges. Figured that would be a easy satisfying project, boy was I wrong lol. That was a nerve racking job, I was so worried as I grinded away material that I was going to destroy my original dash pad. A few hours later and we have the speedhut tach and speedo in place. Couldn't be happier with how that project came out.

 

Hope your wife gets better. The gauges look fantastic!

 

I couldn't be happier with those gauges. Fantastic quality from first impressions obviously. The craziest part is they are american made and reasonably priced. I was joking with the wife that this thing is going to have more american parts than Brit parts at the rate I'm going.

Wonder if I'll be able to bury the speedo when I'm done.......

 

That's probably not a bad thing considering factory original is out the door...