Leak Testing Cylinder Heads

I've not posted in a while.  I've not done much on the Mustang as it is over 100 here in Texas.  Even early in the morning and late at night it is fairly hot.  I'm thinking I'll just take some time off work soon and get the floor done.

Anyway.... I purchased a set of C90E 351 cylinder heads in Dallas a couple of months back.  I was in Dallas for the GoodGuys Spring Nationals and found the listing for the heads on CraigsList.  The guy wanted $100 for the set.

I offerred $80 and he took me up on the offer.  I'd really like a bigger cam in the Mustang which would require I switch to screwed in studs.  I could pay for this work on my existing 289 heads and the money would just be lost.  With the 351 heads, I can probably sell them later and recover a small portion of the money.  Plus, the 351 heads flow better than the 289 heads.

Today, I filled set the heads down with the combustion chamber facing up.  I then filled the combustion chamber with water to test the valve seats.  All the intake valves are sealed up fine.  Three of the exhaust seats leaked just a little. 

I've posted about it on the SBFTech forum to get a few opinions.  If a valve job is needed, I'll likely just sell the heads.  If I can lap them and make it work or if it is not too big of a deal, I'll keep them for use later.

No More Tests Fitting The Floorpan

Since this weekend was Mother's Day weekend, I did not have a great deal of time to work on the Mustang. However, I was able to finish off the painting during the week so I could put the floorpan in the Mustang.

It fits well considering it is a reproduction piece. There are some areas which need to be reshaped slightly. There are also areas which might require me taking out or adding in some metal so it fits properly.

I'm thinking over the next month I should be able to get all that done. By that time, I should have the floor completely welded, welds ground smooth, and welded areas painted black like the rest of the floor.

More Floor Preparation Updates

This weekend I did a little work on the Mustang.

I finished drilling all the holes in the floor pan which I'll use to plug weld it into place. I used a sanding disc on my ginder to clean up the drill holes on each side. You will notice in the picture I did not drill out holes for one of the front frame rails. I marked this one when test fitting but started worrying a little about how it might line up so I'll wait.


On the areas which will overlap other panels, I painted the sanded spots so there would not be any bare metal trapped between two pieces of metal. I coated these with Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator.

I then lightly sanded and used mineral spirits on all the areas in the Mustang which will be overlapped by the floor pan. I painted all these areas with Extreme Chassis Black. This is the best paint I have and should help if water or anything makes it way between the overlapped pieces of metal.

I plan to put another coat of Extreme Chassis Black inside the car. I am suppose to wait 24 hours before I put on the second coat. I'll then put on some seam sealer in a few areas. I should be able to do this all during the week. Althought this coming weekend is Mother's Day, I can lay for the floor in the car.

Floor Installation Prep

I did a little more preparation work on the floor pan after work today. I only drilled more spot weld holes but it is better than nothing. It is amazing how quickly you can drain a cordless drill using a 3/8" bit. I've about 60 holes drilled now which is about 40% done.

The following pictures are of my blank canvas which will hopefully one day be a floor. I'm going to post on the Vintage Mustang Forum for tips on installing the floor. This is very different from anything I've done so far so I might be able to learn from a few others before I start. If I get good tips, I'll add them here.





I did not receive many responses on tips for the floor. The consensus was to start at the back of the floor. Use self tapping screws to hold everything in place while you weld it up. There was also someone who had large vice grips to hold it together. I'll probably try a combination of the two.

Subframe Connector Tabs & Other Random Tasks

I worked on the Mustang for a few hours yesterday.

I stripped some of the interior side of the firewall. The firewall was in really good condition and I did not have any surprises. I'm going to go ahead and coat what I've done with Rust Encapsulator. I don't plan to strip anymore and only stripped what I did as it was easier to do without the floor installed.

Once this work was done, I added tabs to the subframe connectors. I've mentioned this a few times and I'd be surprised if anyone could interpret what I mean. The following picture will help.


I'm using TinMan subframe connectors which are shown above on someone else's vehicle. You will notice there is a gap at the top of the connector. I made a flat piece of metal to attach which will seal up the gap. It is nothing special but something I would only be able to do while the floor is out.






I then welded one of the two parking brake brackets onto the bottom of my new floorpan. I need to media blast the other one (passenger side) as it is a little rust. Since I had the floorpan pulled out of the box, I started drilling holes for the plug welds. I'd test fit it a few weeks back and marked the location of all the panel overlaps while it was installed so I would know where to drill the spot welds.

The last thing I did was clean up the garage a little. Its been a few weeks since I last cleaned up the garage so it needed some work. I then called it a day.