TKO 500 Install - 1966 Coronet - SST Kit

[watermelon]

tidying up a few wiring things.

got a new 7290 differential yoke for the 8.75” from Dr Diff. waiting for the 1330/7290 combo ujoint from summit. ill need to make a little firewall patch panel then toss in rear seats.

getting closer to firing up



watermelon

 

[watermelon]

interior back in. new ujoint combo should be in soon.



watermelon

 

[Kern Dog]

I want to read about a test drive, a burnout, a sideways shift to second....

 

[watermelon]

got the transmission filled with three quarts of the good stuff from the SST kit. got the car lowered onto all four wheels for the first time in nearly a year (just a few mins before an earthquake too).

skipping the yoke upgrade for now. getting lazy.

will fire up tomorrow sometime.



watermelon

 

[Kern Dog]

Who was President when you started this project? What was the price of gas? Were people wearing masks back then?

 

[watermelon]

feels like Neil Armstrong was President and the Soviets were landing on the moon....

went out to kick it on with a big smile on my face...

ugghhhh...anyhow....horn not working, headlights/dome light not turning on, no sound of fuel pump kicking in to prime the throttle body...

gonna check fuses. will give the battery a charge...maybe it died over the year of no action?



watermelon

 

[watermelon]

success on the start up. of course had a wire swapped.




watermelon

 

[watermelon]

well...attempted to go for a drive but something wild started happening.

fuel pressure started swinging up/ down then finally went to zero, looked like iac counts started climbing, and a/f ratio climbed - these events took place simultaneously. odessy battery is new and was charged for a day.

wasnt fun pushing the car back into the garage. gonna pull fuel filters and see what they look like.


ohhh...you know how project cars or show cars sometimes get nicknames like...”Sinister”...”The Hammer”....etc? well...if it not claimed already....my heap is getting the nickname “Far from Perfect”


closing thoughts on the SST TKO500 kit/install as my other car issues are none TKO500 related and ill whine somewhere else.....if your thinking about do it....no time like the present....feel free to use your brain on occasion....take plenty of pics....have more than one tool in the shed....take a few breaks here and there....keep some good music on...don’t be afraid to part with a dollar...say a few prayers and keep your Rosary close by....and keep plenty of snacks handy for the dogs, they deserve it.


SST TKO500 project complete



watermelon

 

[watermelon]

what good is this thread if i don’t event post a vid of rowing through the gears

....well i can’t do that if my car is not running well...

i think the in-tank fuel pump is calling it quits. checked fuel filters, swapped out the relay, and put in a new circuit breaker. ordered a replacement Walbro from Tanksinc.

dropping the tank is getting old so this time around im cutting a hole in the trunk floor to access the pump for future service



watermelon

 

[Kern Dog]

Why do so many of these electric fuel pumps crap out?
Dennis H lost 2 of them last year during the Louisiana "Cruisin the Coast" event. It seems that aftermarket electric fuel pumps have the life expectancy of a fruit fly.
I have wondered why there are so many problems with these aftermarket fuel injection systems compared to an OEM system. Is it because the aftermarket companies didn't have the money to develop them well enough? The OEMs have to meet all sorts of guidelines for their new cars. Warranty concerns and reliability are big factors. The aftermarket must be in a tough spot....trying to make a good product while keeping it price competitive. Maybe if they left NO stone unturned and they were totally figured out, the kits would be $5000 !

 

[watermelon]

yeah...it is interesting. the Walbro is OEM for various makes/models. just looked over wiring the past couple of days and all appears correct; sizing and grounds included.


watermelon

 

[watermelon]

the pic shows the area where i plan to do the cutout. it may not need be that big. will need to get tank out and refresh my memory on what it looks like

and like magic the trunk floor opened up


some random pics of the original in-tank fuel assembly coming out - i think the only problem was i was low on gas....oooopppps
the little dog can’t believe it either. i went ahead and tossed in the new pump anyhow



watermelon

 

[watermelon]

other pics of my modified gas tank. i figured i share them with you all because i haven’t seen it in a while either.

when the MSD Atomic EFI went in i modified the area where the fuel neck entered the tank

the pump and prefilter were good - a few small specks all caught in the sock and post sock area


watermelon

 

[watermelon]

more work on the trunk - didn’t finish up

found another great tool at Harbor Freight for the shed - the metal cutter. i would have normally futzed with the snips and angle grinder cutoff wheel but no more

all things lined up nice.




watermelon

 

[Kern Dog]

Metal shears?
We use something like those for cutting cement board siding to reduce airborne dust.

 

[watermelon]

got about 85-100ft of driving done with the new tko500. just to the end of the driveway then a u-turn. installed new fuel pump during last week.

got it filled up this morn and was double checking things. it appears i definitely have a rear main seal leak or oil pan issue of a healthy proportion. engine oil is a dripping.



can the seal be replaced with engine and trans installed? which is a good one to get off summit racing? —- edit: found the thread about the rear seal; questions anwered. ordered seals from Hughes Engines

i really don’t want to get back under there. would rather take it for an actual test drive. will pull off tko500 inpesction cover and take a look.



watermelon

 

[watermelon]

ordered a fastfish rear main seal for the 440 but i dont think i need it

looking at the crank flange area between for signs of oil i dont see any. nothing on the flywheel either. no oil on the backs of cylinder heads or oil pressure interface on the block. my thought is maybe somewhere around the rear pan and rear block area there is a leak and it spits out oil as the pressure in the engine builds

maybe i just need toss on a new oil pan gasket and oil pan



watermelon

 

[Kern Dog]

Eighty five feet huh? 5 car lengths?

 

[Will-Fonkjam]

Watermelon, wait! Before you just throw parts at the situation you need to know the root cause. You need to find the source of that oil leak first, because it'll only frustrate you more if you go through all the work of replacing the pan gasket only to find out when you put it all back together that you still haven't fixed it!
You might then start thinking about some terrible thoughts like.. selling the car!

Let's go through some diagnoses steps to pinpoint the source of your problem....

 

[Will-Fonkjam]

I too had an annoying leak just like that and it drove me nuts before I found the source. I got ideas from others on the FBBO forum that helped me find & fix it.
If your leak only shows after the vehicle has been running that generally means it's above the static oil level in the sump. I'm 100% sure but I think that's below the oil pan gasket & maybe a the rear seal. That means that the oil needs to sloshed around above the static level and or the crankcase needs to be pressurized in order for the leak to occur.

Adequate oil sloshing isn't feasible to recreate w/o the engine running , but crankcase pressure is!

Try this but use extreme caution!!
Using a very small amount (~5psi) of compressed air from your compressor, fabricate an air line with an on/off lever that can go into a hole already in your valve cover. Temporarily seal off the other holes (vacuum, PVC & oil fill) on both valve covers. Create a soapy water mix in a spray bottle. Turn on the air pressure & let it stabilize first, then insert the airline into the valve cover. Immediately start listening & spraying oil sealing gaskets for leaks. Get under the car and spray around the oil pan and rear seal areas. Bubbles will reveal your leak source.

This will only take a small amount of air pressure to work but may take a minute or so to build up pressure in the CC. Turn off the air after 2-3 minutes as not to over pressurize the CC and risk blowing out an oil seal.

The soapy water mix might cause flash rust on non painted surfaces when it dries.
Will