65 Fairlane pro-touring build

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

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Christmas came early this afternoon. New cast aluminum cam covers (top photo) not only look way better, but they also eliminate the leaks associated with the OEM covers (bottom photo).

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Can you educate me on this one? What's different mechanically?

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Can you educate me on this one? What's different mechanically?

The cast covers have a different groove design and the gasket is formed differently than the composite covers. Gasket also may differ material wise, but I could be wrong on that. Just because one is green and one is black doesn't mean the chemistry is different. The cast covers are probably a bit more rigid than the composite but maybe only marginally. The key difference is the bolt arrangement. There's a Ford TSB on correcting the leaky composite covers that directs the technician to drill out the bosses that have no bolts and insert bolts into them. You can see one in the photo below next to the yellow arrow. There are 5 or 6 blanks on each cover so adding bolts in those positions probably remedied the situation for most customers. I could have done that and saved some $$ but when I ran across the photos of the cast covers, I couldn't help myself. You don't see them on run of the mill Mustangs.

I've been working on the core support to add trim around the radiator opening. The pieces should help direct the air thru the radiator a little bit better and stiffen the core support where I cut out the stock stamping.

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[Vic1947]

The accelerator pedal piece arrived from SendCutSend. All the holes and edges needed some TLC as the cutting process leaves kind of a nasty surface. After milling and chamfering the holes, I slightly rounded the outer edges and polished them on the Scotchbrite wheel. Next step was to cut off the pedal and mill a pocket into the stub. Not a lot to hold onto, so I had to go at it really easy. The aluminum piece fit into the pocket pretty well, so I cut away most of the rest of the original connecting material. This left just the pedal. Plan is to use adhesive on the back along with some tiny countersunk head screws on the front. Same goes for the side up top. Should be nice and sturdy when finished. Theoretically.

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[SCOTI]

More than one way to do things!

[Vic1947]

My gas pedal project is on hold temporarily while I get some parts anodized. I took the opportunity to get the mounts for the radiator done. I picked up the correct rubber isolators from an online GM parts house. Fab'd up some .070 sheet metal tabs for the bottoms and machined aluminum standoffs for the top two. It's not going anywhere and should be easy to R&R if needed.

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