I continue to chase down the fuel issues on my 73 Mustang’s 351 Cleveland.
Last time on the “Day of Discoveries” found the fuel line crushed. This is the repair video. WARNING: It is longer than normal with a few Average Guy tips. Link:
Welcome back to #ProjectSportsRoof – my 351C powered 73 Mustang Sports Roof!
I’m pressing on with tracking down the cause of the frequent stalling of the bored .040 351C.
I suspected vapor lock, but with the fuel line insulated against the heat of the manifold and block, I didn’t get the ‘boiling’ sound, that might not be the issue. But I couldn’t keep it running in idle. So the fuel press test was next. Here’s the video:
As of this afternoon, the Cleveland is having issue starting – fuel related.
The fuel pump feeding the juice to the carb is a generic stock not sure of the specs. Here is what I’m going to replace it. Oh and it is tough to find anything for 351 Cleveland on the local market. Even on-line, I was looking at out stock everywhere and ship dates of Oct 2020! Thanks Pandemic!!!
Procomp Electronics high-volume mechanical fuel pumps are designed to work with stock or mildly modified engines. They deliver free-flow outputs of 115 gph–that’s twice what a normal pump typically delivers! These pumps are plated with a bright finish for good looks and corrosion resistance. The lower housings can be rotated through 360 degrees to make fitting into tight places a snap, and they have large orifices for high flow rates. Procomp Electronics high volume mechanical fuel pumps are not compatible with methanol or alcohol fuels, and should not be used with fuel injection systems. Order the model recommended for your specific vehicle and engine size.
I’m not a “huge” numbers matching guy, but there are a few cars that I think we should always try to keep their original power plants. Corvettes are one of those cars and Mustang – mostly.
My 1984 Corvette had the much loved (by much loved, I mean hated) GM CrossFire engine (with all of it’s 205 hp). It was a huge pain. I must have rebuild those injectors 5 times in the course of my ownership but there just weren’t that many CrossFires left out there.
So Corvettes should retain there original engines and the same is true as I mentioned some Mustangs. Clearly not with my 1970 Mustang that was born with a 250, six cylinder with dealer installed under-the-dash A/C. It wasn’t going to cut it. Turn on the A/C and you had a peddle car. I didn’t stray to far, I ordered 302 long block, bored .030. I caught some flack from the local Ford 6 cylinder crew for the swap…but it might have been because I didn’t offer them the tired old 250. I donated it to young kid was learning at a local shop and needed a engine to work on. You can see a lot of those details right here on my blog. Entirely different story with #ProjectSportsRoof (1973 Mustang). It’s a 351 Cleveland and there aren’t many of those left out there. I rebuild the engine a year and 1/2 ago. Just had a lifter go rouge (with only 250 miles on the rebuilt) It now has a new comp cam lifters and rods. For less than 1/2 of all that was spend I could have dropped in 400hp Windsor crate engine, but I just couldn’t.
Valve gasket installed, zinc added and now it’s time for quick power test. I have yet to get the pedal to the floor and now it’s time and I took the captured the fun….and…well…take a look:
You can hear how awesome the SR73 sounds and power was substantial. Of course the quick trip ended in a less than optimal way. The first effort of the power test was successful, that wasn’t captured. I turned the phone on for the second and you can hear that. I had intended a third power sprint but SportsRoof had a different idea. I could feel it start to surge and then nothing. There was no noise, a brief sputter, like perhaps it flooded (entirely possible as the carb is a bit bigger then it should be). I coasted it to the side of the street.
A quick troubleshooting proved that the car was still getting fuel but would not start. After setting for a bit still not firing up. I suspect distributor. When I have time I’ll dig into.
Maybe one of the worse task to tackle on a car is the heater core. In particular on some older cars. In most cases you have to remove the entire dash. I know this because when the heater core sprung a leak in my 1974 Cobra Jet Torino, I didn’t …
This is the last post related to prepping the 351 Cleveland in #ProjectSportRoof for removal. Originally, I had planned to lift the engine out with the carb still attached. However, after the first test fit to see how the Duralast leveler (I’ve never used one before – last engine I pulled …
Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). The struggle is real!!! You saw in the last video my replacement of the linkage that was lost by the repair shop (along with my new battery and started). This repair shone the light (as often happens with older cars) on a previous …
In the two videos below I talk about valve cover gaskets, the current lack of experts at your local parts store, and online “No Help” clerk and a recommendation for the Mustangs regular dosage of Zinc – not in table form for the Mustang’s 351 Cleveland!!!
If you look back at #ProjectSportsRoof post you’ll see the condition engine bay. During those videos I mentioned that I was going to clean it up and hit it with a rattle can. Again this isn’t going to be a concours restoration, it’s going to look nice and it’s going …
Thanks for checking on #ProjectSportsRoof. So here is the last set of initial questions. Here is an image of the current set up: Any diagram I find has the hose vacuum from the Distr going to the Valve assy. The Valve assy has nothing attached which is located on the front …
Ya know, one would think that as you get older there’s more time for leisurely things. But as second year teacher (at the age of “past 50”) and coaching our school’s basketball team there is no slowing down. That’s my only excuse for not working much on Project SportsRoof. Ok there’s one more….we’ve had a colder and wetter than normal winter. This episode is purely due to “Spring Break” and having our taxes done (almost).
If you’ve followed along (did you know you can find Average Guy on YouTube as well?) you’ll know it’s been a long road with my 73 Mustang. Multiple starts and stops, often caused by me exceeding my ‘Average Guy’s’ skill set and man power and even my car disappearing for a couple of weeks (but I found it). Oh and don’t forget the tow truck driver that “broke” my front end!
Now SR73 (not SR71 the blackbird aircraft) or #ProjectSportsRoof is back on the road. Having only driving about 30 miles since the engine rebuild, I noticed a lifter noise. Not something you want to hear after all the time and $$ spent on it’s 351 C, in fact it’s a bit concerning.
The best place to start troubleshooting is to make sure the engine is getting the oil it needs. That requires pulling the valve cover and running the engine. Since I put the heads together myself, it’s a good idea to check the torque on the valves. What better time to check that than when you have to take the valve covers off anyway?
Here is my quick video recap. There are a couple good tips in this one and here is a one more great tip. I can’t take credit for it because was shared with me sometime back. Should you have an old set of valve covers, cut the tops off to make viewing possible. That way when you let the car run (it’s the easiest way check if oil is flowing) the spraying oil is somewhat contained. You won’t see that in these videos….but you will see the mess it makes when you don’t use them!!!
Don’t forget to drop a comment, if you are so inclined. Oh, if you have an event you’d like to tell other car peeps about, let me know and I’ll post it up!!
Follow Up: Reusing the old gasket!!
Thanks for visiting our site. You can find us on Facebook (search groups for Average Guy’s Car Restorations and Projects) and YouTube.
I’ve done all the clean up and all the adjustments necessary to get a good reading on the health of the ’72 351C engine in my 1973 Mustang. The next step is to check the compression. First up was to warm the car a bit and then pull the plugs. Here’s what the …
This is the wrap up on the compression testing for the 1973 Mustang w/ a 1972 351 Cleveland power plant. You’ll might have notices that I referred to the remote tester, which is my code for remote starter…yeah…that’s it!!! All of these tests were dry test and I should have done a …
Thanks for check in on #ProjectSportsRoof. If you remember a of couple months back, shortly after bringing the ’73 Mustang home, I conducted a compression test on all the cylinders. The 351C was running rough (to put it mildly) and smoked like a pile of tires on fire (only the smoke …
I thought I’d take a minute and catch the readers up on #ProjectSportsRoof. I wanted to touch up some of the engine bay components, horns, vacuum canister and battery tray. I didn’t want to alter some of these too much, I like having the numbers, logos and other info visible, not …
Over on Facebook one of the groups has a Then and Now series of posts. That consisted of folk posting the cars they were driving 10 years ago and now. I thought that was cool so I put quick clip together for my rides then and now.
For sometime now I have a Mustang Corvette combo, my ’70 Mustang/84 Vette combo and my ’73 Mustang/’07 Vette combo.
Thanks for checking on #ProjectSportsRoof. So here is the last set of initial questions. Here is an image of the current set up: Any diagram I find has the hose vacuum from the Distr going to the Valve assy. The Valve assy has nothing attached which is located on the front …
Thanks for checking back in on #ProjectSportsRoof. My 73 Mustang doesn’t what to get it in gear so I have to troubleshoot the shifting linkage. For this round, I’m putting in new bushings to remove the slop when shifting. Here is the video: I’ll be tightening up the shift lever and linkage to …
Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). The struggle is real!!! You saw in the last video my replacement of the linkage that was lost by the repair shop (along with my new battery and started). This repair shone the light (as often happens with older cars) on a previous …
As I get ready to start the new round of mods for my 1970 Mustang Coupe, I’m reminded of a couple of issues that came up when I was assisting a fellow Mustang owner doing a trans – transplant. The first tip is partially dependent on what stage you are in …
Welcome back to Project Sports Roof (#ProjectSportsRoof). The struggle is real!!!
You saw in the last video my replacement of the linkage that was lost by the repair shop (along with my new battery and started). This repair shone the light (as often happens with older cars) on a previous repair. Some might call it a hack and I get it, there are times when you need to take short cuts, but as usual short cuts often have short life spans.
Take a look at the video:
When you have issues with shifting an automatic transmission and it’s related to the linkage you have the option of fixing it right or fixing it “wrong” (i.e., short cut). At some point in my Mustangs earlier life the C4 transmission was swapped our for a used C6. It seems that the C6 (from a 1972 Ford – which really doesn’t matter the C6 has changed much in all this time) had a broken shift lever. Take a look:
Here the run down:
A is the broken shift lever. What you should see there is something like this:
B is what is commonly called a ratcheting shift lever. It’s a replacement that is ‘clamped’ on to the stub of the shift lever to shift the trans. This is done because to replace the unit you have to drain the transmission, remove the pan, the filter and the valve. This is a PITA. Especially true, if you just put the transmission in and filled it with fluid!!!) So the after market ratcheting shift lever is common. This what the parts looked like when I took them off:
Custom hack
Of course C is a washer and D….well, D is a very special customization or it’s just a hose clamp.
As you can see at the end of the video the ratcheting shift lever was just sliding. I suppose I could have just tightened clamp down and see if it shifted, but how reliable would it be…might as well fix it right!!!
Thanks for checking on #ProjectSportRoof.
I have more coming up on my 1973 Stang and more on Bill’s ProjectBeepBeep as well.
Welcome back to my 1973 Mustang project #ProjectSportsRoof. In the last post I mentioned that some how the shift linkage bar was lost when I had the car in a local shop to help put with the transmission. They took another look around their place and I did the same…no luck. …
Thanks for check in on #ProjectSportsRoof. If you remember a of couple months back, shortly after bringing the ’73 Mustang home, I conducted a compression test on all the cylinders. The 351C was running rough (to put it mildly) and smoked like a pile of tires on fire (only the smoke …
In case you didn’t notice, the fenders that were on #ProjectSportsRoof look as though car had driven into a half pipe at a skate park. Left Fender – major dent a lot of rebuilding necessary Right Side Fender – lots of crinkles, a few creases and good size dent. Now, these …
