The T56 conversion into a 70 Mach 1

[joesgt281]

Loving your thread here and having done this using a kit I can really appreciate the hard work you are going through to DIY it.

Thought I'd share a bit of info on the crossmember part of my install.
The supplier provided a Ron Morris Unicross crossmember.
I'm not necessarily advocating it, but it did offer some advantages.
I've included a couple of pics below.
One neat feature was the parts that attach to the frame rails, and the side-to-side adjustment.
The main thing I wanted to point out is the way these things mount to the frame rails.
I wish I had a pic showing this, but there's a plate on the outside of each frame rail with tubes that go through the inside of the frame rails. The bolts go all the way through the frame rails.
This design prevents the frame rail from collapsing when the bolts are tightened.
Sorry the pics suck, and good luck on the build!

 

[buening]

Loving your thread here and having done this using a kit I can really appreciate the hard work you are going through to DIY it.

Thanks! This is really my first fabrication-type job and am essentially "winging it". :ecit

Thought I'd share a bit of info on the crossmember part of my install.
The supplier provided a Ron Morris Unicross crossmember.
I'm not necessarily advocating it, but it did offer some advantages.
I've included a couple of pics below.
One neat feature was the parts that attach to the frame rails, and the side-to-side adjustment.

During my research prior to starting this project, I looked heavily into the RM xmember. I liked the fact that it tucked up against the floorboards nicely. My exhaust has an X-pipe and worried that his Xmember may still have clearance issues and would require adjustment. Since I lowered the engine, exhaust clearance wasn't as critical for me so I chose to fabricate my own out of rectangular tube.

While it does offer side to side adjustment, that benefit would be useless in my situation. If you look at my pic from the underside looking up at the shifter, the shifter's in there pretty tight. My left to right movement for adjustment would be 1/4" max before it hits. It also presents a possibility for those bolts to loosen and then the transmission can walk side-to-side. Probably a minimal chance on that happening though. If the shifter wasn't sucked up into the shifter hole, adjustment would definitely be handy!

The main thing I wanted to point out is the way these things mount to the frame rails.
I wish I had a pic showing this, but there's a plate on the outside of each frame rail with tubes that go through the inside of the frame rails. The bolts go all the way through the frame rails.
This design prevents the frame rail from collapsing when the bolts are tightened.
Sorry the pics suck, and good luck on the build!

I actually plan on copying that exact same idea. I'll be using some galvanized pipe for the bushings, since no one around here seemed to carry actual bushings like that. Yeah I could buy them online but figured the pipe will work just as good. The Tinman subframe connectors slide into the ends of the front frame rails, so I'll have even more meat in there to eliminate the frame from squeezing. Here is a picture of the RM setup and the bushings for those that are curious:

http://www.ronmorrisperformance.com/01hot_new/7125.jpg

I like how his Xmember is pretty light. Mine will be somewhat bulky and definitely wayyy overkill.

 

[joesgt281]

Great pic of the RMP crossmember.
I'm sure you can easily replicate the framerail pieces.

 

[buening]

Did you use drop motor mounts? Did you measure your driveline angle and if so, what was it?

 

[joesgt281]

I have the regular TCP mounts and have not measured my driveline angle, but was following yall's discussion with interest.
I haven't had the car up past 35 mph yet so don't know if I will have any issues with it.

 

[buening]

If you run into issues with driveline angle let me know. I can try to hook you up with a set of shock tower plates that will drop the motor if you are interested. Just be prepared for possible clearance issues when dropping the motor :craz

 

[joesgt281]

cool, thanks

 

[68EFIvert]

I think you can buy the Ron Morris drop mount frame brackets for about $30 as another option.

 

[joesgt281]

I think you can buy the Ron Morris drop mount frame brackets for about $30 as another option.

thanks

 

[joesgt281]

Got my parking brake stuff figured out.
Again, this is for a 67 which is slightly different than a 70.
Since the Unicross cross-member forced me to abandon the original mounting points, I decided to make it part of the solution.
The cross bracing of the piece gave me a chance to mount the J-hook on the passenger side.
It also worked for me for being the pivot point for the lever on the passenger side.
I had to fab the little triangular piece to fit into the webbing, which keeps the new pivot bolt from moving around.

 

[buening]

You know that is a good idea! I'll have to see how it all may work with my crossmember. Make sure you lay under the car while someone operates the parking brake. Since you only have those two locations of X webbing, you want to make sure the crossmember doesn't flex when operating the parking brake. If so, you may have fatigue issues with the welds depending on how frequently you use the parking brake. I tend to use a parking brake more with a manual trans than with an automatic.


Small update but no friggin pics yet :shy I got the crossmember all finished and will apply the last coat of zerorust this evening. Also included in the next update with pics will be the roller pedal bearings and getting the pedal assembly all prettied up.

 

[joesgt281]

sounds like you are well on your way!

 

[buening]

Yeah the holes in the frame rail and those pipe spacers similar to the ones in your RM crossmember gave me huge headaches. Coordinating holes in the crossmember, each side of frame rail, and the outer bolt plates made my head hurt. Needless to say it all didn't come out straight so the pipe spacers will not be welded to the outer plates. :sad

 

[buening]

Well I've been seriously slacking on posting updates so I've taken time to do so.

I forgot to post pics of the driveshaft measuring. The first pic is from center to center of the u-joints, which match my driveshaft length. Then I took a caliper and measured the yoke from the face of the yoke to the metal part of the tailhousing. I then pushed the yoke till it touched the tailshaft seal and then took another measurement. The difference of the two is between 0.75" and 1", so I'm good to go. Sorry for the upside down pics

 

[buening]

Now for some pics of the Xmember fabrication. A previous post showed the CAD drawing of what I was making. I used 3"x1.5"x0.125" rectangular stock. Its definitely overkill, but the 3" width worked great with the trans mount isolator and the 1.5" was the shorted height I could find. The end caps ended up being 3/8" thick steel and was planning on using 3/16" but ended up cutting the crossmember too short, so I had to use thicker end steel.

Below are the pics of the fabrication process. The first pic shows the sections laid out on cardboard, which had black lines which assisted me in getting the height correct. I then tack welded the sections and removed it from the cardboard (fire hazard :scar). The next few pics are with the welds cleaned up and a few final ones of it all painted up. I'm a horrible welder, so it took forever to clean up the welds. I still didn't get the joint completely filled with welds, so there are some voids. Good enough for government work! :lol Next up, the pedal assembly!

 

[AzPete]

Looking good.

My Dad (who was a welder by profession for years) always said if you cannot weld pretty, learn to use a grinder.... :lol

 

[buening]

The clutch pedal that I bought was extremely rough. It was bent pretty bad, the rod hole was extremely worn, and there was a groove in the pedal shaft. I was planning on using the Mustang Steve roller pedal assembly, since it uses sealed bearings unlike the other kits that rely on the pedal shaft to be the inner race. Since my pedal shaft was worn, the other kits wouldn't work very well. So I started out by removing the factory hanger assembly, then taking the clutch bushings out using a hammer and chisel.

Here is the assembly that I got off ebay as well as a pic showing the clutch rod hole wear.

Here is the hanger assembly out of my car, since the one from ebay was a 69

Here is the parts that come with the MustangSteve roller kit

and here are a few pics of the install

Final hanger with roller bearing housings welded. I didn't bother cleaning up the welds since this was hidden.

The next step was to tackle the pedals. Since the clutch pedal was so bent, I put it in a vice and used a little muscle to straighten it out. The first pic is showing it crooked and the next pics show it corrected.

One next to the drum manual brake pedal (slightly different pad height)

So now that the clutch pedal pad location is pretty close, I then went to tackle the rod hole. I first took a Grade 8 bolt and cut a section off that didn't have threads. I then put it in the elongated hole and welded it up and ground down the welds. Below are some pics of the process.

Next up was the brake pedal pad. I had plans on removing the pad from the manual drum pedal and putting it on my power pedal, but I ended up just trimming the pad on the power pedal.

At this point the assembly was ready to be blasted and painted. Below are the final pics of the clutch pedal rod hole and the painted assembly

Next up is the Modern Driveline master cylinder assembly

 

[buening]

Here is a picture of the ModernDriveline master cylinder assembly

The install is pretty straightforward. You locate the dimple in the firewall, drill a 1.375" hole for the master cylinder to go through, then index the lever arm plate and drill two mounting holes. From there, its just hooking up all the linkages. The firewall to the bottom right of the installed plate is not flat due to the steering column. It was a challenge getting the lever arm perfectly vertical to match the clutch pedal, but I did my best. Below are a few pics of the linkage setup.

And here is a pic of the pedals hanging. I don't have the brake booster installed yet, so I can't set the clutch pedal height until then. I plan on installing the booster towards the end of the install, so the pedal assembly is finished for now.

I am waiting on a shipment from Spec because my 28oz weight was missing from the box for my flywheel. Once that gets here, I'll be doing the actual transmission installation including the flywheel and clutch. Previous installs were for mockup and clearance checks only. Fabrication is all complete, so its all install from here. I'll report back next weekend, hopefully :ecit

 

[buening]

Looking good.

My Dad (who was a welder by profession for years) always said if you cannot weld pretty, learn to use a grinder.... :lol

Isn't that the truth!!! My Chicago Pneumatic die grinder and burrs have been a huge help with cleaning up the welds. This is really only my 2nd time welding, so I don't really have enough practice to say that I'm a bad welder or not.

 

[buckeyedemon]

it looks like you may need a little more heat in the welds...focus more of the heat on the thicker metal...

be sure your metal is clean. that includes rust and any coatings (like factory zinc coatings). yes you can weld thru it most of the time but don't handicap yourself.

is your tip/liner clean? i once had a liner that had a bunch of buildup in it. it was causing the weld to sputter.

are your drive rollers in good shape? enough tension?