1972 Gran Torino Sport - 17 year barn nap find

Well, I spent some more time this last weekend working on the pan.
Not quite done, the welding could of been better but overall I am pretty happy thus far.

I got a nice sheet of scrap flat stock from a buddy of mine, and the thickness is a bit more than the stock pan's metal.



I finished up the kickouts, leveled them off, and have the tops traced out with marker, so I can cut them out and fit them in for welding.

{The kick outs were made using pieces of a damaged 400 pan I was going to toss, but with a bit of hammering they turned out pretty useful.}

Well, I finished up pretty much all my welding tonight, might have to go back for a few misc touchups, but overall I am pretty happy with the oil pan.











I just need to go back and finish dressing a couple of the welds, paint, and them it'll be time to swap pans.

Well, this weekend was mixed for me.
Took the Torino out, smoked the car sideways a few times, and then came home and pulled the cleveland in prep for some overdue repairs...and discovered a few parts in need of repair.
The water pump is shot. I thought just the gasket on the timing cover was bad, but the weep hole is showing evidence of recent leaking.
I have a couple bad plug wires, time for a new set.

I'm going to get some parts sent out for powder coating, brackets, etc.
I have a 3g alternator, and a bunch of 5.0/5.8 serpentine parts, so I may be finally getting the 351c into the new millinia and run a serp setup.

The oil pan is all done. Only issue is I should of waited and sent out for powder coating, but I decided to just coat with POR15, and had less than stellar results {but it also didn't help high winds and some dust on still tacky paint.}


Sunday night, I pulled the engine out in about 45 minutes roughly.


Sort of depressd now, as the GTS is going to sit for the next few months and not move under it's own power, but it's for the best.

Working on getting the new clutch kit out, picked up a roller pilot bearing, noticed a slight differance in the previous clutch disc compared to the newer unit {blue one is the new piece. MUCH heavier piece.}

Well...here we are, end of October. Man, what a long month, but yet I did not seem to get much of anything done.
I decided this last weekend to mess with the engine a little, and put the pan on the 351c.








I discovered a few things I was honestly caught unaware of:
The timing set, a single Cloyes, is stretched rather bad, at least 1/2" of slack. On the plus side, I found my receipt from May of 2001, Lifetime warranty.
My engine, which I thought was unmolested prior to me, with 66k original miles, seems in question now. The kid I bought it from back in 2000 I worked with at a bodyshop, and got to know pretty good was a straight forward guy, and I even spoke with his mom a few times at parties I had gone to with the guys from the shop. The engine came from here 1970 Torino, which she bought new, drove about 3 blocks a day, for a number of years until it was parked, the the guy I worked with got it running again. Anyways.
The rods all had been stamped, like the engine was apart some time in it's life. The bores all have very nice cross hatching, nothing bad at all.
Cam lobes don't look bad from what I can tell. the first 3-6 lobes have a slight discoloration, but that could of been old oil that had not drained off. Everything looks clean. The pickup tube is intact, no bends or kinks, which is something I was worried about after the issue of the damaged pan.
I was bummed on this Cleveland not having 4 bolt mains, being a 1970 engine, but for a street engine, it's still just fine for me.

Last Friday, I took my original Ford flywheel in to a local machine shop, and had them magnaflux it, just thinking due to age not a bad thing to check...for the $20 it cost, simple piece of mind.
At the time of pick up, the guy at the machine shop said the ring gear was chewed up, and I asked a rough cost to have them mess with it. Best $52.13 I ever spent of not having to screw with the ring gear removal or install, using a torch, etc to mess with it. So, for a grand total of $72.13, the Fly wheel is good to go.
For now, I am going to wait until I have the free cash to afford a few engine pieces I need. Being the engine needs a timing set, a water pump, a few pieces are for sure getting some attention this time.

After getting done with the engine, I decided to play with my rims and front brakes.
I scored a pair of 1972 Lincoln Rotors 5 x 5" bolt pattern and caliper brackets. They had only minor rust, looked fairly recent, part number is 6030.
The bearings, are the same exact pieces as the standard 11"/ GTS optioned/ T-bird 12" rotor with 5x4.5" bolt pattern wheels.

I also scored a pair of 295/50/15 radials for mockup {will be good burnout tires down the line}, and had them mounted up on two of the Nascar cup rims I took in trade this summer.
{in case you are wondering, yes, they are from car #16, dated 2004-2005 season. Aside from "TEST-05", and the #16 sprayed all over the rims, inside and out, I can't tell you any more than that.}


So, I ended up taking the CV conversion brakes off for a bit, and set them aside for now; I bolted up the rotor and then bolted up the rim and tire combo.
Only issue I see right now, the tire is pushed a bit towards the lip but man it sits just about perfect.
I may have to change out my front springs, as right now the engine is not in the car, and it sits up without the weight on the nose of the car.




I checked for all possible rubbing issues, and as it sits, the thing clears front and back, with NO issues at thie time.

Here is a shot on the back side...I have 1+ inch of ball joint and tie rod clearance, even with the 295's.
Thing of beauty.

hey man it looks like its coming off great! i may eventually use your lincoln brake discovery. Also with the serpentine setup. i'll have to look into that as well. i like Vbelts because theyre easy but serpentine is just a better appearance. your oil pan came out great too!

So what do you think of the Nascar style wheels? I've always liked the idea of putting them on my car.... Black, on black, on black....