Author Topic: '66 GT upgrade story (Read 6902 times)

ajaye01 · « **on:** August 09, 2013, 06:48:03 pm »

Hi fellow Mustang forumers (is that even a word ??)

I'm about to embark in a project to improve the drivability and performance of my beloved '66 convertible and I though I'd share the journey with you in case you are interested in making similiar upgrades to your pride and joy.

I'm happy to answer any questions I can but to be honest I'll be leaving most of the work to the experts.

I'll take photos along the way where I can.

The story starts.....

I bought my girl back in December 2010 through ebay from a great guy in Florida, who provided an amazing set of documentation of work done to the car back 20 years or so.

She's a Nightmist Blue '66 GT convertible with a 289 "A" code, C4 and Kelsey Hayes discs up front.

Back in 2011 I hit an idiot who decided STOP signs could be ignored and did some $18,000 of damage, but every cloud has a silver lining and I took the opportunity to have her taken back to bare metal and re-sprayed. I also did the interior and roof so outside she looks a million dollars.

Now it was time to improve her performance. After driving some mates 289's I realised my girl was seriously lacking in this department and that some attention (aka money) was warranted.

So, I hit the forum, spoke to lots of fellow Mustangers with more knowledge than me and settled on the following set of improvements....

(Note: All original parts are going to be kept so that the next owner can put everything back to original if that's what they want)

I'm replacing the current carby/manifold with a Holley 4160/600 CFM Carburetor on an Edelbrock Performer manifold.
I'll be replacing the old points with an MSD setup....not sure what the mechanic has in mind yet.

The old exhaust manifolds are being replaced with a set of Hedman headers and the exhaust system replaced with a twin 2" setup.

I purchased all the parts from Summit Racing who were really great.
The total cost (as you'll see from the invoice I've included) came to about $850 USD.
To keep it below the $1,000 GST threshold, and to save a few buck I decided to get Shipporter to do the shipping.

They too were fantastic and the stuff arrived in 5 weeks.

I'm getting Richard at Rowville exhaust to do all the exhaust work and Anthony at ACE Dyno and Tuning in Clayton to do all the other mechanicals.

I've chosen ACE as they have a great reputation and also a dyno which I'm going to use to see exactly what performance gains these improvements actually give.

Tomorrow I'm heading to ACE to do a "baseline" dyno before I start making any changes, and we'll see how each part affects the power output.

I'll also get Anthony at ACE to do compression checks and any other engine health checks they deem necessary before we start to be sure no underlying existing issues are present.

Below is pic of the SUMMIT invoice and the parts in my boot ready to go....

Hope some of you guys find this thread as useful as I find other threads on this forum.

I'll keep you posed...Anthony.

And here's all my new stuff ready to be fitted...

Ron Mexico · « **Reply #1 on:** August 09, 2013, 09:01:59 pm »

Hi Anthony.

Sounds great.

It will be great so see the HP at the wheels stock vs once you have bolted on the kit.

Cheers
Ronny

mwizz · « **Reply #2 on:** August 10, 2013, 12:08:19 am »

Keep us up to date with lots of pics

66RedRagtop · « **Reply #3 on:** August 10, 2013, 12:14:21 am »

Think it's forumites.

Good choices there. Richard out at Rowville exhaust is brilliant at custom systems. Bit of fiddling on a dyno with mixture and timing can hugely increase rear wheel HP.

It's worth checking that the C4 tranny and torque converter are up to scratch.

chopmgw · « **Reply #4 on:** August 10, 2013, 12:53:17 am »

Sounds like a great thread.

ajaye01 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 10, 2013, 01:59:59 pm »

You know things aren't going well when you get a call from your mechanic just 15 minutes after you've dropped of your car.

So, this morning I took my girl for her first dyno.

I left her in the capable hand of Anthony at ACE who was happy to provide that "baseline" power reading I spoke of earlier.

Well, 15 minutes later Anthony was back on the phone, apparently he had to take my girl of the dyno as the engine really wasn't coping with the revs needed to get an accurate reading and he felt he'd do major engine damage if he persisted.

Anthony diagnosed some serious fuel starvation with engine miss at higher revs.

He believes it could be anything from blocked fuel lines or filter, carburetor mis-tune or a dodgy valve/spring.

Anyway, he'll know better when he starts work on the engine in a week or so.

In the mean time I'm off to Rowville where the new headers and exhaust system will be fitted.

I guess if there's anything positive to be taken from this first experience it's recognition that the current condition of the motor certainly was pretty lousy and I can expect some serious improvement at the end of this saga

.

I'll keep you posted.

Anthony.

Herman · « **Reply #6 on:** August 10, 2013, 03:08:07 pm »

Good Luck with everything AJay,

the boys at Rowville Exhaust know their stuff both original and modified

Herman

red066 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 16, 2013, 06:34:10 pm »

Any more progress Ajay ???

ajaye01 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 18, 2013, 03:25:10 pm »

Hi guys,

Picked her up from Richard at Rowville Exhaust Saturday morning.

Sounds great...not too loud but just the right amount of that great Windsor rumble. At 40mph I can hear the burble I couldn't before.

I know the fuel issue hasn't been dealt with yet and the carb/manifold and dissy are yet to be upgraded but the feeling with the new 2 1/4 system is certainly sprightlier and more eager so big expectations for the next stage.

I've included some photos of the new headers, under the car (as best I could) and the new rear trumpets.

Do you think they are protruding too much out out the valance or is it just me ?

Anyway, I have her booked into Tony at Ace Dyno Monday week.

Regards,

Anthony.

ronin1 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 18, 2013, 04:53:38 pm »

out of interest what was the cost of shipping?

ajaye01 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 18, 2013, 05:55:28 pm »

The consignment weighed in at 22Kgs. and took pretty much exactly 5 weeks.

Cost: $AUD165

mwizz · « **Reply #11 on:** August 18, 2013, 08:33:53 pm »

The trumpets look great. Not sure how far they are supposed to stick out but they do look like they are a bit further out than I thought they should be.

mwizz · « **Reply #12 on:** August 18, 2013, 08:49:18 pm »

Just did a search and found this link about the exhaust trumpets. Looks like yours are all good.

http://mustangforums.com/forum/classic-mustangs-tech/579803-1966-dual-exhaust-placement-question.html

68Coupe · « **Reply #13 on:** August 18, 2013, 08:57:36 pm »

Quote from: ajaye01 on August 18, 2013, 03:25:10 pm

I've included some photos of the new headers, under the car (as best I could) and the new rear trumpets.

Do you think they are protruding too much out out the valance or is it just me ?

Has been discussed on here before as well.

http://www.mustang.org.au/forum/index.php/topic,20836.msg208066.html#msg208066

mwizz · « **Reply #14 on:** August 18, 2013, 09:44:32 pm »

Thanks 68coupe, the pic in that 65 brochure answers the question

ajaye01 · « **Reply #15 on:** August 19, 2013, 08:29:56 am »

Thanks guys,

Looks like the trumpets are correctly positioned now and were probably too far in previously.

LA PONY · « **Reply #16 on:** August 21, 2013, 03:27:42 pm »

The exhaust system looks the goods ajaye, the headers are a comfy fit. What muflers are you running & did you get them in the package from Summit.
cheers Rob

ajaye01 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 10, 2013, 08:50:11 pm »

Rob,

I had the guys at Rowville exhaust supply and fit the mufflers.

I'll find out which ones they used the next time I head down there.

ajaye01 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 10, 2013, 09:02:12 pm »

I picked up the car last week, and although I haven't had a good chance to really open her up I can tell the performance improvement is substantial.

Most noticeably, traveling along the Penninsula Hwy, where previously my girl was happy to sit on 60MPH, now at 70 she seems to be barley raising a sweat and urging to be pushed further. (Too many cameras though).

Anyway, Anthony from ACE dyno was pleased with the result although he decided still to delay any dyno until the engine issue (he thinks one of the valve springs is shot) has been resolved.

He also believes there is an exhaust leak, which I'll speak to the guys at rowville about next week and when he drove it, that a disturbing noise is coming from either the diff or wheel bearings.

These issues will have to wait a while as the hip pocket's taken a bit more of a beating than expected and with the added performance, I think it may be most prudent to address the braking performance next.

So, below are a few pics of the engine as she now looks.

Happy to answer any queries anyone may have.

Anthony.

Frank70 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 11, 2013, 07:20:53 am »

Quote from: ajaye01 on August 18, 2013, 05:55:28 pm

The consignment weighed in at 22Kgs. and took pretty much exactly 5 weeks.

Cost: $AUD165

Hi Anthony.

Good work !

For that shipment, did you have to call Summit and ask to have it sent via ship ?

I don't recall it being an option on the website.

Cheers,
Frank.

ajaye01 · « **Reply #20 on:** September 11, 2013, 08:58:42 am »

Frank,

As the total value of my order with Summit was about $AU925 (without shipping) I was really anxious to have the shipping component separate from the total invoice amount otherwise I was going to be over the $1,000 GST threshhold.

So what I did was organise shipment with shipporter. Their warehouse is in LA and Summit ship free internally to US locations.

Shipporter invoiced separately which not only kept the the shipping component off the Summit invoice but also ended up some $75 cheaper than Summit quoted.

All goods arrived at my doorstep 5 weeks later...No GST and no hassle at all.

'66 GT upgrade story

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Author Topic: '66 GT upgrade story (Read 6902 times)