I just came in from cinching down the pretty 573, and all that remains is bolting on the exhaust manifolds and thermostat housing, pre-lubing the engine, and firing it off...as long as all is well, the intake will come back off and the engine compartment will get detailed...I am pretty excited about that prospect, and the end of the underhood spending extravaganza...

Finally found my unicorn, the elusive Edelbrock valve covers, which are heading off to the polisher tomorrow...also tentatively decided to go with polished aluminum velocity stacks...figured they would better complement the polished valve covers, and provide an undeniable "hot rod" feel under hood...should also help me here the howl of the 94's

One of the valve covers:

The velocity stacks (on order now) on a sweet little Nailhead:

Also cleaning up the old Hedman one-off's as there were a couple of pin holes in the welds that needed to be addressed.

No pictures now, as I am waiting for a true "before" and "after" shots to share. The pictures of my 573 (in another thread) are all you get for now.

I really appreciate the technical advice I've received from this forum, as I really only joined after I got the 'Bird. Feel like I've made some friends and continue to learn A LOT!

And to:

"mctim64" for the beautiful head rebuild, and endless silly questions answered...

"57fordpu" for the stories, chat, and helping with the hand-off from Tim...

"YBLOCKMERC" forsetting me up with my Edelbrock valve covers...

Updates and pictures wil be coming soon!

I must have read every thread I could find on the subject a couple times. While my W&H distributor is what I'll be using for the test fire-up, I am going to go with a Mallory tach-drive electronic distributor.

It will be all mechanical advance, so I can side-step the entire vacuum issue. Frankly, it's operation "stuff-can the vacuum lines" under the hood for me--as much as possible, that is...

Vacuum brake booster--gone

Vacuum for wipers--routed differently

Manifold vacuum port--plugged

Your stuff looks great Todd, can't wait to hear it run.

It has been fired, and all seems well. Hadn't shared these with many, but here you go (I apologize for all the blathering...was exhausted & delirious )...a little noisy with open manifolds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wCH--Zcgxk

It was promptly take back apart for the aforementioned under hood attention...just about ready to (really) start reassembly...here's a quick shot of before I tore it down, and where it is currently. And yes, I deliberately left the chrome V/C's on it to use them as masking...

fresh from the barn:

As of this weekend:

More to come soon...

Here's why I don't care about the overspray on the valve covers:

            When your budget recovers I still have some T'Bird thermostats in Aluminum.

Greg, the wing nuts are actually pretty tall. Taller than they look in the pictures. Long tapered 45º on the base...

Some little bits of frosting to add under the hood once all dial-in is done, but she's running & driving better than expected!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLUr2CkCeRQ&feature=youtu.be

Thanks!

Look close, they're already installed! Got a few from SoCal Sacramento recently. For anyone considering these, they do need some massaging (on a 94 at least) to clear the vent tube, as well as the choke butterfly. They look cool though!

The velocity stacks are from Seller's Equipped, and I don't believe he makes them anymore. They are spun aluminum. I milled them down for hood clearance, then had them polished with the Edelbrock V/C's that aren't yet installed. I couldn't find any conventional air cleaner bodies that would clear my hood and look right with the whole package.

Thanks, and I agree about the sound...sure was fun running around the neighborhood with open headers & down tubes! The kids that were on recess at the school up the street sure liked it (not sure about the teachers:w00t

Should still have a nice exhaust note. 2" duals with 18" glass packs (installed backwards, to mitigate some of the "fluff") should fit the bill. Was planning on 2 1/4", but 2" was much more suited to the stock frame, hangers, etc. I am running the exhaust through simple turn downs at the rear bumper. The stock bumper exit deflectors make the exhaust sound really "farty" as it bounces around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNuiC4qVbRs&feature=youtu.be

The finished engine compartment (I caught the fuel line clamp on the #1 carb:

Here's me and the Bird "Audrey" at the cruise as captured by a local auto journalist:

I also had my sister's '62 Lincoln (which she got from Dad after he passed) gone over for her,  so we could park & cruise together...she was pretty happy...

Her '62 got a lot of attention, too...repainted in the original color...

The '56 to my left was still Y-block powered! A really nice car!

Mark, it took me a while to decide on the fuel line set-up. My goal was to keep the look simple & uncluttered, but reliable & as "period" appearing as possible. That being said, I took several liberties. From the pump to the filter/reg. ass'y I used a hard line that exits the pump with a 90º brass fitting identical to the factory pump inlet line fitting. The regulator & filter are from Speedway & have functioned beautifully thus far. As supplied the regulator was chrome, and the filter was polished. I fastened them together with a brass union, as they were both female pipe thread at the outlet/inlet. I then scuffed, primed, and painted them Ford red to match the engine so they'd blend in to the front of the engine. From there, rubber lines, brass nipples, and stainless constant-tension clamps were used. The fuel block is a reproduction piece from Edelbrock, and the gauge was purchased from Dick York at dickshotrodplace.com (who also built & restored my carbs). I deliberately set the initial advance on the retarded side. When I put it where it runs the best, the car wants to be driven FAST, and just explodes to hi rev's when the 3x2 is opened up. Not the best way to go about working the bugs out. So far I'm very happy with my Mallory Uni-lite. I did notice that it had a bunch of end play from the factory, so it will need to be shimmed. But very crisp, and far easier to start than the old W&H dual point.

The push linkage is a huge PITA. So much so that I used the old tripower rod between the factory acc. linkage and the primary carb. I couldn't make a new one work as well...

My carbs bleed down too. I don't know that there's much way around it. my rear carb seeped a bit when I fired it up again, but has since stopped, so the gaskets are hopefully getting reinvigorated. I think the stuff gas may be evaporating faster than ever also. The seeping was my fault. I ran the car a couple times, than took it all apart, and due to more pressing family issues it sat dormant for 1 1/2 years.

Geez, just realized I wrote a book here. Hope some of it helps someone...

While not 100% true to the "way it was" I'm happy with the results. I have no leakage at the lines/joints, and the carb leakage seems to have resolved itself as long as it's driven regularly.

I still have to plumb/re-route the vac. lines to operate the wipers and heater controls Though I have chrome bullets over the w/s wipers, I still would like to have a functional heater.

I'd considered a '57 dizzy, but was unable to find one, even a core, for what I'd consider reasonable. I had Pertronix quote making a plate for the old W&H that the car had, but it was more than the Unilte, and I'd still have an old distributor with orphan caps, etc...I'm confident it will suit my needs once all is dialed in. Gonna re-set the rockers, give it a bit more advance, and a couple carb tweaks now that I have a few hundred miles on it.