The Bean

In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :

I used a vw rabbit hood latch. Originally I had one on each side of the hood. Until radiator #2 where I consolidated to 1. Pictures to come as the build thread catches up.

Edit: Also heater controls in the console is a great idea!

The console finished printing and came out like this:

The gauges can fit through the upper hole without being disconnected, then slide tightly into the front hole. My main gripe with mechanical gauges is the inability to take them out of the bezel. This design fixes that issue.

Smart design on the gauge pod!

Thanks Ross

So a major goal while doing the V8 swap was to keep the hood uncut. So after some measuring we cut down the air cleaner to fit in the available space... and it fit!

So with the extra weight in the front the Bean needed more front spring. The new set is spec'd for a mustang 2 and has a 350lb/in rate. 

Obviously they needed a bit of trimming. They went in and out an unreasonable amount of times to try to get the height right without overshooting in. Needless to say I'm not a fan of these internal spring compressors in such a tight space.

I used slightly smaller pictures this post. Let me know if this makes a positive/negative difference.

I'm looking forward to getting this thread caught up so we can discuss current design choices. Until then here is some more catch up:

Hood latches. I was inspired by another forum member here to use a latch on either side. I forget which build exactly I was looking at but they had dual strikers on either side of a forward folding hood. I looked at using some various types of latches and settled on watercooled VW latches. They are relatively cheap, don't need a cable to operate, and I like the way they functioned on past cars I've owned. I'll let the pictures explain how it was done. 

At this point I lost access to my garage and drove the car across town to my new apartment. It over heated halfway but we made it!

Once at the new house I installed a sunpro tach and got the car aligned. It had a shake above 70mph I was hoping the alignment would solve but it didn't. 

Shavarsh said:

Looks Great!

Thanks wheelsmithy!

When I swapped in the 8.8 rear I cut the shock mounting ears off the old spring mount plates and welded them to the new ones. Here you can see what happens when the shock is too close to the axle:

No bueno, I decided to cut the shock tab halfway through the mounting hole, extend it, and fill the remaining slot. 

And viola, enough clearance not to boomerang the new shock.

Awesome build!

Thanks AWSX1686! 

Next up the stock master cylinder failed... So the solution was to remove the old master and prop valve and install new lines and a new master from a 1989 (I believe; its been awhile) Ford Ranger. Larger bore, aluminum, and plastic reservoir. Big upgrade! Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the install. Then back out on the road for some friendly comparisson.

I bet the Camaro didn't know what happened! 

I bought the engine for $100 and even though the only parts remaining are the block, rods, and pistons, there was more taper in the bore than is ideal. After pushing oil from lots of seals I added a catch can...

I drove the car on a few trips and to work a few times but I always was staring at the temp gauge and planning a way to pull over should the temp get too hot. In an effort to exhaust a few options before buying another radiator I tried some shroud ideas:

Went on another decent trip about 2.5 hours each way to test. While the shroud improved some situations it made others much worse... I needed a larger radiator. On the way home a friendly Mazda hatch pulled up next to me and downshifted...

You know the rest of the story except that when I bounced the limiter in 3rd and went looking for 4th.... I found 2nd

The car was still running and I kept on my way hopeful that nothing was damaged. About a half hour later I stepped on it to pass a slow car and heard a loud bang. And Viola no clutch disengagement. I've had clutch cables snap before so I pulled over and headed under the car with a pair of vice grips. However the cable was fine... I rev matched and started in first through city traffic and got it home.

Upon inspection everything seemed fine. But the clutch would not disengage and I found this on the ground:

So out came the transmission and here's what we found:

2 lessons: find the right gear, and don't buy the cheapest ebay clutch disk.

In with the new:

This time the cheapest autogroan unit. 

Fixed up and back on the road it was time for a bigger radiator. 

After getting the old brackets off the test fitting began.

The Bean. I just got it.

To mount the new radiator I built a lower tray complete with isolators (old radiator hose slit down the middle). 

Then align it perfectly and weld.

I sure do wish I had painted this before putting it in but I was in a time crunch with an autocross and a big move impending.

So, on with the grill to determine what the upper support would look like. I also needed to close the gap I left in the stock radiator support.

As mentioned earlier in the thread using 2 hood latches got old, and there was no longer any room for them. So a single latch was integrated into the radiator brackets.

After the autocross the upper bracket got cleaned up and painted:

After the autocross (its own adventure) I drove the car up to a family reunion on a short road trip.

Final pictures in Boston:

Stopped by my parents house and loaded up everything other than the pinto and headed for California.

I love the stance and the black steelies! Cool little car you've built.

In reply to Shavarsh :

Really nice Pinto! Love the color and all the mods. BTW, how's the angle on your front A arms? Ideally, you'd want them to be parallel to the ground or with the outer ends pointing slightly upward.  You may have to fiddle with the springs a bit more (or even shorten the front shocks) to accomplish this, but it's worth it, believe me. Looking forward to more updates.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks Angry! I appreciate the feedback