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Every project has those key moments where the champagne gets popped, the camera gets a workout, and emails go out to all your car pals. While we recently had reason to do all that and more with Generation Gap when we completed our paint and body, we're back at it again with the final installation of our drivetrain and suspension. Those that have been with our project from the beginning might be thinking, "Haven't we seen this already?" Well, yes, and no. You've seen us report on mocking up many of these assemblies, but now we're putting the car together for good now that the paint and bodywork are complete; so we have some updates to what we've mocked up earlier, plus some install tips and more. One of the first things we had to accomplish before we could drop our modular powerplant between the modified front fenders was to have the engine bay painted. What's that? Didn't we just have the car painted? Yes we did, but due to the deadlines we have to adhere to in order to publish the magazine on time we ran out of time while painting the car and we had to paint the engine bay, underside of the hood, and decklid after the fact. Luckily, we had plenty of paint left for it all to match precisely. With the engine bay painted body color and clearcoated, Generation Gap was trailered back to Modified Mustangs & Fords World HQ (our Snap-on equipped tech center) where we were looking forward to marrying the drivetrain with the chassis for the last time. With the drivetrain installed and checked off our list (and that champagne flowing!) we still have plenty to do to meet our goal of finishing the fastback by year's end, but with the drivetrain installed we can now concentrate on fuel and brake system plumbing, wiring, and moreùall things that were up in the air before the drivetrain was installed. Stay tuned for more progress on our fastback in upcoming issues as we begin final installation at full steam ahead.  1 Our engine bay required...  1 Our engine bay required some light wet sanding with 220-grit paper, mainly to prep the already primed surface and to rid the panels of overspray from the exterior painting the month prior. The sanding was followed by back taping the fender edges and the cowl and then two coats of base and several coats of clear were applied, just like the exterior finish.  2 Once the fastback made...  2 Once the fastback made its way back to our tech center it was placed on our Direct Lift two-post asymmetrical lift for unobstructed access to the suspension mounting points. Our Heidts subframe connectors and four-link mounting brackets had never been protected from the elements since welding them in. We took this time to prime and paint all bare metal parts and then clean up overspray in the wheelwells with spray-on undercoat.  3 Before we could install...  3 Before we could install our engine for the last time we needed to get our front suspension back in place. Our Heidts control arms were media blasted and painted with a durable, yet simple to touch up, gloss black paint. To set the alignment specs, the lower arm must be disconnected from the coilover and leveled, as shown here.  4 We can’t stress enough...  4 We can’t stress enough how helpful an engine leveler/tilter is when using an engine hoist. Even if you’re only dropping an engine into place (it’s even better when installing an engine/trans combo bolted together), the leveler does a great job of getting the mounts and frame brackets all to play nice with each other.  5 The next time you’re dropping...  5 The next time you’re dropping an engine into place follow our lead. Ensure you have plenty of paint protection (we like flipping fender covers around so they hang into the engine bay) like furniture pads, foam blocks, blankets, and so on. Also have your mount hardware and the proper tools to bolt it all together at the ready. The last thing you want is to have everything lined up and then have to let go of the engine to get a bolt or a tool. Finally, gather a few friends up, as the more hands and eyes the better when the engine is going in and getting lined up.  6 As the engine moves closer...  6 As the engine moves closer to its final resting place double check things like oil pan clearance over the core support and that you have room under the car for the engine hoist’s legs. Lower the hoist boom slowly. Sudden drops can cause the chain to unhook or bolts to break, or the engine could slam into your freshly painted ride. Take your time, but pay attention.  7 Getting the through-bolts...  7 Getting the through-bolts into place isn’t always an episode in frustration, but we don’t always have the best of luck either. If you’re having a problem try using a line-up bar, or better yet, loosen the mounting bracket to engine block bolts so the bracket can be manipulated to line things up.  8 Once the pair of mount...  8 Once the pair of mount through-bolts had been slid home and their retaining nuts started we were able to go back and tighten the mounting bracket bolts. This trick has worked on just about every engine we’ve ever installed.  9 After the mount brackets...  9 After the mount brackets have been secured back to the block the through-bolts can be tightened as well, securing our 4.6L Three-Valve to the Heidts crossmember for good (we hope!)  10a While the engine bolted...  10a While the engine bolted up nice and cleared everything (it should, as we mocked it up and welded the mounts in exactly where we wanted them) we forgot one thing...  10b The upper control arm...  10b The upper control arm bolts will need to be removed for front suspension alignment, and because we slid the bolts in from front to rear (old habit of following the general movement of the car) the power steering pump interfered with said bolt removal. We had to go back and unbolt the engine mount on the driver side and raise the engine high enough to swap the bolt’s direction. Now we’re good when it comes to final alignment time.  11 We’re planning to make...  11 We’re planning to make our modular installation look as OE as possible, and for that we needed the stock coolant degas tank, power steering reservoir, and molded hoses. We bumped into Jim D’Amore Jr. of JDM Engineering at an event last year and while discussing our project he offered up some take-off goodies. Shops like JDM Engineering are constantly building race cars and taking off stock parts that people like you and I need for conversions like this. Besides the degas tank and hoses, we scored torque converter hardware and other miscellaneous fasteners, so check your local Mustang performance shop or give JDM a call, you never know what they might have lying around.  12 The stock molded hoses...  12 The stock molded hoses look like they’ll reach to our yet-to-be purchased radiator with the inlet at the passenger top and outlet at the driver’s bottom. Some quick measurements and a call to Flex-a-lite and we should have a radiator in time for our next installment.  13 While we’ll have to remove...  13 While we’ll have to remove the intake one more time to wire up our charging system (the alternator sits under the front of the intake and the only way to access the battery lug is to remove the intake or the alternator), we still snugged the intake up with four corner bolts so we could finish testing some hardware placement.  14 Late-model engines like...  14 Late-model engines like our modular don’t have a lot of vacuum lines on them, but we did need to create a line from the manifold source fitting to the fuel pressure sensor on the fuel rail. We’ve been itching to try out these slick Hose Candy silicone lines and anodized fittings from Oomph Labs. We chose the understated black and silver look to match the engine, but Hose Candy is available in several color combinations to add the perfect look to your project.  15 We’re not 100 percent...  15 We’re not 100 percent sure how we’ll finalize the inlet tube setup, but for now we’re going to start with the stock tube that came with the Control Pack kit from Ford Racing and simply re-clock the mass air meter and filter assembly to point it downward in the engine bay. Once we have our radiator and fan installed and cooling hoses mounted we’ll revisit the setup and possibly relocate the filter.  16 We can’t remember if we...  16 We can’t remember if we took a similar picture during our engine mock up story, but the modular engine’s plastic intake is quite tall, coming in at roughly 11 inches in height. Good thing we have a Shelby–style hood (and yes we checked, it clears!).  17 We already went through...  17 We already went through the whole rear suspension system in the Feb. ’10 issue, so all we did here was paint the suspension links and clean the coilovers, which had a ton of body shop dust and overspray on them.  18 We lowered the car just...  18 We lowered the car just long enough to see it on four wheels for the first time in more than a year. We still have to center the axle housing in the rear wheel openings, but we’ll tackle that when we set the pinion angle down the road. The rear ride height is a bit high, but that’s nothing more than a few turns of the coilover shock adjusters to fix that, though we’ll most likely not concern ourselves with that until we get our final wheel and tire package in place.  19 Getting the car back in...  19 Getting the car back in the air, we’re moving on with final transmission install. Previously, we bolted the trans up just for mock up, but now we needed a block plate, converter nuts, a starter, and more. First up on the list is this automatic block plate from our friends at Gene Evans Ford outside of Atlanta, Georgia. This is a production part, 1L2Z-7007-BA, and will run you about $30.  20 While we did have a stock...  20 While we did have a stock flexplate from the stash of parts we scored at JDM Engineering, Performance Automatic shipped us an SFI version to go with its trans. The mounting bolts were from our take-off hardware selection from JDM Engineering and torqued to 59 ft-lb.  21 With the help of a transmission...  21 With the help of a transmission jack (if you’re lucky enough to work with a lift in your home shop, these are a must for trans swaps!) the Performance Automatic 5R55S nestled right up to the block so we could install our bellhousing bolts. Like all fasteners on the modular engine family, these are metric as well.  22 While there is the traditional...  22 While there is the traditional torque converter access panel at the bottom of the block plate, the modular engine also has a large access hole on the driver side rear of the block. This is the best place to install and tighten the torque converter nuts, which take 32 ft-lb to secure. A plastic plug is available from your nearest Ford parts department for this opening.  23 Our stock transmission...  23 Our stock transmission pan was modified with a Performance Automatic filler tube for quick and easy fluid checks and was installed here. We also blew the dust off the box for our starter from the folks at PA Performance (we also have one of their killer 200-amp alternators on our engine). This little gem will spin our Three-Valve with ease and comes with a lifetime warranty.  24 Slipping our Ron Morris...  24 Slipping our Ron Morris Performance Uni-Cross crossmember back under our five-speed automatic is the final step to securing our drivetrain. All that we have to do now is center our rear axle in the wheel opening and measure for our custom driveshaft that Dynotech Engineering will be making to marry the modern transmission output shaft to our classic 9-inch yoke.  25 Back on the ground again...  25 Back on the ground again and ready to be rolled back into our warehouse until more parts arrive, we started playing with the mounting location for the Three-Valve’s Control Pack ECM and power distribution box (PDB). Currently, our plan is to make an opening in the bottom of the battery tray area and flush-mount the ECM with the PDB mounted on the inner fender above or next to it. More planning and more parts ordering to do, but we’re making progress. Stay tuned!
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