1968 Ford Torino GT Engine Visual Upgrade

Here's the freshly constructed 392 Windsor engine. One of the engine detailing tips we got from Autoworks regards engine pulleys. Rather than trying to cobble together a pulley set from the salvage yard, it recommends an aftermarket beltdrive setup such as those offered by March or Concept One. Such a system eliminates guesswork and fits perfectly and works every time. Autoworks says that the time and trouble saved, in addition to the enhanced appearance, more than justify the considerable cost of the set.

Another key to a spectacular engine bay is not damaging what you have already accomplished. While installing the engine, ensure all vulnerable underhood surfaces are protected. You can use furniture pads, fender covers, a layer of bubble wrap, or other such protective padding.

To accommodate the air conditioning and heater lines, new concealed fittings are installed. The line exits through the cowling, thus cleaning up the firewall. As you can see, the air conditioning dryer is hidden from sight as well, further streamlining the engine bay appearance.

As you can see from this photo, Autoworks is well on its way to an award-winning engine bay for its SEMA project. The lesson here is that to achieve absolutely perfect results it doesn't hurt to start from scratch. Obviously, financial restraints were less of a consideration here than they may have been on some of the other engine compartment projects that we have looked at; but even on a budget, removing the engine for paint and detailing of the engine bay and engine makes a huge difference.

Detailing On A Budget
Here's a gander at the engine bay on our Torino. The OE air-cleaner housing could be sandblasted and refinished, but it's restrictive and is too stock for our detailing plans. The original Power by Ford valve covers are gone and were replaced by plain Jane stamped steel units. The inner fenders are dirty and desperately need to be refinished. Compared to the rest of the car, the engine bay was kind of a mess. We knew our engine bay job was going to be mostly elbow grease, involving paint, solvent, and parts cleaner. We were also limited by budget and wanted to spend less than $250.

It was clear that we were going to need some different kinds of paint. We got our VHT engine paint at Summit Racing in Ford blue as well as natural aluminum and cast-iron exhaust manifold coating. After much experimentation we decided on Rustoleum flat black paint for our engine bay. Although it has less gloss than a factory finish, we found that it offers a uniform sheen and it hides surface imperfections very well when surface preparation is less than perfect. We spent about $40 on the various types of spray paint we used.

When we look for Torino parts the first outfit we think of is Dearborn Classics, and we sourced all of our hard parts from the company. We remember this Power by Ford logo from when the Ford GT-40 was winning at Le Mans. We decided on the chromed version for our car. Dearborn Classics has them for $119.95.

The Ford K-code-style open element air cleaner is also from Dearborn Classics. It includes the element and will certainly look and breathe better than the original OE assembly. It costs $59.95. Dearborn Classics was also kind enough to include the 302 labels, as the K-code-style air cleaner assembly comes with a 289 label.

The bright red heater hoses and discolored upper radiator hose were major eyesores in our underhood landscape. Replacements were easy to source at our local auto parts store. With these purchases we were about at our $250 limit. The rest of our expenditures would be paid in the form of elbow grease.

Here we've already removed the valve covers, accessory brackets, air cleaner, and carburetor. The exhaust manifolds come out with little effort being a small-block and next we'll pull the distributor.

We scuffed our inner fenders and firewall with Scotch Brite pads and then wiped down all surfaces with lacquer thinner. Where stubborn deposits were found a wire brush was used to expedite matters. This photo shows our Torino shock towers after they have been dusted with the Rustoleum flat black paint.

As we said, most of our project was to be paid for with elbow grease. This ZEP Industrial Purple parts cleaner really cuts through the crud when teamed up with a wire brush. Be careful not to get this stuff on your skin because it burns like crazy. We cleaned up all of our power steering brackets, pulleys, and fan using this cleaner.

Before painting our factory manifolds we used a wire brush to clean off loose surface rust. This VHT manifold coating really makes ugly manifolds look like new. The coating bakes on when heated to give a like-new cast iron finish.

The block and cylinder heads were cleaned with solvent and a wire brush before the VHT Ford blue was applied. Having the exhaust manifolds off the engine made it possible to do a fairly complete job painting the engine. For the intake manifold, rather than removing it and having it hot tanked for surface cleaning, we wiped it down with lacquer thinner and gave it a coating of VHT natural aluminum finish, making it look like a new raw aluminum manifold. Here we're installing the refreshed exhaust manifolds back onto the engine.

Next, the new valve covers from Dearborn Classics were installed. We chose the chrome over the corporate blue coloring to brighten up the engine. Our other major addition was Dearborn Classics' K-code-style air cleaner. It's a great looking piece and it will help our engine breath a little easier.

Our Torino engine bay is looking much more presentable after just an afternoon of cleaning, painting, and a few chrome goodies. Small details like rewrapping the wiring with new harness tape and securing the heater hoses with tie-wraps (evenly spaced and facing the same direction) are fine details that will get noticed. At a cost of 250 bucks for the whole project, we think that the engine bay on our Torino looks a thousand percent better.