I purchase my engine and transmission in November 2014 from Fortes Parts Connection in Massachusetts. The reason I used this company, although not the cheapest by a long shot they were able to give me good advise and also picked up the incompatibility of some of the parts I had asked for and sorted the right components to do the job. Some of the other companies were not pleasant to deal with at all and treated me like a dill, they may have been right but I didn't need them to tell me so if they are hard to get along with when you are trying to give them heaps of money, what hope have you got if things go wrong after you pay. Some other companies could not supply the total package but were great to work with but Mike Forte ticked all the boxes and is a pleasure to work with, he can talk as well, bit like me, just loves a chat.
At the last MotorClassica Exhibition in Melbourne I had the opportunity to meet up with fellow exhibitors from EDI International Freight Management based in Australia and Los Angeles. I spoke to them about my situation and having got them an estimated size and weight I had a quote with in hours which I accepted. The funny thing about this is the manager at the L.A. end received the consignment from Mike Forte and proceeded to send me a pic of the pallet on the dock and followed up with "but it ain't going anywhere as we have a dock strike and don't know for how long it will last" At least they have a sense of humour.
It actually took until the end of April to get unpacked in Melbourne.
While I was waiting for the drive train to arrive I set about finishing lots of little jobs that couldn't be completed due to lack of parts and also put the fuel system through the car including the fuel tank using the patented Super Cheap Fuel Tank Installation Tool
The Super Cheap mobile stool has quite a powerful gas ram in the seat all I had to do was block up to the correct height, hold it all together with double sided tape and the ram was strong enough to lift the tank into position making it a one man job so it was just a matter of bolting it all together.
The fuel lines, fuel pump, pressure regulator and filters were fitted ready for the engine.
One little thing that used to bug me was the plastic master cylinder fluid reservoirs that came with the Tilton brake pedals and master cylinders. Every time I walked into my garage I would see these white plastic things and thought that this was a real weak point in an otherwise strong looking car so another Pace builder and got together and imported some billet units which really fixed this weak point.
Below is the original plastic reservoirs
It required a few modifications to fit the billet reservoir as the mounting plate were quite different. I was able to use the lower part of the mounting bracket which gave clearance for the hoses and also gives protection to the hoses from the exhaust headers which run directly underneath this insulated bracket.
Here are some pics of the billet reservoir as I received it.
The reservoir had provision for 3 hose fittings so it was only a matter of getting the fittings, making a backing plate, making a lower mounting plate and drilling the mounting holes and bolting into the original mounts.
Much better don't you think.
I have also been playing with the TKO-600 gearbox and fitted a center shifter to locate the gear shifter in the right position in the cock pit. I chose to go with a 0.82 over drive box mated to a 3.7 LSD rather than the more common 0.64 overdrive as the Coyote is a high revving engine and low down torque is not it's strong point but at highway speeds (100kph) the tacho will be close 2300rpm where the power band starts at 2400rpm meaning that 3rd, 4th and 5th gears will pull like crazy. The engine is red lined at 6900 but is still happy at 7200rpm
I sent the front bearing retainer to Mal Wood Automotive to modify and fit his hydrualic throwout bearing as there is simply no room for a clutch fork. This will all be mated to a Quick Time Bell Housing
Well, my next post should have some engine bits.
See you then
Cheers
Russell
