Help! Hardware and Assembly Info Needed |
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felix1978
Member Joined: 01-August-2014 Location: Wentzville, MO Status: Offline Points: 50 |
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Posted: 14-April-2017 at 9:50AM |
Hey everyone,
After a long time spent away from the forum and my old T-Bird I am getting back to working on it again. But I have a bit of a problem, before I stopped working on it I had the engine partially disassembled with parts and hardware stored away. I also had pictures of my disassembly process and notes of what went were and such.
The problem now is that I have lost my notes and pictures with a computer failure and my inability to remember to back up important things elsewhere. To make matters worse, because where I stored my parts and hardware was a shared location, things got moved around and lost. Luckily I found most of the parts, but a good portion of my hardware has gone missing. I plan to keep looking for it, but I need some help finding the right parts if I cannot locate the missing pieces.
So I am asking for anyone and everyone’s help finding the right pieces and putting it back together in the right order. This is something of a time sensitive matter too, the county is on me because the license has expired on the car and they are calling it a derelict vehicle, so I have to either get it running, stored away at a high price lot, or sold off before the 15th of May, aka almost exactly one month from today. The last two options are nonstarters so I really need some help here.
OK, now that the begging is out of the way, I need pictures of the front of a 78 351M with A/C all assembled or in stages of assembly where I can see what bolts go where, and what brackets fit which accessories in what way. For hardware I need help finding thread sizes and lengths, or if possible actual parts for the following pieces:
Harmonic balancer bolt and washer, timing cover bolts, oil pan bolts, cam gear bolts, fuel pump bolts, power steering pump mounting bolts, power steering bracket mounting bolts, fuel pump eccentric, valve cover bolts, thermostat housing bolts, dipstick tube bolt and o-ring, motor mount bolts, alternator mounting bolts, alternator bracket mounting bolts, A/C compressor mounting bolts, A/C compressor bracket mounting bolts, starter bolts, oil pump and pickup bolts, water pump bolts, distributor clamp and bolt, coil bracket bolt, pipe plug for air injector tube into intake manifold, anything else that bolts to the front of the engine that I have forgotten at the moment.
Again this is somewhat of an urgent request and I know that it is a lot to ask, but I really need the help and I hope that I can get it all done in time.
Please help, Scott |
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1978 Thunderbird
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gentrysgarage
Member Joined: 02-January-2017 Location: lost Angels Status: Offline Points: 111 |
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I thought the yard Nazi's only made it to AZ, the infection is spreading.
I can't help you with actual sizes, but I (who last and only worked on early Mustangs for the guy across the street when I was 14/15 yo) can tel you how I have gotten to where I am now. I cleaned and painted all my bolts and laid them out by size. I then looked at what I holes I had to fill. I also did alot of research with Google,Yahoo and Bing (as Google had changed their algorithm 10 years ago and hasn't been as good as before) on my brackets till I came up with my formula. I also read the project updates here alot of information/pictures to help us there. Good Luck with the Nazis as my run in with them caused me to cut up an almost done 1968 International Travelall that I had converted to Cummins 6BT and dana 60s....I was only given 10 days to finish with no more money to spend on brake master/lines and hoses (I was really poor then) Edited by gentrysgarage - 15-April-2017 at 3:48AM |
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Rockatansky
Senior Member Joined: 30-July-2010 Location: On The Road Status: Offline Points: 6072 |
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here's a good start https://alloyboltz.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=39_73_77_183&products_id=1215&osCsid=u7uloirhmc02u962e53kmtdpf4as far as pictures go, get the factory manual CD off ebay or find it on the net somewhere, it'll be far more easy to understand than pics
do you have a Fastenal store near you? individual bolts will kill you but so will shipping a bolt at a time probably at least a couple guys here on the forum have the bolts you need to put the front end together Edited by Rockatansky - 15-April-2017 at 10:16AM |
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72 GT Ute
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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felix1978
Member Joined: 01-August-2014 Location: Wentzville, MO Status: Offline Points: 50 |
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Thanks for the images, I think I might have a Fastenall somewhere around me, I'm about an hour's drive out of St. Louis, MO so there should be something.
Still no luck on locating my missing pieces here, but had to work all day today and will again tomorrow. I think I might have located some of the more common pieces like the cam bolt, harmonic balancer, valve covers, etc through ARP, but the more odd-ball stuff like the studded bolts for the timing cover and brackets are something I don't think I will be able to find new. Will keep looking. Oh, I do have the factory service manual, my version of it doesn't have really good diagrams for the hardware and mounting points, just printed instructions, which don't mention what kind of bolt goes where, so not as much help as a good image where I can see if the bolt is flanged or studded or something like that. Wish the manual was that detailed, would have been done a long time ago if it was. Scott |
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1978 Thunderbird
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Big Bird
Senior Member Joined: 25-August-2013 Location: New York Status: Offline Points: 4194 |
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I would call local junkyards and see if they have any 351m/400 powered cars/trucks and take pictures of how the front dress goes together. might even be able to get all your bolts there.
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"What we do in full frontal view, is more honest than your cleaned-up mind."
Randy 1979 T-Bird 2005 F-150 STX RCSB 4.6, 3.55 LSD How the Heck does a REGULAR CAB SHORTBED weigh over 5200 pounds? |
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Torino_Chris
Member Joined: 19-July-2016 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 120 |
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I have a '73 400 with factory AC, all assembled and in the car. I don't know how much has changed from there til 78?
I could take some pics for you if it helps! |
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Rockatansky
Senior Member Joined: 30-July-2010 Location: On The Road Status: Offline Points: 6072 |
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sounds like you might have a Chiltons or Haynes manual? all my factory manuals have the detailed diagrams and hardware specs
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72 GT Ute
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stanman
Senior Member Joined: 23-March-2007 Location: Nova Scotia, Ca Status: Offline Points: 1432 |
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I've seen replacement engine bolt sets on Ebay but I don't know how accurate or complete they are.
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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There is a picture below of the A.C. Bracket.
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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There is a picture below of the A.C. System and Brackets installed.
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dave302
Senior Member Joined: 08-October-2009 Location: usa Status: Offline Points: 3171 |
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There are a few Fastenals located in your area, I have listed the store codes, phone numbers and adresses below. Store Code: MOSL2
Hours: Monday - Friday 7:00am - 5:00pm Phone: (636)928-8254 Fax: (636)447-0007 4000 North Service Road Saint Peters, MO USA 63376 Store Code: MOWNT Store Code: MOWAS Store Code: MOSLU Store Code: MOST2 Store Code: MOST3 Store Code: MOSL8 Store Code: MOSL1 Store Code: MOST4 Edited by dave302 - 16-April-2017 at 6:23PM |
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felix1978
Member Joined: 01-August-2014 Location: Wentzville, MO Status: Offline Points: 50 |
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Thanks for the images and the store locations, I have some sources on the cam and crank bolts and possibly a fuel pump eccentric, so that is good news. I feel I might need to add a little info and respond to some questions and comments though.
I do have a factory service manual for all 1978 Ford cars, the one that can be purchased on the CD from Bishko, but the diagrams for the front engine dress are not really helpful, they are all generic images. There is also the matter of I don't have any of the factory bolts I listed to compare replacement pieces to, they have all gone missing, without them for comparison I don't think I will have much luck finding replacements at a Fastenal. |
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1978 Thunderbird
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Big Bird
Senior Member Joined: 25-August-2013 Location: New York Status: Offline Points: 4194 |
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Seriously, go to a junkyard and strip bolts off something with a 351m/400.
Take closeup pictures of where the brackets go, and in what order. My Thunderbird has like 6-8 brackets, and they all overlap in a certain order.... I had all my bolts. In labelled bags. I took notes. (Pre-digital camera era). When I put it back together after a year and a half, yeah, I was stumped. Took my(wife's) brand new digital camera to the junkyard and got pics of several cars with different variations of SBF front dress. After I identified the right system, it was a breeze.
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"What we do in full frontal view, is more honest than your cleaned-up mind."
Randy 1979 T-Bird 2005 F-150 STX RCSB 4.6, 3.55 LSD How the Heck does a REGULAR CAB SHORTBED weigh over 5200 pounds? |
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felix1978
Member Joined: 01-August-2014 Location: Wentzville, MO Status: Offline Points: 50 |
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I have been calling all the yards around me, they've all crushed the cars older than about the early 90's. The one that didn't, that I knew of, went out of business. Still searching for others, got a lead on one that might, but it is a two hour one way drive to get to, and they close before I can get off of work, so they are out until I can get a weekday off of work to drive out there.
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1978 Thunderbird
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gentrysgarage
Member Joined: 02-January-2017 Location: lost Angels Status: Offline Points: 111 |
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I had misread your post but things got rolling..don't forget Craigslist,
https://stlouis.craigslist.org/pts/6050085816.html Check it often ...you never know, also search for trucks, Broncos, lincolns...they might not know what motor they have... |
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