I tried installing a PowerMaster starter on my 74 Corvette with a small block Chevy and could never get it to work right. I'm using a points setup so I had to get a wire with a diode (not supplied) The problem is, that sometimes it would work and some times it wouldn't. I also had to do some modifications, shims, diode wire etc.. that I never had to do with my OEM starter. I hated the PM starter, so as a result I got a new OEM starter and have never had a problem since. For the price they are charging for these things, you shouldn't have to modify anything.... NEVER AGAIN!!

nice explanation. well done

Im a technician so ima chime in if you dont mind. Normally that would weaken the caps but aslong as all 5 caps are milled perfectly the same wich can be done and the girdle and caps seat perfectly flat on 1 another id think it would work provided you use arp hardware. And i do have 1 thought. I wonder if the girdle is modified to come down to the block so i5 can bolt to the block aswell i wonder if that would eliminate flexing even further.. i could be wrong because things do have to be able to flex slightly to accommodate the harmonics and heat cycles it endures...

Where did you get the bolts with safety wire holes for the lifter spider?

Bill , What are doing about the early 2 piece rear main seal issue using the Eagle crank that was designed for the one piece rear main seal ? Eagle says it's going to leak !

289 engine is actually 2.87 in stroke!

The problem i have with most girdles is their design, how they attach to the main caps. Most of them just sandwich between the main cap fastener and cap. The issue with that is when the cap is stressed ro the point it starts lifting or moving in the register, it moves the girdle with it since the girdle is no longer held in place. The solution would be to use a nut under the main cap, then install the girdle over top of the torqued stud followed by another nut on top of that. With this scheme the main cap still has a tight grip on the girdle even if the cap starts lifting IOW, the girdle can be far more effective holding onto the cap under load, supplementing the cap rigidity and adding strength. The problem this poses is insufficient clearance to the oil pan under most conditions. You'd need a deeper oil pan in that case. I also agree a well designed girdle will only add rigidity in the horizontal plane. Only a stronger cap design with better clamping to the block will avoid most of any cap walk anyone would encounter at power levels causing significant cylinder bore distortion. Stock roller block 302s are ticking time bombs at power levels exceeding 400 fwhp, especially when high rpms are needed to produce those numbers and especially so with a marginal tune. The 50 oz imbalance is the other weekness, mainly becuase the stock cast crank floos around like a wet noodle at higher rpms. The stress of that happening puts alot of load on the stock 2 bolt caps registers with or without a girdle. A bare factory roller block only weighs about 120 lbs with caps. They are likely one of the weakest V8 platforms I've dealt with. That is why I prefer 351w based builds when a stock block is called for. These also dont have any bolts going into coolant like most newer 302s have.

Is this a hyd roller or tappet engine? What did you do to keep them pumped up? Just soak them?

Trick flow recomends machining the caps in their instructions for their race girdle. My machine shop said to get a girdle. He is a ford guy so he was happy to do the work.

You're correct, it's not the two bolt mains that are the problem, its engine harmonics is why ppl have engine failures with these early blocks. 500HPish at the flywheel all day long.

The second distributor is not electronic, it’s a passive inductor and it is Hall effect. ( no active electronics involved) it is used to interface with an amplifier device ( MSD 6 AL or similar) ….. and on that note, be warned that MSD now has their consumer distributors made in China. Their failure rate is high.

Thanks man I had one wrong after a double check after watching this. 👍

your pump gas can be as high 105 octane. e85 or propane are 105. when e100 is 129! octane.

Great advice in this video... We built up a '96 Explorer motor (5.0 HO/GT40) and installed a TFS1 cam, spring kit and new head gaskets. Lots of tapping on start up. Turned out we needed to go from the stock 6.250 pushrods up to 6.300.

That car will be valuable one day it’s just not right now

For high rpm (6000+) - high hp (400+) sustained use on a 302, a main girdle will help not hurt.

I had a 76 Mustang ii Ghia v-6 auto, I never noticed the quarter window difference, thank you for teaching me something, tossed a rod one night coming home from work and junked it.

I hate vinyl tops.

Thanks searched and searched this is the only video that makes sense

I bought a brand new White with Blue Cobra in 1976 right after I got my first full time job. I loved that car and kept it over a decade

What about the oil galley press in plug in the top back of the block? Ben Almeda racing recommends pressing it in upside down to improve oil flow. Do you think this is necessary? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZOQqZRtlqx7e9E

I don't know if you have ever ported heads or not but on your first 2 cast iron you can 14:39 work the combustion chamber on the sides of the valves where they are shrouded and it will help quite a bit. Try to make them look kinda similar to the afr chambers. I built a 390 20 yrs ago & I did everything I could as far as porting goes. Just stock 2.05 1.55 valves. I removed that little step up into the chamber ridge beside the seat, gasket match, bowls, whittled down the guides like sharpening a pencil - a bit, hogged the shit out of the exhaust bowl. I'm not a pro builder with a flow bench but that engine ran good. 72 F 250 2 wd auto. Headers into cherry bombs & exit right behind the doors. Isky cam 264 during 525 lift, Edelbrock 4v carb & hot ignition. Ran good. Fun driver

There great at keeping main caps from recirculating thru the engine.. girdles are minimized cap walk if you have ever looked out a window on airplane see the wing’s moving while flying it is a must. If it didn’t would have stress cracks quickly.🍔🍟

Hey, I see a Mustang II ghia in the background, nice. I'm actually working on my 1977 Mustang II coupe with the 332" stroker engine in it, and having issues with starter grinding, correct aftermarket starter for it, new 141 Tooth flexplate, undamaged block plate, properly threaded holes in the stock mustang II bellhousing, goddamn starter still tears up the ring gear teeth, it's getting annoying. lol I never had trouble with the stock II V8 starter back when I could run the stock II smaller oil pan with it, but the stud girdle on the stroker motor forced me to run a full size car oil pan, necessitating the use of a mini starter, such as from a 1990s Mustang or aftermarket. Tried both styles, still with the starter grinding during cranking. Modified vehicles, always fun.... I think I will try one of those PM starters with the adjustable depth shims.

Hate is a pretty personal feeling. So it doesn’t make any sense to hate a car that most people can’t even identify or have even seen. I picked a II for my project because it was my first car. I already knew every bolt, so I could relate. I think I have managed to keep cost on parity with worth. I’m about $7k into it and besides some knick-knack stuff I only have AC and locking diff to go. I’ll probably go with new disk brakes all around, but that is surprisingly less expensive than I imagined. I just put “Mustang II” suspension in it with coil-overs. It seemed like a perfunctory obligation to respect this weird echo of engineering for the II suspension. I got the car as a roller, no motor or transmission. I did the body and paint myself. Now it has a roller 302 with trick flow 11r heads and a T-5 with a hydraulic clutch. Its tagged and insured. Sure, its not going to keep up with a new mustang. I didn’t want a knuckle dragger. It’s a small RWD car with a bit too much power and its easy to work on. Whats to hate? People are dumb.

And cap walk isn't as big of an issue with lower HP motors. So, in a way, it can help handle more power.

Watched several videos 0n this subject and your's was the first to actually explain this procedure in plain English and with clear video. Excellent video, thanks for posting.

I've listened to people's drivel since the mid 80s. I don't hear it so much nowadays, but there are still people out there - especially on the internet.

I had to grind my oil pump too, and also did some to the main stud head

nice review

People who question doing anything with a Mii are ignorant or dumb, it's that simple. The 71-3 are still smaller than Chargers, they're still pony cars. Let people hate them and let them keep being cheap. Cars aren't suppossed to be investments. I've never got a car I had no intentions of keeping, other than the Neon.

Thanks for the memories! My first car purchase in High School was a 78 Mustang II RootbeerBrown. It was a great car.

Do what you like. Who cares what other people think?

It's leftover Pinto parts.

i had a 78 II back in the day, it was a 302, had a top-loader 4 speed with the wide ratio gears, and a 7 inch rear and 4 hole 13" wheels , it would blow the rear tires away in first and second but 3-4th was like direct drive. . it broke the rear diff a couple times. sort of a pinto with a small v8. it did have power rack and pinion and lots were chopped up to complete v-8 cobra kits in the 90s . had it had full size tires 15" and a big rear like a 9" and reasonable gear ratios for the trans things could have got interesting

The Mustang || doesn't really lend itself to performance mods. The engine compartment is small for a V8, and the rear wheel wells absolutely need mini tubs to put decent width tires under it. If you want a 5-speed manual trans, your best bet is a Tremec TKX. You need to replace the rear end if you swap in a stoutly-built 8.2-inch deck stroker (and you intend to romp on the throttle with any kind of regularity). The best thing a Mustang II has going for it is the IFS suspension. It's my personal opinion that the 2010-14 S197 Mustangs are the best looking of the marque since the 1965-69 cars.

Mechanically, they were a nightmare. But they had character. I wish I had mine again.

Mustang II GHIA/ 8CYC. A/C powerstering

Cause they didn't have a Pinto!

I filled to the bottom of the freeze plugs hard block and I put 4 bolt mains in.From pro-gram specialist out from Ohio

I started messing with cars at 15 years old, 38 now. I see so many mistakes guys make trying to build a car. They get their first project and strip it down and then it sits because it's overwhelming. I made that same mistake with my first one I ever did. Gotta have something that can move around when you're first starting out. They think I'm making big money by doing this but all I'm doing is breaking even to build my next project. It's a love thing. I've had maybe 3 cars that I got lucky and actually made "money". Still not sure how much money because I put my time in it and that's valuable too

Is this process necessary for my application? Using a 90’s 302 block, new production Ford Bell, 90’s model T5 out of a Mustang. Sounds like if I’m using all production parts I should be ok. However, since they’ve all been pieced together not sure.

Doing cars is for fun. Many years ago I was doing Pintos. Loved them. I road raced a '71 for a while, did a couple of pickups. Got them for $50 to $100, put a couple together for some family members. Doing a couple of Fox bodies now.

you mention the torrington roller cam plate, cant be used if the timing set has a torrington bearing? I do think that FTI makes one that you can. DTI-Cam Retainer Plate SBF-CR1. good info about everything else. good job

I thought about all of my options when planning my 347 build. After considering the amount of time and money that I'd have invested in the rotating assembly and a modified roller block, I 'bit the bullet' and bought a Dart 8.2" 4.125 bore block. Now I have a bulletproof 4 bolt main 363 SBF.

if you want the absolute perfect cylinder bore shape, decide on a girdle then use it during the boring process so the block gets all the distortion it's going to get.

What were the torque specs?

I have a 78 cobra that i put a 302 and a t5 in and i had to have the hooker headers anyway finally getting everything in i realized the next problem and that is the clutch fork is too long and hits the header so i cut about an inch off the end of the clutch fork and welded on a plate so i could drill a new hole for the cable. That worked, now the problem is i just cant get the perfect pedal feel and engagement height. Im still using the v6 cable which i believe is the same as the v8, i could be wrong. Either way these cars are a pain in the ass to mod, of they got more love there would be more aftermarket support and information on how to do different swaps so thank you for posting what information you have gathered so far, i really don't want to have to go with a hydraulic clutch, i would if the pedal and master cylinder were integrated and a direct bolt in and not overly expensive but hopefully i can just figure out a different cable setup.

Hi Bill, watching from Australia. Nice job from a newby to manuals and clutches, a whole new world to convertors and flex plates. Thanks.

Awesome clutch and great video. I'm going to need to upgrade my clutch pretty soon, and might as well since I have the engine torn apart etc. The only post clutch replacement problem I can forsee is my stock T5 being the new weak point. (RST/RXT, whats the difference?) Nice to get a good review on a possible replacement and an in-depth viedo along with it.