Fmans Dart 427 build #9818 - 14" Leather steering wheel

[Fman]

I was able to take a few more steps up the mountain... I got my FFR headers, Gas'n pipes, driveline installed, fluids filled in IRS center diff, tko600, shifter and my engine ground strap attached to the frame. I was also able to fine tune in my Forte throttle linkage, the adjustable bracket in the footbox was touching the top of the footbox panel at full throttle. This made me a little nervous so I ended up shaving off (1/16-1/8) top of the bracket to clear the top of the footbox, all good now.

I also had a fail bleeding out my Forte hydraulic clutch, at full extension the slave cylinder center piston came out, pivoted and got jammed with the clutch fork compressed. It was a little of a debacle but my dad and I were able to get everything apart, luckily I don't think I did any damage to the slave cylinder or the piston. This was my fault, I cut the linkage shaft too short. I contacted Forte and he told me to add 1/2" in length with a new bolt to get it dialed in correctly. Live and learn, part of the process....

Installing the driveline was a complete headache, what I thought would be a half hour job turned into three hours. A couple tips, the transmission needs to be resting against the cross member in order to achieve the straightest line of site to slide in the driveshaft. It was still a struggle to get the driveshaft to slide in and a relief when it went in, I read one thread about someone actually taking there engine back out to get it in. I also removed the center donut, I really cant see how you could get it in with the donut on but Tremec does say it is possible to do it. Upon my research most seem to just take it out.

Here is a pic of the donut before and after removed. Be very careful removing it, I used two needle nose pliers on each side and avoided pinching the outer part of the seal. With a few good tugs it came out.



Donut removed, a good idea to inspect the inner seal to make sure it is not folded over or damaged.



Driveshaft installed, I ended up using three spacers from Forte to get the angle almost straight. I still need to run the Tremec app on it to confirm it is within specs, more on this to come. I ended up doing 50 ft/lbs on the six bolts on the center diff adaptor plate and 80 ft/lbs on the four bolts holding the driveshaft. I also used blue loctite on all of them.



Forte spacers



I used 75w-85 (3/4 qt top off) for the rear IRS and AC Delco synchromesh for the TKO600 (almost 3 qts). One surprise is when I found out Ford is now filling the center diff before shipping, it was about 3/4 qt down before coming out the fill plug. I called FFR and they confirmed for me to top it off and no need to add the friction modifier as Ford is now doing this.



Also got my FFR gearshfter mounted to the Tremec 600, it looks like a nice shifter. Probably will end up replacing the shift ball with something different.



Shizzzel!!! my Gas'n Pipes arrived.... as many have mentioned these are a work of art. Totally worth the five month wait, the craftsmanship is incredible. I also installed my FFR stainless headers, my engine builder recommended a Felpro 1415 gasket anti-seize on each bolt and 1" long 6 pt header bolts. He mentioned I would need to re-check a couple times after a few heat cycles.