I didn’t choose this project it chose me. I had a roller lifter bearing go out on me just before spring semester ended.. So I figured I could probably rebuild the whole engine for close to the price of a new cam, lifters, and many hours ours of labor. The vehicle is a 1990 Foxbody Mustang GT. After disassembly, the car sat all summer as I worked to save up the required funds. It seemed like every surface and storage space in my garage was occupied with parts for the better portion of a year. The first phase of the rebuild started over winter break. I was able to have the block honed, and the rotating assembly balanced by a shop. I also had them press the new pistons on, and install the rings. Before the break was over I had assembled the bottom end, and completely torn down the heads for cleaning. Over spring break I cleaned and assembled the top end. I also changed my mind about the cam I had chosen(Ford Performance F cam), so a new one had to be reinstalled(TFS stage 1). On the last day of break with some help I was able to lower the block back into the car and after much struggling, mate the block to the transmission and motor mounts. After the semester had concluded, exhaust and intake were installed with the rest of the odds and ends. After adding some Sea Foam and a full tank of new gas, she started up with little trouble. So for approximately 3k I installed all new seals, head gasket, rotating assembly bearings, pistons, harmonic balancer, valve springs, push rods, lifters, camshaft, oil pump, and some exhaust wrap for heat management. Looking back the most unexpected thing about all this was how much time it took to clean everything. Thirty years of road grime is no joke. I’ll probably have nightmares about scraping heads with a razor for the rest of my natural life. Even now it amazes me that such a complicated object came together from all its many pieces and actually works, and 10k miles later still purrs.
davidbarno 