It's Alive!!!!!

[somethingspecial]

After 24 years of silence, Project Something Special spoke for itself tonight. At 7:30 PM PST, The key was inserted, and the engine began breathing. It took several tries with the help of my beautiful wife Robinette, Tim O'Brien (Midnight Special) his son TJ, and My daughter Marissa, but she did start. There is a lot of fine tuning needed, and we sucked two brand new batteries dry cranking the engine. (Big blocks sure need a lot of amps to crank). We finally called it quits at 9:30, and put the batteries on a charger. We will again try on Sunday Night.
Well, As soon as I figure out why my pictures won't download, I'll post them. Mike

 

[Midnight Special]

A proud day indeed!!

Here's the pictures Mike wanted to post ('had to shrink 'em a bit...)

After a little carb float and timing adjustment, she started and ran relatively smoothly! Once we set the mixture screws and fuss w/ the timing a little more - she'll be a winner! As Robinette has to go to work around 3 a.m. - we ceased thundering up the neighborhood for another go this Sunday after Mike is off work. It was a great experience and a well deserved milestone of pride for Mike! As for the rest of the car - Wow! All of mine together wouldn't stack up to this one!

 

[rvrtrash]

Congratulations on the achievement. What dedication! 24 years!

Steve

 

[Mustanglvr]

Congratulations!

 

[Mustanger]

Good job!!! The pic's are great, and it'll be real cool when you get her dialed in ...

 

[mustang man]

WOW last time i saw the car it was just a shell, that was at your BBQ
Cant weight to see it this year
Joe

 

[PFSlim]

Congrats. I remember hearing ours run for the first time. I was thrilled that she ran so well. Here is a picture of us just getting ours started and letting it run (outside the garage). We must have been test fitting some fenders as well.

Paul

 

[joedls]

Absolutely awesome :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

[PonyGal]

Mike,

Congratulations to both you and Robinette! I know that it took a lot of hard work and dedication. I am sure that hearing it come to life was well worth it!! I can’t wait to see it!

 

[68gt390]

Mike;
Outstanding. There's nothing like hearing a big block fire and come to life. I hope you were running it uncapped? :grin:


Don

 

[Midnight Special]

On the home stretch!...

...Today's run-up was excellent! Upon adjusting the floats and inspecting/ adjusting ignition system - Mike & Robinette fired up "project something special" before a proud audience of family and friends! Temptation to take it for a drive was quelled by the front suspension needing professional re-alignment after assembly, but the perfect weather allowed for some decent pictures.

This week will see a trailer trip to the front-end shop for alignment, some fine tuning by another "Ford" man, then (if all goes well) by Friday - a long awaited acceptance ceremony!

Stay tuned!!

 

[joedls]

You guys are having too much fun!!

 

[Midnight Special]

You guys are having too much fun!!

...Well Uncle Joe - come August, you know where to Go!
;-)

 

[joedls]

...Well Uncle Joe - come August, you know where to Go!
;-)

I should know. People tell me where to go all the time.

Joe

 

[somethingspecial]

Well, Yesterday was an interesting day. I fired the engine and was fine tuning the carb. when the top radiator hose blew off the thermistat housing. It was determined as things warmed up, things began to get loose. Fixed the problem and tightened down everything again. Then the car wouldn't start. Tim arrived and we set into figuring out what was wrong. After a few calls to a mechanic, it was determined the coil wire pulled back out of the coil but didn't look out of the ordinary. we fixed that and it still wouldn't start. After a few minutes of cranking, Tim picked something up off of the fender and asked if it would help. It was nothing important like the ROTOR! We re-installed the rotor and it fired on the first crank. IT RAN GREAT!!!
Well today, I fined tuned things again, brought the front end into close to alignment, put the power steering hoses on and again checked everthing for tightness. My wife and I just got back from our first road test, only a one mile round trip, and had smiles from ear to ear. It ran and shifted great. Smooth. She said it was as smooth as driving her Soltice. I developed a nasty leak coming from the water pump where it bolts to the block, so tomorrow I must pull the water pump off and find out why. I'll keep you posted. Mike

 

[Diesel Donna]

Cool Beans!!!

 

[joedls]

It takes a few days of driving to work out all the bugs. But just think of all the fun you're having!!!

 

[6t8-390gt]

Congratulations, I know the feeling. My car was apart for nearly as long! It looks like she'll be ready for that MCA show next month. Good Luck!

Danny

 

[Diesel Donna]

<~~~~~~~Still laffin' when I think about Mike and Tim spotting the rotor sitting on the fender.:rofl: :frust: :rofl:

 

[Midnight Special]

<~~~~~~~Still laffin' when I think about Mike and Tim spotting the rotor sitting on the fender.:rofl: :frust: :rofl:

...Call ROTOR ROOTER, that's the NAME...before ya' flush your engine, down the drain.......