Active Franks showed up on the morning of Nov 29th, 2006 to move the SCJ out to the "Mustang Ranch" where the restoration project will be undertaken

The car made the trip to Steve's shop where Steve, Steve's father Paul and I will start a full disassembly.                                         Dec 04, 2006

In the shop Dec 4, 2006 just before we started to disassemble the car

Dec 04, 2006

Lots of evidence was found of the cars 25 years sitting in a barn

Dec 04, 2006

Rust was evident on the inner fender side panels.  These need to be replaced anyway due to a previous owner cutting large holes to facilitate headers

Fenders. front end, radiator and bumper assembly now removed and work starts on disconnecting clutch, drive shaft, engine mounts, all hoses and wiring to allow for a trouble free engine and transmission removal

All of the pre-work paid off as the 429 and top-loader 4 speed was easily removed.

Dec 04, 2006

So now the power train is out but what do we really have.  We know parts of the engine are not SCJ or even Cobra Jet such as carb and exhaust.

Dec 04, 2006

Steve confirms 4 speed is correct (RUG AZ).  We found the block is a correct D1VE-6015-AA (inset photo). Cylinder. heads are D2VE-AA from a 429 T-Bird Thunderjet engine as are the intake and exhaust manifolds .

With the engine and transmission removed, one can see the room Ford engineers provided for big block engines.  Even with the 429 in place, there is still good working room between exhaust manifolds and shock towers

It was decided not to use the Thunderjet block so with a lead from John Blair on a fresh engine, Steve and I travelled to Detroit to purchase a correct 429 SCJ engine.                Dec 10, 2006

Prior to loading we did pull the pan to confirm that we did have a 4 bolt main block.  The assembly lube is what you see around the rods and main bearings.                             Dec 10, 2006

Being close to the home of the owner and founder of the 429 Mustang/Cougar Megasite, John Blair, we took an opportunity to meet John (left) for coffee.  In checking the engine VIN there was a HUGE surprise - read this unbelievable story

On our return from Detroit, the new SCJ engine needed a safe temporary home until we had time to built the nice engine stand from Princess Auto

Dec 11, 2006

With the latest addition the shop had more engines than stands. I headed over to Princess Auto and bought this nice 1,000 lb stand - on sale for $39.00. 

After Christmas Steve went at stripping the interior of the car.  As the dismantling progressed more evidence of the evil rust was uncovered.  While not unexpected, it will mean more repair work 

 Rear quarter window and regulator is removed. The original paint colour becomes more and more evident as we progress

The dash is out and doors are stripped of glass, regulators and chrome trim.                                              Dec 26, 2006

There was evidence of Fiberglas patching in tail-light panel.  This will be replaced with a new after-market panel
                                                                    Dec 26, 2006

While Steve worked on the interior I pulled the heads on the Thunderjet to confirm the condition of valves and the bore size.                                                         Dec 26, 2006