The Banana is ALIVE!

I wrangled the headers in place and temporarily hooked them up to the existing exhaust system. After that I filled up the Banana with all the fluids and checked everything but after months of sitting around with only occasional charging the battery was low. It would crank over slowly and I discovered the MSD ignition system doesn't work with voltages below 9VDC. Unfortunately I had to leave it at that as I had to go travel for work.

When I got back I went right to work and had a fully charged battery and after a few tweaks (And fixes) I got her started! I set the initial timing and performed the recommended 30 minute break in. Then I set the total timing per BPE instructions, set the idle mixture and RPM and now shes purring nicely.

I need to finish the brakes and the stereo install then she'll be ready to drive. I also need to do some tweaks, (OK, lots of tweaks) finish the AC installation, install the hood and have the new exhaust system installed. Not to mention clean up my garage and give my other classic (1979 Ford F350 4x4 Ranger Lariat) some love.

I'm already planning the body and paint project but in the meantime I'm gonna enjoy driving around with my hot wife.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/bGA6G4vNeWEn2edY8

 

I got some more work done on the Banana and as soon as I fixed one thing, something else would come up. I'm on page 2 of my post drive to do list.



Some are small fixes, others concern me like the water in oil. I'm not sure if I even have any water in the oil or maybe its just the look of the break-in oil. More investigating is required. Another problem is a nagging oil leak coming from the rear intake manifold area. Initially I had forgotten to install the O ring on the dizzy shaft so I cleaned up that mess and installed the ring. I still have a leak in the same area (Or might be residual but I doubt it) I did not use the front or rear gaskets that came with my intake manifold gasket kit. Instead I made a real nice RTV bead front and back with an extra dab where the head meets the block. I've done this before with success.

I checked the torque on the intake manifold bolts and it did loosen up a little after the first drive so I re-torqued the bolts and checked for leaks after the second drive. Seems OK..... But still..... I worry. Worst case will have to pull the intake off and re-do the seal.

I have a big cam so my vacuum is low thusly my brakes are stiff at low RPMs. I may have to swap out the stock vacuum booster for a dual diaphragm booster. I'm waiting on my vacuum gauge to get here so I can run some tests.

On the bright side the 408 has plenty of power! I'm very happy with it and I think I made the right call to stay in the small block category as these B Body's are heavy enough. Because of my broken tranny mount I have to take it easy but I couldn't resist just one burnout. Oh that was fun!!! I thought I broke another motor mount doing it but it was just the tranny mount moving a lot. its been 5 days and the tire marks are still on the roadway right in front of the County Corp yard.

My new sound system kicks ass! I'm really good with audio stuff but I hit this design out of the ballpark! I haven't even installed the sub-woofer yet. I can share specs if anyone is interested.

 

I received my new transmission mount and installed it right away. Because the mount is new and has rubber where as my old one was like mush I noticed a vibration from the engine. I have the correct harmonic balance with the proper weights installed. I have a call into BluePrint engines but I think I know where the problem is located.

I had my transmission rebuilt locally and a new converter installed. The new converter is probably not balanced like the old one was. I have a call into my local transmission shop to confirm this. So that leaves the flex plate which I reused from my old 318. Doing some reading on other forums I need a balanced flex plate for the 360 in order for it to work correctly with a unbalanced aftermarket converter.

This is where I mutter out a bunch of cuss words.......

My options are pretty limited.

A. Have the transmission shop install a balanced converter under warranty. (Unlikely but I'll try)
B. Drop the transmission myself and install the correct flex plate. (Yeah I'll probably get stuck doing this.)

Oh, footnote. Since I have a good transmission mount now I was able to put my foot in it a few times before she went back into the garage. Very impressive!!! Put me in the back seat! It was almost scary! After I fix the vibration problem and my leaks I'll get a new exhaust system installed. I'm going with Spintech mufflers with 3" pipe. That will fix the breathing problem and it will sound great.

 

Solution Found!

I got schooled on torque converters by Blue Print Engines (BTW great customer service) The original 318 is internally balanced so no weights on the TC where needed. The 360 is externally balanced so it has to have a balanced TC. When I took my transmission in to be rebuilt I told them that this was going behind a bored out 360 to 408 and they said it would work. Long story short they admitted to giving me the wrong TC but they didn't do the installation so we agreed that the shop will replace the TC with a OEM rebuilt and cover the cost. On the labor we agreed to go half so a few hundred bucks to save me from dropping the tranny is worth it.

The Banana will go to the transmission shop for a few days so I'll take that time to clean up the garage and get things ready to fix the intake manifold oil leaks.