ECCO Machine
New Member
Hello all from Elizabeth, Colorado!
Only have one F body and no Ms or Js, but I think ya'll will like this one. Not new to them, got the car in 2007 in pretty rough shape with a tired, ticking lifter 318 and worn out 904. I cleaned it up, replaced the missing T-Top, put some 225/70-14 Firehawk Indy 500s on it, milled the heads .040 and put a 360 cam in it, nursed it for a few months before the 904 let go. At that point, I swaped in a used 440/727 out of an RV with a modified C body oil pan, C body booster and altering the driver side exhaust manifold to clear the power steering gear. Ran it with that on the stock 2.73 ratio 7.25" rear axle for a few years, only upgrades were a Performer intake with a Quickfuel 850 and MSD 6A. In 2011, I swapped in a Dana 44HD 3.73 posi from a ZJ and put on some 255/60-15 Firehawks, which woke it up a lot, but fuel economy dropped down to around 7 and it was miserable at interstate speeds with those gears, so only saw limited around town use, especially as I now had kids and it wasn't a very practical ride for family outings.
Over the next decade, I just never really had the time & money to mess with it, so it was an occasional driver. My financial situation improved greatly in 2020, but I had only retired from automotive a year earlier and was still pretty burnt out after 2 decades wrenching. Finally this fall the bug bit me again, so I tore down the old 440 out of my '80 power wagon and took it to Mountain High Performance for clean/deck/punch/TP hone/freeze plugs/cam bearings/etc., then hoppped on 440 source and ordered up their 440-500-5091 kit, CNC ported aluminum heads and lots of other goodies, and after that I called up Holley and snagged a Sniper 2 system with all the Hyperspark goodies. Also decided 3.07 gears were the ticket, as 1st gear would be completely worthless in this light car with over 500 horsepower. For now I'm still running the 284/.484 purple cam I had on hand, but we'll probably put something a good bit bigger in it soon.
Took MHP a couple months to do the block, then took me a another few weeks to get things put together with my busy life running my machine shop and raising 4 kids, but finally stabbed it weekend before Christmas. Turns out I was right about the gears, and even with 3.07s, the 255/60-15s can't hook up, will just smoke if I hammer on it going slower than about 40 MPH. So I have a pair of Cragar 61015s on the way with some new 225/70-14 Cooper Cobra GTs to replace the rotten old firehawks up front and the same in 295/50-15s for the rear. I'm sure it'll still be a smoke show if I stand on it from a stop, but hopefully it'll be able to get traction from a lower speed than it currently does.
As an aside, if anyone has a nice pair of tail light assemblies with amber turns, I need them; a hail storm in 2015 with 2"+ stones got these ones pretty bad. Also need another Driver side T-Top, hail; cracked that too, but I figure I'm probably looking at expensive custom glass for that one.
Anyway, more pics and details to come in other threads, but this is an older photo of the whole car with skinny rear tires:
And the new 511 CI fuel injected motor:
Only have one F body and no Ms or Js, but I think ya'll will like this one. Not new to them, got the car in 2007 in pretty rough shape with a tired, ticking lifter 318 and worn out 904. I cleaned it up, replaced the missing T-Top, put some 225/70-14 Firehawk Indy 500s on it, milled the heads .040 and put a 360 cam in it, nursed it for a few months before the 904 let go. At that point, I swaped in a used 440/727 out of an RV with a modified C body oil pan, C body booster and altering the driver side exhaust manifold to clear the power steering gear. Ran it with that on the stock 2.73 ratio 7.25" rear axle for a few years, only upgrades were a Performer intake with a Quickfuel 850 and MSD 6A. In 2011, I swapped in a Dana 44HD 3.73 posi from a ZJ and put on some 255/60-15 Firehawks, which woke it up a lot, but fuel economy dropped down to around 7 and it was miserable at interstate speeds with those gears, so only saw limited around town use, especially as I now had kids and it wasn't a very practical ride for family outings.
Over the next decade, I just never really had the time & money to mess with it, so it was an occasional driver. My financial situation improved greatly in 2020, but I had only retired from automotive a year earlier and was still pretty burnt out after 2 decades wrenching. Finally this fall the bug bit me again, so I tore down the old 440 out of my '80 power wagon and took it to Mountain High Performance for clean/deck/punch/TP hone/freeze plugs/cam bearings/etc., then hoppped on 440 source and ordered up their 440-500-5091 kit, CNC ported aluminum heads and lots of other goodies, and after that I called up Holley and snagged a Sniper 2 system with all the Hyperspark goodies. Also decided 3.07 gears were the ticket, as 1st gear would be completely worthless in this light car with over 500 horsepower. For now I'm still running the 284/.484 purple cam I had on hand, but we'll probably put something a good bit bigger in it soon.
Took MHP a couple months to do the block, then took me a another few weeks to get things put together with my busy life running my machine shop and raising 4 kids, but finally stabbed it weekend before Christmas. Turns out I was right about the gears, and even with 3.07s, the 255/60-15s can't hook up, will just smoke if I hammer on it going slower than about 40 MPH. So I have a pair of Cragar 61015s on the way with some new 225/70-14 Cooper Cobra GTs to replace the rotten old firehawks up front and the same in 295/50-15s for the rear. I'm sure it'll still be a smoke show if I stand on it from a stop, but hopefully it'll be able to get traction from a lower speed than it currently does.
As an aside, if anyone has a nice pair of tail light assemblies with amber turns, I need them; a hail storm in 2015 with 2"+ stones got these ones pretty bad. Also need another Driver side T-Top, hail; cracked that too, but I figure I'm probably looking at expensive custom glass for that one.
Anyway, more pics and details to come in other threads, but this is an older photo of the whole car with skinny rear tires:
And the new 511 CI fuel injected motor:
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