B3R Garage: The 84 Capri Project Hits The Road

It has take quite a while, but it has happened. My 1984 Mercury Capri has finally hit the road at an acceptable speed. Over the past two weekends I have been able to jump in and cruise up and down the road in my neighborhood a few times. Doing so was convenient for calibrating the carb and testing the transmission. However, this weekend I felt comfortable enough to leave the neighborhood and head down to the local gas station. Prior to leaving I conveniently fixed a slight battery charging issue by replacing the original 1982 alternator with a fresh one. So, the trip went well. I know that the hood is still missing (I need a hole in the middle of it so that it will fit), but below is a small clip of the '84 Capri getting warmed up for the short ride.

B3R Garage: All new Still Issues

The 1984 Mercury Capri was intended to be a work in progress. However, I did have a time-frame in mind that I would like to have been driving it! Over the past few months I have been spending my weekends traveling to the Mad Scientist in order to work out the bugs with his 1970 Ford Maverick-leaving the Capri on the back burner. While helping the Mad Scientist, I would put as much spare time as I could tinkering with my Capri. Unfortunately, I could not figure out the idling issue on my own. So, I had to recruit some help from someone willing to travel just to see the engine. I called Pep!

B3R Garage: Driving the Maverick Home

That's right everyone. The Mad Scientist was able to drive his 1970 Ford Maverick out of the operating room and take her home. Unfortunately, the carburetor needs a little work and the car needs a set of front tires, but the car was able to make it 13 miles across town without too much trouble.

So what does it all mean? Will we hear about the Mad Scientist's Maverick in the weeks to come?

B3R Garage: Lifting the Carb

A whole lot has happened to the the Mad Scientist's Ford Maverick this weekend. First off, the Mad Scientist went ahead and sprung for a 1" carburetor lift plate in order to raise the carburetor scoop up height enough to avoid resting on the HEI distributor. I am not going to lie, putting the lift on his intake was significantly more of a task than I had doing the same process on my Capri. However, in just about an hour we were able to raise the roof on the newly installed street/strip carburetor scoop.

If you have been paying close attention to the pictures of the '87 truck block dropped into the Maverick you might have guessed that the Uni belt pulleys on the Edelbrock water-pump and crank might cause an alternator issue. And you would be right. So the Mad Scientist took it upon himself to drop into the nearby Pick-it-yard (takeapart.biz). He climbed up in an old Ford and walked out with a handy dandy uni-belt pulley, some hood rubbers, and window trim clips. He then went ahead and swung by the nearby NAPA and bout a new alternator, and had the employees put the used belt on it so that it would work with the current pulley setup. Pretty crafty huh!

The Mad Scientist even went so far as to acquire a handy dandy band new radiator cooling fan. Unfortunately, the fan requires that it be put on the front of the radiator (behind the bumper). As it turns out there is not a log of room there. The room that is there is currently occupied by a trim bracket. Bummer! But don't worry everyone! The Mad Scientist and I are no stranger to chopping off unneeded pieces (check out the shock tower chopping section) and/or fabricating what we need. So, hopefully the new radiator fan will be going in this weekend.

The only thing that still seems to be missing is the exhaust. The Mad Scientist has his eyes set on a pair of Lake Pipes from Jegs.com, but he may just throw together some of the spare pipes with a couple of over-the-counter mufflers just to be able to roll down the road a little earlier.

If you are interested in the Mad Scientist's 1970 Ford Maverick, be sure to keep checking in and occasionally check his Squidoo page under the Maverick tab above for more information and videos to come.

B3R Garage: The Maverick Gets a Scoop and More

The last month and a half have been pretty rough on the wallet for me. Because of this the Mad Scientist and I have decide to focus exclusively on the 1970 Ford Maverick in order to get one car out of the garage. Currently, the Maverick has been outfitted recently with an awesome triple core Champion Radiator, a 16 gallon 2” sump fuel cell (conveniently mounted on the (top) inside of the old fuel tank.), and super shiny 4.5” tall carburetor scoop.

That’s right, every carbureted car needs a good are cleaner and filter in order to run just right. However, the Mad Scientist took drastic measures to ensure that the carburetor scoop he chose would set his Maverick apart from the rest.

Check out the Maverick's New Scoop Below!

B3R Garage: Ford Maverick-Preparing For Primer

Although the 1970 Ford Maverick still requires a little mechanical work, the Mad Scientists and I have decided to simply move on to doing a little body work. Conveniently the Maverick only requires a little body work in order to get prepared for primer and paint.

Currently the paint already on the Maverick already contains a luxurious shine in many places. However, there are yet some areas of the car such as the driver-side door, and rear quarter panels that still require a little skimming of body filler and smoothing before the primer. This weekend the Mad Scientist and I will be busting out the sand paper and foam blocks in order to get the Maverick ready for its first coat of primer. 

B3R Garage: The Mad Scientist's Tranny Troubles

The Mad Scientist has cut, chopped, and welded his 1970 Ford Maverick into submission. We have finally been able to completely drop in the Ford 302 sb into the Maverick using truck mounts. We wired up the starter, and bypassed the transmission lines. However, as easy as cutting into the Maverick was it was about time it cut back!

The Maverick strikes back!

B3R Garage: Troublesome Timing Issues

When you begin to near the completion of custom car that you have never done before all of the tiny kinks and imperfections tend to reveal themselves. For my 1984 Mercury Capri, the problem laid in my inability to understand why my Edelbrock 1406 four barrel carburetor would not idle at all.

Why won't my Edelbrock 1406 idle?

B3R Garage: Shaving Shock Towers

The Mad Scientist has decided to put his 1970's Ford Maverick under the knife again. So far the pre-modified can lighting setup was cut from the rear and replaced with a Torino tail lights. The rear bumper was fabricated from a Ford Mustang rear bumper and all visible exterior mounting bolts were shaved. The engine going into the car currently will be a Ford 302 small block with mustang shorty headers  and a C4 automatic transmission. However, the Mad Scientist has recently got the concept of bigger blocks on his mind. So instead of simply dropping the small block into the the Maverick, the Mad Scientist did a little homework and found out what it would take to put a larger block into the car. As it turns out, the process requires shaving the shock towers!

B3R Garage: Fuel Line Upgrade-Old, Modern, & New

     Year ago when the Mad Scientist was young the normal method for installing fuel lines in any and all cars involved hard rubber hose and steel hose clamps. As the years passed much of the rubber hoses were replaced with steel fuel lines. At the current time there is yet another alternative to automotive fuel lines available known simply as AN(Army/Navy).

     Due to pressure issues with common rubber hoses, routing issues with steel fuel lines the 1984 Mercury Capri will be getting a fuel pump to carburetor fuel line upgrade. Currently, the fuel line from the Edelbrock fuel pump pours into a Mr. Gasket adjustable pressure regulator and gauge before actually entering the carburetor.

     Although the paperwork for the stock replacement Edelbrock Fuel Pump states that it should not require a pressure regulator, it produces approximately 7.5-10 lb. of fuel pressure before entering the pump. The issue is caused when the information about the Carburetor (Edelbrock 1406) states it should have no more than 6 lb. of fuel pressure at any given time. Therefore, a pressure regulator was needed to reduce the flow of fuel into the Edelbrock 1406 carburetor.

Unfortunately, the rubber fuel line coming from the pump into the fuel pressure regulator continues to leak due to excessive pressure and weak hose clamps. Therefore the foxbody Capri will be getting an AN -6 fuel line and fitting upgrade from the fuel pump to the carburetor.

B3R Garage: The '84 Capri Finally Hits the Ground

For a few weeks now my 1984 Foxbody Capri has been giving the Mad Scientist and I issues. However, over the weekend we were able to finally bleed all of the brakes and run the car through the gears while up on jack stands. We were even able to have the car idle on its own for the fist time ever. It was kind of nice to get out of the car while it ran and walk down the road a little just to see how it sounded from a distance.

Unfortunately, after a few time of letting the car idle for several minutes it would eventually die. After this occurred several time the car became very difficult to start and would not idle at all. I could not figure out why my Edelbrock Carburetor would not idle at all. I tried a few thing to hopefully remedy the issue but had no luck. On thing I did was included a fuel pressure gauge following my fuel pump to ensure I had enough fuel pressure. I also put a 2.5" spacer in between the carburetor and intake because it seemed as though I only had the issue after the car got up to running temp. Unfortunately  none of my attempts seemed to fix the issue. So I will eventually be swapping out the Edelbrock Carb for a known good one, and will eventually take the Edelbrock Carb apart for a rebuild.

Here is the video of the car Idling on the ground for the first time.
* I'm actually listening to the Radio in the car.

B3R Garage: 1970 Ford Maverick Update

After a week of waiting the Mad Scientist and I were able to acquire a new heater core and windshield wiper motor for the Maverick. Awkwardly enough Ford Maverick's without A/C have more expensive heater cores than those without. Who knew. Regardless, the folks down at the local NAPA store was able to provide us with a heater core and windshield wiper motor.

After this weekend the entire interior of the Maverick should be completely done. With that being said the car really only needs a few more pieces to reach completion. Unfortunately  the Mad Scientist's truck decided to keel over and die (hopefully for the last time. ). So the Maverick build budget was slightly cut into in order to fix the Mad Scientist's Aspire long enough to get the Maverick done. Although the Maverick street strip build will not stop the build, but it will be extended a little longer.

No offense to anyone following B3R Garage, but it is likely to be in your best interest not to buy a Chevy (s10).

B3R Garage: '84 Mercury Capri Update

The 1984 Mercury Capri foxbody project has proven to be a bit of a tough pill to swallow for some time now. The recent issue I was having with the car was that the stock replacement starter shorted out. After a bit of research, I came to discover that most stock replacement starter bought at your local auto parts stores a re manufactured with used parts. bummer. Fortunately, I was able to come up with enough funds to buy a new replacement. The new starter is a Mini High Torque Starter from Summit Racing.

The process for installing the new starter involved pulling the engine yet again due to installing long-tube Hooker Headers. So, over the weekend the Mad Scientist and I disconnected the transmission mounts and hoses, drained the radiator, and removed the radiator. The radiator was removed to prevent unintentional damage when pulling up the motor. After the motor was pulled the new multi-position starter was set to optimal positioning and installed.

Additional parts installed included pre-bent transmission lines from Cool Tubes, and a new mechanical fuel pump by Edelbrock. The pre-bent tubes where installed to make sure that there was no real possibility of transmission fluid leaks in the near future. The Edelbrock fuel pump was installed to make sure that the new carburetor was receiving enough fuel to power the modified engine.

To finish the car off a set of 23" Jones Glasspack Straight pipe mufflers where installed along with the a modified Hooker down-pipes. Instead of keeping the original exhaust the Mad Scientist and I went ahead and installed 2.5" side-pipe exhaust tips that expel just before the rear tires.

With the exception of installing all of the interior components, and installing the front bumper clip the car is essentially completed. Although it is nearly done, I am sure that the car will undergo various changes in the near future including upgrades to suspension, and inter/exterior design & paint. So keep in touch in order to see some of the new images and videos of the 1984 Mercury Capri. This is one custom car.

B3R Garage: 1970 Maverick Custom Interior

After about two weeks the 1970 Ford Maverick's interior carpet was finally delivered. Conveniently, the carpet came at just the right time. Previously in the week the Mad Scientist and I were able to fabricate seat brackets for the black Tenzo Racing seats, all of the dash pads were recovered, and the headliner was restored.

This weekend the Mad Scientist and I will be looking forward to finally dropping in the carpet, and getting started re-installing the heat ducts, dash panels, trim panels, and front and rear seats. Keep and eye out because shortly we will be posting pictures of the newly upgraded 1970 Ford Maverick interior.

B3R Garage: Foxbody Capri Project Update

Over the week I decided to do some minor modifications to the 1984 Mercury Capri of mine. The front clip was removed and thoroughly sanded and body filled to remove various imperfections. In addition to slight bumper modifications some new parts were ordered to hopefully improve performance. First in the list of new parts is none other than a 1.9 HP Summit Racing Protorque Starter. The car will also be getting an Edelbrock stock replacement 6-7psi mechanical fuel pump. The car will also receive a set of brand new transmission  lines by Classic Tube.

With the inclusion of the significantly higher quality starter I will hopefully not be needing to remove the engine again in the near future. I am also hoping that the Edelbrock fuel pump that is to replace my old broken one will have significant longevity as well.

B3R Garage: 1970 Maverick Update

It has been about one month now and the 70's Ford Maverick has come a long way. over the week the Mad Scientist and I were able to tear out everything from under the dash. Not only was EVERYTHING removed but we were able to undercoat (rubberize) everything as well (including our clothes, shoes, hands, hair, and anything else we touched). The Ford 302 sb was fitted to check for potential clearance issues as the motor is from a '87 truck of some kind. Seat brackets where fabricated to help level the custom Tenzo Racing seats that we will be putting in as well. I guess you could say that the 1970 Ford Maverick is at the same point my car was in during the final stages of its completion. There are only a few more weeks before the February 12th (Mad Scientist's Birth Day). I wonder if the car will be derivable by then.

B3R Garage: 1970's Brakes & Interior

Over the weekend the Mad Scientist and I where able to install the new rear brake parts. Unfortunately,  finding and speaking with knowledgeable representatives at your local auto parts store can be a hit or miss endeavor. For the most part, when we speak to someone about finding parts for the Maverick the representative freezes in panic when we mention that the car is from the 70's or that it is a Maverick. Probably due to the younger generation not realizing that there where indeed cars before they were born. (who knew?)

Regardless, the Mad Scientist and I were able to acquire some brake parts from our trusty NAPA store. Over the weekend we were able to install new brakes on the refurbished 8" axle. The brakes took a little longer that expected due to some lacking parts. However, we were able to scavenge some working parts off of some Granada front drum brakes in order to make the instillation a success. As far as the brakes are concerned the 1970 Maverick only needs three brake lines measuring a few feet in distance.

This weekend we did not stop with installing brake parts. The Mad Scientist took it upon himself to enlist some help from his personal interior fabricator (his mom). At a month before her 70th birthday the Mad Scientist's fabricator/mom was teaching the Great Grand-children how to Snowboard. (This is no joke. Those Grand-children are mine.) Anyhow, the rear bench seat in the 1970's Ford Maverick was tore apart, painted, re-padded, and re upholstered. The back of the newly refurbished back seat also sports a snazzy Ford logo as well.  

Along with finishing some simple projects, there where some projects that where just getting started. We took the time to remove the interior heater motor, squirrel box, and wiper motor. We also removed the shock tower supports and began wire-wheeling the doghouse.

The B3R Garage

This is the blog page for all of the automotive dealings happening within the the B3R Garage. No. This garage is not a performance shop, repair shop, a race shop, parts shop or even an after market shop. Instead, the B3R Garage is a humble two car garage attached to my home in which some very awesome cars are being, and have been built.

Unlike many of the car building shows seen on TV, this garage is bootstrapped with a significantly tighter budget and even less time to work on the cars. However between the Mad Scientist and I, we seem to find time to get little bits and pieces of our cars done when ever we can.

Hopefully, this web page will act as a way to keep everyone in the loop with the builds up-to-date with progress. If I am fortunate, I may even be able to provide a little help to those that are interested or are doing the same things. "Building Fast Cars".