More progress on the Ford 289 | Sunbeam Tiger engine swap project - Ep. 6 - Hagerty Media
This was one of those car-flogging sessions I really enjoyed, because I made great progress on several fronts! First, I had to make sure that the lower crank pulley would line up with the upgraded water pump, which would also affect the geometry of the stock generator. There’s just not much room to play with between the radiator and the front of the engine, and keeping everything in the stock location is critical. I made some adjustments on the hub pulley location to get it all to work, but now it’s all lined up and ready to go. The FlowKooler water pump had a better design to the internal impeller, so it should flow more water to keep this high-horsepower motor running cooler than the stock Ford part. I’ve had many friends use these water pumps and swear by them, and I’m going to need all the help I can get.
Next on the list was getting some new valve covers on the engine that would fit under that tight firewall. I actually bought a fresh pair of chrome 289 valve covers so I could save my original Tiger ones from the 260. The fresh chrome will look nice against the aluminum manifold as the project progresses—plus, our Redline Rebuild expert Davin Reckow is really shaming me into making this look as pretty as possible. Who knew he was such a detail nut?
I like to make things mechanically sound and then just move on, so I’m learning to be a little more patient here and to keep things looking nice. Hey, I even used new valve cover bolts! Pebble Beach, here I come …
Moving on to some greasy fun, let’s get that clutch assembly back on this motor! First job was to hammer in that new pilot bearing, then the satisfaction of putting on a fresh clutch and pressure plate assembly, tucked in behind the original five bolt Tiger bellhousing. It’s a pretty satisfying job to do, really- and that clutch alignment tool included in the kit is a must-use to prepare for what’s coming next.
I had to edit out about thirty more minutes of what you see in the final section of the video, mating the transmission back to the engine to complete the assembly! How much sweaty, greasy cursing does anyone really need to watch? After a plea for help from my son, we got the job done and we are now ready for the next big step- getting this lump back in the car.
I really hope you’re enjoying the videos, I’m learning a lot about how to put them together and enjoying talking to many in the comments. Big stuff will keep happening here, I am dangerously close to getting it all in the car again- then we start to play with the other improvements, such as that sweet Holley Sniper EFI and beautiful aluminum radiator from Griffin. Fun stuff!
