Zach's 94 Build

[Drilim]

Funny thing you mention the timing cover. This was a huge question i had when i started putting all the pieces together. After talking to a ton of people and getting a different answer from all of them I talked to Fords SVT tech line. After giving them the part number of the cover they were able to look it up for me. It came from an 80 or 81 car. Its one of the few covers that will work with standard or reverse rotation pumps. It has an larger D shaped port and the Edelbrock water pump I'm using sits on it perfectly.

Didn't get nearly as much done today as I'd like and worked yesterday which threw a wrench in the plans. Hopefully before the end of the week.

[BajaDale]

Funny thing you mention the timing cover. This was a huge question i had when i started putting all the pieces together. After talking to a ton of people and getting a different answer from all of them I talked to Fords SVT tech line. After giving them the part number of the cover they were able to look it up for me. It came from an 80 or 81 car. Its one of the few covers that will work with standard or reverse rotation pumps. It has an larger D shaped port and the Edelbrock water pump I'm using sits on it perfectly.

Didn't get nearly as much done today as I'd like and worked yesterday which threw a wrench in the plans. Hopefully before the end of the week.

There is NO cover that will work with both. The guy on the SVT hotline must be a pencil pusher not an engine builder . But if you're that sure it'll work give it a shot. Alot easier to change it now than when it's full of coolant

[SteveG]

I can't verify that the timing cover will work, but I've always gotten great information from the Ford Motorsport techline. I love those guys!

[Drilim]

This guy seemed pretty knowledgeable. The comments have me a little worried though. I'm crossing my fingers at this point.

[Drilim]

Been meaning to post pictures. Motor is in and after a few misc oversights - an exhaust clamp being lose and making a ton of noise and the main harness plug on the driver side being slightly lose and causing some intermittent problems and having some trouble getting the dizzy in the right place...It fired right up.


Spent yesterday morning pumping out stale gas, hooking up the MSD box, charging the battery and then the rain set in. Finally about 4 o'clock the weather broke enough to get it filled, primed and to start fighting the distributor. After getting it set, It fired up without a hiccup. Idled at about 700 and just purred. Great feeling.

So, there is a small list of things I need to attend to before the first road-test. Had trouble getting the PS pulley set in place while it was on the stand. It proved to be a problem and the belt is misaligned. It throws itself off the idler pulley in about 20 seconds. Fought it for 2 hours today and couldn't get it to budge. Heat, PB Blaster, and a shitload of force didn't do a thing. frustrated beyond words.

Had a small drip at the thermostat housing pulled that off and re-gasketed it.

Also on the list is:
- Plug wire holders
- Low OIL psi sender for dash led
- Clean up the accessory wiring - the pics make it look that much more horrendous
- Finish up A/C and vacuum systems

Anyway, On to the pics.

Quick Look:


External tranny filter/tranny temp gauge manifold:


Fuel pressure gauge/manifold spacer:


MSD box/Auxiliary fuse block/Battery Tray that desperately needs to be cleaned up and sprayed:


I'm excited to see how it runs. It sounds like its going to be a monster. Must say I was grinning ear to ear all evening.

[Drilim]

Came home today and noticed a few small drips below the thermostat housing. Upon closer inspection I found a small crack in where the larger hose neck meets the base.

Picked up a new housing along with a PS pulley installation/removal tool. Pulled the PS pulley off and cleaned up the OEM one. Hoping to have a little better luck with this one. I'm not sure why I couldn't get the replacement to budge any further up he shaft. Maybe just a fluke. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

[Drilim]

Been trying to go through the list once, twice and a third time.

- Swapped the thermostat housing and no more drip
- Bought a PS pulley removal/installation and it didn't have the correct adapter for the threaded shaft. After the 3rd trip to the store, rented a COMPLETE pulley tool. Found that this one had a different thrust washer and bearing. Went on like a cake walk.
- Checked torque on water-pump/TC, lower intake and oil pan bolts.
- Bled the steering. I have a small drip at the high pressure line. Seems like the Teflon washer is deformed/split. Gonna drain it tonight and pull the line and replace the washer and see if that resolves it.
- Have a slight vibration in reverse only. Re-torqued transmission mount bolts. If that doesn't reduce it, next step is to check the torque converter bolts. Any suggestions on this?

Other than that, seems to be close to a wrap. Road-test as soon as the PS leak is resolved.

[Drilim]

Pulled the high pressure steering line. Teflon washer seemed to be in good shape. Cleaned it and put it back just out of curiosity and it sealed up perfect. Found a hose clamp just loose enough to cause a little drip right behind the alt where the heater hose is.

AND... Took her on her maiden voyage. Runs like a top. Power is awesome from Idle all the way up. Runs at 180/185 all day with 50-60 pounds of oil pressure. Sounds real mild mannered until about 1600 and then its real mean. Totally happy. Glad I waited to find the deals and happy with the finished product.

After putting about 5 miles on the truck, dumped the oil yesterday and inspected oil/filter. All looked good. Oil was clean as a whistle.

Still on the to do list:
- Play with the timing. Could use a little more.
- Rewire DCC electric fan controller to high side of Taurus electric fan + shutdown switch
- Add a relay and on/off switch to control low side of fan for emergencies
- Recheck all bolts after a few more heat cycles
- Start mounting Foreman front coil buckets and figure out if I want to use the Sway-A-Ways I have or sell them and go to a new set of Bilsteins

- DRIVE IT

[Drilim]

Not much to update. Been driving it a bit. Everytime it leaves the driveway it runs better.

Got the timing dialed in - Running about 15 degrees base.

After putting my Northstar AGM battery on a AGM 2amp trickle charge for 24hrs, it still wont keep a charge for more than a day or 2. Made a call to Northstar's tech department and they are sending me a new battery this week.

Haven't had the time to start on the front buckets. I hate it when work cuts into the fun stuff.

[Drilim]

With about 250 miles on it, I finally dumped the oil for the second time. Clean as a whistle.

Took it to a buddies shop yesterday. Flushed out the A/C. Pulled a vacuum on it for 45 minutes and then charged it up. Blows cold, but not so strong. Started looking into possibilities. Found the evap was clogged and nasty. An hour with a wet vac, hose, and a foaming coil cleaner made short work of that. Blows much stronger now.

Talked to a local mustang/Ford guru. I had a slight issue where from a dead stop the acceleration wasn't there. Or it was there, but felt off. He told me to bump up my fuel pressure between 1 - 1.5lb and play with the timing between a .5 - 1 degree. Of course that meant ordering an adjustable pressure regulator. A little research and the only name that i kept coming back to was Kirban.



An unbelievable difference.

Done a few other small things, but no pictures to speak of.

Also kicking around the Idea of selling the SAW's and going Bilstein upfront to match the rear. Any suggestions?

[Drilim]

Been busy as of late. Been doing a good deal of traveling for work, so the truck has been sitting idle.

I did install a "Punisher" Street Valve Body into the E4OD. Was a simple, straight forward swap. Firmed up the shifts a great deal, Especially the 1-2.

Its had a charging issue for the last few months and I've finally narrowed it down to a erratic alternator. On a cold start, it charges at 14.3 or 14.4 as it should. After a few minutes it drops down to 13.1 or 13.2. I guess you have to drive it to notice that type of stuff. Gonna pull it out and have it rebuilt this week if i can find the time.

[Drilim]

Time for the bi-monthly, no real progress to report, report:

Did a little rewiring: Eliminated the crap led indicators I had in the dash and included them in the switch panel itself. Also added 2 switches for the HID's I acquired. One switch triggers the relay for the 2 outer white lights, One triggers the relay for the center yellow. Also added a status led for my torque converter the same time the punisher VB was installed.





Moved the MSD box into the glove box to try and get it away from the under-hood heat and elements. Used Duetsch connectors to make it easily removable and cleaned up a bunch of the wiring on the passenger fender. Just about finalized at this point. Finally got a different style battery from Northstar that seems to be working fine. Third times the charm. I also swapped up my hi-tech tie wrap hose dividers for something a little more proper. Rubber lined stainless clamps throughout.





Developed a few small vacuum leaks from the caps I had on the tree rubbing the bottom of the hood. Decided to cut the nipples off, and drill and tap for set screws with sealant. Not the greatest fix, but it will work for now. Picked up a set of OEM 24# injectors from a Mark VIII that are going to get new caps and o-rings and go in along with a chip with a tune for my stock computer. Should finally iron all the kinks out of it.




And last but not least, I whipped up a quick bracket to mount my gauges to the lower dash mounts and to get them off of the dash itself. I almost bought a pillar pod, but wanted to do something a little different and liked having them down low.




Hmm. Maybe all in all I got a little more accomplished than I thought.

**I didn't realized the camera's lens was so fogged up in a few of the pics. Sorry for the poor quality**

[Drilim]

Picked up a set of 4 Pro Comp All Terrains that are about 65% tread life and a fifth that was a spare that has never touched the ground for $300. Trying to find someone that will polish my 5 alcoa's before I get them mounted up and on the truck.

[DirtFiend602]

Looks awesome! Love the attention to detail, wiring looks fantastic! where did you pick up the sandwich adapter for the trans? build looks great!

[Drilim]

Thanks Dirt.

I cannot keep a battery alive in this thing. If it sits for more than 3 days, it doesnt have enough to crank. I've pulled the alt and had it checked 2 different times at 2 different shops. The battery is a NorthStar 34/78 series battery and its less than 2 months old. I've pulled it out and load tested it with a good charge and it passes with flying colors. All my grounds are good and clean and have continuity. Ive checked for any kind of parasitic drain about 20 minutes after driving it, and about 2 hours after and have less than .03 amps at any given time.

WHAT AM I MISSING? BUELLER?

I did install my BAJAHID projector lenses and I must say they are mighty impressive. Ill get some pics up soon.

[Drilim]

Anyone?

[Becks_Bronco]

Anyone?

I don't have any help for you, but my last car had a weird issue just like that. Never found out what it was. Maybe you could try a master battery on/off switch?

[RyanDS650X]

It sure sounds parasitic and my tiny brain tells me to recheck grounds but it appears youve covered all the steps... Excelent wiring job by the way and i love the rear bumper. What did the bumper cost in the group buy? I like those Cross products.

[Drilim]

Thanks Ryan. I want to say the group buy price was in the 550 range and that included powdercoating and shipping from CA to FL. Its built well, and extremely functional. I don't know if cross is still in business? I've tried to call once or twice to order the latch they have to lock out the tire arm when the tailgate is down and never got a call back.


I just made a few modifications to it, including a led oval back up light (which I am not impressed with) and a fresh coat of paint etc.

I'm not overly impressed with all the wiring work. Its been an addition here, and addition there. Slowly but surely I'm getting it where I want it.

Anyone else want to take a stab at the battery issues?

[philofab]

Does the same this occur if you unhook the battery for 3 or 4 days and then try and start it?

Also, does it have an alarm?