Chief Tons of new mods!!! Good Ones!!!!

Hello Everyone,
Long time no talk..... Anyway, I have been doing some work. A Lot! I will list in Chronilogical order how this has come about. Then I will Start with the first mod and try to make some nice contributions here for all. Dont worry, detailed reports will come as I report on each Item... There is sort of a lot of explaining........

1) Re-design Radiator support. (finished)
-To Allow for More clearance between engine and for rubber Isolator
mounting
-Re- Paint Rad Support.
2) Fabricate custom Aluminum Radiator shroud. ( Finished )
-Purchase and install Flex-A-Lite Fan Variable Speed Controller.
-Purchase and install DUAL Spal High- Performance 13" Fans.
3) Modify Ron Davis Radiator. (Finished)
-To Allow For remote filler neck
-To Allow for mounting of new shroud.
4)Fabricate New Front Crossmember. (Finished)
-To Eliminate Frame Flexing
5)Rebuild T-5 Tranny with High Alloy gears ( Finished)
-So It Wont Break Again!!
6)Fab.Gauge Pod for New"factory style" intrument cluster. (Finished)
7)Install Full Autometer Phantom II gauge set.(Went With Sport Comp)
8)INSTALL KENNE BELL 2.2 BLOWZILLA!!(Coming Soon)
-More power to handle new gear ratios
-Also, ...... ITS MORE FUN!!!

I know that is alot to take in....... I will try to post as I can On the work I already have "(Finished)" and What I am in process with as it happens.\

Yes I will have pics as usuall.... Because otherwise this thread will suck I know you will have tons of questions, bring em on... But dont get ahead of ourselves (ie; what about the blower??!) as keeping up will be alot of work to begin with. We dont want to make this a mixed up thread that noone can get usefull info out of.

I will try to get pics and info up Wednesday 13th in the late evening!! Talk to you soon!
-Chief

 

[Chief34]

Thanks Froader, I am workin on it. It should be done real soon.

So Sorry about that last post (longest post in history)

I forgot to get the flywheel resurfaced at napa before 12:00 when the machine shop closes. So I got it done and couldnt put the clutch and tranny and everything back in. I could have had it running tonight(saturday night) but now I will have to wait till monday.

I will have more Monday. soon as that is done.

 

['97 V8]

Thats pretty sweet. Down the line i plan to swap in a manual tranny into my mountaineer. What did you do to the tailshaft to accomadate the transfer case?

 

[Chief34]

'97 v8,
I used an advance adapter to hook it up. They dont make that particular kit anymore. Parts were getting too hard for them to get. Anyway, you can go with a ford full size tranny and either get an adapter to keep your t-case or get a different t-case also. Just dont get stuck on trying to keep your stock t-case because it will end up costing a lot more than just doing a whole swap. I didnt realize this when I did mine. Wish I would have known.

Anyway, you can check out Advance Adapters web site for more info.

 

[Positive Vibes]

How the hell do you keep your engine bay so clean?

 

[Chief34]

heh,
well actually its pretty filthy right now due to a couple of leaks....

But not having any leaks is the first key.
Next would probably be pressure spraying it once in a while.

And last but not least It doesent hurt that I just cut the front out re-built it and cleaned up as best as I could the front portion of the engine bay and REPAINTED it. heh, heh


I will get that picture I am missing from the first post on here tomorrow.... and I will be installing the tranny tomorrow and should be running.

Then I can tackle the next phases.
ie; gauges, blower, etc....

tracking number says I will have the Kenne Bell FRIDAY!!!

By the way I kinda skipped that part.... I went down to "Tri-City" paint and took my color code for my truck. They put Enamel based color matched paint in a can for me. That is how I re-touched the front of the engine bay. You have to buy a pint of paint. Then tey will put it into cans for you for about $9.00 a can. I think I got three. I still have enough from the pint to do about 2-3 more.

I will post more info tomorrow.

 

[Chief34]

Hi,
Well I didnt get the tranny in today.... I had a hell of a time after work getting the pilot bearing out of the crankshaft, but I got it and the new one is in thanks to a hammer and chisel.

I did manage to get the flywheel re-surfaced today and I picked up some gaskets. for the upcoming supercharger install. Tomorrow, I should be able to get the tranny going. I am also gonna replace my motor mount bushings while I have the headers off as well as check on maybe ceramic coating them too.

I went back to the first post and edited the pictures in for yall.

-More to come tomorrow...... Tim.

 

[Chief34]

Hey guys,

Sorry for the delay, I have been super busy. I took the motor mounts out and installed new urathane bushings. I couldnt get the headers ceramic coated.... It was gonna take about a week and a half. I did paint them black with High temp paint though. I also painted the y-pipe. It looks alot better. I finished installing the tranny and t-case. I made a 3" replacement pipe in place of my catalytic converters. Figured I might as well while I had the exhuast out. Truck breathes much better now. It is more hollow sounding and louder.

here is where I ran into some snags.
1) Needed to put an overflow tank in.
I took care of that by making one out of the old one I had. I
will get some pics for you.
2) I tried to turn the radio on and was getting a loud whining sound
that would increase with throttle.

I never had this before, so I started checking the only things that had changed. 1st the new fans w/wiring. 2nd the ground connections messed with when I painted the new radiator support. 3rd the possibility of maybe the alternator voltage regulator going bad. After hours of disconnecting the fans wiring, ground connections, cleaning existing ground connections and checking fuses.... oh yeah I also disconnected the alternator to see if that would stop it and nothing worked.
I took the head unit out and checked all the connections back there, everything seemed to be in order. On a desperation attempt I started smacking the deck with little love taps and I noticed it was affecting the sound slightly.... My freind suggested taking the fuse out of the back of the head unit and sticking it back in just for the hell of it..... IT WORKED!!!! I couldnt believe it.

anyway, now all that is done I will be working on the new gauges. I will be sure to take great pictures and make a good write up about it. I will order the gauges tomorrow. As soon as i get them in the mail I will post.
talk to you guys soon,
Tim.

 

[Chief34]

Ordered the new gauges today....
They should be here wednesday. i will get pictures when they arrive. I didnt get the ones I wanted. I wanted the Phantom II, but it would have costed 1000.00 dollars for them all. I couldnt swallow that, so I went with the "Designer Black Street Rod" gauges from Autometer. They are black faces and feature around the dial lighting.

3 1/8" Speedo mechanical
3 1/8" Tach electric
2 1/16" Water temp electric
2 1/16" Voltmeter electric
2 1/16" Oil Pressure electric
2 1/16" fuel Sender electric
2 1/16" BOOST / Vacume Mechanical

Total $377.00 with all senders

 

['97 V8]

'97 v8,
I used an advance adapter to hook it up. They dont make that particular kit anymore. Parts were getting too hard for them to get. Anyway, you can go with a ford full size tranny and either get an adapter to keep your t-case or get a different t-case also. Just dont get stuck on trying to keep your stock t-case because it will end up costing a lot more than just doing a whole swap. I didnt realize this when I did mine. Wish I would have known.

Anyway, you can check out Advance Adapters web site for more info.

My stock t-case is gone . I have a 4406 from a fullsize f-150. What would i have to do to get the clutch pedal and all that other stuff.....nevermind i'll go search it.

 

[410Fortune]

97 V8 Chief doesnt run the Explorer PCM for his 5.0L
It is not so easy to put a manual behind your 5.0L, the computer wont like it at all....Chief has a distributor and a Mustang computer I believe

 

['97 V8]

I completely forgot. For the sake of not hijacking this thread i will hold off on the idea till later.

 

[Chief34]

Yes, I am running a mustang computer, engine, and tranny. He is right, Your computer is for an auto not a manual and you are gonna have a lot of issues.....

On another note, I did get my gauges yesterday. I have been working on getting them in and I am almost done with the aluminum faceplate. I will get pics tomorrow and start a detailed write-up. Talk to you then....

 

[Chief34]

Ok here we go,

First pic stock gauges.....

Before any really perceptive people ask about why there is an auto tranny shifter and I have a stick now, I should point out this pic is from my freinds explorer as an example..... Same thing...

 

[Chief34]

Here are the goodies.....
Autometer "Designer black street rod" gauges total 377 dollars shipped.

There is some wierd glare that looks like yellow streaks for some reason, but its just the picture.....

 

[Chief34]

Here is the stock dash bezel removed from the truck.....

 

[Chief34]

once you have removed the plastic cover from the gauges then you just have to pop the gauges out of the pod that they are mounted in....... When that is finished you are left with this......

If you look at this pic you will see 5 various lights in the middle region of this panel... These are for lighting up the instrument panel. They will no longer be needed since autometers have their own lighting.

Next you will notice two plastic "rectangles" molded into the pod. This is where 2 harnesses plug into the pod from the rear. I plan on keeping this all functional for the lights going to the Blinkers/hazards, check engine, low oil, 4X4, low range and a couple others I think I might have forgot.... These are the Squares at the very bottom, that will show through my new gauge panel. The four squares in the middle area and to the right of the pic are as follows.... High beam indicator, little seat belt guy that comes on upon start up, one more that I cant remember right now, and the last one doesent have a light in it. (doesent get used from the factory). At any rate, they are all not going to be used in my application. The only one that I actually considered was the high beam indicator. I could put a blue "LED" bulb in the new panel for this indicator, but I thought the dash looks better and cleaner without it.

I will go into it more later when I wire the new gauges up, but There is a thin laminated soft plastic "circuit board" attached to the back of this pod. Some of it is no longer going to be needed. I will have to map out this circuit board and find a spot to cut a hole in it to put the speedo cable through. It will no longer go through the center hole. I will explain more later.

 

[Chief34]

Here is the gauge panel I made..... came out very nice. I plan on painting this black to match the dash and look very clean.

I basically started cutting cardbord to fit and came up with this.... The aluminum took a lot of trimming and fitting to get perfect. I mean a lot! But it was worth it....

The rectangles at the bottom are where the warning indicators are all located.worked out perfect. You can see in the profile picture the angle of the panel to conform to the dash bezel....

 

[Chief34]

Here is the new panel on the dash bezel....

it was kind of dumb luck, but there is a small step where the grey meats the black at the bottom of the aluminum panel. the thikness of my new panel wich is about a little more than a 1/16" makes almost a flush install with the existing dash bezel. If you look closely you can see what I mean.... The last pic sort of shows it. It shows how there is a spot where the indicator lights show through when they light up.....

 

[Chief34]

Next was to get the gauges on and see how much I was gonna have to trim to make it fit in there. I had already measured while sort of holding the gauges up in there before I made the panel... I thought I would have to clearance thge white existing gauge panel a bit. to my surprise once I actually mounted the gauges it fit right in there in front of that existing pod.

Here is the holes I had to trim out in the bezel to get it to fit

 

[Chief34]

Here are the gauges temporarily installed in the dash.....


KEEP in mind this will be painted black, the guages will light up red through the numbers and the pointers when the lights are on, and the stock signal, and other indicators will be right there still. this is a temporary install for the pic

You might notice little things if you look real close, but it is because the panel is not actually mounted in yet and it is sliding around a little bit while I took pictures. Trust me it fits in there like a glove... That is what hours of trimming, filing, and sanding get you