1997 MM 5.0 TC & WP refresh & ignition coil-near-plug conversion-Finished with fuel lines-

[410Fortune]

Well done!!

I am always using that eat an elephant line because it is sooooo true.

Blocking off the center egr hole is smart using a tap and 1/2 Allen plug. I would likely coat that sucker in in weld too or at least high heat permatex to help seal the threads from the hot egr gasses

I am about to do the same thing to plug off the egr on this 07, i will plug the throttle body elbow with a 1/2” Allen plug and seal the threads. It is nice to have friends with plasma tables and cnc machines. I am hoping someday to have similar but for now I have a good buddy with these abilities too.. I am hoping just to get an old tire machine around here next with the money I save from diy my own wheels tires I could buy a plasma table! Lol lol

 

[allmyEXes]

Thanks. I'm glad that I was glad to get in a few minutes on it yesterday. I'm still waiting on @donalds to ask me about the WD-41.

 

[410Fortune]

I figured typeo lol water displacer formula #41

 

[allmyEXes]

WD-41 is a little better than WD-40. JK

 

[CDW6212R]

JB-80 is twice as good.

FYI, the EGR passages are a non issue if the heads have no EGR passages cast into them. Ford stopped making them with the EGR passages, non of the P heads have them. So leave the intake untouched if the heads have no EGR passages.

 

[allmyEXes]

@CDW6212R That is true in my situation. I have the early '97 heads. I would like to block the flow coming from the heads into the lower intake to keep the excess heat from coming into the intake entirely, but for now since I'm not removing the lower intake I will not be able to do this. I'm not upgrading the valve springs at this time, their are many things that I want to do that will be done later when a $2500- rebuild happens to the long block. Here is picture of a cylinder head for those of you who don't know what we are talking about. If you look at the center of the head between pairs of ports you see an odd shaped passageway. That is where exhaust gases flow through. Currently I will not be able to block it off there.

Don ignore the 4 hash marks, I couldn't find a non 'P' picture.
I am, my bother has and Jamie are all blocking the top hole in the lower intake. It may or may not be necessary but basic physics says heat rises. we are wanting to keep the intake cooler instead of hotter. In my particular case I'm using a spacer made of a 'Non' metal material and I'm wanting to keep exhaust heat gases from deteriorating it prematurely. When I perform the $2600- rebuild I may purchase an aluminum 1' spacer to swap out with the 'Delron' made part.
$2600- is just a guess price but every time this comes for discussion, another part goes on the shopping list.

 

[CDW6212R]

The EGR heat isn't bad for most engines and the EGR itself is what lets the gasses in. I almost forgot about those older heads and having to deal with air pipes to a pump and the cats. I'm glad that was a dumb idea and we got to rip that junk out. My 92 Lincoln has that on it still, it is stock. But that will all go when I swap the 347 in with the Explorer PCM system etc. I see a few people asking $1000-$1500 for a used but stock 302 HO, most with unknown mileage. mine has 53k on it because the prior owners couldn't take care of the odd TEVES brakes, or the air springs. The TRE's were shot when I drove it home, so I'm not driving it until I do the rack/TRE/BJ's(boots are torn).

Here's a wild intake for you, if you want to be different. It's a BBK that had issues with the poor design fuel rail that leaked usually. I decided it would be good for my 347 instead of an Explorer intake or something bigger that I don't like the look of much. You can usually find one of these for less than $400, and they are as good or better than the GT40's. You do have to rework the fuel rails, I'm going to just install a line with AN fittings to fix mine.

 

[allmyEXes]

@CDW6212R That's a nice piece (intake) and something to consider in the future in another phase of my project

 

[allmyEXes]

I've been wanting to get started on the valve cover modifications as it has to do with the Coil Near Plug, CNP set-up. The 8 pack of Holley coils are almost $900-. Ouch! So far other LS type coils that I have been finding do not seem to have the same design and dimensions. Finally tonight I may have found a different brand that I can purchase for less than half and I can get them 4 at a time. I need 4 during the design and mods to the valve covers. Here is the link to the coils.
Ebay IGBT coils I know that there are just 2 or 3 of you on here who has possibly put some thought in to this for your own project. The IGBTs look about like the Holley coils. The IGBTs are the top picture

These are the brackets and valve covers to be worked on/with.

 

[allmyEXes]

I've found another smart coil that is the same physical size and shape as the Holley and the MSD smart coils. I don't have any Chevy friends that I can ask if they have used them. Dragon Fire smart coils


It's nice to see that they come with connectors if needed.

 

[CDW6212R]

They look nice, I bet there are quite a few knock off version of the top brand parts. The coils are very important parts, the short plug wires I gather can be bought for good prices too from various applications.

You have plenty of room to mount those coils on the VC's. I saw a picture the other day of someone who had them on a much shorter mounting plate, and they were almost vertical on the outer side of each VC.

 

[allmyEXes]

I'm using the 1 inch spacer too so I know there is enough room on top of the valve covers. I hope to order some coils soon. The time consuming part is stripping the red paint off of the valve covers so that i can get on with their modification

 

[CDW6212R]

That's a dirty job too, the paint. I always liked those valve covers, but the OEM grey kind of made them drab looking. So the red was a good change, now you have to choose again.

 

[allmyEXes]

That's a dirty job too, the paint. I always liked those valve covers, but the OEM grey kind of made them drab looking. So the red was a good change, now you have to choose again.

Polished aluminum with catalyzed automotive clearcoat...

 

[CDW6212R]

Polished aluminum with automotive clearcoat...

Excellent. That's my favorite look, though protecting it is hard.

 

[410Fortune]

well dudes I just finished the final wiring on the Holley ignition system to Ford waste spark coil packs. You want to talk about funky.
So the Holley system does a good job of keeping things simple
The terminator PCM is of course programmed during setup to match your engine, whether its ford or GM, you pick the firing order. Okay cool!
You have one set of wires for drivers side head, and one set of wires for the passenger, keeping things separated by head. Ford this of course means Cyl 1-4 pass side, 5-8 drivers. On a Chevy its 1,3,5,7 one side, 2,4,6,8 on the other.
No biggie right?
Well all that effort to keep the heads separated goes bye bye because of the waste spark system only using 4 coils to feed 8 cylinders
Cyl 1 and 6 share a coil, cyl 3 &5, 2 & 8 and 4 & 7..... so at the end of the day they mix match sides at the end of the ignition wiring anyways.
It really would be better to introduce 8 separate coils, allowing us to keep things neat and tidy, also no more waste spark!!
I think the CNP setup is perfect for this Holley pcm and the FSB pushrods, Holley fully intended us to switch to a 8 coil setup, it is quite clear. Holley does not even make an ignition harness for our waste spark 4 coil system, instead we have to build it from their COP parts!!
Its working, but its also like working backwards.
I love my Ford coil packs and I love my 5.0 with its DIS ignition, but I think the CNP setup is far better.
I measured the valve covers for @allmyEXes , plenty of room for his brackets! Should come out nice...although running the short wires around the TMH might get interesting, like @CDW6212R pointed out, fender skirts might be optimal location
I will use CNP on my BII and sport trac builds, if I can save up the $$$ for the Holley computers!!

 

[CDW6212R]

That all helps, lots of people have been working towards the Holley system for less upgraded vehicles like these. More people will use these examples to motivate them to do it.

I plan to build my headers completely below the VC's. I see primaries for #5 and #6 coming out and around the steering shaft together, and the #7 and #8 being very tight to make fit at the firewall going down. I doubt a decent collector(aftermarket separate component) is going to fit there with the fuel/brake/emissions lines so close. Ford should have just run them inside the frame for another 20 inches and come up through the top of the frame, right where the lines all separate now. There is a hole in the frame there, I ran my air compressor power wire through it in my 99. I figure on making a bigger in that area for the four lines, and weld a thick steel plate over the hole to stop any deformation in an accident.

 

[allmyEXes]

Jamie, That info leads to a question. Does the Holley PCM know that if you are programming for a Ford vs Chevy that the cylinders are numbered different? Or do you have to superimpose the Ford firing order over the Chevy firing order and renumber the Ford cylinders?

 

[410Fortune]

exactly
You are inside my head. I had LOTS of questions going into this, they have all been answered now by actually installing what I had mapped out on paper.
Basically it comes down to this, the PCM has outputs for 8 injectors and 8 coils. It is up to me the installer to make sure that the wire for Cyl 1 actually goes to cyl 1, then 2 to 2, and so on and so forth.......... the engine is wired as a Ford, then during the setup we will choose the Ford small block and HO firing order.
The location of cylinder 1-8 is different GM to Ford, and this ignition harness is for a GM but Holley has us covered. As long as the wiring is done correctly it will work just like intended.
Ford pattern , one coil drive feeds passenger head, one feeds drivers head. numbering of cylinder is done when you wire it up. Its actually pretty simple LOOKING BACK. HA! many sleepless nights wondering about these things, now it is 100% sorted

 

[allmyEXes]

@410Fortune Actually Ford 5.0 HO and Windsor share the same firing order. 13726548. 350 Chevy is the same. 18726543. That is when you call it this. 26543187. The same. 2 is the first cylinder to fire on the Chevy way of numbering.