The Black Pearl SAS and build

[KurtECV]

Well i ordered my 7 degree axle bushings form James Duff just now. Figure before i get the RAs set in stone id better get those. I really haven't been worries about caster much. Caster is pretty easy to change, and it shouldn't be much of a problem especially with the factory X front driveshaft.

 

[BKennedy]

I am running those 7* bushings.

 

[KurtECV]

So the bushings came in two days early.

I pulled the drivers radius arm off to finish reinforcing the "c" and to put the new bushings in.

While I was jacking up the drivers side I noticed a few things, the main one, is that the coil spring is what is limiting my travel.

It is contained in place from top (ballistic fabs adjustable upper coil brackets) and from the bottom (Stock FS bronco lower coil retainers). While the tire was still in the air I pulled the shock back down and bolted it back in (i still had travel in them)... So that's not it. The only thing left on that side is the coil.

Is that normal?

As far as the lower coil retainers go, I am going to make a set like James Duff has to offer with the stock lower coil "cup" and some (i think) one inch square tube I have laying around.

As for the top I am still thinking about letting the coil drop from its location and having a piece of 2" OD square tube locate it back in place. The 2" tube doesn't leave much room for it to move out of its original location. The ballistic fab brackets are flat, so I don't think there will be much popping going on when the coil seats (like I have heard happens when you do this type of thing with the upper coil mounts.

Any input would be great guys.

 

[KurtECV]

Well i got a little work done this week so far. Pulled the Drivers RA and finished plating it.

While i had it apart, I modified the lower spring cup in the likes of the James duff cups. This will make it 1000 times easier to install the coil spring as now i can just bolt the cup to the RA and "screw" the spring into place.

I also added a section of 2x2 square tube to the upper coil bracket so the coil can drop away from the seat during articulation... I am not completely set on this idea so i only welded one side of the square tube in case i want to remove the tube section.

I would have had it all done this week but i didnt have any paint for the radius arm so i left it off until tonight when it gets painted.

Also, I got a pair of bump stops from a co worker (these are used under the ford cargo vans that get the "super" leaf springs. Nothing special, just poly bump stops that have a center bolt that will get installed to the bottom of the 2x2 tube when the time comes to installed those.

 

[KurtECV]

so a little update, finally got the drivers RA to hold some paint. I went to installed the coil spring (with the updated lower coil retainer) and my little piece of 1/8 strap busted the weld. I figured it might, the weld wasnt as good as i would have liked going from thick material to thin.

I am going to look into the james duff retainers today and see how funds look for those.

 

[KurtECV]

Well some interesting developments over the weekend!! I was hanging out with a buddy of mine who is a drag racing junky and is getting burnt out from it. He is getting into guns now.

He has an Gen3 LM7 5.3L vortex engine with ARP everything. Gen4 internals (thicker connecting rods, etc) and he figured the engine alone (for me) is worth about $700-$900.

Well I have built a few ARs and my 5.56 that I don't really shoot... Ever. I figure it's worth about 800 bucks or so.

We started talking and we traded him built motor for my AR truck gun.

So I went to the wrecking yard and picked a complete engine/trans harness, ecm, factory fuse block and MAF sensor for $40.65.

After a few hours of stripping tape, loom and pulling unneeded circuits from the harness:

I removed: All emissions related circuits, all A/C circuits, the complete transmission circuits, removed the rear heated O2 sensors, low oil level warning circuit.

I did leave a few random circuits like the 4WD low, tachometer, electric fan relay GROUND (switched ground by the pcm), I added a second circuit to the pcm for the high speed electric Taurus fan I have had installed for a few years. That will also switch ground at the high speed relay.

Doing some wiring repair on the crank sensor relay, the wrecking yard torched the converter bolts out through the flexplate and that three wire circuit was burned through the insulation. Its pretty cold outside and with the approval of the wife, and help from an old undersized bedsheet I'm in the house repairing that circuit and wrapping the harness in woven polyester tape (this is the same tape I use at work for harnesses, high temp and high adhesion.)

 

[KurtECV]

I have a marine fuse block coming in tomorrow with space for 6 relays, and 12 fuses.

The LS engines, each injector has its own power coming from the Underhood fuse block, I am going to group each bank together So each bank Wil have its own injector fuse. The coils will be on thier own fuse. High and Low fans will have dedicated fuses. PCM and we few others will have their own as well.

The way this harness is built, the engine will run from hooking up 3 power wires and 1 ground. I will have to head to Springfield to have a shop tube the PCM and remove the security stuff off and turn off The rear O2 codes.

I will be running this engine on the stand before it gets dropped in the engine bay of the black pearl to make sure everything is good to go.

This part of the build is planning on being done winter 2019

 

[gmanpaint]

Have you figured out the motor mounts yet? Off the shelf or custom? How much wider /longer /taller (if any) is that 5.3 compared to a 5.0?

I imagine even with the 3" Body lift, your going to lose A/C box, but will that extra 3" be enough at the trans tunnel?

Trans? ... Can't remember what you said your using for it

Guess you won't have to mess with springs for a while.

 

[KurtECV]

LSx industries makes swap motor mounts. You can shift the motor 2 inches either direction. And a set of plates that you weld to the frame.

With all the sas guys cutting their engine crossmembers, The plan is to (worst case) cut the factory crossmember out and plate that area, weld the frame side of the mount where it needs to go. And Then add a custom DOM crossmember under the oil pan.

3 BL I'm sure will help. I have been planning to get a NON-AC ranger heater box for some time now. Just been on the back burner.

The LS is actually smaller than the 5.0. Half an inch here and an inch there.

There are TONS of configurations out here.

The engine currently has truck accesories on it (but a G-Body oil pan) but if I must, I will go with LS3 (corvette) front dress.

The engine is setup with a returnless fuel system. One fuel like into the engine bay and no fuel regulator.

A corvette in-line fuel pump will be used basically looks like an explorer fuel filter, but has the return line there, and not at the top of the engine; And the fuel regulator is located there.

There Will be an NP435 granny low 4 speed (83 f350) behind it. With a Dana 20 (70 bronco)

Oh ya, and I traded him a set of 9mm reloading dies (i don't reload) for a set of 2010 camaro exhaust manifolds. They sit the closest to the engine block as you can get from anyone.

He also gave me a fuse block that he got when he used to build Tracker Bass Boats (it is not waterproof, so it will be an interior fuse block)

And have me a small trans cooler from a full size Ford truck that I am going to use for power steering.

 

[BKennedy]

This is going to be awesome! I prefer Fords, except for engines and transmissions. So much more aftermarket support for the LS engines. I have the 5.3 in my Silverado and its a great engine with lots of power.

I would just cut the engine cross member out and make a new one after you get everything installed. I made mine removable and out of 1x2 square tubing. Its stronger than the stamped plate, and I can take it out to pull the oil pan.

 

[KurtECV]

Well I got the crank sensor wiring repaired.

Double adhesive shrink tubing for a little more protection from dirt and water

And also staggered the three circuits so they would lay in the wire loom better without a big bulge

And because I didn't want to use a $30 service pigtail from the auto parts store that had all the same color wiring I cut out the burnt up section and to my suprise, there was enough wire left to put in solder joints

 

[KurtECV]

This is going to be awesome! I prefer Fords, except for engines and transmissions. So much more aftermarket support for the LS engines. I have the 5.3 in my Silverado and its a great engine with lots of power.

I would just cut the engine cross member out and make a new one after you get everything installed. I made mine removable and out of 1x2 square tubing. Its stronger than the stamped plate, and I can take it out to pull the oil pan.
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That is awesome to hear. How is it holding up??

I have been doing months soon months of research and I have never seen an LS swapped first gem explorer.

Ive seen tons of old and new rangers with them... Well I will clarify. I have never seen a stock-ish explorer with an LS..

I have seen full tube chassis explorers with LS engines, but those were all prerunner, with full caged engine bays and whatnot... Those don't count lmao

 

[KurtECV]

The plan in my head, is to cut the factory cross member out, grind it down and the only thing (for the most part) I should have to worry about is the firewall and radiator... Things like driveline angle should be ok.

I did a calculation a few months back and I think the LS/np435/D20 is actually a few inches shorter than the 4.0/A4LD/BW.

I didn't not check the front driveshaft length but I don't believe it will be much of a program especially with the CV shaft in front

 

[KurtECV]

I was going to wrap the entire harness with the PET (Polyester Woven Tape) but seeing how expensive it is, I will have to see if I can get a discount on a tube of it at work.

GM uses this for a lot of harness repairs for chaffing wires or for airbag stuff. The last dealer I worked for refused to but the stuff (because of the price) even though it was required to do correct safety recalls... So I bought a few rolls for myself.

I'm down to a roll and a half but the thought of using regular electrical tape to wrap the rest of the harness and having to deal with the goop that comes when the adhesive separates is just not doing it for me.

Plus if/when harness repairs are required this PET does not cut easily AT ALL. So unwrapping the harness would be the easier way to go for the most part.

We will see. I might look for some alternatives to crappy standard electrical tape if anyone has any suggestions.

 

[KurtECV]

I would just cut the engine cross member out and make a new one after you get everything installed. I made mine removable and out of 1x2 square tubing. Its stronger than the stamped plate, and I can take it out to pull the oil pan.

Did you plate what was left afterwards? It doesn't look like it. I was thinking about just cutting the entire thing out down to where it attaches to the frame and set the engine where it needs to go And weld the motor mounts in. Then build a cross member somewhere with a skid to cover the oil pan... Basically how you did it.

I was replacing a full set of lifters on a 2007 avalanche today and took a few measurements because it is almost the exact same motor... I am going to need about 6.5 inches more from the back of the block to the water pump snout.

But there is hope in the C5 corvettes which uses a shorter water pump assembly.

There are also other options like a remote electronic water pump... Spendy for sure but it is an option

 

[BKennedy]

I didn't plate it because its strong enough to hold the engine in place. I cut the cross member so the engine mount bolts and enough metal to get a plate against remained. With a completely different engine, I would just cut the rivets out and remove the entire cross member.


@josh40601 was planning on a LS swap in his SAS ranger. Maybe he will see this and chime in.

 

[KurtECV]

Good deal. I haven't looked at that cross member really well in a while, I couldn't remember if it was rivited in place or not.

I have seen a bunch of LS ranger swaps. Hopefully it's not too much different.

 

[KurtECV]

I started a new thread on the LS swap here: The Black Pearls LM7 5.3 LS SWAP!

 

[KurtECV]

Ok back to the SAS portion of this build.

After dealing with the pitman arm I finally found. I had to drill out the bore to 7/8. Originally it was going to be 3/4 with a hiem butt drill bit chipped and messed up The bore pretty good.

I went ahead and drilled it out, I figure if it doesn't work I can get another pitman arm and I will just take it to The local machine shop I deal with all the time and have them drill it out to 3/4.

But at 7/8 it seemed to workout well because I didn't have a lot of movment in the hiem joint I had. After doing some research a lot of guys are running a 3/4 hiem with a misalignment spacer with a 5/8 bore to gain a good angle and articulation at the hiem joint.

I picked up a steel bore spacer locally.
5/8 ID and 7/8 OD. I ordered a pair of misalignment spacers from Barnes4WD in 5/8 to 3/4 and am waiting for that to come in.

 

[josh40601]

I didn't plate it because its strong enough to hold the engine in place. I cut the cross member so the engine mount bolts and enough metal to get a plate against remained. With a completely different engine, I would just cut the rivets out and remove the entire cross member.


@josh40601 was planning on a LS swap in his SAS ranger. Maybe he will see this and chime in.

sorry, I just seen this.

Still will do the swap when the 5L dies, but my truck is far from a stock engine bay. The ranger and explorer engine bay is pretty much the same in every model. The only difference is location of fuse box, coolant tank, charcoal canister, and air intake.

A lot of things you'll have to do Kurt, the factory A/C and heater box will not fit. There is no way around it. If you want to retain heat and air, you'll need to convert it to an aftermarket under the dash setup or cut the factory up. The whole area that comes off the firewall wants to live exactly where the passenger side valve cover lives. You'll need to swap to a Toyota style power steering box because the factory ford box will want to reside where the power steering pump goes. The other option is to go with a street rod front serpentine setup where it esentially moves everything to the top. The truck water pump will work, but you will need an aftermarket radiator with e-fans. I believe the Corvetter W/P has a weird inlet. The F body water pump will work too, but you still need the E-fans. You will need to plumb in a cylinder head vent into the radiator or water pump (lots of write ups on this). you will have to trim the inside of the radiator support to make the 90* elbow for the air intake. The truck intake I believe will hit the lip where the hood closes, so you can either hack all that out and sheet metal a new one in, or swap to an LS1/LS6 intake. Those fit just fine in the firewall indention. S10 Swap headers will fit with some massaging on the passenger frame rail. The driveshaft location for the front diff is weird. This is why most of the prerunner guys with LS's are 2wd. I think that is all I can remember. Whalstrom1, I dunno if he is on here or not, stuffed a 6L into his 94ish ranger. It too is very customized, and I can't remember if he swapped the intake but i think he did.

All of the stuff above is just what I have gathered in my research. Is it all a fact? doubt it. Can it be done without doing all that stuff? probably. I'll be following your build to see how it goes for sure. When I perform my swap, I'm cutting the whole front of the frame off and building it to fit the engine and transmission. I say "I" and by what I mean by that is "I will be paying a shop with WAYYY more skill than I have"