turdle's mounty moves on

[Turdle]

There is one pinch bolt on the rack end of the shaft. The bolt needs to be removed, then the rack will pull off. Be sure the steering wheel is locked first.

The ujoint end of the shaft has a "keyed" hole, so it will only go back on the correct way.

I'd try to turn the steering wheel until that pinch bolt faces forward toward the radiator, that way you can get a socket on it. You might need an extension and swivel adapter.

 

[CDW6212R]

Have you looked at how Todd made his 1.75" headers again lately. I think he made a left header that will work down to the collector. I know he didn't finalize the pipes at the collector, but he made the primaries fit around the steering shaft and suspension/frame/engine.

Refer to that header again to get a better idea of how to make it.

 

[pufferfish]

yeah, i looked at Todd's many times, but in the end, it came down to one factor...i was short on bent tubes. if you recall, i was repurposing a set of mustang longtube headers. well, its not my finest work, but working with the tubes i had left, i think i did ok. and there is no worry of how to get the header out the sharp bend on #7 looks worse from the outside than looking at the inside of the tube, although, i do have a couple lips to grind out on the inside. it really sucked to use all those little 15-30 degree bends to make the header. but its done and i am satisfied with it.


my work week is looking slow, so i think i might take my afternoons off and get some more work done on the truck. oh, and my tfs-r intake is supposed to arrive on wednesday! i also found a collapsed lifter, so i will have to replace that one when i swap the intakes.

 

[pufferfish]

oh, and i learned a bit of info on header building from talking with the Torque Monster guy a while back. thought i'd share it. most of the aftermarket headers don't do this, but cylinder scavaging is enhanced when the primaries enter the collector in the order of when the cylinders fire. it doesn't matter if it goes cw or ccw, however. it was a bit more of an inconvenience to make the headers this way rather than the easiest spot, but it should be worth the extra effort. especially considering the compromises in the design that don't exactly make for the best flow characteristics.

 

[Mountaineer1113]

Wooow. Tight fit but you managed just fine. I just hope your engine doesn't shake too much to have that header be smacking into the steering shaft a whole lot.

Are you using stock downpipes or are they going to be custom fabbed too?

 

[pufferfish]

the pics don't really show it, but i have about 3/8" clearance to the steering shaft with a dimple i created in the tube. i think that will be enough? we will see. the entire exhaust will be fabbed in 3" dual...at least up to the axle. i may have to get creative to make tailpipes fit.

 

[pufferfish]

just got my christmas present to me! its taller than i expected. hope i don't run into problems where the firewall bumps out.

 

[Mountaineer1113]

There's a peanut in your plenum lol Where did you order it from? I didn't think a TFS-R would have that long of runners. In EFI theory, you would think for higher RPM power you'd want a larger plenum and shorter runners... maybe I'm wrong?

 

[pufferfish]

i got the intake used on corral. the peanuts are my power adder they are like the energy packed goodness of a snickers...so my engine doesn't run like betty white!

 

[CDW6212R]

Good work there, you are the welder neighbor I need here. I'm not looking forward to trying to piece together pipes and tack them with a tiny MIG. I hope I can get them in one piece to take to a machine shop who I trust for welding.

I like that intake, if you can post a couple of pictures of the lower, ports etc. That's where most of the gain you will find is at. Mate a custom cam with it and enjoy it.

 

[pufferfish]

as requested...

 

[pufferfish]

some more...

 

[pufferfish]

last night, i had a few minutes and was curious what challenges i was going to have in mounting the accessories. so, i mounted them up. i am suprised to report no fitment issues. not quite sure about wires and hoses, but what i have seen so far looks good!

 

[CDW6212R]

That's cool to see it all in there. You could have turned a couple of the pictures before posting, my neck hurts.

That's a great EFI intake, I hope the trucks flies.

 

[pufferfish]

I have been taking pics with my iPhone...hence the grainy look. I keep forgetting that it normally takes vertical pics and the website requires that I download horizontal pics. Anywho...
I got the harnesses plugged in. I had to extend the temp guage and the alt(not the big cable). That was it. The ps pressure line was a bit short, but I bent the metal portion at the pump down and that gave me enough slack. I am going to need to make up some fuel lines because I am using a muntang fuel rail, which has the connection on the passenger side.

That's all to report for now. Going on vacation until new years, so no more progress for a couple of weeks. Happy holidays to all!

 

[2000StreetRod]

Very impressive!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

[CDW6212R]

Merry Christmas.

 

[Turdle]

Merry Christmas Steve!!

 

[pufferfish]

Happy New Year!

Well, I survived the holidays and made it back alive. and even had some time to spare for the project. here's where it sits:

headers-done. i finished the passenger side up with a small extension from the collector to near where the cooler lines come out of the trans. that was the first place there was enough room for the connection. i also got a male JIC welded onto the #2 primary for the EGR. i ended up using a water heater gas line hookup kit. it included a steel fitting (which got cut and welded onto the header) and part of the steel gas line to graft onto the stock EGR tube. i did this because the JIC fitting needed to use the stock tube was obscure. i couldn't find anything at any of the hardware stores that would fit it.

valvecovers-done. i cleaned and painted the stock Explorer valvecovers. i got some 5/16" thick cork gaskets from Summit. that allowed everything to clear. Theres about 1/2 clearance between the a/c box and the VC. I like the stock look, but really like the functionality of the oil fill neck, baffle and the clips that hold the plug wires.

front dress-almost done. i took a guess at the serp belt needing to be 4" longer than stock. it worked! now, i will have to make sure once it starts up for the first time, as belts do stretch in the first couple of minutes. i found out that the PS pressure line is leaking from the fitting on the rack, so i bought a new one from Autozone. i didn't get a chance to put it in, but it doesn't look the same. i may be looking for a stocker.

coil pack mount-done. that was relatively easy. i removed the tab on the back that attaches to the upper-to-lower intake bolt. it wasnt in the right spot for the tfs intake. i bent the verticals out a bit and then the horizontal tabs to be flat again. a bit of tweaking and the original bracket was able to span the larger intake bolt pattern. there is probably going to be some more fidgetry to get the throttle cable bracket to attach, but i think it will be minimal effort.

my next challenge is the intake elbow and TB.

 

[CDW6212R]

Excellent, good work. You are getting very close to being done, keep at it.

FYI, the PS pressure line has a teflon seal at each end which is ruined upon assembly. It can be very hard to buy those alone, so be sure you are ready to tighten the new line when you get there.