I am putting a 96 4.6 dohc from Mustang Cobra into a 56.F100.
Has anyone had cab clearance issues with the left head and valve cover?

I have the cab with a hard contact to the head. Am looking at using a set back firewall. Any other suggestions?
Oil pan is .5 inches from sway bar.

this is mounted on a TCI 56 ford chassis.

 

I recessed the firewall only where there was interference. I needed all the legroom I could get.
Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - fun-ford's Album: 1954 f100 #1 - Picture

 

Fun-ford, like your install, what did you use for wiring harness?

 

Nice Job fun-ford! Is it running? What wiring did you use? Did you do anything with the PCM?

 

What crossmember do you have? I have an 05 Crown Vic in mine. The cross member is 1-3/4" forward of the stock I beam mounting position. I took the motor mounts and welded a plate to the bottom with a stud welded to the plate. This moved the engine another 1-3/4" forward. I have approximately 1-1/2" clearance from the head to the firewall. I have a picture I can send if you would like.

 

Used Ron Francis wiring harness. deleted egr and pats from pcm.
Been on the road 3 years in July ,35,000 miles so far.21 mpg on interstate,24-24 mpg at 55.Used stock harness on a 57 ford lots of work
and really tried my patience .40+ hours striping harness and another 2 weeks of routing wires. the 54 took 2 nights to wire and get running.
check my album for build pics

 

Did you have Ron Francis delete the stuff on your PCM?

Reviewed your build Very nice. Did you change your mind on the wheels or were the ones in your build before and after?

 

Ron Francis did the PCM.
Ran out of money,the moon disc were on the stock crown vic wheels.'Had to save up for 16" steel wheels. It is a very nice drivetrain if you want to drive a lot.I have a trip to the beach planned next month pulling my teardrop camper.
truck drives,stops etc like a crown vic. I am building a 1960 crew cab and am doing the crown vic swap on it also.

 

So, how close does that put the engine to the radiator?

 

Sirhiss, just a few differences to note. The 4.6 that Fun-Ford installed is a 3 valve motor, you have a 4 valve motor so the valve covers are larger. Their is also a aftermarket wiring harness/PCM from Ford for the the 3 valve motor that would make it a lot easier to setup if you want to spend the $$. The 1996 4 valve is too old and ford did not make a harness for it. Thus you will have to have someone custom tune it to work as a hot rod motor in your truck.

 

I went out and measured the radiator dimension. From the front of the motor to the rear of the electric fans is approximately 4"of clearance.

 

Just for information purposes ... I used the complete wiring harness from the 05 crown vic and eliminated the circuits I didn't need. Had to shorten a lot of wires but it works well.

 

I'd like to do that on mine (I've got a 97 CV for my 56 Panel) but what circuits did you eliminate?

 

rzns60,

Ron Francis provided the engine harness and PCM reprogram removing PATS and emission stuff. I am pretty sure that it should work since the donor Mustang Cobra was my own that I stuffed into a wall.

The 56 F100 is the wife's old truck that she asked me to "hot rod". Figured it would be fun to do.

Build plan is
Original 56 F100 body on TCI chassis w/disc brake front/drum rear
9 " Ford Currie rear end w.3.73 gearing.
96 4.6 dohc Mustang Cobra motor
17" wheels from 96 Mustang Cobra
AODE transmission using Bauman stand alone controller
Vintage air evaporator. Using compressor and condenser from Mustang
Dakota Digital VHX instruments.


Wife hasn't picked out seats yet but will be bucket (probably heated)

That's the basic plan but ran into the interference issue with the firewall. It appears that the center hump of the stock firewall will need to be enlarged to around 30 inches to accommodate the heads of the dohc. There is insufficient room to move the engine any further forward. Only a half inch before sway bar hits oil pan. If I raise the engine then I will have floor board issues with the tranny tail shaft and driveline issues may also come up. A 2 inch setback (approx. same as the stock setback in center of firewall) extended out 14 inches from center looks to be able to do to correct the interference.

Was hoping that others may have done this engine in a 56 and what they did to make it work.

 

The computer with fuse block is mounted in the engine compartment. PATS is already eliminated in most police CV's - it was in mine. I eliminated the ABS circuitry, bypassed the "crash" modules, eliminated the trunk fuse panel and the police lighting circuitry and module. Used the remaining wiring for the engine control circuitry, cruise, lights, instrumentation, gauges, fuel pump, power windows, turn signals, brake lights, horns etc.