for my '36, I came across a guy with a pulled 5.0/AOD, pretty much eveything I needed to get started. But when I showed up to look at it, he told me he couldn't sell it, since someone "had a check in the mail" to him.

Hmmmm, asked him why he didn't tell me that last night when we spoke on the phone for 20 minutes.

He said he ddn't think of it since i told him "I'd like to come by and look at it", and didn't actually tell him I was going to buy it.

I'm thinking to myself, WTF would I want to just come by and look at a motor for?

I dunno about some people.

So, then I started surfing the net this evening and have found what I think will be a good donor car, don't want to let the cat out of the bag yet, for fear of jinxing the deal, but I'll update tomorrow evening.

 

If you do wind up with an EFI motor, I can help you out with wiring it up. Ford EFI really isn't all that complicated and there are some good aftermarket harnesses available, althought it's not too hard to adapt a Mustang harness.

Oh, and people basically suck... I hope his deal falls through and he calls you, and you can tell him too bad, you found another one.

 

That's my hope too

But first I'll tell the guy I'll be there "soon", so I can waste his time.

Thanks for the offer, I'm hoping to get it figured out with the whole car, I know the older GM TPI's pretty well, but will be my first venture into Ford EFI. I'm sure I'll be filling up your PM box with some questions.

Sure want it instead of a carb.

 

I can give you the titles of some books that are required reading as well.

 

Hey Dan, any thoughts of using the Ford computer and harness? Or are there too many things not needed?

Please let me know whick books to get.

 

I have a couple of books on Ford Fuel Injection, plus an extensive write-up on my website. I also have a laptop that we can load the engine view software on - it is a free download that shows what the computer is doing.

I have never fooled with the factory computer - but I know seveal people have had sucess with it.

 

Hey Clint, what's your website addy?

 

My list includes:

Ford Fuel Injection & Electronic Engine Control by Charles O. Probst
There are two versions, one that covers 1983-1987 and the other 1988-1993. I recommend getting both. There's some duplicated info between the two, but lots of good stuff there.

Another decent one is: How to Tune and Modify Ford Fuel Injection by Ben Watson

You would also want to pick up the EVTM (Electrical and Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual) for the donor vehicle, available from Helms Publications. Lots of good info on just what each circuit does and has good wiring diagrams for each system in the vehicle.

There is a manual available for the aftermarket Ford wiring harness that's most commonly used for swapping EFI into non-EFI vehicles like the early Mustangs, it's very much like the '89-93 Mustang harness but without some of the extras like airbag wiring. It can be viewed online, I'll look for it and post a link.

Using the factory harness and computer depends on the donor vehicle. '89-93 Mustangs are the best choice as the harness is practically a stand-alone harness and there's been a lot of research done by the aftermarket and installers on it, so there's a lot of info available about it. There's a harness on the engine itself which plugs into a main harness that can be easily removed from the vehicle and is independant of all the other vehicle operating systems such as lights and other accessories.
There are a couple of very good factory computers that came in these cars, the most popular are the A9L (manual trans) and A9P (auto trans) although the A9P can be used with a stick and supposedly has a little more aggressive spark curve programed into it to make up for losses through the auto trans. I'm using an A9L in my Ranger because that's what I got with my harness (which came out of a '91 Mustang).

I got a roller came 5.0 out of a '93 T-bird and was planning to get the harness as well, but it's integrated into the entire system as the computer on that car controls many more functions than the Mustang setup. So I just grabbed the engine complete with EFI, engine harness and MAF meter. I snagged the computer as well, but I don't know why...I can't use it for anything...

You can use pre-'89 harness and computer, but they're Speed Density rather than Mass Air (I have one of those setups as well, but the harness is bad) and Mass Air is more adaptable to any performance mods you may do to the engine. The SD setup has pre-set airflow programs based on a fixed set of values and can cause the engine to basically choke if you add too much cam, intake, exhaust, etc. as the computer doesn't recoginize the adeed airflow through the system, while the MAF system measures airflow directly and sends info to the computer to compensate for any power adders.

Anyway, there's a start...

 

www.old-fords.com or better http://www.old-fords.com/electronic_...ion_theory.htm

I have Probst's book "Ford Fuel Injection and Electronic Engine Control". It was not real helpful for me - it did not cover any of the truck engines and had very little ford-specific information. It is a good primer but you likely will want one of the other books.

You are welcome to borrow it - as long as you are better than me at returning borrowed books. (I tend to keep them!)

 

lol...no, you don't want me borrowing ANYTHING...
I'll check out your site in a bit.

Good write Dan, principals for Ford and GM are the same. I'll have to see what this beast I'm getting has in it, my guess it's very, very similar to the T Bird you mentioned...hint, hint...but no more...don't want that jinx thing occuring this afternoon.

 

Also, if I could incorporate a GM TPS and IAC into the TB of the 5.0, I could run it of a few different GM ECM's and harness's I have...then I wouldn't have to learn anything new

 

Combine Ford and Gm EFI systems and you're just asking for it to self-desctruct...the two systems will fight with each other constantly!

Did you get my email, Mike?

 

I haven't checked my email for a bit, will do so now.

 

It came through, I'll download it and store it.

Thanks!