Hi all,

I just got a 74 rolling chassis to restore. Attached is the picture from Craigslist from the fine gentleman I bought it from. I picked it up for $300. It's got a 9" rear and front Dana 44. I'm super pumped to get started on it. I decided to sort of go the restomod route. Right now, no work has taken place. I'm in the parts gathering phase.


I'm fortunate, or unfortunate, however you want to look at it, to live just a few miles from LMC's headquarters in KS so I don't have to pay shipping on anything. I've bought most of the parts for the rear suspension from LMC. I didn't buy their leaf springs because I know a better and much cheaper place here locally. I also didn't buy their KYB's. I'll probably slap some Bilsteins on there when the time comes.


I bought a 4R70W and an electric BW1356 from a 1995 F150 from another great guy off Craigslist for $100. I've ordered the rebuild parts for the transfer case. Just waiting for delivery. I've never rebuilt one so I'm anxious to tear into it. I'm also going to rebuild the transmission. I haven't ordered the kit for that one yet. I'm stilling trying to form a game plan on that one to prevent losing parts, order they came out, and generally getting in over my head. I think I've come up with a good system but I'm going to wait until after Christmas to buy the rebuild kit.


I have a spare 5.4 Triton block and heads laying around and I thought about using them for this project but I decided against it. I'm going to put in a fuel injected 302. There are cheap aftermarket performance parts galore for that thing and it'll be no problem to get 300-350hp out of it.


All that BS leads to some questions I've been wondering but just haven't done the research yet. I looked at prices of getting a new ECM and they're cheap enough that it doesn't justify buying a parts truck for it. However, I don't have the 302 yet so I may end up doing that. Just have to find the right deal. I'm not to that point just yet anyway. I want to get the frame fully restored first.


Question 1: Will the '95 302 ECM run the 4R70W as well? Not sure if I needed anything separate for that.


Question 2: Wiring Harness. They're pretty expensive new. Is there a better option than buying a junkyard harness? Does anyone have a good source for them? They seem to be anywhere from $500-800. I'm trying to bargain shop for this project.


That's all for now. So far I only have about $1,000 invested into it. According to my wife, I only have $300 for the frame invested in it.

 

Welcome to FTE, nice "$300" project. lol Make sure you join the KS chapter.... so you have a way to meet your FTE neighbors and get a place to hide your parts.

And so you have a place to go if she reads this thread and finds out what you really have spent. lol

Kansas Chapter - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

*whew* I like the start of projects! so much potential and so much hope! Then the electronics questions come in and then so many of those dreams puffed away... Dang it getting misty!

Your biggest source would be a donor vehicle. And that source would be dictated by the choice in engine and transmission. I'm not sure what other engine applications are for the V8's but for my 300 6 (4.9L) I picked '96 to model. 1996 due to OBDII being mandatory and Ford used MAF which is tuner friendly. The Ford PCM's AFAIK can be reprogrammed and tuned but I don't know how easy it is for a DIY.

I saw several threads here where newer stuff was stuffed into these older trucks and are crazy neat! One where the steering column and Instrument panel were taken over and looked very comfy!

There is also the aftermarket to help, or the DIY (or semi DIY) like megasquirt solutions.

For your '95 302 I would source a '96 Harness and ECM and then re-program for Transmission and other parameters as desired.

Hope this Helps!

edit: Watch out when mixing part between car and truck because of hood clearance issues

 

Essentially you're configuring it like a 92-96 F-series (Excluding Broncos) with a 5.0 or 5.8 ... that's where I would start my research.

According to Wiki on the 4R70W, the 95 ECM should be able to control the trans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_AOD_transmission

Ya might wanna hit up the fellas in that FTE forum.

 

Thank you, sir! I'll definitely be reaching out to them. I've been a ford owner many times but never gotten too deep into one. They've always been under warranty and relatively problem free.

My DD is a Nissan Frontier and I know my way around that thing like the back of my hand. Not so much with ford. Forum folks are good people always willing to share and that's why I'm here!

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

The 4R70W has evolevolved so much it's hard to keep the info straight for the years. I've got a very good book about them for rebuilding it but it doesn't specify years. I'm planning on a 5-10 year build so that's future John's problem. I have a 3 month old girl who is trying to drain my wallet faster than a restoration project. Who's going to win? My daughter of course!

That being said, I will NOT be that guy who sells a project. My goal is to get a few years out of it before she drives it in high school and destroy it. However, if she's anything like her mom she won't want it!

 

I did a little searching and came across this link. The different terms were what was confusing me.
https://www.solopcms.com/blog/ecm-vs-pcm-whats-difference/

Based on this info, I'm just going to buy a refurb pcm. I found a pin diagram for the plug so I may just make my own wiring harness. Rockauto sells all the connectors. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

 

I received all of my bw1356 rebuild parts today. I was bargain shopping those and ordered from 3 different sources. I got the chain, pump kit, gasket and seals, bearings, and both forks. Sunday is my free day to work on it but it's going to be 10*. I have 2 heaters in my garage but not sure how well they'll do. It's hard to work when you can't feel your fingers!

It may seem like I'm doing things in a strange order but there's a method to my madness. I can't paint the chassis in my cold garage so why grind it down to bare metal to let it sit for a few months?

 

Out of boredom I decided to make sure the transfer case was drained. I removed the plugs and tipped it into a 5 gal bucket. As I was doing that I noticed most of the torque bolts were gummed up with mud and grease so I coated it down with Gunk.

I went by advance auto tonight and got a new headlight for the DD, snap ring pliers, new drain plugs for the t-case, and a new battery for the wife's ride. She has a 6 year old factory battery! Now that it's deadly cold outside I decided to go ahead and replace it beforeshe gets stranded. Husband/father of the year?

Right now it's 30* out and my garage is reading a balmy 42* with no heaters. Maybe I'll be able to work on Sunday. TBC...

 

I started in on rebuilding the transfer case tonight. Turns out the snap ring pliers i bought are total crap and immediately broke. So i didn't get too far. Gotta get some better ones. My thought was to rebuild it, clean it up and paint it to make it look new. It's coveredin mud and grease. Gunk helps but doesn't get it to a paintable state. Any suggestions?

 

Buy a rusty parts truck for cheap, youll be glad you did and be time and money ahead. You're going to run into so many little obscure parts/harnesses/connectors/clips/brackets etc. that you will need, you'll wish you bought a parts truck.

Pretty sure the frame needs to be notched for clearance to fit a 1356. They are quite a bit larger than a 205 or 203 that was in these trucks.

 

I'm going to proceed hoping you're wrong. I really don't want to do that!

 

For somsomething to do, I decided to mess with those 5.4 heads. I was unbolting the retainers for the cam and this unholy stench of blown motor was released unexpectedly. You poor heads...what happened to you? I flipped it over to take a look at the valves and they are toast. The heads were $100 off eBay and they're crap. I guess I got what I paid for. They're going to need everything replaced. I'm not sureif the cams are any good. I'll have to have a pro take a look.

 

At some point I'm going to have to buy a donor truck just for the cab. I'm really trying to avoid buying a mid 90's for the motor and associated parts. Not sure how that'll go over with the wife. I know it would be easier that way but I'm trying to save the next argument for something important.😀