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More excellent advice. Thanks Crop Duster! I did remember that the centrifugal advance is going to rotate the parts away from each other even further, but I thought that they might need to start exactly dead center for it all to work as it should.
I have a couple of old caps, so I may just do that. No harm in cutting up an old cap that isn't going to be used anyways.
You guys are all probably thinking I'm a little on the 'wired' side now hahaha. Or maybe that I scare easy LOL.
Ok....When Aaron fires her up - she'll fire with no more than 5 seconds of cranking, AND no carb back fire.....the two rubber biscuits of mine that you have ....double or nuthin'?
I'm trying to work out who has the cleaner engine, you or Crop Duster. LOL
I take that as a compliment hahaha.
Originally Posted by Filthy Beast
Confidence in Aaron? To the max!
Haha thanks dude. Appreciate that.
Haven't got that far in the past 2 weeks cause I've had a few things hang up in my personal life.
1) 2014 F150 (DD) blew out its water pump on me... little early too (61,000kms). Parts ordered and waiting to fix.
2) One of my grandparents passed away at the age of 87. Sad about it, but happy she passed comfortably instead of in pain. Rest in peace grandma.
Getting back to the build has been slow, but progress was made!
Mocked up the last of the items... The only dirty part on my motor is the fan - LOL my eye is almost twitching as I write this.
Chased the remaining unused threads on the block with my 7/16 tap. Nickel anti-seize used on all of the blind holes + a short bolt to keep crud out. Preservation of my work
Found this gem at the junkyard and thought I'd give it a go. It's a firewall mounted vacuum tree. Easier access and cleaner mounting than the old vacuum tree. It's off the same 1984 Crown Vic that I stole all my pulleys off
Oil pressure and trans temp mounted, wired, and ready for start-up. It's all fused, but I'm still figuring out the backlight wiring... Any suggestions on where to tap into the headlight switch is appreciated.
Pulled all the stuff off the motor and prepped the frame for accepting the 408
In, but I had some issues that are unresolved. Driver side of the trans won't accept the block 100% flush... maybe some crud in one of the dowel holes? Need to investigate further.
EDIT: Checked the clearance on my distributor gear - thanks for posting that Crop Duster!
Clearance showed 4.026" when fully elongated. It doesn't meet the 4.031" (minimum) measurement shown by Crop Duster... but I'm not so sure that I really care about 0.005" of difference. To eat up that difference, I would have to put in a TON of work getting the pins punched out and adjustments made to the dizzy... all for a hair width. What do you guys think? I should be fine... right?
You'll be fine with the distributor. That 0.005" is perfect to allow oil to get under/around the gear. Lateral gear movement should be at a minimum, and you'll still have some play. Hope you put a dollop of good goop all over the gear - top and bottom, too - before you stabbed it.
Clearance showed 4.026" when fully elongated. It doesn't meet the 4.031" (minimum) measurement shown by Crop Duster... but I'm not so sure that I really care about 0.005" of difference. To eat up that difference, I would have to put in a TON of work getting the pins punched out and adjustments made to the dizzy... all for a hair width. What do you guys think? I should be fine... right?
You're doing a great job on your engine and it seems you have been very careful to get things just right. And now you are going to use a Chinese distributor that is not made correctly? Here is a picture to show what's going to happen with that gear on too short. The distributor shaft is going to pull down hard against the bushing in the housing because that bushing is now having to do the job that the pad in the block is supposed to do. Those shafts don't get much lubrication in the best of times that's why they have those spiral grooves in them. If it sealed of at one end you won't get any oil up there at all. Like I said before I gave up on all that Chinese, Mexico stuff just for that reason. I know it's a lot more difficult for you guys in Canada to get what we can get easily down here but before you run that give this guy a call. I run his ECU instead of the Duraspark. In fact I've been using Mopar boxes with my Durasparks for the last 25 years. They are primarily Mopar but they do Fords also. FBO Performance Ignition for all Makes, Muscle Cars, Street Rods, Race Engines. Specializing in Mopar Ignition Products, Distributors to Computer control ECU's. Home of the HRR688
Clearance showed 4.026" when fully elongated. It doesn't meet the 4.031" (minimum) measurement shown by Crop Duster... but I'm not so sure that I really care about 0.005" of difference. To eat up that difference, I would have to put in a TON of work getting the pins punched out and adjustments made to the dizzy... all for a hair width. What do you guys think? I should be fine... right?
You're doing a great job on your engine and it seems you have been very careful to get things just right. And now you are going to use a Chinese distributor that is not made correctly? Here is a picture to show what's going to happen with that gear on too short. The distributor shaft is going to pull down hard against the bushing in the housing because that bushing is now having to do the job that the pad in the block is supposed to do. Those shafts don't get much lubrication in the best of times that's why they have those spiral grooves in them. If it sealed of at one end you won't get any oil up there at all. Like I said before I gave up on all that Chinese, Mexico stuff just for that reason. I know it's a lot more difficult for you guys in Canada to get what we can get easily down here but before you run that give this guy a call. I run his ECU instead of the Duraspark. In fact I've been using Mopar boxes with my Durasparks for the last 25 years. They are primarily Mopar but they do Fords also. FBO Performance Ignition for all Makes, Muscle Cars, Street Rods, Race Engines. Specializing in Mopar Ignition Products, Distributors to Computer control ECU's. Home of the HRR688
Very interesting stuff.
So you're running a Duraspark II dizzy with this guy's ignition box and this coil. Plug and play? Or did you have to do a bunch of other things as well?
Just as a side note - I'm not sure how running a Duraspark II with this guy's box and coil will solve the problem of having less clearance than needed based on Ford specs
I'm not saying his ECU will solve your problem. But he and a lot of other folks in the distributor business can put a distributor together for you that will be curved to suit your engine and be within the correct specifications. I don't know what he charges for a complete ready to run distributor, but I'm pretty sure he charges $100 to recurve a distributor to suit a persons particular engine, cam, headers, carb, compression etc.
The Mopar ECU's aside from being better than the Duraspark are compact and only require one plug. I mount mine inside the vehicle on the cowl, no heat, no moisture.
what engine are you having to replace the water pump on? Nice find on the tach!
I see you pulled the front clip, i see alot of folks do engine swaps the hard way on these things, one of my favorite traits these trucks have, 20-30 mins and a helping hand and the engine is basically on a stand.
I'm not saying his ECU will solve your problem. But he and a lot of other folks in the distributor business can put a distributor together for you that will be curved to suit your engine and be within the correct specifications. I don't know what he charges for a complete ready to run distributor, but I'm pretty sure he charges $100 to recurve a distributor to suit a persons particular engine, cam, headers, carb, compression etc.
The Mopar ECU's aside from being better than the Duraspark are compact and only require one plug. I mount mine inside the vehicle on the cowl, no heat, no moisture.
Very cool Duster. If I had spare money to throw at this build, I would totally nab one of those ECU's. The dizzy recurv sounds kinda nice too!
Originally Posted by FMJ.
Sorry to hear about your Gran.
I sincerely hope that your head is filled with millions of fond memories of her.
That tachometer is going to pay for itself when you are running in the cam. And the install looks good.
There should be light wiring going directly to the dash, which is nice 'n near to your gauges and tach, so you could tap into that one.
I have no idea of the wire colour, but it should be easy to determine.
Interesting chat about the dizzy etc !
Make sure when you fire up the engine, you crank it for more than 5 seconds !!!!
(I'll then share the winnings with you. LOL)
Thanks FMJ. She was 87, and an ol farm girl so she had a good life.
Oh god, if it lasts 5 seconds or longer my head might explode. I already have enough sleepless nights LOL.
Originally Posted by KubotaOrange76
looking good!
what engine are you having to replace the water pump on? Nice find on the tach!
I see you pulled the front clip, i see alot of folks do engine swaps the hard way on these things, one of my favorite traits these trucks have, 20-30 mins and a helping hand and the engine is basically on a stand.
Thanks! Ugh... unfortunately my '14 F150 5.0 Coyote motor.... 60,000 kms on the clock and the W/P is shot. Bearing is squealing like cat in heat. I'm 99% sure the previous owner fished out the window of the truck in the winter time... so the 60,000 kms on the odometer might be more like 80,000 kms given how much this thing has sat idling.
Originally Posted by Filthy Beast
Holy Smacks, what a wise apple you be!
You'll be laughing out the other side of yer foot when she cranks twice and fires right up....
Aaron...try not to ferget to hook up a vacuum gauge before you fire her up IN TWO SECONDS (hehe) in addition to the tach...
Oooo good call on the vacuum gauge. I'll put that nifty Crown Vic vacuum tree to use.
Some progress on the weekend. Back hurts from all the up-down, but it was worth it.
Found my issue with installing the motor. Opps lol.
Flexplate nuts installed and torqued to 30 ft-lbs (IIRC.... that number might be a tad high).
Motor put back to 13 BTDC after 2 full rotations (and my finger blew off #1 cylinder). That's the LAST time I'm turning that thing over by hand. Starter installed shortly after.
Distributor installed (back on its mark and lined up with #1 Cylinder). Carb installed. Pressure regulator installed. Ign coil installed. Headers mocked up, then installed with Nickel Anti-seize + Stage 8 stainless locking header bolts. Torqued to 22 ft-lbs. Driver side was a HUGE PITA with that dipstick tube and the brake lines and the steering shaft. Had a helper, so it went alright. Still lots of up-down from under the truck to get it all in place.
hahaha. Or maybe that I scare easy LOL.
