That looks interesting. I am thinking about using a battery out of a late model Mustang. They appear to be shorter than the Group 24 battery I had been using before this project began. I have not done any research into the new Mustang battery, but I plan on working on that in the very near future. There are so many issues that need to be address it can get a little overwhelming at times. The size of the front crossmember I am using makes getting the engine lower in the chassis almost impossible. Please keep us posted on your battery bracket progress.

UPDATE: The late model Mustangs appear to take a Group 96R battery which is just over 2 inches shorter than my old Group 24 model. That may be of some benefit.

 

If the tunnel is going to be too big, I guess as a last resort you could do a body lift and use filler panels to hide the fact the body is raised. But, that goes against all the work you've done as far as lowering the truck.

I have been following this build for quite a while, though this is my first post in it. The work and engineering being done is nothing but first class all the way. Great job.!!! Your's will be a true one of a kind truck.

 

Thanks Yardbird! I am sure the guys at the shop will appreciate your comments.

I think I would consider doing a center console with bucket seats before raising the entire body. Once we get the cab back on the frame we will have a better feel for what needs to be done.

There certainly have been some challenges along the way. I hope we can continue to overcome the issues that remain. Right now I am trying to figure where we are going to put the remote oil filter. It is always something!

 

 

 

The Group 96R is slightly smaller (width) than the 40R and it comes in either 500 or 590 CCA versions. The 96R is used in Mustangs from 2011 to 2018. I am sure the 96R is found in other cars. Whatever battery I pick, I would prefer something that was/is used in lots of different vehicles so they hopefully will never stop producing them.

 

 

 

That is good news. Being a Ford freak, I prefer to use Motorcraft and other Ford parts whenever practical. However, the Motorcraft batteries I have looked at are all crazy expensive. Maybe I am not looking in the right places?

 

 

I just picked up an Interstate 96R with a 6 year warranty for $113. I am going to see if I can make it work. It is almost 2 inches shorter than a Group 24 and will probably require a custom made tray either on the firewall or the frame under the cab.

 

Things started to get back to normal at the shop this week. After two weeks of vacation, work started to ramp up and we have some progress once again. During the down time, I managed to keep the parts parade moving along.



As mentioned before, the Coyote will require the installation of a hydraulic power steering pump. There are several aftermarket pump kits available, but I decided to go with the factory Ford version which incorporates a steel bracket and a 2005-10 Ford Mustang GT pump and stock pulley. The mounting bracket is available from Ford Performance (M-8511-M50BR) and the pump can be found just about anywhere. I tried to save some $$$$ and purchased a low mileage, used pump from a wrecking yard in Minnesota. I am hoping that going the cheap route will pay off just once in my life time. The picture above shows half of the bracket mounted to the block with ARP metric studs (8mm-1.25) in the same location as the A/C compressor. The other half of the pump bracket will go on next week when the mounting bolts arrive.



Earlier, I had mentioned the fact that the steering shaft would not need to be modified to fit the Coyote engine. I lied. Once the cab was lowered in place, the steering shaft wound up having issues with the exhaust manifold. The solution involved the addition of a support bearing (Borgeson 680000) and another universal joint (Borgeson 124949). A custom bracket was fabricated to hold the support bearing. The bracket was then welded to the frame. The photo above shows everything mocked up. Problem solved for now.



In order to get the cab back on the frame, more of the floor needed to be removed. Needless to say, the new trans tunnel will be fairly significant. The plan is to weld in a two piece trans tunnel as opposed to trying to modify the original bolt-on hatch.



During the trip out to the Central Coast, the trucking company managed to damage both the engine oil pan and the transmission pan. It is nothing major, but enough to warrant replacements when the time is right. The new engine oil pan was located on eBay and the trans pan was purchased from Paso Robles Ford. A drain plug was welded into the new trans pan to make oil changes easier when the time comes.

Hopefully, we will continue to make progress next week. I also have a little vacation planned for the end of August. Stay tuned.......

 

 

 

looks great,see you are still at it,how much hp will it make?