Ok, shifter is all done and painted and I added a few washers to eliminate play and it shifts really nice now. The red line isn't quite exactly on the letters in the cab but it's close and you can definitely feel the detents, so I'm not worried. One of these days when I have some extra time, maybe I'll redo it and make it look nicer, but not today.

So now I moved on to the wiring. First thing is to just connect it up and separate the wires like so.

Then route your wires the way you like. I like to send everything to the front in one bundle whenever possible. These wires seem to have been cut to route up both sided of the tranny rather than to cross over, but you do you. Once I get it routed I use black tape to tie junctions together and then I put High friction wire loom on. Theres 2 types, one that is split and one that isn't. I used a little of both. I wasn't able to unpin the connector so had to use some bigger loom than I normally do, but it's not too bad.



So what I said about the wire routing differently is why the white connectors are at different spots in the loom. They all connect into the small controller so I will loop it under the dash. The white wires are the neutral safety switch. I'll do that once on the truck.



All that's left is the in dash connections and the connection to the TPS on the carburetor. I have a few other things to do. I have to get the fluid, then I also have to decide about the fill tube. The fill tube I have came out of an E-350 so it sits all the way at the front of the motor because a van doesn't have a big hood. I can cut it down and use a shorter dipstick or just use this one. I think I will just use this one for now. Might be kind of nice to be able to reach the dipstick without a ladder. More later, but that's really it.

 

Hey Mark, another fluid question for you. I'm looking for Mercon V now. I'm trying to find Valvoline In the 1 gallon jugs. Walmart had regular Mercon for $13.49 a gallon, which is surprisingly cheap compared to everywhere else, but I'm not seeing the gallons for Mercon V. Anywho, kind of irrelevant to my question. I'm not certain if there's any fluid in this transmission or just assembly lube and maybe some Mercon III from soaking the clutches during install. I've read that both of those fluids are compatible, so I really shouldn't have to worry too much about putting the Merc V in the E4OD, correct? With the deep pan it looks like I need 5 gallons of this stuff (20 quarts). The transmission shop had sold me a 5 gallon bucket of Golden West for my C6 but I'm thinking I need to stay with Valvoline or Pennzoil, do you have a recommendation? Motorcraft was $41 a gallon so I'm trying to stay under or around $100 if possible for fluid.

 

I've used the SuperTech MERCON V and it works fine.

MERCON V is the right fluid for the E4OD.

Regular MERCON was discontinued in 2006, there shouldn't be any of that left on the shelves. And there never was a MERCON III. It never existed.

 

So I didn't get pictures today, but I will shortly. I wrapped up a lot of the details but still have a few to go. I put the TPS on the carb, that was pretty easy. Then I got some heat shield for the cooling lines. I ran the lines through the firewall into the cab. I put the output wires into wire loom and then plugged it in temporarily. I filled it up with transmission fluid and tightened up all the loose bolts. I had to calibrate the TPS then it was ready for a test drive. Now, don't let me fool you. Those few little lines took several hours. But she drove and shifted nicely. I need to get my exhaust pipes re-welded. I was going to try but the gaps are a bit too large and one needs to get bent differently to clear the rear transmission support. I'll knock that out on my next day off Monday. I really like the bauman controller. I don't like how they laid it out for wire connections. I think I'm going to eliminate the ashtray and make a mounting spot for it there. There is too much info it gives me to not have it and hands reach. I need to figure out how to get it to communicate with my Dakota Digital gauges since I had to use a different speed sensor on this transmission. Im not sure if it will use the VSS or if theres another input. I need to read up on that. Anyway, I now have OverDrive. Gotta get that exhaust tidied up and I'll see how much it quieted everything up.

 

Patiently waiting pictures and more results

 

so I'm waiting on some paint to dry on a bracket I'm building to mount the controller. I did a write up but this damn board deleted half of it. So I will try and recreate it. I promised some pics of parts of the install. Here they are. Heat shielding on the cooling lines since they run right next to headers.

Then here is that E-350 dipstick for this E4OD. Its not a perfect fit. Bolt hole lines up, but the tube hits the cab firewall a little bit, so you really gotta push to seat it in there.

Here is the TPS in place.

Wires going through the firewall. I need to press the grommet back in and maybe silicone it as it doesnt really want to snap into place.

The Baumann temporarily connected so I could test run the truck.

So I really like the Baumann so I want to mount it, but it's not small and the wires mount all around it so it's hard to hide. I don't want to drill my dash. So heres what I am looking at.

I don't smoke. It's about the size of the ashtray, so that's where it's going. I'm going to tilt it up so it is easier to read.

So I don't want to mess up my ashtray, but I have a spare from my parts truck. Theres 2 rivets you can drill out and the sheet metal comes right off.

Now, I just cut a couple strips of 18 gauge and then broke them at about a 33 degree angle. and cut a piece to mount the controller on.






Now to weld them together.

Now for a test fit.


And with the controller sitting on it....

So now that brings us up to where I said, I'm waiting for paint to dry. I painted the bracket and the ash tray so that I wouldn't get that silver shining through. I do not like that the baumann plugs into the sides. Makes it hard to neatly route the wires. I wish they had a single pigtail or something else but they dont. So I'm going to tuck all that up under the opening for the ashtray. I will use some small TEK screws to attach bracket to ash tray. Ashtray actually still works just no longer has the sheet metal face.

So. I got some data now. I don't have gas mileage numbers yet. Time will tell but I have a lead foot, so it will be less than optimal. The truck runs right around 1650 RPM at 60 MPH and 1940 at 70MPH. I have yet to connect the output speed wire to my digital gauges, but I did check the baumann speed VS what the GPS on Waze says I'm doing and it was spot on. I am amazed at how nice this truck drives now at highway speed. I'm regretting my gear choice now a little bit. I had 4.10 open diff but after the restore I switched to 3.55 limited slip but doubled my torque and HP. I thought it woudn't really affect it, but it did a little. Truck is still quick. Still breaks tires loose a little in first. I'm thinking 3.73 would have been a better choice. I don't know if its because I now have 2 tires pushing that a burnout isn't as easy. I also have to dial everything in so I'm not writing them off just yet. I'll get some gas mileage data a little later once I can get this to be more of a daily driver, and will put more pics up once I get the paint dry on that bracket and get the baumann in a more permanent situation.

 

Congrats on getting it all together! Definitely going to be keeping this thread on my radar as a someday upgrade for my rig.

 

Nice job!!!!!!

 

Ok. So I got it mounted and took it out for a drive. I can't state enough how much I dislike the wire connections of the controller. I found a weakness in this design. In order to hide the wiring I tried to pull it back under. When you do that the stress on the connectors creates a fault. So, I'm going to maybe move it to my second choice for hookup. I'm thinking I'm going to mount it to the transmission hump just above the carpet, or tuck it back up into the dash. I'll think of something. here's a pic of it in action, it's just so bulky....

 

How do you like that Dakota Dash? The board on mine is pretty much a total wreck and I was looking at it as a complete replacement. The CAN module looks to be a nice way to hook up to my Holley Sniper.

 

How does the vendor show their product installed? From your pix, I'd guess that they assumed that there would be a flat panel (console?) where only the face is showing and the wiring is behind that flat panel.

 

I love Dakota digital products. They are high quality products. I have them on my 67 mustang also. I have their fan controller too. Everything works very well and is very user friendly.

 

They don’t show it mounted but yeah it’s meant for a race car non cosmetic setup or hidden. Function and what it does is awesome but they need to rethink their presentation.

 

Could you mount it inside the glove box instead? Do you need access to the controller at all times? I'm asking dumb questions because I don't know how those things work.

 

In for mpg data.