Hey Mikey, This is my gauge set up, Only the tach has the working bulbs. The quad and speedo are different and have no bulbs where you would expect them.


The tach is on the right. Both gauges to the left have no bulbs that I can see. I have double checked my wiring and diagrams that came with the gauges. My guess is the diagrams are incorrect and that is where I have to start to figure the issue out.

 

I saw those in your build thread. I went back and looked at it. I think it was that and some other comments that I sought out EZ wire and went that direction
I kinda wonder what's behind those taped holes, and if a light socket could be plugged in there along with some creative bracket work.

 

I removed the tape only to find a circuit board blocking the hole, no room for a bulb to fit inside. The Dolphin wiring diagram is for the non gps speedo, as for the quad gauge unit the diagram seems a bit off too. I will first get the truck running and make sure all the gauges work properly before I come up with a solution.

 

I finally got the oil pump pick up. The only thing holding up completion of the motor. Back in the day, this was a local parts store thing. Not even at NAPA had it. Such is life in this new modern world.
Anyway, I ALMOST screwed up big time. I was installing the intake and exhaust studs ( I wanted studs) and in the box of studs was the front and rear oil galley plugs.
Uh oh. Pan and front cover was on, balancer was on.....damn it.
So, took off the balancer and front cover and fortunately I was able to get screwed back in without taking the cam back out. THAT woulda been a mess since it's all gooped up with Moly grease! But, crises averted, and didn't even mess up the gasket.
On to the intake and exhaust manifolds....
I had pre-fitted them together on the head, and cut any un-needed tabs off the EFI manifolds.
Putting them on the motor was something different
I had to grind a little clearance into the front exhaust manifold to clear a hump on the block. Didn't take much. Also the alternator bracket needs to have some material ground off to fit as well.
But I do have a question, and hopefully someone knows for certain....
Are the head bolts "wet?" In other words, do they extend into the water jacket? I did not put sealer on the threads, so if they are wet, I'll need to do that

 

With the motor buttoned up, I turn my attention back getting the interior ready to paint. But first a bit of metal work....
I'm using an EZ Wire set up like Lizard man used in his build. And my oldest son is a wiring savant. He will be helping with the wiring. He suggested I use a round weatherpack bulkhead connector for the firewall. It needs a round 2 1/16" hole, (same size as the small gauges). There were a couple rectangular holes, and a couple round holes for the factory pass-thru's. So rather than deal with those individually, I just cut a square hole that got all of them, and made a patch panel. Once that was welded in, and most of the weld ground down, I just used a hole saw to make the hole. I couldn't get to that upper left corner with my disc sander. I'll have to get the dremel out and finish that. The arbor for my little metal discs was broken. so I'll have to get to that later. That connector will make engine bay wiring a lot cleaner. I also have a large grounding strip for under the dash that will makes everything that needs a good ground, gets a good ground.
Once I figure out where the fuse panel is gonna live, I can get some epoxy primer in the cab and on the firewall. I'll be doing the finish painting before the wiring and the engine goes back in so I have little to mask.
Check out my hole!

 

Gauge panel is pretty much finished. I found some edging material that will work great. I was gonna go with "chrome" vinyl as a finish. But decided to just keep it simple and clean, and went matte black.

Firewall has been stripped the rest of the way, and a couple good coats of epoxy primer applied.

I have to weld plugs over a couple switch holes, and then I can squirt some epoxy primer on the interior

But then Summit sent me an email about the Sniper EFI unit I have on order......delayed till January.

So, I guess I have to exercise some patience......dammit!

 

Good day yesterday. I got the area below the pinch line cleaned and scuffed, and put some Eastwood rubberized rust encapsulator on, and squirted the main part in the final color. Wimbledon white. It's quite a bit "creamier" than I remembered.

A few more steps and the motor and trans can be put in!

 

Productive weekend!
Gauge cluster....DONE! (at least really really close)
Firewall.....DONE!
Interior Paint, including door jams....DONE! (again really really close). I was up at 0-Dark Thirty to paint the color. Air is calm, no one out to notice any paint fumes.
I just have the bottom half of the dash to paint. Probably next weekend for that. I still have to buy the paint. Merlot Red. My smoothie steel wheels will be that color too

Now is when the fun stuff starts. Putting new clean stuff together!



Up next will be mating the motor and trans, and getting it set into the chassis.

 

So I have question for any of you that have put in the Mustang fuel tank.

At the advice of my son, who works in the aftermarket automotive manufacturing industry, I ordered a Mustang fuel tank today. He tells me that with supply chain issues, if there is something you will need sometime in the near future, and it is in stock somewhere, grab it now.

I WAS gonna order it from Tanks Inc. But they no havee!
Summit had their tank in stock. So, although I don't need it for a while, I grabbed it so I will have it

OK. Now the question
Have any of you put the fill anywhere besides the bed floor when doing this conversion? Is there enough room for a "Behind the License Plate" type of deal? Or up the bed stake pocket?

The stake pocket was my first choice

 

Saw a thread here a while ago where the guy put it behind the tail light like the 40-50's Cadillacs.

 

There is also a thread in the Slicks somewhere for the behind the license plate move. Here's one - but I swear I saw another one as well - maybe it was for another model year
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-what-lol.html

 

Thanks Wayne. That's exactly what I was looking for!

 

I managed to get quite a bit done this past weekend. The interior paint is done! I decided to "Two-Tone" the dash, just so it wouldn't be all white inside. The second color is maroon, and my 17" steel smoothie wheels will be that color too.
And with that, I needed to turn my attention to stuff that needs to go into the cab so that wiring can commence.
First up is the pedal cluster. The pot metal bushings were all wallowed out. I had read a post here about someone who had done a ball bearing conversion based on a kit from
"Mustang Steve". The kit replaces the pot metal bushings with sealed ball bearings. Sounded like a solid idear! And I'm not above stealing good idears fair and square.
So, being a cheap ******* with a b!tchin' set of tools, rather than buy the kit, I am making it myself to fit this particular pedal cluster.
First, hack out the old bushings. Grind off the peened over tabs and they pop right out. Next, brake pedal bushings. I know I coulda bought stock style plastic bushing for next to nuthin'. But then I'd have to wait.
I won't wait as long as I have bronze oil-lite bushing material in stock! So, I turned a set of bushings on the lathe, and pressed 'em in. And what d'ya know! The clutch pedal shaft slides right in!
I have the ball bearing retainers cut already from material I had in stock as well, but I had to buy the bearings to fit them up and get 'em welded to the pedal bracket. The bearings should be here soon. Since they came in a pack of four bearings, I will also use one of 'em for the clutch linkage bellcrank I'm making (stay tuned for that) that uses the stock pull rod in the stock location, using most of the stock frame bracket to mount the bellcrank, and putting the hydraulic master cylinder on the frame rail under the cab. It'll be a remote reservoir, and the reservoir will mount up on the firewall. This will operate a hydraulic throwout bearing inside the bellhousing, which does away with the stock throwout bearing arm. Hopefully, this will make the clutch pedal effort easy and smooth. I built the hydraulic linkage system in my drag race VW, and it is incredibly smooth. It's really all about getting the linkage geometry right.
More on that later.

Interior paint....DONE!

Clutch pedal bushing...Done in!

 

The ball bearings I was waiting for to finish up the fab work on the pedal cluster arrived. So I set the bearing retainers up and TIG welded 'em on.
So, with that stuff complete, I can squirt some primer on and paint everything, and get it all assembled and into the truck.

Next up, finishing the steering wheel, and getting that and the column painted, and get that in the truck too

 

Got the pieces and parts all painted up, and got the assembly....reassembled. So, into the truck it went.
So from pictures perhaps you can see how the pedals go together. The clutch pedal has a shaft those goes through the bracket, and that is what rides on the ball bearings. The brake pedal has bronze bushings, and rides on the shaft. The shaft protrudes on the right side of the bracket and the clutch actuating arm attaches to the end and is held on with a nut. When the clutch pedal is pushed with the foot, the actuating arm pulls up, rather than pushing down. Seems kinda bass-ackwards.
So now I need to make up a pull rod that will use a spherical rod end on each end. That will attach to a bellcrank on the frame rail and actuate the master cylinder under the cab.
And now I can finish plumbing the brakes!