4.6 Donor (what do I need)
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 63
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From: Savannah
4.6 Donor (what do I need)
Ok,
I have read all the threads on the 4.6 Swap and I don't want to dish out the money for an expensive wiring harness when I had a brand new one for the truck and I have the complete donor car.
It was my derby car so some of the wires in the front got clipped but it turned out only 4 of them were important anyways.
I grabbed the engine and the computer and the main wiring harness to the engine. I'm going to grab the associated plugs that went to the fuse on the fender as well. I also grabbed the fuel tank and pump so I don't have to buy a new pump.
Before I ditch this thing is there anything else I'm going to need? Like the steering column or anything?
I need to get it to the junk yard soon and wish I could hold onto it but I can't. Thank you for your help.
I have read all the threads on the 4.6 Swap and I don't want to dish out the money for an expensive wiring harness when I had a brand new one for the truck and I have the complete donor car.
It was my derby car so some of the wires in the front got clipped but it turned out only 4 of them were important anyways.
I grabbed the engine and the computer and the main wiring harness to the engine. I'm going to grab the associated plugs that went to the fuse on the fender as well. I also grabbed the fuel tank and pump so I don't have to buy a new pump.
Before I ditch this thing is there anything else I'm going to need? Like the steering column or anything?
I need to get it to the junk yard soon and wish I could hold onto it but I can't. Thank you for your help.
Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,578
Likes: 208
From: Murfreesboro, Tennessee
I have never done the 4.6 swap. I do have a Crown Vic 5.0 in my 55. I think it might be helpful it you state the year of your 4.6 and what it came out of. Some of the guys here maybe better able to help with that info. Good luck with your project
Cargo Master
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,906
Likes: 82
From: Oregon
Just to be safe, I would take the column. I did a swap in a 1990 Chevy Lumina a few years back. I went from the 4 cylinder, over to a V-6. I ended up have to take the entire harness from the headlights back to the trunk junction. Harnesses typically intertwine at some point, and when it comes to the electrical, it is better to be safe than sorry. I wouldn't send it away, until I knew I had everything electrical, including all the electrical to the brakes and axles. You may find that you only need parts of it, but it is better to have more than you need than not enough. Since the parts are currently free, get them now instead of buying them later. Most harnesses can be seperated later, but you don't want to get half way through it and find you needed a little plug or something that you will spend 3 weeks tracking down in the local wrecking yards.
Elder User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 601
Likes: 1
From: Rancho Cucamonga ca.
Mine came out of a mustang cobra similar but not the same.
You need to decide what your going to do for instruments/gauges/controls.
You say you dont want to spend alot of money....If thats the case plan on using the ones out of the vic. Which means pull the entire dash! I ended up putting the entire cobra dash in my 56. The vic dash might be too big but you could probably re-build the 56 dash with the vic cluster in it. If not
plan on spending some serious cash on instruments and making them work. If you want heat and a/c take the entire heater box and controls out of the vic.
I used the heater box out of the mustang. As for wiring take the driver side harness with the fuse box. Take the pass side harness with the ccrm. For the rear you need the fuel tank harness with the roll over switch and taillight-
back-up light harness. Basically take all the wiring harnesses out, you may not use them all but youll have them if you need them. Oh yea mark them all
and dont un-wrap them unless you absolutly have to.....have fun!!
You need to decide what your going to do for instruments/gauges/controls.
You say you dont want to spend alot of money....If thats the case plan on using the ones out of the vic. Which means pull the entire dash! I ended up putting the entire cobra dash in my 56. The vic dash might be too big but you could probably re-build the 56 dash with the vic cluster in it. If not
plan on spending some serious cash on instruments and making them work. If you want heat and a/c take the entire heater box and controls out of the vic.
I used the heater box out of the mustang. As for wiring take the driver side harness with the fuse box. Take the pass side harness with the ccrm. For the rear you need the fuel tank harness with the roll over switch and taillight-
back-up light harness. Basically take all the wiring harnesses out, you may not use them all but youll have them if you need them. Oh yea mark them all
and dont un-wrap them unless you absolutly have to.....have fun!!
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 63
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From: Savannah
Hmmm,
Thank you for all of the input. Interesting about the gauge cluster. I did not think about that. I would like to use the gauges I have now..I will have to look into that.
Sadly I don't have to option of taking all of the wiring harness. Everything that was non-essential was ripped out for the Demo Derby. I had a switch running thru the positive to manually turn on the fuel pump and the ground right to the battery. As far as the passenger side harness, it ran along the front of the car and was split in half when hit by another car. That is when I found out (that out of the 20+ wires that are there) you really only need four of them for the engine to run. 3 of them were positive and the fourth was a ground. I did have some check engine lights on though. But it ran just fine either way.
Thank you for all of the input. Interesting about the gauge cluster. I did not think about that. I would like to use the gauges I have now..I will have to look into that.
Sadly I don't have to option of taking all of the wiring harness. Everything that was non-essential was ripped out for the Demo Derby. I had a switch running thru the positive to manually turn on the fuel pump and the ground right to the battery. As far as the passenger side harness, it ran along the front of the car and was split in half when hit by another car. That is when I found out (that out of the 20+ wires that are there) you really only need four of them for the engine to run. 3 of them were positive and the fourth was a ground. I did have some check engine lights on though. But it ran just fine either way.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 792
Likes: 3
From: Sandy Run SC
I spent many hours trying to trace wires on my T-bird harness to find all I needed to run the engine and transmission and finally decided that the money I spent for an aftermarket harness was well worth it after I got the engine and transmissin working like they should. We have to do what we have to do. Maybe I was just to dumb to trace all the wires but it almost seemed it would take me forever. Good luck and let us know about your progress.
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 63
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From: Savannah
How long is forever???
I'm starting to worry about it a bit more now. With deployments on 7 off 7 I never seem to get much done. The option of having a guy I know put in the 460 he had, and paying him a bit more to do it might just be worth it so I can finish the truck up before I leave again. Though I do like the 289 and the EFI, like they say there is no replacment for displacement.
I'm starting to worry about it a bit more now. With deployments on 7 off 7 I never seem to get much done. The option of having a guy I know put in the 460 he had, and paying him a bit more to do it might just be worth it so I can finish the truck up before I leave again. Though I do like the 289 and the EFI, like they say there is no replacment for displacement.
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Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 63
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From: Savannah
Well,
I'm head first into doing the 4.6L swap. I had a guy help put on the entire front end of the crown vic. Should make for a pretty comfy ride. Way better than the twin I beam I had on there.
We will see how things go. I'm going to get a lot more done on it this weekend. Maybe if wiring doesnt' turn out to be a total PITA I might even get it started. Not likely though.
Question for you guys out there. Should I take out the 9" I have in the rear and put in the 8.8 that came in the vic? It was a Police Interceptor so if I remember right it had 3.55 gears and a limited slip. Not to mention I would have disc brakes front and rear and I could use the anti-lock brake system. It is not like I will ever be throwing big power at this thing anyway.
I'm head first into doing the 4.6L swap. I had a guy help put on the entire front end of the crown vic. Should make for a pretty comfy ride. Way better than the twin I beam I had on there.
We will see how things go. I'm going to get a lot more done on it this weekend. Maybe if wiring doesnt' turn out to be a total PITA I might even get it started. Not likely though.
Question for you guys out there. Should I take out the 9" I have in the rear and put in the 8.8 that came in the vic? It was a Police Interceptor so if I remember right it had 3.55 gears and a limited slip. Not to mention I would have disc brakes front and rear and I could use the anti-lock brake system. It is not like I will ever be throwing big power at this thing anyway.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,138
Likes: 2
From: Marietta, Ohio
The instruments in the newer cars and trucks work with the electronics with the drive train. Using you old guages will be a major pain if not impossible. There may be complets instrument clusters out of something smaller like a Taurus or Explorer you could use. I don't know how long you have to try to get this together but you should count on it taking a while. If you have someplace like a Pull-A-Part yard you might consider getting the stuff that was chopped up in your derby car. They are really reasonable on stuff like that. I would also recommend getting complete wiring diagrams and schematics. There are places that sell that stuff on ebay as well as other places.
Later Man...
Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,578
Likes: 208
From: Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Well,
I'm head first into doing the 4.6L swap. I had a guy help put on the entire front end of the crown vic. Should make for a pretty comfy ride. Way better than the twin I beam I had on there.
We will see how things go. I'm going to get a lot more done on it this weekend. Maybe if wiring doesnt' turn out to be a total PITA I might even get it started. Not likely though.
Question for you guys out there. Should I take out the 9" I have in the rear and put in the 8.8 that came in the vic? It was a Police Interceptor so if I remember right it had 3.55 gears and a limited slip. Not to mention I would have disc brakes front and rear and I could use the anti-lock brake system. It is not like I will ever be throwing big power at this thing anyway.
I'm head first into doing the 4.6L swap. I had a guy help put on the entire front end of the crown vic. Should make for a pretty comfy ride. Way better than the twin I beam I had on there.
We will see how things go. I'm going to get a lot more done on it this weekend. Maybe if wiring doesnt' turn out to be a total PITA I might even get it started. Not likely though.
Question for you guys out there. Should I take out the 9" I have in the rear and put in the 8.8 that came in the vic? It was a Police Interceptor so if I remember right it had 3.55 gears and a limited slip. Not to mention I would have disc brakes front and rear and I could use the anti-lock brake system. It is not like I will ever be throwing big power at this thing anyway.
IF you have the 9" in I would leave it and probably make sure you have a favorable ratio in in. Now I have a friend who use the 8.8 out of the crown vic in his 56 along with a 4.6L out of 91 Towncar along with the front suspension clip from a 80' Crown Vic. All factory stuff and adaptable. Post some pictures of progress to date. I dont have many FOMOCO IFS friends here
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 63
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From: Savannah
Pictures
I got tired of uploading them. I will take some more and arrange the album later. But here you can get a jist of what I'm doing.
jasontraylor/1956 Ford F100 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
jasontraylor/1956 Ford F100 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,138
Likes: 2
From: Marietta, Ohio
Another thought came to mind. The rear end from the car may have the speed sensor in it that you will need with that set up. I don't think there is any provision to allow you to move it to your 9".
Later...
Later...
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 63
Likes: 0
From: Savannah
I don't recall any wires going back to the rear end. I will check it out tomorrow though. I think I'm going to swap it on anyway. Having full discks and antilock with posi traction outwieghs having a .2 inch larger ring gear.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,138
Likes: 2
From: Marietta, Ohio
Later Man...
