Good news on the interior. I was afraid that the taller tunnel cover for the ZF would raise the carpet and pull the edges of the carpet in from where they mount under the side trim and then I'd have to split it in the middle to get it to set back where it should. Well, the difference is so minimal the carpet fits like it should, no mods are necessary.

 

yeah whats up with stuff getting heavier as they age Niles lol.well its good to see im not out there wrenching in the cold all alone.remember we like pics and keep warm!

 

I haven't been very good at taking any pictures at this stage, there's only been about an hour or so I can work on it before it gets too dark to work.
And I did mean to get some comparison pictures of the tunnel covers, especially since I discovered on that last wrecking yard truck there is a third design for the 4x4's, two of them being ZFs.

 

Got the wiring under the hood all buttoned up today and pulled the sensor of the filter header off. Tomorrow off to the hardware store for a plug and the bolts to secure the air filter box.

Real close to a test drive, but dreading the bleeding of the clutch slave cylinder. One of the very few things I HATE about these old Fords is that damn clutch hydraulic cylinder.


Can't put the front drive-line in yet, u-joints are too far gone to reuse.

INFO! No cutting in the floor is needed for either of the shifters. The 4X4 shifter is close, but it does clear the edge of the original cutout.

 

Got the air box on, got the filter sensor removed and plugged. Wouldn't ya know, still leaking, but out of that aluminum screw on base at the bottom of the filter. Didn't see this leak before with the sensor leaking. Ordered a Wix 33417 to replace the filter and do away that screw on base.

The alternator on this engine's better than the one on the 6.9, truck actually charges at idle now, lol.

Oh, I was at pick n pull today for some miscellaneous hardware items, scored a cowl seal that's very fresh, completely pliable! Good find as mine is brittle and half gone, especially after the engine swap.

 

A small item to note, the back up light plug on the ZF is the same as the T19, no need to modify wiring.


Fiddled with bleeding the clutch a little, got no pedal yet. Hopefully better luck tomorrow.

 

cheater!!!!!!!!

 

It's not often I get to!

 

Drove her today! Sort of a good news/bad news review.

The power is good, a nice improvement over what I had.

The overdrive is nice! And the gear spread seems better then the T19, seems to be a lot easier to get short smooth shifts out of it.
May have the beginnings of the reverse synchros problem I've read about on the ZF5, most of the time it went in no problem, but a few times it took 2 or 3 stabs to get it in. (Don't you hate that? )
No gear rollover noise that I can tell.

PO said he has the fuel maxed out, I believe him, smoke isn't too bad with normal acceleration, but it's not pretty when I get on it. Going to have to turn that back.

Turbo (I'm assuming) makes a noise, an annoying one. A buzzing like when you get a leaf in your heater-box and it rubs against the squirrel cage. Leaking maybe? Not even sure if it's working or not other then I can see it spinning with the air box off. No boost gauge yet. Noise is not present at idle or free rev, only while driving.

Truck starts fast and smooth, sounds good.

Oil pressure is stupid high, even with the sending unit off the 6.9. It's on the last line of the Normal range on the far right. Hope that's not a problem and just a really healthy oil pump.

Drove it around for a while this afternoon, nothing blew up so I guess I'm on the right path, just some fine tuning to do.

 

Now, before yesterday's driving the clutch needed to be bled. After the usual pump pump pump, bleed bleed bleed, pump at the slave, bleed, bleed, bleed, with no results as usual I decided to try something new. I recalled awhile back reading at Oilburners Riotwarrior had posted the factory procedure for bleeding this system, a procedure that doesn't even use the bleeder screw. (Also linked in our FAQ)

So I go back to his post for a refresher and then:

[Summary of factory procedure with my notes/suggestions]

1) Remove the slave cylinder.

2) Holding the slave at an angle with the open port where the line goes upwards to allow air to escape fill the slave with brake fluid through this port. (Manual shows it just being poured in, lol, have patience, a bit at a time.) Move the slave around slightly to help air escape. Once there are no more air bubbles coming out the port reinstall the slave, but not the line yet. You will get squirted with fluid a bit as the piston compresses as the slave is pushed into place. **But allow the push rod to push the piston in as needed while installing! If you manually push it all the way in it will suck air back into the slave when the piston travels out to its rested position.**

3) The manual says to remove the MC cap and gravity bleed the MC and line before hooking it back up to the slave cylinder, but I took it a step further and submersed the end of the line in a jar of brake fluid and pumped the air out of the system. I could see the air pushing through.


I hooked the line back up and holy crap Batman, I had clutch on the first push of the pedal!

Remember, when all else fails, read the directions!

 

uh oh.did you inspect it at all? it shouldn't make any type of noises like that.it may need a reman.

 

Yep, very little freeplay in any direction, blades aren't/haven't rubbed on the housing, everything looks fine.

 

Some more progress:

Replaced the leaky fuel filter with the Wix all in one.

Turned the fuel back two flats.

Thought I had the turbo noise figured out. I was thinking along the lines of leaking and realized I never noticed a port on the pressure chamber for the boost gauge. On the Hypermax it's right on top. Pulled the air box and sure enough, no port to be seen on the ATS. Started feeling around the chamber and bingo, in the back on the drivers side is the port and it's open. P/O had a boost gauge and kept it. Not having a plug handy, but having an unused cheap-o Sunpro boost gauge I went and installed it.

Then the test drive. Smoke is almost all gone, I'm going to try to turn it back a little more tomorrow. Truck scoots really nicely now and I'm getting 5psi boost at WOT.

Noise is still there though, I thought that port was the problem, but I guess not. It is quieter, but I don't know if that's because I plugged the leak or because on this test run I had my shifter boots and insulation installed. (LOL, lot of engine noise with those things just sitting in place like in the first run.)

 

ah phew.sounds like your getting the gremlins worked out.we're both making progress! gotta love these old rigs.not only do we avoid payments,but we get exercise and stay healthy wrenching on 'em at the same time lol.

 

A few random and boring pictures. Or maybe randomly boring?

Here's a couple of the ZF tunnel cover in place. I had to pull the seat (again) so I could roll the carpet back (again) to get the shift boots and insulation in place so I took pictures this time:







The 7.3L in it's new home. (Before I finished the wiring.)