4.6 being installed now

[Ford Blue blood]

..man, gettin' old is a bitch.

...and not for whimps.....

[RICH MUISE]

quoting me....."One change I would have made now that I've got hindsight...Had I welded in the recessed box for the fuel pump another 3/8 or so deeper (probably the max allowable), the fuel lines would not have any clearance issues. As it is now, the lines won't clear the hat section/stiffner spot welded across the bottom of the trunk that has the two support strap slots in it. I'm hoping* to get into the area from underneath with a 3/4 steel rod and a big hammer and just dimple some clearance into it."
Plan B....The dimpling isn't going to work...I'm going to have to cut out about a 4" section of the rear half of the stiffner for enough fuel line clearance..... I'm posting this because if anyone is adding an in tank fuel pump, I would recommend they put it on the driver's side of the tank rather than the front side. Even if I had gone the max allowabale on the recess box, the fuel lines still wouldn't have cleared the stiffner. The driver's side is the only one that is clear...wished I had thought to check that earlier.

[RICH MUISE]

I love it when I wake up in the morning and a better idea jumps into my head...
Plan C: I don't have to cut the stiffner. I had bought a bunch of nylon "bar stock" in various thicknesses from 1/4 to 3/4 at a surplus yard last year to use on my house foundation/rebuilding project....(I didn't want to use wood shims that would rot away). I'm going to use a 1/2" x 2 or so thick bar as a spacer across the back the tank between it and the trunk floor. That may even work better, as it will tilt the tank so the gas is at the pickup end when low on fuel. Now, one more cup of coffee and I'll see if I can get it done!

[RICH MUISE]

Got the tank in last week. The 1/2 spacer bar I talked about in the previous post worked out just fine. I rerouted the vent tube so it's more direct and eliminate the long oem vent tube comming thru the side of the trunk drop and across the trunk. I just ran some rubber gas hose along the flange of the tank's midsection from the vent at the fuel pump and up under where the oem vent tube's exit point was above the license plate. 1/4" copper tubing was used for the connections and the short section passing thru the trunk. The pic of the new strap bolts shows the copper tube and the rubber tube not connected yet. Since it was just a vent tube, I didn't worry too much about the type of rubber fuel line I used. The actual fuel line connections to the pump are the special rubber lines that resist all the ethanols and other crap that's in fuel nowadays.
Another change was the tank strap bolts. Since dropping the back of the tank a 1/2", the oem L-brackets were too short, so I drilled the 2 channels those bolts passed thru and used 3/8 x 6 1/2 eye bolts with 3/8 x 1 spacers inside the channels.
I forgot the rubber insulation strips for the tank straps, so I've got to go back and add them. I did put a layer of insulation on the top of the tank.
Edit a few years down the road: The vent tube as routed above created a problem in that it had a low spot in the line after id dropped down from on top of the tank. Gas sloshed up into the tube would settle in the low spot rather than draining back into the tank. I thought I was having a leaky gas cap problem, but as I discovered, it was the vent tube blowing out the fuel caught in the line when the pressure rose high enough. Problem fixed by rerouting the vent line up into, and around the edge of, the trunk. All level or uphill with no low spots for sloshed fuel to get caught.

[RICH MUISE]

I got the fuel lines run. I used 3/8 NiCopp lines for the main lines running along the frame. An oem style '95 Mark Viii fuel filter was selected over a billet custom one for ease of availability. I picked up some springlock to AN adapters from pure choice for the fuel filter. The engine side of the fuel lines were done with aerquip teflon,braided ss flex lines, also with springlock to AN6 adapters at the oem fuel rail. The tank end of the lines were connected to the pump with Goodyear instagrip 3-core hoses. The outer core resists abrasion and burning, the center core is braided, and the inner core is resistant to modern fuels. Fittings and hose for the Goodyear stuff costs about 1/4 what the Aerquip stuff does....so I decided that would be fine for underneath the car back at the tank. Clamps are not required for these hoses, but I add them anyway..not installed yet in the pics.
I was hoping the 3/8 NiCopp line would be a little easier to form than it was....I've developed a new respect for the hydraulic/fuel line guys that can plumb a car/engine so pretty and with matching compoments. Mine are not pretty, and tried as I might, the shapes of the two lines are nowhere close to one another. I used a 2" ss muffler clamp mounted on the rear crossmember to hold 2 insulated clamps for the goodyear fuel line. I just hate poking holes into the floorboards for screws...only had to once.
The good news is, that completes the plumbing portion of the install....at least in the engine bay area....exhaust still needs finishing from the H-pipe back, and AC evaporator inside.

[canadian_ranchero]

well i am not happy with my 6cyl.it is really hard to get on to the freeway and not get almost run over!!!! so i am digging out my 4.6 stuff and will start the swap when the snow flies.thinking of using the 6cyl rad and got the continental water manifold so the top rad hose is on the left side.also picked up all the coil on plug stuff so i think i will do that at the same time.Rich what axle ratio are you going to use? i was thinking 3.25 or 3.56   

[RICH MUISE]

Great news, Gary....and you'll probably get it finished before I do! LOL. I saw that Continental setup for the coolant flow, and wished I had known about it before I bought my new aluminum radiator, or I probably would have chosen a 6 cyl radiator setup as well. If you do go with an 8 radiator, the Markviii setup can be altered by cutting off the corner with the outlet tube and rewelding it on flipped upwards. I can't remember what side the bottom outlet on the radiator is on on a six, I think I remember it being on the drivers side as well, but I'm not positive. I would think the bottom one would have to be on that side.
On the axel ratio, I've got to do some final rechecking when I get to the point of redoing my rear end setup. I believe the ratio that was recommended for what I wanted was a 3.50 (3.55?). I do want a tracloc and a narrowed rear with discs, as well as new springs, etc....so it's a major cost thing. I've got the stock untouched differential hooked up to the driveshaft so at least it could be driven. The rear is the final thing I'll do to the car.
I've got everything I need for the cop conversion except the actual coils. I heard from the SVT Mustang crowd the oem Ford cop coils are much better than any of the aftermarket stuff, so I'm looking for a used set of coils from a dohc 4.6. I won't do the actual conversion until after I get the '95 coilpack setup up and running. I don't want to alter anything from a known to be good running engine before I get it wired and started. As I mentioned in a previous thread, I did install the cop valve covers, but I've just got the original coilpacks and plug wires plugged in thru them.
Btw, I picked up a steel ps reservoir bracket off a '97 Markviii..it's much smaller than the cast aluminum bracket you'll be left with after removing the coil packs. I think it could even be cut down smaller yet....I'll check after I remove the coil packs.

[RICH MUISE]

I just went out and looked at my old 6 cyl radiator, and the bottom outlet is on the passenger side, so you may not be able to use that.
With that in mind, unless your just trying to avoid buying a new radiator, when Auto City Classic came out with their '57 aluminum radiators a few years ago, they were showing pictures of a radiator with both outlets on the left side. I tried to tell them that didn't match up with anything oem, but I don't know if they ever changed anything. Maybe they still have some of those.

[canadian_ranchero]

i have the oil cooler set up off a 2000 crown vic police car.it moves the lower rad hose from left to the right side of the rad.i have found your posts on this swap full of information and vary interesting.

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks Gary. It's gotten quite lengthy and wordy, but after you helped me decide to go with it, and provided me with the bulk of the "big stuff" info, and before you actually were able to complete the swap, I found much of the past info we had here was lacking in the small (time consuming details). I decided at that point to make sure I covered all the details as much as I could, including the inevitable stuff that didn't work. Hopefully I(this thread) can actually help you this time around!
Sounds like you're good to go with the 6 cyl. radiator. There should be plenty of room for the hose, and you won't end up with one of those "water-slide curlyque" hoses I ended up with.
BTW...I now know what Claiborn and his guru spent so much time on!! LOL., and I haven't even begun the wiring.

[RICH MUISE]

I haven't been able to actually work on the '57 for a while, but I did make some progress towards the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. This morning I was able to order the Ron Francis efi harness. (#MK-93). They normally stock them, Scott, the owner, told me but business has been so good lately, they haven't been able to keep them on the shelf. He told me a week to 10 days to ship. That's ok, I can't work on it until after October anyways. One thing that has changed from them...they can no longer supply the components to hook up the Mark VIII cooling fan as it operated OEM, so it is no longer a part of the engine harness. The connectors are no longer available, and the special relay modul is no longer available. I had several alternative options, I chose a relay that will turn the fans on anytime  the engine is running. I'm not sure I made the correct choice, I'm going to call him back in the morning on that. The fan relay that is on my Ron F. Express chassis harness is only a 50 amp, and the Mark VIII's need a 70 amp relay. The efi harness and fan relay came to 994. including shipping.
I also ordered a Vintage Air GenIV Evaporator unit and ducting. Everything is already complete up to the firewall, and I have the switch and vents already installed inside,so the evaporator unit is the last piece of the puzzle.
I'm hoping to get my custom dash panel machined this week also, but a broken underground water supply pipe may put a hold on that. Still haven't heard from our plumber, probably gonna be a few grand....it's about 80 feet from the meter to where it enters the house. Probably going to have to tear up our new kitchen floor as well.

[Ford Blue blood]

Rich give serious thought to having that fan(s) run on a temp switch.  You already have the trinary switch for the AC (I think, if I remember correctly) so putting a temp sensor in at this point would be easy and make a lot of sense.  There really is no need for the fan to run for any reason when you are above 40 MPH.  That just puts an extra load on the electrical system and many unneeded miles on the fan.

[RICH MUISE]

Sounds good enough for me...thanks for your input, I'll get it changed. You remembered correctly, I did put a trinary switch on the drier in case I needed it.

[LAUDY57]

Rich, I hope you take your usual good pics when installing the Gen IV unit. I have just the heater and I'm curious to see how yours fits (we've found being in a 2-dr in the summer with no air vents, no roll-down rear windows, and header heat getting thru the insulation is a sauna like experience!). AC would be cool.

[RICH MUISE]

Hey Lorne...good to hear from you. I've had the GenIV mock up unit in there. Mine is going to be a little different install(what else is new?), so I'm not sure how much it'll help you. At this point, I don't think a normal installation would be a problem other than losing some, or all, of the glove box. Because my windshield wiper motor is inside the cowl, and access to it is under the dash, I'm having to move the evaporator all the way to the dash and right to the kickpanel. I'm anticipating a problem with the defrost ducts as they exit the evaporator on the dash side. I actually don't know where the heater hoses enter and exit, so I don't know if being all the way to the kickpanel is going to create a problem there. I'll know before too long. Once again, my fitment problems are going to be unique to my install. By the way, were sceduled to hit Phoenix again on the 10th of Oct. Are you headed that way again?
I think others here have done the Gen IV install. Pat Fleishman borrowed my mock up unit a year or two ago, and I think mocked up 3 cars with it.