4.6 being installed now

[RICH MUISE]

Another month+ gone by, and not too much to post. I've got my engine wiring harness now, and I've been working on moving everything electrical in the right direction. As posted on another thread, I've now got my dash panel, finally, so all the gages are in place waiting for the wiring. I decided to relocate the battery to the driver's side engine compartment, rather than the trunk, and I've been working on that for a few days. Battery location of course had to be decided before wiring could progress. Cutting a big hole in the fender well weakened it quite a bit, so I'm building the battery box pretty beefy to compensate. The pics are as far as I got today, the attaching brackets need to be completed, as well as a bottom, and closing off the wheel side of the box to seal off road crap.
If I can convince my wife I'm done with the house until spring (weather is getting nice again), I'll work on getting the A/C evaporator installed, which means the A/C lines will now be a closed loop as well as the coolant lines, and one of the final components for wiring. I've even got my third brake light to install. Once I get all the components in place, I can finish the chasis wiring, then on to the engine harness. Once I focus on the wiring, I want to be able to proceed thru the installation instructions instead of jumping around like I was trying to get the wiring to the back done so I could install the interior.

[pepfalcon]

rich, i put my battery box in the same location, but i turned it 90 degrees for more room on my inner fender.

[RICH MUISE]

That's one option I never considered. Have you run your battery cables to the starter yet? I'm going to stick with Ron Francis for the cables, and they have two options...6ft and 20 ft. I'm hoping the 6ft will reach as there is a hundred dollar difference in the set. I also bought an Optima battery with the side posts and top posts as well. I figured it would help keep clutter down with all the components that suggest running right to the battery.
Another thing I was reminded of on another forum was to get a sacrificial annode installed in the radiator.....probably a particularly good idea with our engine/heads being aluminum.
What are you using for a radiator, btw? I seem to recall James mentioning you and he had both bought an aluminum one from auto city classic when they came out.

[RICH MUISE]

And another question that came up this morning...... Has anyone that has done the swap, and kept the Ford differential, had any issues with the transmision not shifting properly because the computer is not necessarily getting the correct mph/data from the transmision necessary to control the shift points? Rear tire diameter would also come into play here as well. I'm making the assumption here that it is mph and not engine rpm's that's determining shift points.

[pepfalcon]

i am using the radiator from auto classic. i did as you did and relocated the mounting holes to lower it for hood clearance. i also heard about the diode, and i think i will use it. as for the transmission i am going to use a vss from an older (70-80) car to signal the transmission. . the 6 foot cable will be long enough. i cut mine to length and crimped the eyes on it with a huge crimper that i have.  that is a good idea about using a top and side post battery. there sure ar a lot of connections at the positive post, and one more place to connect sure makes it easier.

[RICH MUISE]

I knew they were using the pulse generators ( I think what you're calling the vss?) from the cars that had the manual speedo cable output as well as the digital output for the computers. What I'm wondering though is when you change gear ratios or tire dia's from whatever the computer was programmed for will that affect the computer controlled shifting points on the electronic automatic trannys (as with the Markviii 4R70W). This obviously wouldn't be a problem for the manual tranny that some guys are using with the later Mustang drivetrains.
I guess a simplified way of asking the same question...are the shift points on the 4R70W controlled by engine rpm or mph?
I'm not concerned with the speedometer as mine is digital and the pulse generator included with it is the same oem part number that is in the 4R70W, so, for the speedo input, I should just be able to tie in to the generator output wires where they tie into the Ron Francis patch panel for the computer.
Phillip, another question....have you installed the hood on your car by any chance? I know from the original pics James posted for you, it was a ways from being ready for front end sheetmetal, but I'm trying to find someone with an installed classic auto radiator in a car with the hood installed. I'm hoping to get them to put a glob of play-doh on the radiator cap to see how much clearance they have.

[pepfalcon]

sorry for the late reply. my best friend ( my wife), went to moonshine mountain festival and stayed all day long. never have seen so many fords at a car show before. so many 40 fords, and a lot of 57"s too. i don"t know for sure what determines shift points, but the ecm uses input from tps and vss to calculate shifts. as for the hood, no i haven"t tried it yet, but i am hoping to this coming week. i will let you know how much clearance i get from radiator cap.

[RICH MUISE]

Sounds like you had a good day. I'm not sure I'll ever get to do car shows with my wife...she has lots of problems with her feet. Hopefully, eventually the docs will figure things out....of course there's always the sit down scooters.

[pepfalcon]

i know what you mean, rich. we saw several scooters yesterday, and i told my wife that we needed those to get around on. lol

[hiball3985]

Do they make 2 person ones or would I need to add a trailer for the wife? 

[RICH MUISE]

Yep..I think they call them golf carts though.
An update on the battery box....another thing to cross off my to-do list.

[Ford Blue blood]

I guess a simplified way of asking the same question...are the shift points on the 4R70W controlled by engine rpm or mph?
Yes on both, any tuner can do that, change the ratio in the program.

I'm not concerned with the speedometer as mine is digital and the pulse generator included with it is the same oem part number that is in the 4R70W, so, for the speedo input, I should just be able to tie in to the generator output wires where they tie into the Ron Francis patch panel for the computer. NO

There is an adaptor that will give you the speedo input you need and then add the sensor to it.  It is set up to piggy back them.  A good parts guy should be able to get one.  I will see if I still have the box (part number) from mine and get back to you.

[RICH MUISE]

Just when I thought things could be simple...lol. Welcome back Bill. Have a good trip?
On the shifting points, once I get to actually test drive it, if shifting points become an issue, there is a performance shop here locally that does computer stuff, so that is good to know.
Ok...I know my lack of proper nomenclature confuses the issues at hand sometimes, so lets make sure we're all on the same page as far as the speedometer is concerned.
1....What I have for a speedometer is a digital (TPI-Tech), and included in the kit was what they call a generator. I don't know how I lucked out, because when I bought the gages about 8 years ago, I didn't know for sure what drivetrain I was using. That generator is pic #2, and is a Ford unit with the same part number as what I have in the Mark VIII's 4R70W...see first pic, it's labeled #1. I assumed that output was sent to both the speedometer and the computer.??
2....The Mark VIII also had a digital speedometer
3.... At this point, I don't know if the Ron Francis engine/tranny/computer harness addresses the speedometer at all....I suspect it does, but....
4....I do not know what the vss and tps terms are that Phillip mentioned.

With what I mentioned above, wouldn't the signal required by the tpi speedometer be compatable with the signal as oem from the 4r70w tranny since the "generators" are the same? I guess I was thinking what I have is eccentially that same as what the oem was.
In the first pic, I don't know what #2 is, and I'm assuming #3 is the neutral switch.?

[RICH MUISE]

That tranny pic, btw, is actually the tranny from the high mileage Mark viii that I never used.

[pepfalcon]

rich, that generator is what ford calls a vehicle speed sensor (vss). number two is output speed sensor, used by converter to determine shift points. number three is range sensor, for neutral safety, backup lights. all this according to what i found on google.