Another update. A lot was done, although the overall project doesn't look like it. Motor was back out at 7am...
Kinda hard to see, but it was 34* this morning...
Here's the trans boss that needs to be removed...
Here it is removed....
Here is the body lip on the firewall folded over...
Since I won't be using the shifter cable, I removed the shifter cable bracket on the trans...
With the motor sitting as far back as it can, I was able to keep the stock location for the trans crossmember. Here is the stock B2 mount next to the offset mount that the explorer uses. I had to use the offset mount...
Onto working the heater/AC box. The bottom part of the box has about a 110* bend to it, and with what I need clearanced, the heating method wasn't gonna cut it. Most do sheet metal or fiberglass. Problem with fiberglass is getting it to stick to plastic, even roughing up the plastic, its still hard to stay attached after years of vibrations. The sheet metal method, to me, just looks hacked, so what else is there?
Why, cardboard and ducktape of course! No, I'm not using cardboard as a permanent fix, I'm making a template and using this...
I'm using the same material that the box was originally made out of, plastic. It's the same thickness, I just transfered the template to the material. Notice I used the original 90* bend the plastic had molded, this allowed me two less joints to attach...
Here you can see the exact cutout of the template...
The other half of the template and cutout...
Here's the two cutouts arranged next to each other as they will be attached...
Here's the finished cover. It looks like RTV, but its not. I welded the plastic together, all seams, both sides, this is the strongest setup besides molding a new part from one piece of plastic, which I would have prefered to do, and would have, but I just didn't have the time to make the mold...
Here's the insulation back on the the box. I added some aluminum tape to both help the insulation as well as provide more insulation...
The engine back in the engine bay with the box installed...
The driver side valve cover to firewall. If there's a 1/4" there, thats a lot. It's tight, can't move the engine back any further without firewall mods....
Driver side mount...
Passenger side mount....
Fuel rails next, the return line was the right length, but the supply line was too long...
Here's the shortened supply line and hooked up....
Onto the next issue, the upper intake. I think this truck is not wanting this motor as its been fighting me since the 2.9 came out. With the upper intake against the firewall....
It just wasn't far enough. .
My options are bring the motor forward about 3/4", which I already need more than what I have, or lift the trans up higher. I lifted the trans up 1.5" higher off the trans mount, and that left me about 1/8" clearance between the intake and the firewall. I need to fab a riser to go between the trans mount and the trans. I switched to getting the FEAD installed, which is where I called it a day...
I've got about 1.75" clearance between the new rad and the water pump snout. Due to clearance issues, the taurus fan will not work in this truck. I used dual 10" fans on
SVT with success, but I only had 2/3's of the surface area covered, I had plans with going with quad 8" fans, this would give me the coverage I would be comfortable with, and give me the needed airflow for extreme conditions. This is probably the route I'm going to suggest. I had thought about running a couple of squirel boxes in front of the core support, but finding them in 12 volts would be fun and expensive. I've got a full day of work still to go with half a day needed in the junkyard to collect more parts. Junkyard parts list:
Starter bolts
Driveshaft from 2wd 2nd gen V8 explorer (there's about 8 V8 ex's at my junkyard!)
AC manifold/lines
Parts store list:
Battery cables for power and ground
Swap out AC accumulator and possibly AC condenser (for a 94 model)
SVT