The start of my ford 5.0 T5 swap and restoration

[BKB94]

Doing all the simple stuff for instant gratification. Front struts installed my new tokico blue inserts, machined .190 off the spacer to get the gland nut a .050 gap between the housing. Wiring harness back in position and fastened. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by BKB94
Close picture of color added

[BKB94]

[BKB94]

Progress has been good. Need to finish my intank fuel pump and get the tank installed before the rear gets installed. Some pics of my nice rear and the rack set up.

 

[techboy]

Lot of hours into all that assembly.  I know.  Did it all myself too.  Looking great.  Can't wait to swing by and see more of the progress in person. 

[BKB94]

I'm not a fan of installing grossly oversized fuel pumps even more so if you are going to choke them with small fuel lines and starve them of power with undersized wire and relay.  I went with a 255 LPH fuel pump that I know can live a long time pushing fuel through this size fuel lines and I don't need to re-wire the car. My 255 in my mustang is pushing 26 years with no issues. The MKS bracket didn't make sense to me at my power level so I built my own. Also used a mustang filter where the pump used to be. 

 

I was pretty happy with everything It only took 2 hrs and fits nice and doesn't leak.

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by BKB94

[BKB94]

 Speedmaster had the black Friday sale, not as cheap as it was last year but not bad. $650 for china aluminum heads assembled shipped to my door, That will take 50lbs off the front and will add some power. I probably should have ordered the stroker kit for $500 and had a 347 but I have been spending money like crazy on other projects. The oil pan needed a dimple for the rack & pinion line. I used a bearing cap for a trailer, also went side dip stick to clean things up. It did not turn out as good as I wanted but I was in a rush and it was late. Slapped the tank and rear in the car. Feels good to get all the parts back on the car instead of scattered all over the barn. Probably will rebuild calipers and powdercoat brackets next. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by BKB94

[techboy]

Gas tank looks amazing!  Like what you did with the fuel pump.

[psu_Crash]

I'm not sure the underside was that clean from the factory. Looking AWESOME!

[BKB94]

My cheap China 175 heads will be disassembled and inspected / corrected. The castings look really nice, but you pick up on weird things like valves are at different heights. They will get some blending where they machined the seat like all as cast heads are and maybe back cut the intake valves. I think im sticking with the stock GT cam so the springs and retainers should survive the mild cam. 2.02 valves will need to be checked for piston clearance. Once I have a head on I will check leak down again and see if these rings are sealing. The more I look at this engine the more miles I think are on it. 

To help these larger heads breathe I did buy a Explorer GT40 intake manifold locally. I didn't realize just how much taller this intake was but its tall. It also doesn't put the TB at the most ideal place, the stock intake looked natural in the engine compartment and the TB cable fit perfectly. The GT40 fuel rail puts the fittings pointing towards the factory fuel lines. I will weld some -6 fittings where the quick connects were and use my push lock hose.

working on trans mount, header fitment, heater core hoses, wiring, clutch hydraulics. I will be rebuilding calipers also and powdercoating while working on the front clip. I would expect things to go slow for now but I will update things like my parts list as I make progress. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by BKB94

[BlueCuda]

Looking good, good idea having those heads checked out.  I wouldn't run any brand of assembled head without a machine shop taking a peak at them.  They usually can have the valve job made better and the guides loosened up a little bit.  

[BKB94]

Caliper rebuild time.

If I didn't already have all the good rebuild kits from Japan I would have thrown all this crap away and adapted Mustang calipers. The front pistons each had one or two little pits that you could hardly see or feel. But since you can still easily buy these pistons I ordered up 2 from Rockauto. The rear pistons were not great but I was not going to dig any deeper into obsolete junk, If it leaks its getting mustang calipers that I can get at any parts store for $40 a side. 

Edited January 24 by BKB94

[BKB94]

Figured it's time for an update, one good thing about this site is you don't get pushed for progress. 

   My dad passed away; this is something we were not expecting. The worst part for me is not really knowing why. We were very much the same in almost every way, I lost my helper, my mentor and my friend. Like me he had a garage full of projects that I'm now tasked to find good homes for. So not to go way off the deep end I have been ordering parts for the quest but did have a few weeks I simply cleaned the barn but could not wrench.

Electrical.

I see now why people say do not use the 94-95 mustang wiring harness. Its a pile of 7 harnesses all tangled together. Since I'm cheap and would never find something off the shelf to work the way I wanted I started to stipe it. I have the main harness simplified and its looking slim and clean. Next will be the harness on the engine. I would actually like to run EGR to reduce pumping losses but since it's all gone anyways and it's really ugly its wiring will be stripped out. I don't know why the trans harness and 02 harnesses are separate but they will be merged together using one connector. So in the end I will have 3 harnesses and the alternator wiring. I ordered ANL fuses and box to possible clean up the rats nest at the end of the conquest battery cable, any ideas let me know. I think adding one of the fused battery fittings would help clean up things a little and add protection. You can get them in all different amps for your alternator and under $40 on Amazon. I need to do more research on the fusable links ( ratings ) and what they are even powering anymore. The Ford harness will be fused with ANL fuses and powers the fuel pump, AC, 2 speed fan, 02s, So the quest wiring is basically lighting. 

AC.

Ordered my barrier hose with fittings, dryer, condenser, trinary switch. All nice and new for R134 and laid out a lot cleaner than it was originally. Need to make my AC compressor mount for the passenger side of the car. Ford ECU will handle WOT AC cut out, Fans, and compressor AC cycling using all ford parts. 

Goal is a running car by the time it's nice enough to do body work. I need to get my dad's garage all cleaned up and build my paint booth over there.

 

Edited January 24 by BKB94

[BKB94]

EEC harness is in the car, I feel this is a milestone. Ford uses a 40 amp fused relay for the solenoid starter, the quest passes all current threw the ignition switch. I added the fuse and relay feed off a ANL fuse box I added. I have the coolant gauge, fuel pump, oil pressure gauge, Tach signal all wired using the stock quest connectors and wiring ( plug and play ). I added wiring for the AC compressor wire and the ABS light used as a MIL light. 

    I need to rebuild the blower, AC, Heater boxes and get them ready for install. I have the wiper motor wiring that needs to be cleaned up and run behind the dash. It will be getting a ground wire so the stupid ground clip doesn't need to be used. The wiring out the firewall is my engine and trans harness that I need to install the connector and bolt to the firewall. It will all look nice once everything is where it needs to be and mounted. Most of the electrical on this car is just plain stupid, the more I remove the better I feel. 

Edited February 14, 2023 by BKB94

[obsolete]

Hey, I've been following your build, just haven't posted in a while. You're doing incredible work. I'm really sorry to hear about your health problems and the unexpected loss of your dad. I hope everything with you and your family is going as well as can be expected. I'm glad you've still been able to keep this project going and keep posting updates for us.

Have you given any thought to the steering column mounting and steering shaft for your rack swap? I think I have a pretty good steering column mounting solution figured out for mine, but the shaft is tougher, I am looking at having to use three u-joints or a double u-joint, either of which will require a rod end steering shaft support.

[BKB94]

Thanks Obsolete, I see what you did to the steering column. I will probably come up with a easier solution but to be honest I haven't looked at it at all. Keeping busy has helped me keep it together that's for sure. I lost my father in law 3 years ago so I'm maintaining 3 large households in the country, got this job thing, and I'm the only male at a farm co-op so I have to fix everything and transport horses-food. 

So back to this stupid car. I rebuilt the whole HVAC system, I ordered a new heater core since people like to crush the lines at the firewall. It leaked so the old heater core went back in. The other line was pretty bad and cracked or was cracked I don't know I was gently tapping a mandrel in it to make it round again. I had to cut it off at the block and tap it for a NPT nipple. To be honest I'm a little scared of this coming back to haunt me.

 

Also located the AC compressor on the passenger side of the engine. I could not find any other Ford engine that had the alternator and AC on the right side so I cut the lower part of the smog pump bracket and put the compressor where the smog pump was. Don't look to hard at this bracket I'm not a machinist and I made a huge mistake and actually had it flipped the wrong way during one of the cuts and something ended up being an inch the wrong way.

Also mounted my radiator and have the mounts for the condenser made I just need to order a shorter condenser.

Also started my hydroboost brake install and wilwood clutch slave is installed. 

Some say they use the quest trans bracket just flip and drill holes. That didn't work for me I think my engine is back a bit more then others possibly. ((( UPDATE ))) I found out the 93 T-5 Z transmission I bought is actually a beat to hell 94-95 V8 case filled with chipped gears and parts from many transmissions. I'm now taking 2 transmissions to try and make one usable one. It will not have the .68 overdrive I wanted unless I buy both OD gears. I'm frustrated and now a 15min speedo gear change is going to cost me $300 and probably a whole weekend. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by BKB94

[obsolete]

Looks like more great progress. Nice solution on the heater core, I think you'll be good to go with that NPT nipple, but I understand the fear with it being buried under the dash.

Here's what I think my steering shaft is going to end up looking like. 3 u-joints with a rod end for support. This is the first configuration I've tried that seems to work without binding. Next I need to build a mounting bracket for the rod end. I'm going to make a plate to bolt on where the steering box used to, then try welding some square tubing to it at an angle for the rod end to bolt through with jam nuts. Apologies for the condition of my engine bay, I haven't painted it nicely like yours yet, but I only have one car to work with!

 

Here's my steering column mount. I went through several revisions but I think this will be the final design. The tilt feature still works well, the column goes through its whole adjustment range smoothly. I ended up making the adapter 3/4" thick to nudge the steering column a little farther into the car. It's actually 2 pieces, a 3/8" thick adapter and a 3/8" thick spacer between that and the Borgeson universal mount. 3D printed TPU bushing between the 1.5" mount and the 35mm column. I will get the adapter made from aluminum, but the spacer will probably stay plastic, maybe I'll try some TPU there too for vibration damping.

 

It took me several tries to get the dimensions on the adapter right. The firewall bolt pattern is really odd, but I eventually figured it out. I have the CAD files if it would be helpful.

Edited March 7, 2023 by obsolete

[Mr_pat]

So catching myself up on the site since i havent been here in forever and reading over this build.. this project is coming along very nice .. That is some serious dedication .  Sorry to hear about your father.  loast mine 5 years ago this month as well .  Looking forward to seeing this  as it goes together . 

 

[BKB94]

So how much does a 5.0 weigh, 431 pounds as you see it. Thats motor mounts, 5qts of oil, flywheel pressure plate & disk, accessory brackets. Add the upper intake and accessories and you have full running weight. Unfortunately I did weigh the forklift engine when it was removed but never documented it. 

I installed it as a unit underneath to eliminate the possibility of chipping paint. 

[obsolete]

That's pretty light for an iron block V8! The T5 looks like it was made to be in that tunnel, too.

Rack swap also looks really nice. Are you happy with how the geometry turned out?

[BKB94]

The T-5 is a big part of what makes this swap so easy. Anything using a T56 or TR6060 adds a huge amount of work in recreating a tunnel and firewall modifications. This car could be swapped back to original easily. The rack having the wider body eliminates all the steering shaft geometry issues you are having. My angles are good and turning the wheel with the car in the air its smooth lock to lock. I do have some bump out but this could be fixed at the knuckle with Heims and spacers. I was already pretty vested in this rack so it is what it is. Header placement is a bit of an issue right now. The collector is really close to the shaft so some kind of mid length header would clear better. I'm cheap so the headers that came with the motor I have massaged once already, will try a little more before I give up. Looking at headers unfortunately the two that seem like a perfect fit are obsolete. The MN12 Thunderbird 5.0 are really tight against the block do to shock towers and the F150s move the drivers collector up one cylinder. I'm not prepared to buy expensive headers to experiment with. Looking for used headers but not much in my area. 

     Small rant. I sent my driveshaft out for quote and they are coming back at $750. This is for a 26" steel driveshaft using 1330 u-joints and mustang slip yoke and flange. My motorcraft mustang alluminum driveshaft was $150 at the local dealer in 2000, the last driveshaft was a really custom aluminum driveshaft with a adapter, CV joint, and over twice the length $450 shipped to my door. Thanks Biden, I guess I will be making it myself.

[obsolete]

Yeah, dealing with headers around a steering shaft sucks. Hopefully you can find a good solution that isn't a bunch of time or money.

What did you end up doing with the steering column at the firewall?

That quote seems pretty high to me. PST will make you a custom length 2" steel driveshaft that they rate for 500HP, with 1330 u-joints and slip yoke for under $400 shipped. Slap an adapter from MKS on the differential flange and you saved $150.

[BKB94]

Didn't tackle the steering shaft support yet. It will be simple pivoting bracket off of the steel structure around the brake booster support down to the shaft. Will take pictures when its done. The fine details I'm doing in the engine compartment take a lot of time.  I go a little crazy with wire protection, brackets / tabs to hold everything in place so chaffing is not an issue.  Driveshaft quotes so far are coming in within $50 of each other. Started to talk to some drifters to make sure I wasn't going nuts and most paid $150-200 for their custom steel driveshafts, They purchased 1-3 years ago. I'm going to talk to my boss and explain I need a 50-60% raise since everything has gotten so expensive.  Wife is a CPA, accountant so I get spread sheets on cost of living all by year and its really depressing. She has been nice and not tell me what the current tally is on the quest, I gave myself a $6500 budget and have no idea where I'm at. Anyways I'm sending out 8 more driveshaft quote requests tonight and see what happens. I can't start the car without the driveshaft since trans is dry and I can't / don't want to fill the trans and have a puddle on the floor. 

Update - Driveshaft ordered Full Torque Driveshafts 2.5 steel $485.  PST was my second choice at $560 but they only quoted aluminum with 1350 joints. So actually a better deal but 3", I didn't even measure to see if it was an issue. Went lowest bidder. MKS adapter is out of stock with no response to my question on ETA, so I will start on the adapter this weekend If I can find material.

Edited May 10, 2023 by BKB94

[BKB94]

Cooling fan - Ford uses high and low relays but does not keep the low engaged while high is on. Because of this you can't use a Derale 2 speed fan, they want both energized at the same time. So i got a Spal 14" pusher and used a .5 ohm 100 watt resister to give me a low speed and high speed on a one speed fan. This was the biggest fan I wanted to use without doing some creative things. Using OEM ford fans was the plan but they are 16-20".

AC - I crimped my lines today added 7oz of oil and charged them with N2 for now. I think it turned out pretty clean having everything on the passenger side of the car. Just need to add some clamps and maybe foam. Everything is new except the evaporator and it was flushed with a new R134 O-ring installed. Been a few hrs with no drop in pressure so I might have done something rite.

Edited May 12, 2023 by BKB94

[obsolete]

Congrats on a leak-free A/C system. Did you do reduced barrier hose or regular? I tried doing reduced for the first time on my Corvette last year and one of the crimps leaks. I think I'll just redo that hose with regular, I don't need the extra space or flexibility that badly.

Maybe these guys for the adapter: https://autosportsengineering.com/product/autosports-engineering-driveshaft-adapter-dodge-conquest-mitsubishi-starion-to-1310-1350-u-joint-flange/

Doesn't come the hardware and flange yoke like Mikie's does, but it's cheaper.

[BKB94]

I didn’t pull a vacuum on it so I’m not about to celebrate just yet. I ordered the cheap kits you see everywhere and it was labeled reduced barrier but I really have no idea what I got. The -6 and -8 both crimped with the reduced barrier dies but the -10 was too large and used regular dies. I think I have $500 in everything with the crimper,compressor and still enough of everything to make a few more hoses. It’s my first auto A/C system project and if she holds for a few  years I will be happy. 
 

The driveshaft is built and I went with the small pattern mark VIII flange. Pretty sure thats a different flange than either adapter is built for. I have a mark VIII sitting out back for ever that was to be my turbo drivetrain for my 67 mustang so I have a driveshaft to sacrifice.  
 

Hope to have some time tonight to work on exhaust.