My 427 SOHC Build..... Finally the time has come!

[machoneman]

Went into the garage to let it turn over again ( double check my work sort of speak) and found that the electrical tape coating on the braided ground strap melted off.  Honestly sending an arc anywhere throught the car again scares the crap out of me. So I cut a piece of battery terminal wire (2 gauge) i think and put fittings on both ends. I realize this is overkill on thickness, but these wires are made to take this kind of voltage and since they are sheathed in rubber ( heat resistant) it will reduce my chances of anythink like this on the future. Keys are in the photo to show scale

I'd say whoa but for a different reason. Perhaps some tranny binding has loaded the starter so heavily it's current draw is huge. Remember, you told us that at the very 1st hit, it spun over quite slowly. I'd make damn sure the engine turns over freely in neutral with that big beam wrench & socket on the crankshaft pulley bolt. Best to be sure, I say.

[cobracammer]

Alright,  also since I was under there, and the clutch line comes tomorrow, I wanted to finally see if I can get to the line without taking the trans out. I was able to get a wrench in there ( just barely) , but the I could only get like 1/6 turn... So i got my head rested on the creeper, and settled down for like 1000 turns. After 3 turns, i realized if i dropped the wrench, it would fall down into the bell housing and I wouldnt be able to get it. Went back into the house, got a long shoelace, tied one end to the wrench and the other to my wrist.  About 1 hour later, i got it off. Since it needs to have tefalon tape on it before the new hose goes on, i am going to get my wife to use her tiny hands to wrap some tape around it before I spend another hour tightening and bleeding the air out.

Another bit of info on the ground wire... I got it swapped out with the strap, and it works awesome!!!  I turned the engine over 3 or 4 times, then crawled back under to see.  The battery cable wasnt even hot. Plus the thick plastic coating helped not to ac anywjere. As stated above, i will dap a few more grounds around as i progess

[ScotiaFE]

Crows foot....

https://www.google.ca/search?q=crows+foot+wrench&biw=1585&bih=797&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=MU44VYz0Mo7moAT1yYCYAg&ved=0CDsQsAQ

[cobracammer]

Also wanted to let everyone know that the last time I turned the starter over, it sounded normally. The engine is not hung up and my previous description of the starter straining noise was most likely due to the battery. Battery all recharged and engine sounded like its dying to atart right up. As soon as i fix the throttle link issue, i will pop the coil wire back on and fire her up

You all have been immensely helpful through this whole process. Thank you again to everyone!

[cjshaker]

After 3 turns, i realized if i dropped the wrench, it would fall down into the bell housing and I wouldnt be able to get it. Went back into the house, got a long shoelace, tied one end to the wrench and the other to my wrist. 

You can't be a hot rodder with thinking like that! You've got to make dumb mistakes that require hours of excess work and lots of foul language....then you're a hot rodder 

[cobracammer]

LOL  Yea tell me about it.  I just knew I would drop it and there is no way to get to it.  My only issue now is that the fitting in the bearing needs tefalon tape on it before you put the new fitting back on.  Ill figure it out though  :0)  There were actually 2 burn through marks on the stainless line when I actually got it off to inspect.  The are small burnt circles about the size of a pencil eraser.....  such a small zap.... and hours of work! (That kinda qualifies as a stupid mistake causing hours of work......  HOTRODDER!)

I am going to go to home depot this weekend and buy a sheet of aluminum and make a bracket on the pedal for the throttle cable.  Currently there is a pigtail at the top for the electronic throttle control, but with that out of the way, I should be able to mock up 2 "L" shape brackets that I can bolt on either side of the pedal shaft.  At the top of the 2 "L" shape pieces, I will fab something to holt the clevis pin fitting on the end of the throttle cable.  I am going to use a manila folder to cut out mock ups of these brackets and then (while the pedal is still in the car) scribe where I want them and how far the should tilt back toward the firewall.  Then I can take the pedal out (3 bolts) and drill/bolt the aluminum brackets on.

All parts are being delivered today from Jegs :0)

[jayb]

You can't be a hot rodder with thinking like that! You've got to make dumb mistakes that require hours of excess work and lots of foul language....then you're a hot rodder 

Especially the foul language part 

[Heo]

There is liquid Teflonetape in a botle if it
is of any help.I dont remember the
brand of it maby locktite

[cobracammer]

Hey Heo.  Thanks but unfortunately there are like 3 warnings on RAM's kit telling you that if you use anything but actual tefalon tape, then there will (with 100% certainty) be leaks.  I will find a way to get Teflon tape on that fitting if I have to go find a 6 yr. old neighborhood kid to stick his arm up in there!  LOL


And even though I have the ground issue somewhat solved (want to add a few more straps for backup), I want to wrap the clutch lines in an insulator.

I was laughing (sweating) last night at the thought of what might have happened if I had the stainless braided fuel lines!!!!  They aren't near enough to the block, but WHAT IF  ?  LOL

I will keep you posted.

[KMcCullah]

I think at this point you should probably rethink how you are running ground wires to make sure the most draw is addressed the easiest

I would connect the negative side of the battery directly to the block and ensure that the connection is clear of paint and its a good contact

Then I would ground the body to the engine and potentially the body to the neg post of the battery if the battery cable has an extra jumper wire off it (not required but if it's there)

The starter will take the most voltage, and them you can be sure it has the ground directly.

Also, no benefit in turning over an engine until you are ready to fire it, it just turns dry.  I'd say set some time aside and fix it, then fire it.

X2 what Ross said. I'm surprised that the factory battery ground was not bolted to the block already.

 I just recently put a new engine in a 1999 F450 with a 7.3 diesel. I had to lift the cab/front clip off to get to the engine. It has 2 batteries wired in parallel and the ground ultimately terminates on the block. And from 2 or 3 different locations on the engine, ground straps connect to the frame. And from 2 or 3 different locations on the frame, ground straps connect to the cab/front clip. Good clean grounds are key in this age of computer controlled automotive systems.

[cobracammer]

OK so what it looked like was that there were 2 points where the old Saleen Modular block was grounded.  There was the Ground wire on the starter harness (the one I have been talking about) which was not long enough -by about 6 inches- to reach the Ford FE cammer block once it was swapped out.  I had no idea that it HAD to be grounded to the block, but knew it was a ground, so this is the one I grounded to the K member as it was the only thing it would reach.

The second was a ground strap (flat braided strap) which on a Saleen (Or ford Modular) connects to the drivers side head and opposite to a bolt under the cowl (on the fire wall).  Being a novice, I had no idea about 2 things.....  1st that an engine block had to be grounded (just learned by reading that the starter doesn't have a ground wire, but actually is grounded to the block and thus the block needed to be grounded)

2nd, I had no idea in H*LL what that ground strap was on the firewall (I was actually using it as a string of sorts to hold the engine harness up out of the way  LOL

This is why I am in the Burnt out clutch feed line situation.

when I thought I could use the engine ground strap (the flat braided one) to ground the block to the chassis, it worked....  but the "current" from the starter actually melted the plastic coating off of the strap.  That made me nervous, so I fabricated my own 2 gauge battery cable ground strap.  One end is sandwiched between the starters lover bolt and the block and the other end is attached to the same mounting point on the K member I was using in error before.  When I craned the engine this time (just to test it), I rolled back under the car and felt the wire.  It was nice and cold, so at least I know what I start the car, the thick gauge wire can handle it without melting and arcing on something.  Now, even though I feel pretty confident in my heavy gauge ground, I will still run the flat braided ground strap (the one I got off the firewall) at another point..... just as a secondary (backup).

There are a fashionable butt load of ground wires on this car with all of the electronics....  and I left every and any of them I found alone.  The only ones I removed were the ground strap and the block ground.  all should be just as it was when the modular engine was in there as soon as I replace the flat braided strap (as far as grounds are concerned).

I guarantee I will never make that mistake again!  LOL  What I was also sort of curious about it....  If I didn't have that braided clutch line....  where that current would have found its way out at???  LOL

[Drew Pojedinec]

Especially the foul language part 

huh.... maybe it's just me, but I always thought people from your state talked like Ned Flanders from the Simpsons.  If you swore it'd be something like "gosh darn, dangit!"  and then you'd promptly apologize for losing your cool and speaking like that.
But what do I know?

[jayb]

"Minnesota Nice" is just a cover... 

[WConley]

I do remember hearing the term "Holy Buckets" a few times in Jay's shop.   

Maybe I've never seen him mad enough to go beyond the Minnesota Nice.  Next time I'll have to come out when it's time to install Hooker Super Comp headers in a 67 - 70 Mustang with shock towers!

[cobracammer]

HAHAHA...... "Diggity dag-nabbit!"

OK so honestly I could not wait.  I was sitting on the couch last night and I could hear the freshly delivered boxes of parts calling to me from the counter.  After trying to ignore them for a bit, I decided to retire to the man cave.....

I had noticed that when I removed the old line, Most of the Teflon tape was still on the fitting.  Honestly, I started out just making sure I could get the new line in at the funky angle it comes (through an opening in the bell housing spacer and then to the bearing.  But once I had finagled it to line up, I figured "Why not just tighten it up while I'm down here....  whats the worst thing that can happen?  It leaks and I have to take it back off and figure out adding more tefalon?".....  So that's just what I did.  I put the Ol'e wrench with the shoe string back on and slowly went to tightening it.  Once that was done, I fished up up back through to the clutch on the firewall.  This fitting I was able to very easily put a little teflon tape on before tightening it on the new line.  Then I just insert it into the firewall fitting and put the retaining clip back in.

I had the wife assist me with the bleeding process.  The RAM hydraulic setup actually comes with a separate line with a bleed fitting on the end.  With in a few pumps, all the air was out and I tightened up the bleed fitting and tie strapped it back up out of the way.

Before she got out of the car, I asked her to push the clutch to the floor a few times while I inspected in the bell housing for any leaks.....  Luckily (and fingers crossed going forward) No Leaks!!

Then just to double check, I asked her to push it down a few more times while looking at the fitting on the fire wall....  again, no leaks!  Like I said before though...  fingers crossed going forward.

Lastly, I have the throttle cable.  I did not start on it, but I found something interesting.  While searching for bracket ideas, I came across a mustang forum (cant remember the name now), but a guy just this past November who was putting a 427W (dart block) into a 2012 Mustang (V6)....  Looked nice, sounded even sweeter.  But when it came time for him to do the gas pedal swap, he found that any fox bodied mustang pedal will bolt up to the studs.  Even though the newer mustangs have 3 mounting points on their pedal, the 2 on a fox body pedal line perfectly with the 2 left side ones.  Unfortunately, this puts the pedal really really close to the brake.  In order to fix this, he made a flat plate of aluminum the same shape as the newer mustangs mounting points..... then just drilled 2 mounting holes for the fox body pedal off center to the right to move the pedal to a more agronomical spot.  Problem solved.  I like my pedal, so I will just try adding a bolt on lever arm at the top that pulls the throttle cable when I push down on the pedal.....  if that doesn't work, Ill just spring for a $30.00 fox body pedal  :0)