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

[jayb]

That's a good idea, the power wires on an MSD move a lot of current and can create a lot of radio interference.  My old MSD-7 used to fuzz the neighbors TV when I drove by, back in the broadcast days...

Also a capacitor like the MSD cap, put between the power lines right up at the MSD and the EFI box, is very useful for eliminating interference.

[cobracammer]

Thanks Jay.  I do remember that you had mentioned that capacitor idea earlier in the forum posts.  I will definitely look into that while running these harnesses inside the cab.
 

[mmason]

It will also protect the MSD box from voltage spikes. Here is a quote from MSD.
Along with reducing or eliminating line noise, the 8830 filter will also guard against heavy voltage spikes or surges. Our ignition controls themselves are desinged in such a way that moderate fluctuations in the electrical system will not affect them. However, because the ignition is tied directly to the battery, there may be an instant where a large spike or surge can adamage the unit. Some of the causes can be linked to a low battery, defective alternator, welding on the vehicle, or using a battery charger to start the engine.

[mbrunson427]

If you have any problems with the fans, look into this......

http://www.moparpartssource.com/p/Dodge__/FAN-MODULE--RADIATOR-Engine-Cooling--Radiator-Cooling/42204314/04854720AA.html

I know, i know, its MOPAR stuff.....but its a fan assembly from a Viper. Rated at 3000 CFM on low speed and 4000 CFM on high speed. A lot of the turbo guys use them to get the heat out of the engine compartments. I know Nelson Racing Engines uses them on most of their builds. Start watching at 14:30... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyeotHRZ-XI

[jmlay]

If you are so inclined you could pull the wires from the connector & cut a smaller hole, feed the wires through & re-install the connector. Anothe roption would be to obtain a bulkhead connector with the correct number of connections.

[cobracammer]

Ok  today was slighty cooler, so into the garage I went.  Until the grommets come, i can not pull the computer harness into the "cockpit".  So today I pulled out the old Panhard bar and slipped in the BMR adjustable one.  Its a little thicker that the stock one, but it just cleared the currie rear end- just cleared.  After a few adjustments and measurements, we are within the 1/4 inch of tolerance from even. 

I got the 16" Spal pusher fan yesterday and will mount that on the front with the mounting hardware that it came with.  I also already have the wiring completely run from tye ECU through the FAST fan relay with the wire hanging there to connect to the fan.  Yesterday the adapter was delivered as well to insert the last sender ( oil temp) into the extra bung in the front oil pan sump.  1/2-20 male with 1/8 NPT female.  Took a while to track this part down, so hopefully it works fine.

[cobracammer]

Was working on the wiring again last night.  Moved the power supply lines for the dual fuel pumps to the Buss Bar now.  Last and only 2 items on the Batter directly are the ECU and the Ignition box.  The directions for both of these said their power wires must go directly to the battery, so I will leave them there (since all 5 spots on the Buss bar are not accounted for).

While I in there, I decided I wanted to give the grounding "situation" another look.  So the OEM ground wire that goes to the battery, I had flattened out and bolted to the engine block by way of one of the motor mount bolts.  I then have the starter grounded with the mini battery cable I made a few months ago.  One side is grounded to a roughed up spot on the K member (roughed up because of the thick powder coating) and the other I put on the end of one of the starter bolts.  I didn't put it under the head of the bolt, but on the end of the bolt that protrudes out of the back of the bell housing.  Lastly, there was the little braided grounding strap that was originally on the modular engine I pulled.  Normally, this braided grounding strap was connected to the back of one of the heads, and then the other side was connected to a grounding stud on the firewall.  I actually saw that there is an off nodular part on the block right behind where the alternator mounts, there is a threaded hole in there, and perfectly, there is an unused bolt on the chassis right across from it.  I installed the braided strap there because of 2 reasons.  First, not you cant see it and second, it seemed like a better place to have the current travel (closer to the starter) than having it make it all the way over to the drivers side head. (learned to be a little more cautious since the steel braided hydraulic hoses for the clutch got burned up last time I didn't ground well).

Still waiting on the grommets to put the ECU under the dash, so while I wait, I need to drill out the brass adapter I purchased for the oil temp sender.  As mentioned earlier, I managed to track down one with the correct threads on the female and male ends, but it is a part used in braking systems.  So the male end has a concave end to it with a reduced diameter hole.  I want to carefully put it in the vice and then drill press it a little at a time to open up the hole without hurting the threads inside.

Other than that, system has coolant in it (as much as would fit with the thermostat closed) and I now need to fill it up with oil (after installing the sender into the pan bung).  :0)

[cobracammer]

OK, last night I picked up the appropriate size hole saw (1-3/8") in order to use the new grommets I purchased to run the EFI harness through the firewall.  In getting ready to dive in, I thought to myself, " how reliable is the information I found online about the unused oval firewall plug/pass through that I planned on utilizing?  So I put the frill down and popped out the plug to feel around inside with my finger.  It felt like heater/AC vent hose material, but I wasn't sure.  So looking under the dashboard by the glove box, I tried to see what it would be, but like everywhere else in this car, there is no spare space!  Under the dashboard is full of "stuff" with no room to see or feel around.  So then I tried shining my light into the hole in the engine compartment to see if I could see light under in the car.  No Luck.  Then it hit me.  It wasn't the AC/Heater vent hose I was seeing. It was the cabin Air filter (which I am guessing) is inside the heater box?  Unsure.

So luckily I did not drill out that hole.  After about 30 min or so of feeling around ( I cant explain how little to no room there is in that engine bay with the Cammer engine in there)....  I saw what looks like a rubber "Duck Bill" lower on the fire wall.  In Googling this, its a drain for water that gets in the cowl vents.  That wouldn't work either, but then I felt what ended up being another unused oval plug on the firewall (Much like the first one that lead to the air filter).  Its roughly at the corner of the passenger head but on the firewall.   I pushed a screwdriver into the hole after popping out the plug, and then went into the car to see where it came out.  Luckily There was the end of the screwdriver popping out of the foam insulation mat right above where the carpet ends under the passenger side dash.  Perfect!  Then I took the 1-3/8" hole saw (using the screwdriver hole as reference of the center, and cut away the foam insulation.  Dead on.  There was the oval hole in the firewall and I could see into the engine compartment.  A few seconds later and I had my hole to pass through the EFI wire harness.

Since the Grommets will fit snug on the harness, it cant really be slid up the harness from either end.  I think I will have to slit it with a razor, and then after pulling the harness through the hole and into position, I can tuck the grommet in around the harness (hopefully).  I will be doing this tomorrow.  Hopefully I can then reinstall the battery, pump out the fuel (into my lawn tractor), refill and start!

[cobracammer]

Another small update on the way to the "promise land"  LOL.

I was able to get the wire harness through the firewall finally!  Unfortunately, the firewall grommet can not be slid on to the harness from either end.  With this being the case, I took a straight edge razor and slit one side of the grommet.  After getting the harness through the hole (carefully because of the sharp metal), I then "fished" the grommet around the harness wire bundle.  It took a bit of contorting just given that the pass through is under the dash, but I got it installed that the hole and grommet size was a perfect fit! Thank you Hot Rod Magazine article  LOL

Then it was just a matter of hooking back up all 8 injectors, MAP sensor, throttle position sensor, air temp sensor, coolant temp sensor, Power, Ground, and the fan relay.....  Long story short, we are back in business with almost no "birds nest" of wires left.

Ordered 2 different methods of attachment points for the large Spal pusher fan.  I got these plastic zip tie's type system for which you basically pin the fan to the radiator through the fins with zip tie's.   And then I picked up 4 metal brackets offered by Spal.  These basically require you to drill into the radiator surround (of the chassis depending on your application) and it bolts the fan to the front of the radiator.  I actually chose the metal brackets since in order to use the zip tie system, I would have had to remove the puller fans and the shroud in order to access the zip ties from the inside.  Didn't want to bother with that, and I feel better with the metal brackets holding the fan to the front.  So in total, there is about 3500 CFM worth of fans now on the 3 core radiator.  I will set the pusher fan to come on through the ECU at about 180 degrees, and the 2 puller fans will be controlled with the toggle switch on engine start and run constantly.

I just need to Run the Sender wires for the oil temp, oil pressure and coolant temp to the gauges, and then each gauge to a 12V Switched power source (for which I purchased another mini buss bar to make that way easier).......  And I am ready to swap fuel and Drive!

[cobracammer]

Question......

I have since relocated the Degas bottle from the passenger Side radiator mount, to the Drivers side front of the wheel tub mount.  I am not just realizing that when it was the OEM 4.6 Modular motor, that the Degas bottle was the highest point in the coolant system.  With the Cammer engine, the engine sits at about the same height as the Modular motor, but the long "elephant trunk" style water neck comes up pretty high.  When I moved the degas bottle to the drivers side wheel tub location (still in the engine bay), I may have gained an inch (estimate), but I think the water neck is now even with the degas bottle.

2 part question......:

1) Was the overflow from the degas bottle when I ran this engine last year partly due to the fact that it was lower than the water neck?

2) Does the degas bottle need to be higher than the water neck or will about even do?  Hard to get much higher as the bottle is touching the hood heat matting at this height.

Thoughts?

[jmlay]

The top of the bottle should be highest point I the cooling system. Air will seam the hugest point. If the bottle is lower it will not assist in degassing the cooling system.

[cobracammer]

wanted to post some pictures (Not the best).  The first photo below shows the engine before I installed the EFI throttle bodies, throttle linkage and "straightened up" the wiring.  As you can see, it kind of looked a little like rainbow spaghetti on the Passenger side:




The Photo below was taken this past weekend.  As you can see, the throttle bodies have been installed as well as the linkage.  The coolant system is all hooked up and has been filled as far as possible with the thermostat closed.  Its not in the photo, but the coolant reservoir was moved over to the Drivers side (which makes more sense since it feeds into the lower radiator hose).  As stated before, its about an inch to 1.5 inches higher up in the system now.  More importantly, you can see the mini buss bar on the passenger side shock tower as well as the fact that the EFI harness is now mostly in the car and not in the engine bay.  Its all hooked up already so the wiring is all set!




Finally, I was really trying to get my iPhone down into the front grill to get a photo of the ancillary Pusher set up.  I was really impressed with the ease of installation.  As I may have stated before (probably a few times), its a Pusher Spal S-Blade fan.  Its 16" in diameter and will hopefully add 2000+ CFM's when the ECU kicks it on.  I installed it on the front of the radiator with a rubberized "skirt" from Spal (just so it would rattle and rub on the fins of the radiator....  plus gives a fraction of an inch of space between the fan blades and radiator.  Then, there are 4 metal brackets which attach to the Spal fan at its mounting points, and are screwed to the 4 corners of the radiator. The 2 metal "things" cutting across the photo is the power steering fluid cooling lines which bolt to the bottom of the radiator.  No interference at all with the fan.  I feel a lot more confident now with the whole cooling set up, so fingers crossed.

[cobracammer]

Small update on what seems and feels like an obnoxious wait to turn the key.....

Ran the sender wire from the Oil pressure sender to the gauge (which is mounted in the dash above the radio (in an AC duct insert).  I then ran the ground wire from the back of the gauge to a grounding bolt located in the passenger side kick panel fuse box (there is a bolt and nut in there specifically used for grounding).  I went to run the 12V switched power, and realized I did not have enough wire.  But before running out to store, I wanted to install the other mini buss bar.  This mini bus bar will be used for all of the 12V switched powers I need.  I get 12V switched power from an unused fuse location in the kick panel.  I ran the Add a fuse to the mini buss bar and then proceeded to hook up all of the 12V switched power (that were already run).  I then ran up to the store and got another roll of red and black wire, but upon returning home (later that evening), I did not have enough "ring" connectors.  I wanted to cry.  Luckily when I was out, I picked up 8 qts of 10W30 motor oil (So not a total waste).  2 out of 3 things "ain't" bad. *** In re-reading the email from Jay after the engine was Dyno tested, he got the best results with 10 quarts of oil (so I will need a bit more).  He suggested 8 quarts with a 3 qt accusump system.  This will definitely be something I get installed, but for now, I think I will put 2 additional quarts in it just so I am safe from oil starvation while getting the tune on the ecu dialed in.***

Although I did not run the sender wires for the coolant temp or the oil temp, I wanted to get oil pressure hooked up first so I can verify oil pressure before start up.  The FAST ecu has coolant temp on the display, so my gauge is redundant (while the handheld is connected).  Last item to run is the 12V switched wire from the gauge to the kick panel, and I can start her up.

On a side note, when I pumped out the fuel that was in the tank, I pumped it right into my lawn tractor.  What was weird was that this weekend I mowed the yard, and I have never had the tractor run that well.  It always used to sputter at full throttle, but with the old 93 octane from the Saleen, I throttled up on the lawn mower and it ran perfectly!  Good sign.

[cobracammer]

Ok  help needed!

Today was the day,  got the oil pressure gauge wired up.  Got the 10 qts of oil in, coolant topped off, all ecu wiring double checked, went over the starter to frame ground, the frame to engine and the engine to battery grounds... All tight.  Removed old gas and put in new 93 octane, removed the coil wire to turn the engine over until I get oil pressure on the gauge, turned the key,,,,, and nothing!  Reminds me of when I did not have a good ground on the starter on the first go around.  No click or anything.  The oil pressure gauge came to life, fuel pumps are working fine, MSD box light is on, but no starter......  Any thoughts?

[Tboggus]

Remote starter solenoid? Check power there. If good, go to starter. Might need two folks. One to turn switch, one to check power.