Gary Lewis

Jim - What part # are you seeing? Here's the Amazon listing for the PN I found - $34.93.

Looks like you have more cam than I have. That FB page says the cam is "Custom ground SD EFI friendly 207 / 219 / 113.6 LSA in at 107.5 ICL for chain stretch", and I found my notes that say it has .500/.525 lift. As for the valve covers, they should look "just like that" as the powder came out of the same bottle. Had thought I might do the timing cover with the same powder, but I just realized that the timing cover needs to be on in order to put the water pump on, and I want to paint the water pump blue with the block and heads. So, I guess the timing cover will be painted blue as well. And, speaking of the water pump, I remember you pointing out that Huck's engine didn't have the backing plate on the water pump, which is what broke the bracket. Apparently water pumps don't come with the backing plate as the one I got from Scott doesn't have it. Where do I get one? Guess I'll go look in the MPC..... Ok, the Cover (Water Pump) is part number C8SZ 8508-A, and it is amazing the price differences I found with this Google search. From $20.70 to $39.98. With shipping it comes to basically $30 from Ford Parts Giant, and it is on its way.

Looks like you have more cam than I have. That FB page says the cam is "Custom ground SD EFI friendly 207 / 219 / 113.6 LSA in at 107.5 ICL for chain stretch", and I found my notes that say it has .500/.525 lift. As for the valve covers, they should look "just like that" as the powder came out of the same bottle. Had thought I might do the timing cover with the same powder, but I just realized that the timing cover needs to be on in order to put the water pump on, and I want to paint the water pump blue with the block and heads. So, I guess the timing cover will be painted blue as well. And, speaking of the water pump, I remember you pointing out that Huck's engine didn't have the backing plate on the water pump, which is what broke the bracket. Apparently water pumps don't come with the backing plate as the one I got from Scott doesn't have it. Where do I get one? Guess I'll go look in the MPC.....

David & Jim - Was busy composing my last post so didn't see yours. Maybe mine answered yours? As for what I did today, I transformed a couple more parts:

I'm guessing the choke isn't coming on fully. Did you press the throttle down before trying to start it? That is a MUST as it allows the choke to set, and without the choke it won't start. If you did push the pedal down then you need to see if the choke is coming on. Pull the air cleaner and see where the choke is sitting and then open the throttle a bit and the choke should close fully, or almost fully.

If the Fitech sits where a carb goes then it is "throttle body". That means the fuel has to find its way down the loooooong manifold branches and can fall out of suspension. Instead port-injection like the factory did is a better solution. However, I don't know about the horror stories. I've not heard them, but then I've not been listening for them either. And it should be pretty straightforward to swap engines and gain the EFI.

Jim - Scott says that it is a custom cam, called Voo Doo, and you can see the specs on this FB page where he documents the EFI engine he builds. And, other than the heads my short block is basically that engine. That came in a conversation with him just now re how to check push rod length. (I will have to have new push rods as the walls on the OE ones I have are too thin and "will pretzel" according to Scott.) And here's the instructions: 1. Bring #1 up on TDC on the compression stroke 2. Install the OE push rods and rockers for the intake and exhaust valves for #1 3. Tighten the bolt down slowly on each rocker until all of the slack has been taken out of the valve train 4. Then carefully turn the rocker bolt until the rocker is down against the head and count the turns required to do so The right length push rod, which he expects to be 8.550", will take 1/4 to 1/2 turn to pull the rocker down. But my 8.592" rods will probably take over 1 full turn. Anyway, I'll call and tell him how many turns and he'll know which rods to ship me.

Ok, as things are washing and cooling, I have a question to ask of Scotty: How do I check for the right pushrod length? Looks like I have Sealed Power RP-3288's as that's what they say on them, which are supposed to be 8.592" long.

Thanks, David. Even if it is OTT? Mid-day update. I awoke in the middle of the night worried that I'd not kept the rocker arm seats and the rocker arms themselves in pairs when I bagged them. And if not I've heard you risk them galling and then failing. But, I did keep them paired, and they are now in the parts washer. Meanwhile the cast aluminum valve covers are cooling after their one hour baking at 400 degrees to drive off the impurities in the recesses. Otherwise that stuff vaporizes and blows the powder off when you cure the powder, leaving holes that look like fish eyes in paint. Then I'll rinse them with brake cleaner again, dry them with heat, and then coat them with powder.

Well done! That's good news.

Jim - What I was worried about was keeping the rockers and the rocker arms together as pairs. The illustration below shows what I'm talking about. Fortunately I just checked and I did keep them together! I'm running them through the parts washer now and will have them ready for the build.

I think the van is a better option than the Lincoln. More parts that fit. But if the van is EEC-IV then that limits what you can do later because it is speed density, meaning it thinks it knows how much air the engine is ingesting based on the RPM and the density of the air. But if you change much, like the cam, then the 'puter will be wrong in its assumptions. And I don't know how far you can push it w/o having a problem. But, it would already come with the better manifolds, right? Maybe that's enough? And, it would be multi-port injection. Is the Fitech MPI or throttle body? However, it is possible the van is really EEC-V, which would be the best of all worlds. Check it out!

That's being kind, Jim. Crazy might be closer. Somebody's father would have replied, "if that was meant as a compliment, then I thank you!" David - I suppose you are right. Jim - I’ll show my ignorance, but are 460 rockers like others that are two part and the parts should be kept together?

It certainly is a nice truck. So that's what the burled wood bezels are supposed to look like?! But I'm not sure the shift collar is bare. I think it might be semi-gloss black and catching reflections.

I'm painting the heads and the block. And maybe the pan, which is black and in good shape but could be better. Or I may leave the old pan on that Scott sent with the short block, and paint it that way and then install the better pan. Haven't decided. So, blue or black pan? As for the old push rods, that would work. But, I had a middle-of-the-night thought - did I keep the parts together as I took them off of Huck's engine? I may have just dropped them all into a bag as I didn't expect to use them.

That WOULD be a good solution! I think a '95 will have an E4OD, but it might also be a 4R100 as some place in there was the cutover. But the transmissions are almost identical, with the 4R being a bit better due to some improvements. Coupling either of those transmissions to your 300 up front and 3.00 out back will give you really tall gearing once it drops into OD. But you'll either have to EFI your current engine or swap the "new" engine in, or do the standalone controller bit we discussed. As for troubleshooting the miss, the computer may be recording it. Do you have a scan .... Oh wait! '95 might still be EEC-IV and not V. If IV then it probably won't be OBD-II, although some say that a few IV's had it, although it might not be fully functional. 96 was when OBD-II was mandated, but some changed earlier. You'll have to find out what it is. If it is OBD-II the computer should be storing codes if it is detecting the misfire. Not sure what EEC-IV detects. If it isn't detecting it then it may just be a bad plug or plug wire.

I've used a spark plug gapping tool, the ones with the single wire rather than the loop.

I've had good luck calling LMC. It was a few years ago about mechanical clutch linkage parts, but the lady I drew knew what she was talking about.

Cory - Yep, that pretty much describes Big Blue: a heart of gold and a rough exterior. But the exterior may get abused a bit going to the back of beyond, so it'll stay the way it is for now. Jim - I know in my heart you are right, but I've spent so much time awa money on this engine (and the front suspension) that I want it to look good. And I think I'm just about "there" with the parts to be PC'd. I still have the valve covers, which I may get to today. And perhaps another bracket or two, but I'm ready to start assembling when the head bolts come in. Which brings me to the assembly order. Scott already has the lifters in so has cautioned me not to roll the engine over on the stand until I get the heads on. So here's my thinking: 1. Install heads 2. Install lower plenum 3. Determine the needed push rod length and get them on order from Scott if needed, and he thinks different length rods, or rocker shims, will be needed since the block has been decked and the heads shaved. 4. While awaiting the push rods or shims roll the engine over and install the pan. (The heads should hold the lifters, right?) 5. Install timing cover and water pump 6. Paint block 7. Install push rods/shims 8. Install valve covers Does this seem a reasonable order? What am I missing?

Kind words, Darin. Thank you.

My name is Gary, and I have a problem. Every once in a while I can go for up to two weeks at a time w/o working on my truck, but then the vacation/cruise/Christmas visit is over and there I am again, "upgrading" something.

Seriously, I don't want Big Blue to be a trailer queen! But, maybe it is ok for the engine to be pretty?

Yebbut, the heating bill sure is low. Seriously, after running the air compressor for hours blasting the parts and PC'ing them, 400 degrees for maybe an hour doesn't seem to hurt the bill enough to notice.

That's being kind, Jim. Crazy might be closer. The truth is that I don't know where to draw the line. Months ago I took a look at the upper and lower plenums and decided that they were pretty grisly and needed powder coated. Now, with those done the valve covers look poor, so I'll PC them as well. But all of the fasteners were rusty, so.....

What I did was to convert the 79 pieces on the left to the ones on the right: