Gary Lewis

Yep, I twigged. But it won't be too hard to fix as everything I need is there under the dash. And, while I'm in there I think I'll fix the bit about BOO to the speed control vs to the ECU. The speed control needs the signal after the clutch switch to know that either the brake or the clutch pedal has been pushed. The ECU wants just the brake, so needs to come off between the brake switch and the clutch switch. I wonder if I need to put a diode across the starter relay? I don't see one in the EVTM, but surely there's quite a bit of kick from that rather large coil. And yes, a big block of solid state is hard to figure out. The '96 EVTM does have some comments here and there about what this does or that does, but they are pretty sparse. It would be nice to have a writeup that tells what each signal/pin does. As for jumping the starter relay to get it started, I see what you mean. Unless you have someone in the cab holding the clutch down the ECU is not going to be happy.

Now THAT is a unicorn! A California-spec 460 with EEC-V complete with MAF - as seen below. Should be an E4OD and ought to get the best mileage any 460 can get - which isn't all that good. Decent buy for that price. Bill - How many of those have you seen?

It is good that the AFR is consistent across all those speeds. I still think you need to lean it out some if you want better economy. But if it is running well then maybe you are happy? However, I think your idle AFR is a bit lean. In my experience things have worked better with an idle mix closer to 12:1. But again, if your engine is happy then maybe you don't want to change it.

Jim - I think you are right! That's what I was missing. Thank you! Bill - I'm sure that's what you were saying as well, but somehow it wasn't coming across to me. Not your fault, but mine. So, I guess I need to provide that circuit to the ECU. I'll have to find that pin with the LB/Y wire, add it to the connector, and then find the R/LB wire after the clutch switch and tie it to the LB/Y wire. Thanks, guys. Not what I wanted to hear, but it is what I needed to here.

Amazing!

I think the transfer case will be lower, but time will tell. And I am planning on putting a skid plate under the transfer case. I don't know exactly what it will look like or where it will attach yet. That all is yet to be determined. The plan is to re-box it by welding pieces in. I might also plate the outside of the frame. But I don't have much room for a channel there. It's wide open now, but that's where the aux fuel tank lives. I pulled that out for the drivers side rock slider last year and left it out until this project is done. But I do want to put it back in. The strength of a frame is in the top and bottom flanges, with the sides mostly supplying the strength to keep the flanges in place. That's why Ford was able to put holes in the frames, and why bridges have webbing keeping the flanges apart. Cutting as you have had to do to rotate the Atlas up has significantly weakened the lower flange, so you need some way to give it some strength. If you can't put channel on the outside due to the tank how about a piece of angle with the flange at the bottom? Or, drop down and go under the notch, possibly incorporating the strengthening into the skid plate's mount?

It looks like with the radius arms back in the stock position that the radius arm brackets and the Atlas will both have about the same clearance. Could you put a plate off the radius arm bracket to protect the Atlas and call it good? And how are you going to reinforce the frame? Can you lay a piece of channel the same height as the frame on the outside and weld it on?

Bill - The schematics below show what I think they are saying for a manual transmission. But I find that really strange since it says that for a manual transmission the ECU pulls the start relay in, and for an automatic the key does. What am I missing?

So glad to see that you like the Blue Top that well, John. Speaks highly of them and their work. As for getting that shaft apart, I assume you tried the slide hammer and it wouldn't budge. Glad the other cover worked out.

Congrat's, John! It looks great.

I'm going to have to study those schematics, but it sure looks to me like the ECU is all that connects to the high side of the starter relay. Going to watch a movie but will work on it later.

Then I'd aim for 14.5 - 15 at 50 MPH.

Happy Easter! That seat looks good. I've never done that kind of work, but what you have looks lots better than what I think I could do.

Oh my goodness! I'd not ever looked at that thing! Ok, it looks to me like the ECU pulls the starter relay in. It supplies power on the LB/Y wire from Pin 64 and that goes through the left switch in the CPP then down through A to the starter relay. But I'm not using that to pull in the starter as I'm still using the '85 starter wiring through the ignition switch and the clutch switch. I don't think the computer will know, so all should be good. But the speed control circuit is as I drew it above, with the brake on/off switch in series with the right switch of the CPP. And that's how I have it wired. So that's good. But I haven't figured out what the center switch of the CPP goes to. Circuit 33 nor W/PK are used to the ECU, and GY/Y is only used with the Canister Purge Solenoid, which says "Not Used". Guess I won't worry about it. But back to my question: Will the ECU care that its Turn/Stop/Hazard lamp input goes wonky when I push the clutch in and it sees neither ground through the bulbs or 12v via the brake switch?

Nice! Not a bad price and shipping isn't too bad either.

I think you are still too rich and are burning too much fuel. But you should check the AFR at a higher speed if you can since I've seen it lean out some above 50 MPH. If it stays around 13.5 I'd go ahead and change to smaller jets and see if you can get it to 14.5 to 15 at about 65. However, I should ask what speeds you drive at? I've not driven out in the country, although I have in Stavanger, but from what I've seen the roads seemed fairly small with few straight sections. So do you get up to 65?

And at the risk of making Bill, or anyone else for that matter, miss my question above re the clutch switch, I'll post a couple of pics with a bit more black to hide the shiny aluminium. I installed the intake hoses. Now it is ready for the next step, which is to set the timing, but that will have to wait for another day. First, here's the front view: And here's the side view:

I think I've worked out what the issue is - I wired it the '85 way and not the '96 way. Bill - In your estimation is this going to be an issue? I can't imagine why the computer really needs to know when the brakes are applied on a manual tranny. But what will it do when the input is neither ground or 12v, which is what will happen when the clutch pedal is depressed? On the left is the '96 wiring with two different branches, one with the clutch switch to the speed control and one w/o the clutch switch to the ECU. On the right is mine with one circuit serving both speed control and ECU. I'd like to leave it that way just for simplicity as I'd need to get back into the harness to change that, but can if I should.

Excellent! But how many gas/petrol stations are between you and it? May cost you more to get it home than you paid since that 460 won't pass any of them w/o stopping to fill up.

Stir the tanks maybe the proper term NASA used. No EVA! Just referring to Apollo 13’s mishap. Your engine bay reminds me of spacecraft back in the day. And I agree with Jim, looks good and a lot of work! Hadn’t thought of the weight, probably a wee bit heavier! Dane - I'm guessing the aluminum insulation is what makes you think "space craft"? Jim - I'll try to remember to do a video when it comes time to start it. (Notice I didn't say "try" to start it. ) Time for a midday report. Checked everything from the ECU's connector and it all works, save for the very last thing to test - BOO: Brake On/Off. Looking at the schematics I see that there is one circuit in the '85: Fuse > Stop Lamp Switch > Clutch Switch > Speed Control. But in the '96 there are two circuits: Fuse > Stop Lamp Switch > ECU (BOO) & Fuse > Clutch Switch > Speed Control. I'm afraid I somehow merged the two '96 circuits, so am now trying to get my head around what I've done. Also, I re-discovered a red wire under the dash that goes from the trailer brake controller to the brake switch. So obviously now is the time to add that one in.

Yep, and yep. And yep about the deal having "gone down". I'm sure that wasn't what you originally meant, but ask anyone that was at Sears, and things went D.O.W.N. Anyway, you are right that a lot can change 'twixt now and Octoberish, and I'm going to remain flexible. The trip may not happen, but it won't be Bret's fault. However, I'm going to do everything I can to be ready, inc getting Big Blue in shape. So, back to the testing. So far it is going well.

Yes, when the rats are leaving it tells you something. But if he can hold on for a while the promotion will be a big benefit in the future. On the other hand, if he comes up with the right job in the interim… I wasn’t going to ask about the commitment of time this fall as I assumed the answer would be that he won’t be able to. But yesterday he said he still plans on it. However, I will fully understand if he can’t when the time comes.

You mean like "And If It Wouldn't Be Too Much, I'd Like To Get Something For You, Clark ... Something Real Nice." What he really means is that he's going to carve out time to do it. And he is one BUSY beaver! (He was one of three guys reporting to the boss. Over a period of a few weeks the other two and then the boss turned in their resignations. He got promoted and now has the work of four plus he's having to interview to fill all of the openings.) It will be good for both of us. But it won't be a week. Probably a long weekend. The idea at this point is that he'll fly into Little Rock and I'll pick him up there and we'll hit the trail that afternoon.

Guys, I have a philosophy question for you: Where should we put scanned documents? Basically I see two options: Tabbed: In this approach I can put several documents with similar content on one page. For instance, I have two or three booklets on how engines operate, and could put them on the same page. Standalone Page: With this approach each document/booklet would be on its own page. Perhaps the documents with similar content could be grouped under one heading in the menu. For instance we could have a page on Engine Operation and then have two pages under that for the two booklets. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, of course. In the tabbed approach an advantage is that it is easy to find the documents once you find the page, and you can read all of the documents we have on that topic with ease. But there are at least two disadvantages: First, in our spreadsheet showing what documentation we have (Manuals & Literature) I can only put a link to the page, not the tab, so when you click the link you are on the page but still have to find the tab. Second, tabbed content will not be found via a Google search. So those documents are effectively hidden. In the by-page approach I will have the ability to put a link directly to the document in the spreadsheet, which is effectively our library's card catalog. And that document will sorta be found via a Google search if I put some text up top that 'splains what's in the document. But the disadvantage is that this approach ups the number of pages we have, and all of those pages add to the complexity of the menu. Thoughts, please?

I played with the air cleaner I built for Dad's truck by using my Mityvac and heating the air with a heat gun. That let me watch what the flap did and I could see it worked well. But other than something like that I don't know that I have a good suggestion. Unless you have a way to measure temps remotely. In that case you could put the sensor in the air cleaner and drive the truck, watching to see what happens.