Big Blue's Transformation

[85lebaront2]

That makes sense. The dash support runs diagonally up to the firewall from just inboard of the speed control mount, and it is causing a bit of a problem with the way I was trying to mount it. But if I turn the ECU up/down and fore/aft then it might slip right up the side of that support.

And, that would work better with the wiring as that will put it pretty well lined up with the hole in the firewall. Installing it the way I was trying to meant more turns, but this would make it easier.

I hope to check that orientation out tomorrow. Thanks.

To go back a few days, remember the MEL 430 I told you about? Here is an article on the car that that driver followed on with, he was from Norfolk VA and the 430 was in a shop in Hampton VA. A friend got it after I bailed another friend out on a 430 he had sold that turned out needing a crank. He was never able to find another one, the 1958/59 430s had forged cranks. I mentioned needing one to a real great machinist (did a lot of work for local racers) and he dug up that ex NASCAR 430, cost, come get it out of the way.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/03/03/1963-mercury-marauder-bud-moore-racecar-feature-0322?fbclid=IwAR3yEuwHZKQvrpmiud1JbAo2mNvBADTimHqyMTi4E3R5Zsi6AV4ipSWcnIM

[Gary Lewis]

To go back a few days, remember the MEL 430 I told you about? Here is an article on the car that that driver followed on with, he was from Norfolk VA and the 430 was in a shop in Hampton VA. A friend got it after I bailed another friend out on a 430 he had sold that turned out needing a crank. He was never able to find another one, the 1958/59 430s had forged cranks. I mentioned needing one to a real great machinist (did a lot of work for local racers) and he dug up that ex NASCAR 430, cost, come get it out of the way.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/03/03/1963-mercury-marauder-bud-moore-racecar-feature-0322?fbclid=IwAR3yEuwHZKQvrpmiud1JbAo2mNvBADTimHqyMTi4E3R5Zsi6AV4ipSWcnIM

That's a cool article, Bill! Good read. Thanks.

I looked up Brent Hajek and discovered he's in Ames, OK. Never heard of the place, but it is only 140 miles west of me. He has a website which says:

The Hajek Motorsports Museum in Ames features the largest collection of vintage dragsters, including two Earnhardt cars, a Rusty Wallace car and one Bill Elliott car. All are championship vehicles in restored, track-ready condition just as of the day they were retired. Other racing memorabilia and uniforms are on display. Note: The museum is open by appointment only.

Come on out and we'll go.

[grumpin]

That's a cool article, Bill! Good read. Thanks.

I looked up Brent Hajek and discovered he's in Ames, OK. Never heard of the place, but it is only 140 miles west of me. He has a website which says:

The Hajek Motorsports Museum in Ames features the largest collection of vintage dragsters, including two Earnhardt cars, a Rusty Wallace car and one Bill Elliott car. All are championship vehicles in restored, track-ready condition just as of the day they were retired. Other racing memorabilia and uniforms are on display. Note: The museum is open by appointment only.

Come on out and we'll go.

That is a cool article!

I’d like to see that museum.

[Gary Lewis]

That is a cool article!

I’d like to see that museum.

Well, it fits! J.U.S.T. The back edge of the case of the computer scraps on the metal of the bottom of the dash and the front edge is up against the firewall as it slides in. But once it is in and above the bottom edge of the dash there's a bit of room. However, I may want to grind a bit of metal off the lower edge of the dash just to allow it to fit easily.

Here's a pic of it all the way up with the programming cable on. And what you can't see is that the hole through the firewall is directly in front of it and the programming cable is through it. Perfect.

So that brings up the question of how to mount it, and this picture shows a bit of what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that I'll make a bracket out of angle on either side and a piece of it on the end that will capture the top of the computer. The bracket will be welded to the dash support arm that you can see in the following pics, and then a piece with a slot cut in it to go either side of the connector will slide into place and be secured with the screws that originally held the speed control's bracket in.

I'll put some sort of padding in so that the computer doesn't rattle, but I think this approach will hold it securely.

Thoughts?

And here are a couple of shots looking up under the dash to either side of the computer.

[85lebaront2]

Well, it fits! J.U.S.T. The back edge of the case of the computer scraps on the metal of the bottom of the dash and the front edge is up against the firewall as it slides in. But once it is in and above the bottom edge of the dash there's a bit of room. However, I may want to grind a bit of metal off the lower edge of the dash just to allow it to fit easily.

Here's a pic of it all the way up with the programming cable on. And what you can't see is that the hole through the firewall is directly in front of it and the programming cable is through it. Perfect.

So that brings up the question of how to mount it, and this picture shows a bit of what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that I'll make a bracket out of angle on either side and a piece of it on the end that will capture the top of the computer. The bracket will be welded to the dash support arm that you can see in the following pics, and then a piece with a slot cut in it to go either side of the connector will slide into place and be secured with the screws that originally held the speed control's bracket in.

I'll put some sort of padding in so that the computer doesn't rattle, but I think this approach will hold it securely.

Thoughts?

And here are a couple of shots looking up under the dash to either side of the computer.

Shame you didn't have a 1985/86 with either a feedback carb or EFI to snag the EEC mount from. The EEC-V case is the same size as the EEC-IV so it would be a simple slip it in and I think two screws that clamp it in place.

[Gary Lewis]

Shame you didn't have a 1985/86 with either a feedback carb or EFI to snag the EEC mount from. The EEC-V case is the same size as the EEC-IV so it would be a simple slip it in and I think two screws that clamp it in place.

Jein. The EEC-IV cases that I have are the same size for the body, but they have a mounting flange that the EEC-V cases don't have. I'll post a pic of the two side by side tomorrow.

I don't know that the difference would preclude mounting a V in a IV's spot, but I think it might. I do have the panel that mounts in the kick panel area on the EEC-IV trucks, like Huck, and the retainers are too far apart to hold an EEC-V ECU.

However, that has given me a thought. There are springy things on that panel that I might be able to use on the bracket I'm thinking about to hold the EEC-V ECU. They might be just the thing to put tension on the ECU to prevent it from rattling.

But they are too far apart to clamp the EEC-V computer where they are on the panel.

I'll post pics tomorrow morn to explain what I'm talking about awa what I'm thinking about.

[salans7]

It goes fore and aft with the plug down, I believe there may have been a mounting bracket, but do not have any to reference.

There's one on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174757302442?hash=item28b058d0aa:g:VzoAAOSwjlJgkYDA

 

[Gary Lewis]

It goes fore and aft with the plug down, I believe there may have been a mounting bracket, but do not have any to reference.

There's one on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174757302442?hash=item28b058d0aa:g:VzoAAOSwjlJgkYDA

Thanks, Shaun. But I'm not seeing how the ECU attaches to that bracket. Maybe one of you does?

I'm going to post pics of the IV and V ECU's as well as dimensions in a bit and we can debate how best to mount the V. But with no screw holes, other than for the cover, it looks to me like it has to be held in a "cradle" of some kind.

[85lebaront2]

Thanks, Shaun. But I'm not seeing how the ECU attaches to that bracket. Maybe one of you does?

I'm going to post pics of the IV and V ECU's as well as dimensions in a bit and we can debate how best to mount the V. But with no screw holes, other than for the cover, it looks to me like it has to be held in a "cradle" of some kind.

If I remember correctly from Matt's F150, there was a retainer either as a clamping strap or a tab that attached to the bracket once the EEC was in place. The shiny square area bottom right in the picture may be the attachment.

FWIW, I do not ever remember seeing any of the EEC-IV or EEC-V boxes that used any of the case screws to mount them. They have all been either slide in from the back or front side and held either with the weatherproof cover/seal on the engine side or a retainer on the back side, or are mounted inside the cab in a rack type mount with a strap or clamp so they can't move around.

Maybe someone with a 1985/86 with any of the EEC systems can get a good picture of the installed ECU.

[Gary Lewis]

If I remember correctly from Matt's F150, there was a retainer either as a clamping strap or a tab that attached to the bracket once the EEC was in place. The shiny square area bottom right in the picture may be the attachment.

FWIW, I do not ever remember seeing any of the EEC-IV or EEC-V boxes that used any of the case screws to mount them. They have all been either slide in from the back or front side and held either with the weatherproof cover/seal on the engine side or a retainer on the back side, or are mounted inside the cab in a rack type mount with a strap or clamp so they can't move around.

Maybe someone with a 1985/86 with any of the EEC systems can get a good picture of the installed ECU.

Bill - I'm thinking you are right. There's something missing that goes with that bracket. There has to be a way to hold the ECU to the bracket, and it isn't via the cover screws - the EEC-IV doesn't have cover screws. And neither of them have the flanges I was remembering - the flanges are on the III ECU.

Here's a shot of the EEC-III, IV, and V ECU's left/right. And you were basically right, the IV and V have the almost the same dimensions, not including the connectors:

EEC-IV: 6 1/8" W x 6 3/4" L x 1 9/16" thick

EEC-V: 6 1/16" W x 6 7/8" L x 1 9/16" thick

And for reference, here are the connectors, in the same order:

As for mounting, here's an EEC-IV ECU laid in the 1990 kick panel bracket from Huck. It probably had a strap across it, but didn't when I got it. And, you can see the "spring thingies" I referenced last night, which are not springy at all and aren't of much use for what I want to do.

So I'm coming around to your way of thinking. If I could find a complete 1985/6 bracket and strap, if that's what they used, then that should work nicely. Given that I'm going to ask in another thread if anyone has one, or at least has pictures thereof.

I suppose I could buy that bracket on ebay and figure out how to strap the ECU in, but I'd sure like to find a complete unit with the strap.