Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Whew!!!

I'm not sure what that means, but as my father would have said, "If that's a compliment then I thank you."

[Gary Lewis]

I'm not sure what that means, but as my father would have said, "If that's a compliment then I thank you."

Ok, another picture, but maybe less of a rat's nest. I added a couple more connectors and basically there's only a few more connectors to add before starting the job of extending all of those wires with the white tags in the bottom center into the cab.

And, I put the bottom cover on the PDB, snapped the PDB onto the bracket, and then snapped C101 onto the tongue that sticks off the bracket just for it. C101 connects to the engine harness that is already in place. And all but two of the other connectors plug into original '85 connectors that are already there.

The two that don't connect to something that is already there are the flat weatherpack style connector in the bottom center and the round connector that has the red wire laying across it. The latter goes to the harness for the O2 sensors, and I have to make it when I get the box installed and know where it'll run.

The weatherpack connector goes to the fog lights and backup lights, and I have to put pins on three wires that are under the hood and pop them into that connector. And I have to run those two red wires that are shown coming out of it to the power wire going to the fog lights - there are two wires as the pins on the connector are only good for 12A each, so I used two of them to power the lights.

I'll report more on my experience with the weatherpack connectors in the other thread, but I will say here that my crimper is NOT the right one for those terminals, in spite of it being for that size of wire. It doesn't come close to giving a tight crimp nor capturing the insulation. So I'm on the lookout for the right crimper. Meanwhile I'm soldering the wires to the terminals and that is working well, albeit fiddly.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, another picture, but maybe less of a rat's nest. I added a couple more connectors and basically there's only a few more connectors to add before starting the job of extending all of those wires with the white tags in the bottom center into the cab.

And, I put the bottom cover on the PDB, snapped the PDB onto the bracket, and then snapped C101 onto the tongue that sticks off the bracket just for it. C101 connects to the engine harness that is already in place. And all but two of the other connectors plug into original '85 connectors that are already there.

The two that don't connect to something that is already there are the flat weatherpack style connector in the bottom center and the round connector that has the red wire laying across it. The latter goes to the harness for the O2 sensors, and I have to make it when I get the box installed and know where it'll run.

The weatherpack connector goes to the fog lights and backup lights, and I have to put pins on three wires that are under the hood and pop them into that connector. And I have to run those two red wires that are shown coming out of it to the power wire going to the fog lights - there are two wires as the pins on the connector are only good for 12A each, so I used two of them to power the lights.

I'll report more on my experience with the weatherpack connectors in the other thread, but I will say here that my crimper is NOT the right one for those terminals, in spite of it being for that size of wire. It doesn't come close to giving a tight crimp nor capturing the insulation. So I'm on the lookout for the right crimper. Meanwhile I'm soldering the wires to the terminals and that is working well, albeit fiddly.

No pics today, other than the ones I posted in the Weatherproof Connectors thread. And what I was doing there was installing a ring tongue terminal on the PDB's ground wire, which I got done.

And I got the PK/BK and Y wires to/from the inertia switch sorted on the driver's side and the old fuel pump relay removed. But I'm going to have to remove the battery on the passenger's side to get to the wires there so I can loop it back. I hope to get that done tomorrow.

Then, if the crimper comes in I'll get the connector to the fog and backup lights wired. Plus a one-terminal connector to tie the DG/Y from the EFI fuel pump relay to the Yellow wire going to the inertia switch.

Then I can put the on-truck & PDB wiring in convolute using some of the 250' of it I got in today from Amazon. And at that point I can put the PDB in the truck and figure out how long the runs to the computer need to be. Then the "fun" begins.

[Gary Lewis]

No pics today, other than the ones I posted in the Weatherproof Connectors thread. And what I was doing there was installing a ring tongue terminal on the PDB's ground wire, which I got done.

And I got the PK/BK and Y wires to/from the inertia switch sorted on the driver's side and the old fuel pump relay removed. But I'm going to have to remove the battery on the passenger's side to get to the wires there so I can loop it back. I hope to get that done tomorrow.

Then, if the crimper comes in I'll get the connector to the fog and backup lights wired. Plus a one-terminal connector to tie the DG/Y from the EFI fuel pump relay to the Yellow wire going to the inertia switch.

Then I can put the on-truck & PDB wiring in convolute using some of the 250' of it I got in today from Amazon. And at that point I can put the PDB in the truck and figure out how long the runs to the computer need to be. Then the "fun" begins.

Only one pic today, but it is significant. All wiring to the truck's harness under the hood is done. In the pic you can see seven connectors: one that comes from the engine harness; one that goes to the fog and backup lights; one that goes through the inertia switch and thence to the tank selector relay; and four that go to connectors like C727 for the VSS signals, C321 for switched power from the W/LB H wire, C323 for the tach signal and 8-cylinder ground, & C325 for switched power from the R/LG wire as well as coolant temp and oil pressure feeds to the gauges.

So the next step is to mount the ECU under the dash and determine how long the wire runs need to be. Then I can extend the ~3 dozen wires to the ECU.

[Gary Lewis]

Only one pic today, but it is significant. All wiring to the truck's harness under the hood is done. In the pic you can see seven connectors: one that comes from the engine harness; one that goes to the fog and backup lights; one that goes through the inertia switch and thence to the tank selector relay; and four that go to connectors like C727 for the VSS signals, C321 for switched power from the W/LB H wire, C323 for the tach signal and 8-cylinder ground, & C325 for switched power from the R/LG wire as well as coolant temp and oil pressure feeds to the gauges.

So the next step is to mount the ECU under the dash and determine how long the wire runs need to be. Then I can extend the ~3 dozen wires to the ECU.

As said, I'm now working to mount the ECU under the dash, and I think I found a way to do it. But I tagged Bill 'cause he has some experience in this stuff. And, I thought he might like seeing his harness in the pic.

Thoughts, y'all?????

In this first pic you can see the speed control bracket taped to the ECU - and Bill's harness. But, with a bit more looking I think I'll spin the ECU 180 and point the connector right as there's more space under the dash in that direction.

My plan is to cut a piece of rigid aluminum I have to the same size as the ECU and bolt it to the ECU using the corner screws. You can see the upper right screw is out and I've found that it is a 4mm-.70 by 30mm. But I think I want to put studs in, run a nut down on them to space out due to the recess you can see, then put the plate on and another nut. So these studs need to be at least 40mm long.

And here you can see that the ECU can't really be seen tucked up there.

But in this shot you can see why I'm thinking I'll spin the ECU to put the connector to the right. There's a lot of "stuff" under there, some of which moves.

[Gary Lewis]

As said, I'm now working to mount the ECU under the dash, and I think I found a way to do it. But I tagged Bill 'cause he has some experience in this stuff. And, I thought he might like seeing his harness in the pic.

Thoughts, y'all?????

In this first pic you can see the speed control bracket taped to the ECU - and Bill's harness. But, with a bit more looking I think I'll spin the ECU 180 and point the connector right as there's more space under the dash in that direction.

My plan is to cut a piece of rigid aluminum I have to the same size as the ECU and bolt it to the ECU using the corner screws. You can see the upper right screw is out and I've found that it is a 4mm-.70 by 30mm. But I think I want to put studs in, run a nut down on them to space out due to the recess you can see, then put the plate on and another nut. So these studs need to be at least 40mm long.

And here you can see that the ECU can't really be seen tucked up there.

But in this shot you can see why I'm thinking I'll spin the ECU to put the connector to the right. There's a lot of "stuff" under there, some of which moves.

Well, the best-laid plans and all that.

I did cut the plate out, drilled it to take the screws to the case, and also drilled it to take the speed control's mount. And I "made" a couple of 4mm x .70 studs by running a tap down some #10 screws to get it cobbled together as shown below.

But when I got it all together it wouldn't fit up into the dash. Close, but no cigar. So I need to spend more time with it to figure out why it went in before and won't now. But Ill get it figured out.

[85lebaront2]

Well, the best-laid plans and all that.

I did cut the plate out, drilled it to take the screws to the case, and also drilled it to take the speed control's mount. And I "made" a couple of 4mm x .70 studs by running a tap down some #10 screws to get it cobbled together as shown below.

But when I got it all together it wouldn't fit up into the dash. Close, but no cigar. So I need to spend more time with it to figure out why it went in before and won't now. But Ill get it figured out.

Gary, Ford mounted the EEC-IV units to the right of the steering column roughly in line with the firewall oval plug. They are mounted vertically with the 60 pin plug down and the EEC power relay adjacent on the bracket. The EEC-V case is the same size as the EEC-IV case as it was mounted in place of the EEC-IV starting in 1996. I would see if someone is scrapping a 1985/86 truck with any of the computer systems, or converting one to DS-II and non-feedback carburetor and get the mounting bracket.

I didn't do that on Darth as I was changing the dash and was able to put his EEC where the 1992 up one sits by making a plate for the firewall to fairly closely match the later design.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, Ford mounted the EEC-IV units to the right of the steering column roughly in line with the firewall oval plug. They are mounted vertically with the 60 pin plug down and the EEC power relay adjacent on the bracket. The EEC-V case is the same size as the EEC-IV case as it was mounted in place of the EEC-IV starting in 1996. I would see if someone is scrapping a 1985/86 truck with any of the computer systems, or converting one to DS-II and non-feedback carburetor and get the mounting bracket.

I didn't do that on Darth as I was changing the dash and was able to put his EEC where the 1992 up one sits by making a plate for the firewall to fairly closely match the later design.

Bill - Thanks, but I'm so close to having this thing mounted that I'm not, yet, ready to give up on this approach.

However, while I tried to put the computer in vertically with the plug down, I only did it with it sideways. Maybe it'll go in fore/aft?

Anyway, I'll keep trying before looking for a factory bracket. (Maybe I'll start looking for one for Dad's truck.) But I'm looking through the MPC for an illustration showing how they mounted it, and haven't yet found one.

[85lebaront2]

Bill - Thanks, but I'm so close to having this thing mounted that I'm not, yet, ready to give up on this approach.

However, while I tried to put the computer in vertically with the plug down, I only did it with it sideways. Maybe it'll go in fore/aft?

Anyway, I'll keep trying before looking for a factory bracket. (Maybe I'll start looking for one for Dad's truck.) But I'm looking through the MPC for an illustration showing how they mounted it, and haven't yet found one.

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.

[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.

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.