WHYDTYTT: What Have You Done To Your Truck Today?

[Gary Lewis]

I chose this one for a few reasons.

• It has fuel rail and injectors, rather than just a throttle body setup. And the tuning of the ECU seems really granular.

• I wanted to upgrade due to constant problems with the Ford EFI stuff. This only connects to my existing wiring in one place, which means the rest of the engine wiring and sensors can be removed.

• The price was right. The kit itself cost $2,100. The Associated parts (AN fittings, throttle cable, throttle brackets, external fuel regulator, air cleaner, etc) will probably equal out to another $1000 after all is said and done.

My first thought was that only connecting in one place to the existing harness is a huge improvement over what I'm doing, which is to add Ford's EEC-V system to a carb'd 460. But then I realized that the vast majority of my wiring has been just to extend the wires going to the ECU so I can relocate it. And off the top of my head the only connections from the '85 wiring to the EFI wiring, excluding other things like speed control and horn, are:

• Fuel Pump: The ECU controls when the fuel pump runs.

• A/C: The system wants to know when the compressor comes on

• Clutch/Brake:

• 4 Low:

• Vehicle Speed Sensor

So it isn't as invasive as I was thinking. However, when you consider everything else that is going on at the same time, like the adoption of the later model speed control and moving several relays into the PDB from free standing, it has gotten a bit more complex.

[Nickelplate]

I chose this one for a few reasons.

• It has fuel rail and injectors, rather than just a throttle body setup. And the tuning of the ECU seems really granular.

• I wanted to upgrade due to constant problems with the Ford EFI stuff. This only connects to my existing wiring in one place, which means the rest of the engine wiring and sensors can be removed.

• The price was right. The kit itself cost $2,100. The Associated parts (AN fittings, throttle cable, throttle brackets, external fuel regulator, air cleaner, etc) will probably equal out to another $1000 after all is said and done.

My first thought was that only connecting in one place to the existing harness is a huge improvement over what I'm doing, which is to add Ford's EEC-V system to a carb'd 460. But then I realized that the vast majority of my wiring has been just to extend the wires going to the ECU so I can relocate it. And off the top of my head the only connections from the '85 wiring to the EFI wiring, excluding other things like speed control and horn, are:

• Fuel Pump: The ECU controls when the fuel pump runs.

• A/C: The system wants to know when the compressor comes on

• Clutch/Brake:

• 4 Low:

• Vehicle Speed Sensor

So it isn't as invasive as I was thinking. However, when you consider everything else that is going on at the same time, like the adoption of the later model speed control and moving several relays into the PDB from free standing, it has gotten a bit more complex.

There are those connectors on the driver's side fender skirt that connect the EFI engine harness to the body harness. From what I have traced out so far, it looks like there are:

• TFI Power, Wire 20. White/Light Blue

• Tach signal

• a ground that connects to the EEC grounds

• Oil pressure circuit

• water temp circuit

• "Throttle Kicker" circuit. I'm not sure what this is doing on my EFI vehicle, since the Throttle Kicker is a throttle body and carburetor thing. Maybe it controls the IAC valve with a signal from the ignition switch?

• A "brake warning" light that is heavily connected to a bunch of warning lights. It is wire 640 and is red with yellow hash marks. I don't think this one was ever connected in my vehicle. It only exists on the vehicle side of the connector (c-325)

• a "charge start run" wire that is linked to "crank signal"

Three wires I cannot identify.

• in C-321, wire 33 a white/pink wire.

• in C-323, wire 147 a Purple/Light Blue wire

• in C-323, wire 144 an Orange/Yellow wire

I think all I need from these plugs is the Oil sender, water temp, tach signal, and use the TFI power (wire 30, White/Light Blue) as the "hot while cranking and hot in run" lead that tells the Edelbrock ECU when to turn on. Do you happen to know if this wire would be the right one for this?

[Gary Lewis]

There are those connectors on the driver's side fender skirt that connect the EFI engine harness to the body harness. From what I have traced out so far, it looks like there are:

• TFI Power, Wire 20. White/Light Blue

• Tach signal

• a ground that connects to the EEC grounds

• Oil pressure circuit

• water temp circuit

• "Throttle Kicker" circuit. I'm not sure what this is doing on my EFI vehicle, since the Throttle Kicker is a throttle body and carburetor thing. Maybe it controls the IAC valve with a signal from the ignition switch?

• A "brake warning" light that is heavily connected to a bunch of warning lights. It is wire 640 and is red with yellow hash marks. I don't think this one was ever connected in my vehicle. It only exists on the vehicle side of the connector (c-325)

• a "charge start run" wire that is linked to "crank signal"

Three wires I cannot identify.

• in C-321, wire 33 a white/pink wire.

• in C-323, wire 147 a Purple/Light Blue wire

• in C-323, wire 144 an Orange/Yellow wire

I think all I need from these plugs is the Oil sender, water temp, tach signal, and use the TFI power (wire 30, White/Light Blue) as the "hot while cranking and hot in run" lead that tells the Edelbrock ECU when to turn on. Do you happen to know if this wire would be the right one for this?

The wires you can't ID:

• in C-321, wire 33 a white/pink wire. That's the neutral safety switch wire. See Page 30 of the 1986 EVTM

• in C-323, wire 147 a Purple/Light Blue wire. I see that wire for a DS-II system, but it doesn't appear to be used in an EFI system.

• in C-323, wire 144 an Orange/Yellow wire. I see that wire for a DS-II system, but it doesn't appear to be used in an EFI system.

As for the W/LB wire, it should be fine to tell the system to turn on.

[Machspeed]

The wires you can't ID:

• in C-321, wire 33 a white/pink wire. That's the neutral safety switch wire. See Page 30 of the 1986 EVTM

• in C-323, wire 147 a Purple/Light Blue wire. I see that wire for a DS-II system, but it doesn't appear to be used in an EFI system.

• in C-323, wire 144 an Orange/Yellow wire. I see that wire for a DS-II system, but it doesn't appear to be used in an EFI system.

As for the W/LB wire, it should be fine to tell the system to turn on.

Been out of country for a while and unable to install my Blue Top rebuilt gear box. With the exception of a nasty calf cramp I got while torquing the gear box bolts, this went smoothly.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Been out of country for a while and unable to install my Blue Top rebuilt gear box. With the exception of a nasty calf cramp I got while torquing the gear box bolts, this went smoothly.

I also replaced my steering shaft with one off a 91 F150. I just could not justify the $300 expense for a Borgeson shaft. Supposedly 87-91 are the same shaft, but every 87 I looked at had the same shaft as my 86. The 91 model shaft bolted right in. I took it apart, media blasted it, painted it and lubed it. Below is a picture of the 86 and the 91 steering shafts.

 

Welcome back John! http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/waving_orig.gif

Envious of your Blue Top. That should tighten things right up!

I think the shafts are much the same until the Aeronose in '91.

I know there was some change in the listing for the rag joint itself between Bull and Brick when I replaced mine.

When I wanted to eliminate that greasy rubber rag joint all together I welded the rag joint spline to a mid-teens F-series lower shaft that uses a universal joint.

[Gary Lewis]

Welcome back John!

Envious of your Blue Top. That should tighten things right up!

I think the shafts are much the same until the Aeronose in '91.

I know there was some change in the listing for the rag joint itself between Bull and Brick when I replaced mine.

When I wanted to eliminate that greasy rubber rag joint all together I welded the rag joint spline to a mid-teens F-series lower shaft that uses a universal joint.

Well done, John! Looks really good.

However, tell us about the plastic cover on the steering shaft. Did you ever get your old one apart to get the cover off? If so, how did you do it?

Can't wait until you get everything back together for a test drive. I'll bet it'll be nice and tight.

[mat in tn]

Well done, John! Looks really good.

However, tell us about the plastic cover on the steering shaft. Did you ever get your old one apart to get the cover off? If so, how did you do it?

Can't wait until you get everything back together for a test drive. I'll bet it'll be nice and tight.

I do this swap/upgrade a lot. the rag joint on some earlier models was still a "rag" joint. with the rubber disc being made basically out of the sidewall of a tire (similar material at least). the later ones were a solid rubber cushion disc with double captured plate over plate design. same type telescoping shaft but had an actual universal joint coupler instead of the stamped steel version. excellent upgrade for the money when you can find a good one

[Nickelplate]

The wires you can't ID:

• in C-321, wire 33 a white/pink wire. That's the neutral safety switch wire. See Page 30 of the 1986 EVTM

• in C-323, wire 147 a Purple/Light Blue wire. I see that wire for a DS-II system, but it doesn't appear to be used in an EFI system.

• in C-323, wire 144 an Orange/Yellow wire. I see that wire for a DS-II system, but it doesn't appear to be used in an EFI system.

As for the W/LB wire, it should be fine to tell the system to turn on.

Thanks, Gary! Do you happen to know if the Wh/Lb wire is hot in run and start both? Is there another one in this harness that is only hot in run? I need a hot in run/start for the EFI system, but for other accessories, I need hot in run. If there's another wire there, I can use that one while I'm making my custom harness for all this stuff.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Gary! Do you happen to know if the Wh/Lb wire is hot in run and start both? Is there another one in this harness that is only hot in run? I need a hot in run/start for the EFI system, but for other accessories, I need hot in run. If there's another wire there, I can use that one while I'm making my custom harness for all this stuff.

You need to get familiar with the EVTM. From the Charge & Power Distribution - Gasoline page at Documentation/Electrical/EVTM/1986 EVTM I see that the W/LB wire is only truly hot in Run, but is sorta hot in Start.

The difference is that it is fed straight off the Run terminal but is fed via a 1.1 ohm resistor in Start. But if your system is only sensing power rather than using power from that wire then it'll work.

[Nickelplate]

You need to get familiar with the EVTM. From the Charge & Power Distribution - Gasoline page at Documentation/Electrical/EVTM/1986 EVTM I see that the W/LB wire is only truly hot in Run, but is sorta hot in Start.

The difference is that it is fed straight off the Run terminal but is fed via a 1.1 ohm resistor in Start. But if your system is only sensing power rather than using power from that wire then it'll work.

Thanks, Gary! I had looked into the EVTM pages, but I saw that the resistor wire said "DuraSpark only", so I didn't really know if that applied to my vehicle. My body harness is not the original 1986 one, but one that I got from an '85 donor. I traced it all out to make sure that all the necessary wires were there and in good condition, but I didn't think to make a note of any extras that were there.

The documentation for the Edelbrock system very strongly specifies that it needs a full 12v in start and in run. The reason I am asking specifically about wires in the c-321, c-323, and c-325 connectors is that I would love to not have to hack into the body harness again. I guess since I no longer have the stock system in, if it came down to it, I could run a normal wire in place of the resistor wire.