1973 Grande Build

[Steve McMahan]

Like this. Of course, I’ve got to make a bracket to attach the solenoid to the canister. 

 

[Steve McMahan]

Sorry, another question (see attached photo): I have 7/8” from the top of the rubber cowl to hood seal to the top of the MAP sensor. Will that clear the hood? I’m not able to get to the hood to verify. Thank you, Steve.

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Like this. Of course, I’ve got to make a bracket to attach the solenoid to the canister. 

View attachment 56765

The center port is the vent, the other big port is the one that used to go to the air cleaner. I would imagine that the vent would end up staying as a vent, and that the side that originally went to the air cleaner would now go to the solenoid that goes to the intake manifold. Please remember that this is in fact the fuel tanks ventilation, there is no other vent in a Mustangs fuel tank. The fuel tank has to constantly vent or you will loose fuel pressure and eventually the tank will collapse inward. I have no idea what that canister looks like on the inside, so I can't comment on if you should install it backwards from the way it originally was, and I am certainly no engineer

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Sorry, another question (see attached photo): I have 7/8” from the top of the rubber cowl to hood seal to the top of the MAP sensor. Will that clear the hood? I’m not able to get to the hood to verify. Thank you, Steve.

View attachment 56766

From what I can tell you should be fine there, at least if you are going to be running the Mach 1 NACA hood with the dual snorkels. I have no idea if the standard flat hood is different in that area, but with the Mach 1 hood you will have a ton of room. On the Mach 1 hood, right after the cowl weatherstrip the hood goes up about 3 inches. Here are some photos:

 

[71ProjectJunk]

The second photo is from the bottom of the hood where the weatherstrip sits, there may be 1/16-1/8 of an inch from where the weatherstrip sits to when the hood starts going up, and as you can see on the last photo it goes up 3 inches. It does not go up at a 90 degree angle, there is a slight angle there, but you are far enough ahead of this that you should have a ton of clearance, at least with the Mach 1 hood. 

 

[Steve McMahan]

Wow, thank you, very helpful. I’ll check that off my list and yes, while I don’t currently have a nasa hood, I intend to use one.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Fuel line: I’m installing the electric fuel pump on the vent opening, thanks Kilgore. So, my hope was, run a stock 87 Mustang flexible line from the pump hanger outlet towards the front of the vehicle. Attach a stock fuel filter at the front of the fuel tank, short rubber line from there to a new hard line, going up the passenger side (I have subframe connectors), attached to the subframes, all the way to one of two holes under the former battery tray (yea I know I’ve got to get rid of that rust section, I have the new part to replace it, it’s where the air cleaner is going):



From there, a flex fuel line with a relief section to either this current “stock” connection at the bottom of the engine(from the 87 TBird) or up to the prior connection at the manifold:



While I would love a stainless line, I’ll have to do it on the car, and I don’t think my tube bender will handle 5/16” SS, so I’ll use traditional steel line. My plan for the return line is to use the 73 stock fuel line, on the drivers side and route a flex line up to the frame inside the engine compartment, up to the firewall, above the trans tunnel, and down to where the line comes out by the brake booster. Thoughts, issues, concerns, lessons learned? Thank you, Steve.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Dec 30: Make some progress today on the ECU mount. I cut the base of the mount out of a 1’ square 16 gauge steel plate. I’ve got the top mounted in the passenger kick panel area for a figment test, with the bottom two holes needing a spacer behind them I still need to make. I’ve decided to run the ECU with the pin connector at the bottom of the mount. It makes the other wiring easier to route. It’s hard to get my phone down to take pictures, but here it is mock-mounted. I hope to have the ECU mounted by Saturday. Steve

 

[Steve McMahan]

Jan 3rd 2022:

New year but same stuff to do. Today was a good day in that I finished my ECU mount, and attached it in the passenger well, along with the ECU relay and ground stud. I also got the vacuum reserve mounted in the passenger wheel well, like it was on the TBird I took it from. I didn’t have room anymore in the stock location, because the EGR regulator and the TAB and TAD valves are in it. If anyone in interested in the ECU mount, I can send you pic of the template and other various info about it. Pics of progress:

 

[Steve McMahan]

Jan 6:
Another good couple of days. I was able to finish the new EFI harness. All wires soldered and secured to create a stand-alone harness. Also completed the 5 connectors to connect the EFI harness to the existing 73 wiring. That was the most challenging part of the wire build. I still need to finish the Alt wiring, but I’m going to wait until I have that mounted on the engine. I’ve put the wiring away and left it uncovered; I’m going to do that once I know it runs. Next step is to remove old fuel tank, add my subframe connectors, add battery lines from trunk to engine compartment, new fuel lines as well. February will be a busy month, thanks for the help. Steve

 

[Steve McMahan]

I got the power cables mocked up from the trunk to the engine compartment. I’ve got to install the insulated clamps, and I want to make a few “shields” where they cables are exposed, more as a cover to avoid incidental damage.

Well, I ended up locating the purge valve on the firewall, just outboard of the AC plemun (I didn't want to fastener to put a hole in it). I’ve still got to find a way to tap into the 3/4” center outlet on the canister. I haven’t been able to find a flexible 90 that will allow me to connect to a standard vacuum line. If anyone has something that goes from 3/4” on a 90, then narrows down to a 3/16” vacuum fitting, I’m all ears. I struck out with Google.

The rest of this week will be mocking up the additions to the fuel system. Too much fun! Steve.

 

[Steve McMahan]

I got the purge valve installed complete. The firewall ended up being the easiest path and I think looks clean. Made an adapter for the canister to hook the system up (the details are on a post in the Engine forum). I also completed the primary power/ground wiring. I think I took a novel path and I’ll posts once it completely installed. I’m sure some will have words of woe, but hey, I’m keeping this car for years to come, so at least it will be a good test bed for good/bad (choose one) ideas.
Now, since my subframe connectors did not fit well, I’ve got to plan a new path on the passenger side (as a reminder, passenger side because that’s where the fuel lines from the engine exit). I was thinking a mirror image of the drivers side path with a hard line over the exhaust. I’ll try and post pics of the path before I start. Thanks, Steve.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Ok, I wanted to post a concept photo with drawn-on modifications to get feedback. Now, I know putting 40psi fuel lines near suspension components must be done with the highest care, so imagine the fuel line as it passes by the active suspension and rotating wheel to have that spiral wound steel cover over it. And it’s all metal lines until you reach the engine compartment; the very minimum of proper Fuel Injection hose is planned.

So, the first pic is the route into the engine compartment on the passenger side (look back in this post and others to understand why), and the existing opening I’m planning on using, with of course a hefty rubber grommet:

I‘m going to run along the lower frame rail, raised as it crosses the suspension, to clear the maximum travel of the sway bar upper fitting. It will look very similar to the stock line, except it will not route in and out near the shock tower. The next pic shows the engine compartment routing, and where my real question is. I’ve decided to connect the fuel line at the bottom of this stock TBird routing because the other options require long rubber hoses, some on top of the engine, and I’m uncomfortable with that:

The question I have, IF I route that hose UNDER the sway bar, what/how should I ensure it is protected and shielded? I was thinking of at least a rubber cover over the sway bar? The black line-kinda thing coming through the fender panel is the new metal fuel line. I was going to put a 90 as it passes the frame rail so the hose can meet it straight.

Ok, that’s my plan. Take aim and fire .

 

[Steve McMahan]

So, I decided to modify the sub frame connectors I bought. Since this will never be more than a fun driver, I figured, how much damage could I do? So, the problem with the original subframe connectors was that they didn’t fit in the front or the rear subframe very well. The front were too wide for the width of the frame rail and the rear only contacted about 40% of the connector to the rail. Now, I know I could’ve made the rear connect more by cutting off the bracket for the parking brake, but I didn’t want to do that, so I ground down the thickness of the bracket so that I could slide the sub frame connector over that end of the bracket and modified that connector end to deal with the uneven surface of the subframe. That gave me about 70% contact. It also put the sub frame connector right up against that sub frame on the rear. So I cleaned up the sub frame and the subframe connectors itself, and that gave me another 6 inches on each side of the sub frame in the rear to weld to the sub frame Itself.

On the front, I needed to shim the width of the opening of the sub frame connector so I modified it to make the opening smaller. That gave me a relatively tight fit to the front subframe. So, this is all on the passenger side only for now. Let me tell you, I am only an average Welder, but laying on your side under a car sitting on his own wheels, which is what everyone seems to recommend when you put on subframe connectors, makes welding very very difficult. So I spent way more time welding than I thought I was going to under the car. I couldn’t get my hood on under the car so I had to hold a hand shield and that only increase the difficulty (whine over). But, I believe the welds are OK, and when I go to the muffler shop sometime this year I will probably talk to the owner about improving the wends on the subframe connectors for me. Anyway, here is a picture of the passenger side the best I could get.

You’ll see I put a notch in the SFC to tighten up the fit to the floor pan. I made sure I welded that on the bench, so that’s a solid weld. I’m happy, so now, on to the drivers-side. (Note: it’s on jack stands now, but not when I welded it up).

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Ok, I wanted to post a concept photo with drawn-on modifications to get feedback. Now, I know putting 40psi fuel lines near suspension components must be done with the highest care, so imagine the fuel line as it passes by the active suspension and rotating wheel to have that spiral wound steel cover over it. And it’s all metal lines until you reach the engine compartment; the very minimum of proper Fuel Injection hose is planned.

So, the first pic is the route into the engine compartment on the passenger side (look back in this post and others to understand why), and the existing opening I’m planning on using, with of course a hefty rubber grommet:
View attachment 59385
I‘m going to run along the lower frame rail, raised as it crosses the suspension, to clear the maximum travel of the sway bar upper fitting. It will look very similar to the stock line, except it will not route in and out near the shock tower. The next pic shows the engine compartment routing, and where my real question is. I’ve decided to connect the fuel line at the bottom of this stock TBird routing because the other options require long rubber hoses, some on top of the engine, and I’m uncomfortable with that:
View attachment 59386
The question I have, IF I route that hose UNDER the sway bar, what/how should I ensure it is protected and shielded? I was thinking of at least a rubber cover over the sway bar? The black line-kinda thing coming through the fender panel is the new metal fuel line. I was going to put a 90 as it passes the frame rail so the hose can meet it straight.

Ok, that’s my plan. Take aim and fire .

There shouldn't be much movement on the sway bar in that area, but that strut rod will have some movement. For some reason I don't like to route it between those 2 bars. Wouldn't it be better to route it a little to the back behind the sway bar mount , then up a bit and over the sway bar mount, and then route it forward and out the stock location? Seems to me like you would have no issue there with the fuel line touching, or rubbing on those 2 bars that are there, that are moving and the car moves.

 

[Steve McMahan]

71ProjectJunk, I see your point. Maybe if I route both lines between the sway bar mount and the crossmember, have the hard lines meet them there at the frame rails? So, have the hard lines run parallel from the fender skirt opening towards the rear, and turn down with a 90 pointed towards the engine fittings! I’m trying to make sure I have enough hose so I don’t have a restriction in the bend. Thanks for the advice. Steve

 

[Steve McMahan]

Something like this?

 

[Steve McMahan]

Here is a photo of the completed vapor recovery system, with the purge valve mounted on the firewall, next to the WOT AC switch:

 

[Steve McMahan]

Feb 12:

Well, I’m made quite a bit of progress over the last month. I’ve posted lots of specific questions on the other forums, so this one can be more about the sausage verses the sausage making . I was able to complete the new fuel system feed line, using the tin/copper 3/8” hard line, and that coil spring over the line in critical areas. I tried to mimic the original line as closely as possible. I am happy with the finished product, less a few clamps I still need to add:


I also pulled the engine to assemble the front drive items: with a few false starts, I got it together. I am taking a few weeks break, to get some odds and ends solved. I will be back at it the first week of March where I hope to attach the trans, install the engine, test out my newly created driveshaft, install the top of the engine, and start to run electrical tests on the new wire harness. Thanks for reading, Steve.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Well, I took 6 weeks off and started back on April 19th. I was able to get the engine compartment cleaned and painted, the vacuum booster rebuilt by Karps in So Cal, the front suspension removed, attachment points and cross member cleaned and painted, the removed parts cleaned and painted (those I am reusing), and both front wheel wells cleaned and undercoated (I like the look).

I purchased a front end kit and other parts and am painting the steering components silver and the rest of the parts black. I’ve still got to clean and paint the springs and Idler Arm, once I get it. My hope is over the summer, on the cool days to reinstall the engine with the transmission so I can route the cooler lines and test fit the new harness and shifter from the TBird. Steve.

 

[Steve McMahan]

BTW, do you guys paint your fastener hardware? Just the parts that show, all but the threads, or ?