'71 with 408W CDAN4 EEC-V retrofit

[Mesozoic]

Preface

I had originally started this blog on the Corral, but nobody even cares on that forum so I've decided to relocate to here. This forum seems to have some real enthusiasts, not a bunch of young punks waiting to wrap their Five Liters around a tree or total it in a ditch.

After converting my old '79 Bronco to fuel injection and having tuned that and my old '89 5.0L for many years, I decided to bite the bullet and commence injecting my old hotrod, a '71 Mustang fastback. The wife was complaining about the dishwasher, so I bought a new one and in trade I got authorization to perform this upgrade. Very excited!

The existing Mustang is more or less completely restored and has a '69 vintage 351W stroked to 408 using a Scat forged crank, H-beam rods, and SRP pistons @ 10.2:1 compression using a set of World Products Windsor Sr. heads that have been heavily ported and reworked over the years. The block has a main girdle fitted, a Comp Cams 35-442-8 hydraulic roller cam (might be a bit small for the 408, not sure), full length headers, and an Edelbrock Torker II intake with a Speed Demon 750cfm mechanical onboard.

After a lot of deliberation and questions posted on EECTuning.org, I was convinced to avoid the common GUFB strategy EEC-IV swap and go with a more modern CDAN4 strategy EEC-V swap instead. Having done quite a few EEC-IV swaps, I didn't much enjoy retrofitting EDIS8 into the harness so I wanted a harness that would support EV1 injectors and have EDIS8 built in. Apparently, everything from a '96 Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Lincoln Towncar, V8 T-Bird, V8 Cougar, and some V8 Mustangs will do the trick. One nice thing about the Crown Vics is the location of the EEC-V itself. The harness is much easier to obtain from a junkyard since there's no through-the-wall grommet to deal with; the EEC is mounted inside the dash with the connector protruding out of the firewall!

So I've grabbed several '96 Crown Vic engine harnesses in order to make one good one and finding the CDAN4 computer has been nothing but headaches. I finally found one on eBay that's going to work. Here's the parts list I've gathered (to be updated as progress is made):

1. '96 Crown Vic engine and EEC harness with some sensors

It doesn't look like much here, but this is after several hours of completely removing the stock loom, most of the tape, and identifying all the connectors. Many of the connectors will not be used in my conversion since I don't plan to run EGR and a few other things. I am planning to keep the evaporative canister because I have found that this really reduces the fuel odor in the garage and I think it preserves a small amount of fuel from being lost to evaporation as well. The EEC-V has a full on algorithm to deal with EVAP and it comes with no cost to performance, so why not.

My next step is really to lay out the harness in the car and see where I might need to trim or lengthen any sections. After performing this step, the plan is to use Techflex brand F6 loom and clean it all up. It will look professional and last a long time!



2. CDAN4 EEC-V (JZP3 code).

Ok, this was a fail. I bought a computer on eBay, but after setting up my benchtest harness I discovered that it was toast. It would pull the power supply's voltage down to 3.9V and start pulling a solid 2 amps. BAD! Returned and fully refunded.

I then realized that there's a Mustang exclusive junkyard in Phoenix, nearby my city (Tucson). I've been there before and have bought all kinds of bits and pieces for my cars over the years. It's called All Mustangs and is affiliated with AMP Performance. I called them today and was able to email someone a list of the part numbers and catch codes that I'm looking for, so hoping to hear back from them tomorrow!

Score! AMP Performance was able to supply a JZP3 EEC-V computer for my conversion. It's out of a '96 Mustang GT with an auto trans and I was able to talk them down on price because apparently, the auto trans computer is not a fast mover. In this case, where we are completely reconfiguring it, is totally irrelevant. Later on if I want to run a manual trans, I simply switch a few bits and it's good to go.

Just an FYI, an EEC-V system should pull roughly 600 mA @ 14.4V. If it's not, there's a problem and if it's more, turn the supply off!



You have to very thoroughly clean the J3 connector on the EEC. Brakleen, contact cleaner, and scraping away with a Swiss Army Knife, followed by some more Brakleen is what sorted mine out.



The Quarterhorse installed. Pay attention to the routing for the USB cable. I crammed the insulation into one of the "hooks" found on the ground lugs for the FETs inside.





3. Price Motorsports billet cam sync sensor for 351W

So I gleaned some very useful information from a fellow on EFIDynoTuning.com, hosted by Decipha. Decipha is actually the reason why I decided to ultimately go with an EEC-V CDAN4 computer setup. He's quite the knowledgeable fellow himself. My current issue is that the '96 CV harness employs a 2-pin connector for the cam sync sensor and is also a VR mechanism (variable reluctance). The sensor itself is totally different from the earlier models that were used in the 2000 and earlier Explorers. The early cam sync sensor has a 3-pin connector and employs a Hall effect mechanism. Anyhow, another user of the aforementioned forum who has an EFI 5.0 in a Porsche 944 explained that a direct retrofit of the 3-pin housing is possible by simply purchasing a unique VR sensor that bolts in place of the 3-pin Hall effect sensor.

RockAuto carries them for $20.

O'Reilly Auto carries them for $25: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/BWD0/CSS149/02806.oap?year=2000&make=Ford&model=Explorer&vi=1362462&ck=Search_camshaft+sensor_02806_1362462_3236&keyword=camshaft+sensor&pt=02806&ppt=C0033

NAPA carries them for $26: http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?R=ECHCSS522_0362753125

I believe this is a necessary step in order to integrate the older style cam sync sensor with the newer harness!



6. Edelbrock Victor 5.8 EFI intake with 1/2" phenolic spacer and Professional Products fuel rails

4. Ford 42 lb/hr green top injectors





5. Ford Racing 90mm LMAF w/Accufab 90mm adapter

I've had a lot of luck using the Ford LMAF and it's popularity amongst tuners is uncontested. An accurate MAF curve is all that's needed to support around 600 hp and the curve is widely available online with some Googling. The stock MAF connector on the '96 harness matches the connector on this MAF. Unfortunately, it's necessary to purchase a 90mm adapter from somewhere. I had already placed an order with Accufab for a throttle body, so I went ahead and shelled out for their adapter.



7. Accufab 80mm throttle body w/2" spacer

Perfectly made pieces. Nothing better. Beautifully finished.



8. MC Machine anodized throttle bracket

I love MC Machine. They're also located in Phoenix, Arizona, not far from my city.

9. Moates Quarterhorse, CDAN4 definition from SailorBob, BE 2010 and EA.

I've used a TwEECer RT for most of my vehicles and this is the first time I'm using the Quarterhorse. It is a good chunk of change cheaper and does a lot more than the TwEECer. It's a fantastic piece of equipment and the credit goes to Craig Moates!

You can see my little blue netbook behind the white box. This is my dedicated tuning laptop and it's not much of a powerhouse, but it has incredible battery life. I used to datalog on the SD card, but I transitioned to a small SSD drive for speed and reliability. The laptop is an HP Mini 210 with a tiny Intel Atom processor and 3 USB ports. It runs BE2010 and TunerPro RT just fine and the small size makes it ideal for field tests. It was free as well... one of those credit card reward things. A backlit keyboard would really help, but this is one of those things that's easily overlooked if you're starting to get into tuning cars/motorcycles with a laptop.



Mods

Mod #1: EEC harness pass through

I decided to find an existing grommet I could reuse for the EEC harness instead of cutting a hole through my beloved '71. I found a large pass through grommet on the driver side with a hole measuring roughly 32mm. I found another grommet that would accept a 3/4" hole and still seal 32mm. I'm hoping this is enough to pass the EEC wires through, but I'm pretty certain I'm going to have to remove extraneous, unused wires from the main connector. De-pinning the EEC connector was not fun!



Initial Mockup

I had a new set of heads built up before doing much else on the EFI conversion, so it's taken me a while to get to this point. An overzealous friend of mine had ported the exhaust runners on my old set of World Products Windsor Sr. heads so excessively that several ports had broken into the smog rail. Not exactly sure why, but this was causing excessive oil consumption and oil on the spark plug threads on a few cylinders on the problem side. I've replaced them with a set of Racing Head Service Pro-Action 215 heads with stage 1 port work and flowbenching from Larry's Engine & Marine. The new heads are aluminum and flow over 300 cfm around 0.600" lift, so this should make for a solid improvement in performance.

The initial mockup proved that everything fit and cleared the openings in the existing hood. The spark plug locations appear to have changed slightly so that may pose a challenge with the existing headers, but I won't know how bad things are until I start mounting the coil packs and buttoning everything up.

Pictures don't do it justice. It looks big and terrific when viewed in person!





RHS Head Details

For anyone planning to run RHS Pro Action cylinder heads, beware! While these heads flow excellent and the combustion chamber design is about as good as it gets for an inline wedge style head, accomodating the extra large 2.08" intake valve results in exhaust valve relocation. Apparently, this is a common thing to do amongst small block Ford aftermarket heads. Usually, when this happens there is a custom set of rocker arms required to adjust for the relocation, but RHS specifies Comp Cams 4618 guideplates and standard rockers. This does NOT work! All intake valves are spot on, but exhaust valve tip location is offset from rocker stud and pushrod hole locations.



In order to correct this, adjustable guideplates with deep enough pushrod guides must be used. The only ones I found that work are Dart Machinery's units.

Another thing to note about RHS heads is the spark plug location. They are different. In my case, this required that I dent my headers a bit more to make room for a 5/8" spark plug socket on the driver side. Proximity and heat are another issue so I am using Taylor aluminum heat shields in conjunction with fiberglass braided insulation to protect the ignition wires.

Electric Cooling Fan Control

At first, I thought I'd be happy with both of my 14" Permacool pancake cooling fans turning simultaneously at a preset temperature via a thermoswitch. In fact, that's how I had them wired for ages. It worked, but when they engaged the power draw was significant enough for me to hear a discernible change in pitch from the electric fuel pump. My old Bronco shares the same issue, along with my 5.0 Mustang.

A few interesting notes I've picked up over the years. Remanufactured EEC-IV computers come with electric fan driving circuitry which is sometimes not present in many stock EEC-IV computers. If you are using an EEC-IV and have a remanufactured unit, you may be able to take advantage of fully programmable PI control of your cooling fans.

EEC-V computers all come with the ability to control a low speed and high speed fan, independently. Many configurations using the EEC-V, however used only one of the outputs. This would mean that the appropriate pin on the EEC connector as well as the wiring harness would be missing the extra wiring. This is easily remedied. Pin 45 is the stock fan control for a single fan controlling setup and is known as the EDF (electro drive fan) output. This pin is nominally configured for pull up operation, meaning that when activated the pin goes high (12V). The behavior of this specific pin can be inverted so that it can function as a grounding type pin instead. Since my original Painless Wiring cooling fan kit was wired as a grounding type setup, I have made this inversion adjustment within my EEC-V programming. Pin 46 is known as the high speed fan control (HEDF) and is sometimes not present on the EEC-V connector and harness. I had to punch a new hole for pin 45, add a pin, and plumb it out accordingly. Pin 46 is nominally setup as a grounding type pin, so inversion wasn't necessary in my case.

In the end, I've set my fans up so that one of them is driven by the EDF programming and the other with the HEDF. This should allow for staged engagement, reducing the instantaneous power draw on the electrical system, and for slightly more precise temperature control via the independent setpoints and control parameters. The EEC fan control even deals with A/C being turned on, high speed driving when there should be adequate airflow, and high load situations.

Once you really understand how the EEC works, you'll discover that the ECT sensor is one of the most important and widely used sensor on the car. Don't screw around with trying to find funny places to install it. Stock 5.0 water necks have a boss already ready for accepting a 37/64" drill bit and 3/8"-18 NPT tap. Do it once and do it right.



Coil Pack Mounting

Some people dislike the look of Ford's EDIS coil packs, most prefer COP (coil on plug), and some people are old school and perfectly happy with their dizzies. Regardless of your stance on OEM Ford ignition options, the 1st generation EDIS coil packs are the most durable, weatherproof, and hottest voltage coils ever made. 1st gen EDIS coils punch out 40,000V in stock form, which is equal to or better than any aftermarket alternative. The female sockets mate with completely weathersealed male terminal counterparts and are ideal for serious 4x4s that enjoy wading through creek and river crossings.

The only issue with EDIS coil packs, besides their look (for some), is the mounting configuration. I explored various options, including mounting on the shock towers, firewall, one on each valve cover, and finally decided to mount them BOTH to the driver side valve cover. My covers already had bosses in the locations I needed to drill them to mount brackets I found at the junkyard from a Mazda (shares a lot of Ford parts). The Mazda coil pack brackets were also zinc plated and cleaned up quite nicely. Due to the passenger side throttle body and air intake assembly, I didn't really have the real estate to make things symmetrical and from an engineering point of view, it really doesn't matter!

Here's how it looks:





EFI Throttle Cable

Throttle cable setup can be a genuine headache on some vehicles, but fear not, the '71-73 Mustangs are so well designed that this is fortunately not a problem at all. Look no further than a Lokar 1000HT stainless steel braided and Teflon lined throttle cable assembly. Easily adapted to the '71 Mustang with almost no modifications (had to drill the Lokar clevis pin to 1/4" from 3/16" and pinch the stock pedal assembly at the pin to accomodate the clevis). The cable housing is perfect in length and requires no adjustment. The cable itself will require trimming slightly for a perfect install.

Here you can see the MC Machine anodized aluminum throttle bracket and AOD transmission bracket (which I will repurpose for the C6 I'm currently using, eventually upgrading to a 4R70W down the road. The cable alignment is pretty ideal and looks sharp.





36-1 Crank Trigger Wheel

I think I'm a really lucky guy because I have some really great friends. A friend of mine came over and measured things up and sent me a DXF drawing of a 36-1 crank trigger wheel adapted to my engine. Another friend at work cut it out on the waterjet in 10 minutes.

Here's what it looked like as soon as it came out of the waterjet:



A quick fitting to see if it fits (it does) and after spraying it with some Rustoleum Rust Reformer paint, which is a 2-step primer/paint that requires little surface preparation:



The crank position sensor (VR) was a bit trickier. With the help of a friend's CAD skills, I was able to cut a bracket on the waterjet with provisions for adjusting and fine tuning the sensor position. The bracket has to be fairly stiff, so I cut it out of 1/8" steel plate and let it churn in the deburrer for almost 12 hours. Quick rust preventative spray job and some 1" spacers to offset the sensor mount and I was done. Specs call for roughly 0.050" distance from the trigger wheel.



Air Intake

The inlet wasn't very difficult since I sourced an Airaid U-Build-It kit with 4.0" tubing. A few cuts and a few extra couplers and the main run of it was complete. I'm using an Anderson Ford Motorsports air filter which has an inlet at the end of the cone filter as well. The LMAF is mounted securely between the bends.



Since an open breather is no longer permissible in a fuel injected setup, I had to run the fresh air inlet for PCV from the driver side valvecover to a spot in the air inlet elbow, where the MAF can measure the additional flow. I also mounted the IAT sensor in the elbow and used a 3D printed receptacle made of ABS superglued and RTVed on.



The valvecovers and ignition coil pack mounting had to change due to clearance issues, so I picked up a set of Proform Ford Racing valvecovers and remounted everything.



Finally, this is what it looks like. Definitely doesn't look period correct, ie. circa 1970 however, it should be a dead reliable monster street motor. Just need a proper sized serpentine belt (72 or 73" should do the trick), ECM installed, fluids, and tightening a few bolts before it's ready for fire up!

 

[mdan575]

So you area going distributor less if I am understanding correctly? Sounds like a project that should make for a fun driver. I will definitely be following this in the future. Something I have seriously considered. One question though is how well will the intake clear the hood?

I do all my tuning on my 2003 Super Charged Harley F150 with SCT PRP so a project like this would be fun.

Generally you are right about corral.net unfortunately. Some good dudes but alot of turds mixed in also.

 

[Mesozoic]

So you area going distributor less if I am understanding correctly? Sounds like a project that should make for a fun driver. I will definitely be following this in the future. Something I have seriously considered. One question though is how well will the intake clear the hood?

I do all my tuning on my 2003 Super Charged Harley F150 with SCT PRP so a project like this would be fun.

Generally you are right about corral.net unfortunately. Some good dudes but alot of turds mixed in also.

Yes, I am going to leverage the EDIS built into the EEC-V. You can still run EDIS8 with an EEC-IV system, but you have to plumb it into the harness and obtain a separate module.

I'm running a US Body Source Mach 1 Dominator hood, so there is plenty of clearance. I measured the intake and it appears to be slightly shorter than the existing carburetor and air cleaner height, so shouldn't be a problem. Very good point however... if keeping the stock hood is necessary, choose your intake manifolds carefully!

 

[Stangrpunk72]

sounds like an awesome and I would like more info as im interested in putting a built 5.8 liter motor in my 72 coupe. currently im running a 5.0 with mostly stock eec iv with a tfi dizzy

 

[Mesozoic]

sounds like an awesome and I would like more info as im interested in putting a built 5.8 liter motor in my 72 coupe. currently im running a 5.0 with mostly stock eec iv with a tfi dizzy

I'll definitely annotate as I move along the process. A 5.8 drops right in, as you can see I've been running one for years. However, the 302 is a solid platform as well and is pretty good up to 500 horsepower reliably. If you need more power than that, well maybe a Wheezer or a 351C (or even a 400M small block bellhousing) is a good idea.

Many people have criticized the TFI dizzy (and for good reason), but I've never had one fail on me. I think that bad dielectrics and excessive heat are the primary reasons for failure. EDIS8 is rock solid however - there's folks running it in VWs, Panteras, you name it. I recently toasted my 302 in my '89 5.0 because I stabbed the distributor incorrectly (1 cylinder off) and I believe one of my rod bearings is shot now. I vow to convert or upgrade to EDIS8 on all vehicles in the garage!

 

[mdan575]

So that leaves me to a ask the question out of a bit of ignorance were the last year's of the 5.0 explorer in that group or were they still using a distributor? Seems like a donar vehicle out of a scrap yard might be the best route. Or a full pull off eBay.

No doubt on the Lmaf but I recently switched my truck to a later model oem slot maf and it tuned out amazing. Better than any of the non oem maf's.

 

[mustang7173]

Hello Mesozoic,

Man, Give you goose bumps looking at all this cool hardware!! Look forward to more pictures and information on your build.

mustang7173

 

[Mesozoic]

Haha, goosebumps! I'm pretty excited about the conversion as my '71 was my first car when I turned 16.

About the MAFs, whatever works flawlessly is the best route. If you have good luck with something other than an LMAF, then that's great! i went LMAF because I have worked with it before and it cost me only $50 for a new one off the Corral (the one saving grace for that forum is that it has the best classified parts section in the US, hands down). It seems that OEM MAFs seem to perform better and are better calibrated. Just stay away from a C&L unless you want a tuning nightmare on your hands!

My understanding of the Explorer 5.0s is that they received a serious upgrade starting in 1996. First off, they all run the Cobra/GT40 lower style intake as stock hardware. They also received GT40P heads, further completing the combination. And furthermore, they received a 5.0 specific cam sync sensor, 36-1 trigger wheel on the balancer, and a unique timing cover that accomodates a factory VR sensor for the crank trigger. Explorers and Mountaineers from '96 to 2000 received this engine package until the small block was fully phased out.

If you're starting with a 302 in your Mustang and want to inject it, the late model Explorer cam sync sensor is a drop-in affair. Initially, the unique timing chain cover sounds appealing, but I believe you have to adapt all the accessory mounts (and possibly accessories themselves) if you go this route. Alternatively, purchase a 36-1 trigger wheel from DIYAutotune.com and have it installed on your existing balancer. Fabricate a VR sensor mount and you're done. All GUFB strategy EEC-IV computers can be configured to control EDIS8 with some tuning software to enable it.

Now if you're running a 351W or 351C, you can still do the above, but you have to deal with the cam sync sensor uniquely. For this, source a cam sync sensor housing from a mid-90s Windstar van with the V6. This housing matches the Wheezer/Cleveland dizzy hole. Then source a 5.0 Explorer cam sync sensor as well. Swap guts and it drops right in. I've been running my modified sensor for 15,000 miles, no issues yet.

Alternatively, you can also buy a billet piece from Price Motorsports, saving you the junkyard headache, but it comes at a price!

 

[caspianwendell]

Keep us updated on the cool project

 

[Tubo]

Nice build Ya got going there. Your'e going to love the Moates.

I would point out that; Comp says the Cam is "Magnum™ Retro-Fit, Hydraulic Roller....NOT FOR E.F.I." Probably becuse of the 110 LSA. Usually 112 is bout as narrow a LSA as EFI likes. While on the cam, I think the 224 intake duration is good though I'd prefer a split duration and more on the exhaust side. YMMV o'course.

I'm liking your EECV and EDIS. Ya got me real interested in following your build.

Tubo

 

[Mesozoic]

Nice build Ya got going there. Your'e going to love the Moates.

I would point out that; Comp says the Cam is "Magnum™ Retro-Fit, Hydraulic Roller....NOT FOR E.F.I." Probably becuse of the 110 LSA. Usually 112 is bout as narrow a LSA as EFI likes. While on the cam, I think the 224 intake duration is good though I'd prefer a split duration and more on the exhaust side. YMMV o'course.

I'm liking your EECV and EDIS. Ya got me real interested in following your build.

Tubo

I have often wondered whether going to a different cam would benefit me or not, but all the simulation runs I've made in Dyno2000 with various cams has always resulted in marginal results compared to the 35-442-8. I had a Comp 290 Magnum roller as well, pn 35-452-8, but I chewed up the cam dizzy drive gear pretty bad and had to junk the cam. It was a bit more aggressive, but the 284 seems to work better on the street.

It'll be real interesting to see if this car will idle with EEC control or not. I'm willing to see what I can do about it. There are several tuneable parameters I've seen in the CDAN4 strategy that seem to facilitate tuning an engine with a rough idle, including what conditions to start and stop misfire detection, fixing injector timing at idle, etc. In the end, the cam doesn't have an extremely rough idle, but more of a noticeable lope.

 

[Mesozoic]

In case no one noticed, I've been modifying the original post to add updates.

 

[MustangMyWay]

I'm just beginning to enter the world of EFI for my street rod. I find all these details overwhelming. Now I am concerned about my hood clearance among other things .

Thanks for the thread. I'll be watching.

 

[Mesozoic]

I'm just beginning to enter the world of EFI for my street rod. I find all these details overwhelming. Now I am concerned about my hood clearance among other things .

Thanks for the thread. I'll be watching.

I just busted out my Makita 4" cutoff and trimmed a sizeable portion of my hood this evening to clear my air intake! I should mention that my hood is fiberglass... so the cutoff makes quick work of it.

 

[BenD]

real interesting to read all of this,

reading thru your information i get that there is a difference between auto /stick ecu's?

looks interesting

 

[Mesozoic]

real interesting to read all of this,

reading thru your information i get that there is a difference between auto /stick ecu's?

looks interesting

Yes, there is, but any CDAN4 ECU can be adjusted to run a myriad of different transmission types including both manual and auto transmissions.

 

[Kermit 460]

Very cool project and write up , my heads still spinning .

 

[Mesozoic]

 

[Totalled]

Doesn't seem to care about the cam at all... Idles like a late model. Nice.