Bojo's 73 Project

[Jeff73Mach1]

Good progress! Take your time while double and triple checking everything. I suspect she'll start and run very nicely.

 

[Steven Harris]

So little by little the big moment is coming!

Thanks for the comparison with the headers. Great stuff to know and keep in mind.

 

[jbojo]

Thx guys, I am hoping that I am over the hump now. I have the wiring laying everywhere but don't want to cut and shorten the lines until I am satisfied with the motor. After the motor is tested and I am satisfied I'll be converting the ignition timing to have the EFI computer controlling it. It involves locking out the distributor advance and a new phasing rotor and a couple of wiring changes. Once that's done I'll be able to custom tailor the timing and engine functions from the control panel, no more fiddling with weights and springs and a carburetor. I'll take a pic and video when I have it running again.

 

[jbojo]

7/1/14

Oil did not come in today so now they are saying tomorrow. On another note where is the emergency flasher relay located? The turn signal works ok as I had replaced that one however the emergency lights are not working.

thx

 

[Doug The Dog]

7/1/14

Oil did not come in today so now they are saying tomorrow. On another note where is the emergency flasher relay located? The turn signal works ok as I had replaced that one however the emergency lights are not working.

thx

It's located above the glove box.

 

[jbojo]

7/1/14

Oil did not come in today so now they are saying tomorrow. On another note where is the emergency flasher relay located? The turn signal works ok as I had replaced that one however the emergency lights are not working.

thx

It's located above the glove box.

Thx Travis,

The shop manual said it was supposed to be right above the fuse box taped to the wiring harness. When I had the dash apart I noticed a connector that I didn't label and it was the same type that is used with the flasher units. It is actually located on the left side of the glove box and the turn signal one is on the relay plate above the glove box. The flasher was actually missing so I didn't know where that connector went and was going to research the color coded wires to try to figure it out, now I know. Anyway I connected the flasher to that connector and tried the emergency lights and they are now working.

Lastly, with all the talk about the LED lights for the instrument panel I'll probably re-lamp the panel now while I still have easy access. There have been a lot of discussion about these and I am thinking Hi Po Parts at http://www.hipoparts.com/whats-included-in-an-led-conversion-kit/ and wanted opinions if they are good or whether I should go with some one else. Also was wondering if I should go with the electronic flasher units while I am doing this. I value you're opinions so let me know which company is best to go with.

thx

 

[Totalled]

Go with SMD LEDs. Can get em here too: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-vehicle-replacement-bulbs/vehicle/1973-ford-mustang--/20-772--/

 

[jbojo]

Go with SMD LEDs. Can get em here too: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-vehicle-replacement-bulbs/vehicle/1973-ford-mustang--/20-772--/

Pat,

Which bulbs do you recommend? I want to re-lamp the whole instrument panel, center gage console and shifter lever light. I am seeing prices from a couple of bucks to $27.00 per bulb. A complete list would be great if you know what you put in your car.

thx

 

[Totalled]

What color do you want your dash lights to be?

PS: Don't replace the turn indicators in the cluster with LEDs... The almost direct line of sight makes them blinding at night.


Trans shifter/heater control*/switch bezels/ash tray: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/ba9s-ba7s/ba9s-led-bulb-1-led/4/

Instrument illumination/center gauges/console clock/heater controls*: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-5-smd-led-wide-angle-wedge-base/206/

Dome light: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/festoon/561-led-bulb-9-smd-led-festoon/244/

Map light: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/festoon/578-led-bulb-9-led-festoon/237/

*Heater control light was supposed to be a 1895 in '71/72, and a 194 in '73. I think mine was still an 1895 when I replaced my bulbs. Check before you order.

 

[jbojo]

What color do you want your dash lights to be?

PS: Don't replace the turn indicators in the cluster with LEDs... The almost direct line of sight makes them blinding at night.


Trans shifter/heater control*/switch bezels/ash tray: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/ba9s-ba7s/ba9s-led-bulb-1-led/4/

Instrument illumination/center gauges/console clock/heater controls*: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-5-smd-led-wide-angle-wedge-base/206/

Dome light: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/festoon/561-led-bulb-9-smd-led-festoon/244/

Map light: http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/festoon/578-led-bulb-9-led-festoon/237/

*Heater control light was supposed to be a 1895 in '71/72, and a 194 in '73. I think mine was still an 1895 when I replaced my bulbs. Check before you order.

I am thinking blue or green haven't really decided yet. Did you have to use any load resistors? I'll replace the inside first then I'll do the exterior lights down the road. Thx again for the help!!

 

[jbojo]

7/2/14

Can't believe it. I ordered 9 qts of Valvoline VR1 oil 10-30 wt last Sunday for Tuesday delivery and they never ordered it. Yesterday I reordered the oil for today and they just ordered 6 qts. They said that they didn't know how many I wanted, guess they never heard of a phone. So I ordered 3 more qts today so hopefully I'll have it by tomorrow. I originally asked them if I needed to remind them on Monday but they said they had it covered. So another days delay.

 

[Totalled]

I haven't used load resistors. When I put LED replacement bulbs in the tail lights, an electronic flasher was sufficiant. If it doesn't work after adding them to the front signals, I'll get an electronic flasher.

 

[jbojo]

7/4/14

Quick update. The oil came in yesterday so putting on the final finishes before I try to start it up again. Going over everything again to make sure it's right. I just tried to pre-lube the motor with the drill and got about 80 psi today, previously I was just getting around 55 psi so there is definite improvement now. I'll update later this afternoon with the results. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[jbojo]

Well it running, hooray!!!!! I am attaching a video of the motor running without any adjustments done yet. I will be trying to time it tomorrow and look at the vacuum readings etc. Then I'll do the swap over to the Atomic unit controlling the timing and video it. I'll do a before and after video and post it so you can see the difference if any. Had to do other things today so I have to call it quits for today. Oil pressure is running about 70 psi and it started right up. I also tried to capture the oil pressure reading in the video but it didn't come out. That efi is really good unit and provides the proper settings at the gitgo. I was running an A/F ratio of about 13.7 to 1. I'll try to update again tomorrow.

 

[jbojo]

7/5/14

Started the car up again today and it lit right off, Moved the timing to 12* BTDC and the RPM's came down however it ran a little rough. Was monitoring the engine temp and oil pressure and the temp went no higher than 186* and the oil pressure remained at 55 psi at ide. When the rpm was at 1200 the pressure was just shy of 75 psi on the gage in the engine compartment (see pic). I believe that it will probably go a bit higher as the rpm increases.

Now for the rough idle, the efi unit has butterflys in the throat that are actuated by a motor to control idle. When you look down the throat of the TB you can see that these flappers are almost closed. This must be adjusted in gear with the brake on so I am not going to be able to do that today. It is also very sensitive to the engine timing and must be readjusted every time the timing is changed. Therefore I am just going to go ahead and convert the timing to computer controlled before I do the idle adjustments.

Now for computer controlled timing, I am also attaching a pic of the phasing rotor. It must be rotated 15* opposite distributor rotation, clockwise in this case and is done by loosening the 2 screws and rotating the top part of the rotor. Next the timing on the harmonic damper is set to 15* BTDC. On the dizzy you must removed all of the weights and springs for the mechanical advance and lock the dizzy so it can't provide any advance. Now the phasing rotor is mounted so it is set to the #1 cylinder post. To me with all of these adjustments it looks like the motor is actually set to fire at TDC. On the control panel for the efi computer you lock out computer timing control and start the motor. Using a timing light you then adjust the timing to 15* BTDC. After this is done the efi computer timing control is enabled and it starts to control the timing now. Kind of curious how well this will actually work.

Now for the bad, I still have a pwr steering leak at the pump connection so I will need to get some new crush washers on Monday. I also didn't like the hose angle anyway so I want to readjust it again. Had a brake line leak at the new proportioning valve so I had to fix that. Also had some oil coming out of one of the valve cover so I also fixed that. No leaks at the front or rear seals so that's good news.

Sorry for the long post but wanted to let you know how things were going. Also I think that it's safe to say the motor is fixed and lastly I put the car in gear and the rear wheels were turning on their own, first time in 24 yrs. Oh yeah the car will not start in park so I will also need to tweak the NSS switch but it does start in neutral.

thx

UPDATE:

Started modifying the distributor per MSD's instruction. One issue that I found with the phasing rotor ( MSD #8421) is that the max adjustment is 13* and MSD calls for 15* retard for the rotor. Also they did not put a scale on the rotor to indicate what the settings were. I had to take a protractor and degree the rotor myself and saw it was 13* max. Went to their forum and there were other postings indicating the same issue that were seen by others. One of the posts said how to modify the rotor so I did that and got the required 15* retard for the timing. I just have to get some blue locktite and tighten the screws down and I should be set. Attached 3 more pics of the dizzy showing the mechanical advance mechanism removed and the rotor going in. Hopefully tomorrow I start it with the computer controlling the engine timing.

 

[Doug The Dog]

It sounds great! I'm glad you got over that hurdle. The rest should be a peice of cake!

 

[jbojo]

7/12/14

Man is it hot today. Over 100 in the garage and tomorrow its supposed to get to 109*.

Anyway I rewired everything so that the EFI computer would control the timing. I disabled the timing control so that I could set in the required 15* BTDC and the motor started right up and ran great. It was idling at 1100 rpm but I thought that was fine because the computer was disabled. Now the trouble started when I enabled computer timing control. The rpm's dropped however the motor is running very roughly and wants to die and has very low vaccum. I tried different settings to try to fix the issues but nothing seemed to help. I have questions out at the MSD forum so I am hoping that they have a solution for me.

thx

 

[jbojo]

7/13/14

Got an early start today to try to avoid the heat. I did get some suggestions from the MSD forum which helped. The motor is running under computer control now but I still need to tweak in the settings to try to smooth it out some more. Getting closer on finishing up the motor now. I'll probably have to wait until I get the exhaust on to finish the fine tuning. I might have air leaking into the collector area which is causing the O2 sensor to think that the motor is running lean and it's feeding more fuel than necessary.

Attaching a link to the video of motor running today with computer controlling everything.



thx

 

[Steven Harris]

That sounds very good.

Like some caged power just waiting to be unleashed!

 

[hyena429]

Computer controlled clever Cannot wait to see the end results on the road!! She sounds awesome and just pure mean.