Rep builds a bunch of old Fords

[CDA 455 II]

Got a new injector for the water/meth injection on the diesel:

Stepping up from 7gph to 10gph. This time i bought an injector from Devil's Own, mainly because they are available from Amazon. I had it apart and its the same quality as any other injector ive had my hands on so no complaints.

...and installed!

Now i just need to go wheeling again so i can put a proper load on the truck

Interesting🤔

 

[WaterH]

So what’s the deal with that injector.
1. You hit a button and it dumps water/meth in the charge air?
2. Do you have to be at wide open when you hit the button?
3. Does it need to be a certain mix of water and meth? (can it be all water)
4. Does it give you more power or just let’s you keep your foot in it longer without worrying about EGTs?
5. What kind of pump does it use?

Sorry for all the questions. I’ve heard of it, but don’t know enough.

 

[reptillikus]

It's a progressive controller that adds water as boost goes up, helps with EGTs. Totally adjustable on the fly so I can tune it while I'm driving. Has all sorts of fail-safes built in to protect the system, and the truck as well. It's a 250 psi pump, so think of the nozzle as a fogger spraying into the intake, similar to the sprayers you see on vegetables in the grocery store.
Normally you would run 30% methanol for added HP, but I typically run 100% water just for the cooling, and only add methanol to keep the tank from freezing in the winter.


The controller (ignore the crap pic quality, it's probably from 10 years ago)

Pump and 12 gallon tank:

It's been on the truck since 2013 I think? It's been super reliable, and does the job very well. I'm upping the water slightly because my bronco has only gotten heavier over the years, and the tow rig has 4.10s & 35s which isn't ideal. Long term plan is to step down in size the next time I buy tires for it, and at that point I can always just turn down the duty cycle on the w-m injection if i don't need that much water anymore.

 

[arse_sidewards]

What pump do you use?

 

[reptillikus]

So I bought a complete system ( that has been since obsoleted/ replaced with a newer model) from Cooling Mist. The kit I used was their CMGS as it came optionally as a 2-1/16 gauge (which they don't make anymore), I guess it's just a small control panel now but reading their programming instructions it seems to be the same overall system. Looks like I also remembered wrong, and it's a 200psi pump

Coolingmist 200psi pump, water injection, methanol injection

Coolingmist 200psi pump, water injection, methanol injection, Torqbyte, Devilsown, Prometh, snow performance, AEM, Aquamist, Water methanol, burger motorsport, BMS

www.coolingmist.co.uk

The whole system has been super reliable, only issue I ever had was breaking an injector but (due to running tap water) I also remove it constantly to clean, and probably over torque it because I cracked one earlier this year. Other than that it's been super reliable.

 

[WaterH]

Cool. Have you ever done a comparative run where drive the same with it on and off? How much difference in EGT is there?

 

[reptillikus]

Yeah I have. I did a bunch of testing while towing my bronco, and found that it will lower my EGTs by 1-300° at the driver manifold. It's pretty impressive. Of course that's at 100% duty cycle, which I don't usually maintain. I am usually programmed at 5-20psi when just cruising, and 5-15psi when towing, so it only sees 100% when I'm maintaining 15psi which usually means I'm pulling a grade. I've tried setting it at 100% at 10psi and while it works good it consumes a ton of water set that way without much more gain, so I usually run 5-15 and call it good. I bumped the injector size because there's a few 9° hills around here that come out of nowhere so you can't lead em, and once I hit 1300º on the hills there's no recovering unless you back out or downshift, and the spread between 2nd and 3rd in an E4OD is a bit much. That extra 3gph is actually a pretty big increase so im hoping this will do the job as i can always turn the duty cycle down, but its not like i can go up past 100%.

Long term plan is lowering it an inch or so and stepping down from 35s to 33s, which I think will help alot. Maybe one day ill add and IC as well, and thatll probably be all ill ever need.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

You probably know this, but a 6.0 PSD intercooler fits the OBS trucks like it was made for it. Very little trimming fo fit.

 

[reptillikus]

Yeah, it's inevitable. So, I bought a whole nother ('97) cab which I'm going to restore, and then swap onto my frame. At that point, im planning on doing up-pipes, electric fuel, an oil pan, and a 6.0 IC. But that won't even begin to happen until after I get the 90 bronco done and on the road.

 

[WaterH]

When you say “once I hit 1300, there’s no recovery”, I don’t get it. You said it was adjustable on the fly. Can you not turn it to 100% ? Or do you mean it’s allready there?

 

[reptillikus]

Yeah I'm already there at that point. It doesn't happen often; theres one hill that's a 9° grade on my way to AOAA, and it's I think a mile long; that hill kinda sucks because it comes out of a turn so you can't ramp up speed beforehand. There's nothing on my way to Rausch Creek that's big enough for me to hit those kinds of temps set up the way I am. So really I'm just fine-tuning the system. 7gph was fine in most situations but there's one or two places where I wish I had more, and the 10gph will get me there I think. Honestly, these days I think most kits come with 10gph nozzles but you can get MUCH bigger ones, and even systems that are dual nozzle and dual pump. So while 10gph sounds like a lot of water, in the performance diesel world it's really not much.

Since it's based on boost, (for example) once you get the EGTs up over 1300° if you back off to cool down you also lose boost which means it injects less water. Snow Performance now sells a kit that will inject based on boost or EGT which is really cool and is probably the kit id buy if I was installing it today.


There are some safety features built into the system. It monitors current draw on the pump and will fault for both high and low current. (High could indicate a clog, low could indicate a leak). It also has a float for the tank to shut down if it's empty. It has a solenoid valve after the pump- it's normally closed so the system has to turn it on to open it; in the event of any error the valve closes so you can't over inject or hydrolock. I also have a spring loaded check valve up near the injector as a second failsafe; the system has to be able to build enough pressure to open it, meaning I can't park on a steep hill and accidentally hydrolock while parked.

 

[reptillikus]

finally, an update! I have been super busy trying to get to this point before any snow fell which is why i havent had any upodates.

Ok, first up, i fixed my breakaway battery charger for the trailer. Pretty sure the charger shorted, as it was trying to charge the battery with the trailer unplugged, and killed the breakaway battery. Oh well, it was 12 years old anyway.

I managed to fix the 200a powermaster alternator in the big bronco

Turns out it had mud in the brush box and the brushes were stuck, so thats cool.

I also got tired of dealing with the starter getting heat soak, so i swapped in a PMGR starter from a newer truck

made a new wiring harness for it as well:

Holy crap, wish i did this sooner, it starts way better now.



From there i jumped back to the 90 bronco build, and fixed the tailgate. Rebuilt the regulator as the gear was broken

...and as it turns out, those damaged wires i found back in September:

...were the power and ground wires for the tailgate



...from there i cleaned my garage:

...and winched the bronco in!

I have a growing collection of parts to go on this thing in the next month or so, with more yet to come

Here's hoping i can get this thing on the road before the end of winter. I guess we'll see!

 

[reptillikus]

Decided to get a tracbar in this thing this week.

Mocking it up, the bar needs to be roughly here, to match the draglink angle

Took some time with the upper mount, as i wanted something that would bolt up in place of the original TTB pivot, so i didnt have to drill any more holes in the frame:

The lower mount on the axle

...and done!

Im not in love with the lower mount, but i think itll do the job ok. I would have preferred to put the mount closer to the knuckle to get the bar longer but im pretty sure it would have hit the springs when the pass side drooped out, so i had to compromise. Im not building a hardcore long-travel rock crawler anyways, so i think itll be ok as is.

 

[reptillikus]

Front shocks!
Bilstein 5125, with the old shock towers off the big bronco:

From there i got tired of tripping over the front bumper so i decided to put it on the truck.

Fairly easy to do, just extend the notch Ford put in the bumper to clear the leaf springs on the F250/350s

Success! the bumper fits now:

I had to notch the bottom of the bumper bracket slightly, and i had to transfer the lower hole from the frame thru Sky's bracket, since they didnt include that hole in their hangar for some reason:

So while i was there, i decided i might as well add a front receiver to this thing

notch cut:

...and the hitch in its new home:

i dont think the main tube being .120" wall is sufficiently beefy, so i added some extra braces to strengthen it up a bit:

for the hell of it, i grabbed my x8000i and decided to see how it would look:

...and the finished product!

tucked up nice and tight

im diggin it
ill get around to wiring the bronco up for the winch whenever i get around to replacing the battery cables. For now im calling this project done

The little dude is home for winter break so maybe ill work on it next week, maybe ill just hang out with him and do cool stuff, we'll see. Either way, the next move i think will be to get the brake system replaced since it's all shot. We'll see how it goes.

 

[reptillikus]

First night back at work (been off the last 3 weeks). Didnt make it. Dunno what happened, but it overheated pretty badly.
Fortunately a buddy was able to give me a ride home, and i went back with the diesel + trailer to bring it home. SO i guess this morning ill work on this one, instead of the '90. Hopefully its just a blown hose and not blown head gaskets, or worse.

 

[reptillikus]

Got the green one sorted (stuck tstat) so back to work on the '90.
New master & booster from a 96 F350:

Skyjacker stainless brake hoses up front, + all new brake lines

Thought this was interesting. Stock rear F350 hose is only 1" shorter than the extended line Rough Country advertises for a 6" lifted bronco

Rear brakes are now fully plumbed:

Brake system is now fully bled, which means its time to start working on the engine

 

[WaterH]

Looks to me like you need an oil leak on that truck. (To control rust)

 

[reptillikus]

Yeah you can tell its been sitting for years.

Dont worry, if its anything like my other trucks, itll start leaking oil a week after i put it on the road

 

[reptillikus]

This was the scene yesterday morning. Snowmageddon 2023!

It didnt last.

Anyways, i hit the road and made if halfway to my destination, when i blew the cooler line for the transmission.

It was rough, i lost about 8 qts of fluid, and fast. I was sitting at a traffic light, and when the light turned green, the truck wouldnt go! Thankfully there was a Turkey Hill across the street, so i wandered over, grabbed a couple quarts of oil and dumped em down the dipstick so i could get the truck off the road. Found the leak, got lucky and was able to shorten the hose and put it back together. With that fixed i resumed my trip, which was to go pick up this:

Home Depot truck!
Its a 2008 F350. 2wd 5.4l with 305,000 miles on the clock! Picked it up for cheap because realistically aside from the bed, the truck isnt really worth much.

All i really care about is the bed, and its in pretty good shape overall. Picked the truck up for $2700 which is less than the cost of an AL flatbed in my area so im calling it a win. So the plan is to get the bed off, and then see what i can sell this thing for. Anybody was a cheap Superduty?

 

[reptillikus]

I really need to update this thread more often.


So, i made some progress on the 90 bronco.

Stripped the motor down and changed the timing chain

The smog pump is going in the trash, so i need to get rid of all the air pipes as well

Its not easy to see, but they bolt to the back of the head

The holes are threaded, because when flipped to the other side of the motor a threaded insert goes in it, and the accessory drive bolts to it. Which means we can plug the hole simply by putting a short bolt in it.

No smog pump means no TAD or TAB, so the vacuum system came off for repairs and the removal of about half the vacuum lines

pulled the plenum

and then pulled the fuel rail so i could clean and then rebuild the fuel injectors

i changed the rusty (but otherwise apparently in good shape) spark plugs

The IAT was super gross, so that got changed, along with the ECT since i was already in there

In the process of the rebuild, i decided to get rid of the fire hazard that is the 2g alt

Just a small amount of grinding on this web, and the 3g alt fits right in there

bracket cleaned up; reman alt installed

I also tossed the junk Ford steering pump in favor of a Saginaw off an Econoline

bracket all cleaned up, with reman pump installed

and i deleted the OEM cooling loop on the frame rail in favor of a proper steering cooler off of a Superduty

From there is was just a matter of putting the motor back together!

After cleaning the throttle body and replacing the EGR & IAC, the plenum went back on

New cap, rotor, ford racing 9mm wires, and a MSD ignition coil

...and i think thats it?


This week coming up i need to replace the a/c condenser (i punctured it by accident), which means conversion to R134a. Then radiator, plumb trans cooler, fuel tank + pump & filter, and then i think i can finally try to get it running!

 

[toocheaptosmoke]

In the process of the rebuild, i decided to get rid of the fire hazard that is the 2g alt

After running an '88 F150 for like 8 years, just now finding out about this problem with the stock alternators...

 

[reptillikus]

Ford was pretty quiet about it, but they still had to issue a TSB about it eventually.

Found it, Ford TSB 96-21-4

96-21-4 Ford Technical Service Bulletin

Of course you cant view it online I submitted a request to get a copy. Fortunately, Gary's Garagemahal has it online.

In a nutshell, the alts were crap and would burn the plug. In many instances the vehicle caught fire. The 3g swap is so easy (and its such a better alternator) that i dont mess around with the 2g, i just swap every truck i get that uses it.

 

[reptillikus]

Surprised the wifey this morning. Maybe 6 months ago she had picked out a set of wheels for this thing. Last week i ordered them, and successfully got her tires mounted and balanced on em without her knowing.

Set the toe real quick...

...and slapped em on!

its gonna need flares to pass PA inspection....

...and the money shot

Took some measurements, and it ended up right at 4" lift


Still got some loose ends to button up under the hood, but im hoping to have it running in another week or so

 

[reptillikus]

Still got some loose ends to button up under the hood, but im hoping to have it running in another week or so

Ok, progress

Im basically done under the hood

new a/c condenser, new radiator, and the rest of the engine is now assembled. Im also replacing the a/c compressor and dryer and accumulator since im converting to 134a

new high pressure adapter fitting had the wrong thread pitch so i had to get a new one

...and the a/c is now pumped down

So i opened up the fuel pump

its pretty gross, no wonder it didnt work

...and all rebuilt with new pump, strainer & float:

new tank, with rebuilt pump installed, along with a new valve & gasket since im guessing i tossed the old one when i scrapped the tank

new galvanized skid plate from bronco graveyard

...and installed!

fuel lines are done, but when i went to hook up the vent line for the charcoal canister i saw it was all rotted out...

...so i bent up a new one & installed it

With all that done i picked up oil, coolant, etc to get everything filled up

Fortunately my first coolant fill was straight water because the tstat housing was leaking like a sieve

But that was a simple fix. So i hooked up the battery and keyed on to prime the fuel system. Had one leaky fuel injector oring (top of inj #1) which was an easy fix. So, i turned the key and.......

...nothing

So thats where im at now. The start circuit doesnt seem to work, im not sending power to the trigger wire for the starter relay, but the ignition multi-function switch is working so must be something else stopping it from starting. Jumped the relay and the starter cranks but the engine didnt fire so it may be an issue with the MLPS since it seems to be affecting the run circuit too. I have to troubleshoot it more tomorrow.

 

[reptillikus]

So it turns out the MLPS was bad. it was also the original one, so i had to repin the harness to use the new one

From there it was just a matter of priming the fuel system and it roared to life!

Timing is now set, and of course it needs an exhaust system still. I backed it out of the garage to confirm that at the very least, 1st & reverse work. Brakes need bled again. But it runs! So this week ill be working on the interior since ive got a bad power window motor and the door locks dont work. Gotta fix the door panels and the center console. But its close to being a driver!

 

[reptillikus]

Fixed the center console!

The hinge was mangled, so that was an easy fix. Still gotta find a latch as i dont have one.

Pulled the passenger door panel off to see why the window wasnt working

Predictably the gearbox was blown, so that got rebuilt

It was at this point that i realized the doorlocks didnt work from either door.

Did some troubleshooting and found out that both actuators are shot

While i was waiting for new actuators to show up i decided to put some sound deadener in the doors

New speakers for the doors:

And for the back too

So from there i pulled out the vintage tape deck...

...which revealed this stellar job...

...which is now fixed

Unfortunately thats about all i got done. I forgot to order an install kit for the head unit so that didnt get installed, altho i now have both that and a new set of door lock actuators on the workbench. This week is spring break, so instead of working on this im hanging out with the little dude. So we'll get back to this thing next week. I have an evap code (31) i need to sort out. The code is EVP below minimum voltage which is weird because the EGR & EVP are new, so maybe i messed it up when i installed it, or its defective, or theres some other issue. Ill look into it next week.

 

[WaterH]

The center console latch is broke on my Bronco. I ordered a new one from LMC (I think). It is not as good quality as OEM and It broke in a couple months. I was going to make one, but now that I’m driving the HEMTT, it’s on the back burner.

 

[reptillikus]

Didnt realize LMC had them. Last time i needed one i got it on Ebay, but there doesnt seem to be any on there currently.

 

[OX1]

Didnt realize LMC had them. Last time i needed one i got it on Ebay, but there doesnt seem to be any on there currently.

So this is where you been hidin out

 

[reptillikus]

Oh shit its Ox

Yeah i got tired of VS fucking up forums so i moved by halfass build thread over here, now these guys have to put up with me

You ready to go wheelin in two weeks?