I know it doesn't look like much progress, but working 6 days a week & all the curve balls this project keeps throwing me, it makes it difficult to get this thing done. I'm even starting to run out of gas. 1st curve ball: The 18 1/4" fan hit the shroud. I thought that this size would work, but apparently the fan is not centered in the shroud. The stock fan was 17 1/4". It looks like I'm farther off than that & will go to a 16" reverse rotational fan. 2nd curve ball: I'm not convinced that the K&N filter & air flow meter are going to clear the hood. I'll mount the hood & see if it clears before I build a retaining bracket for the air flow meter. 3rd curve ball: I eliminated the EGR spacer for more shock tower clearance for the intake tube. I bought a Ron Morris EGR Eliminator kit, but now the throttle bracket hits the heater hose pipe & fuel pressure regulator. Notice that I cut away the battery vents in the core support to get cooler air to the K&N air filter. I'm trying to stay motivated, but this thing is beating the crap out of me. Everytime I think I see light at the end of the tunnel, new curve balls arrive!
Hang in there! It's looking SCHWEEEET! It'll all be worth it in the end! If it were easy, women and children would be doing it! Rick (j/k lady Maverick owners - j/k )
Right! The fan is not centered. My air meter fits without a problem. I used the stock 5L air filter box with a port hole into the fender well area like the 5L cars. The air filter being in the engine bay as you have it will pull hot air and be influenced by the fan blowing air at it and can cause an engine flutter.
It appears that I'm off by 1 3/4" on one side of the fan. I was thinking that I need to go down to a 16" fan. What fan size did you end up using? I'm using the stock Maverick shroud.
Can use a stock air conditioing fan or consider the clutch fan assembly from an 80s Bronco II/Ranger. To use the Bronco II fan, test fit onto water pump and locate the mounting holes between the existing hole and redrill if needed. The hole spacing on the Bronco clutch is sleightly different than the 302 water pump if that pump is used.
Dude that is a awsome picture of the engine and the fan looks good! I was thinking that for a Mav like that is to get rid of the power robbing, fan that can also mess with the mass air meter. And put on a nice looking electric fan that you can control the temperture, and have it timed to shut off a few minutes after the engine is shut off. P.S. I mean all this in a good way
Hey thanks-I considered an electric fan, but felt since I had the original shroud & that these are the best non-power robbing stainless steel fans on the market(Guaranteed to 10,000 RPMs), I'd give it a try. I still wanted that OEM look & hell there's enough wires all ready from that EFI to strangle 10 mules. Looking back, maybe I should have gone with the electric fan, but when I mapped this project out, I was trying to stay within a $5000 budget, including the price of the car. Well, I'm up to $6600 to date. So much for budgets!
I must tell you that I only spent $1200 for the car & it was an original 302 car. Furthermore, the upper & lower intakes, injectors, fuel rail, valve covers, ECU & assorted other items were free & were left over from the Cobra upgrade I did to my girlfriend's 89 5.0 LX Vert. That's what got me going, thinking I could do this cheaply! I paid a $100 for a 80,000 mile stock engine out of an wrecked 89 GT & I honed & re-ringed it, valve job etc. for $600 & I"m using the original C4. I cleaned, sanded & painted the engine bay myself for about $60 in materials. And I almost forgot, I didn't include my labor in the $6600.
gsjohnson Hey I understand. Maybe later down the road when you have it all said and done, that might be one of the improvements you want to do.
. You have probably covered this before, but I'm curious how you setup an onboard computer for the EFI system. Also, how did you integrate all this into the plane jane wiring harness?
I ran the original harness & the EFI computer harnesses as seperate ententies. I only tied them in where necesary. ie. neutral safety switch, alternator, starter solonoid & A/C compressor(idle compensator). I removed the Maverick engine gauge feed harness by unplugging it at the firewall & utilized S/W mechanical water & oil pressure gauges. Actually, quite simple. It was much easier than some of the other issues that I've run into. And like you, I thought that this would be the most difficult part of the conversion, but it was far from it. I do have one snag I still have to deal with & that is I want the alternator light to be functional in the dash, otherwise I have no other way of knowing if my charging system is operating properly while driving. Additionally, I utilized the seat belt light already in the dash as my check engine light. I wired it & installed a miliamp LED to make it completely functional. I also wired & installed the factory inertia switch in the trunk, which I can also use as a anti theft device.
