Good Luck for 2moz man
hope it all goes smooth

Hi Again

So after the great cruise on Saturday, on Sunday I was out trying to locate the Oil Pressure Sender I need from an EF/EL Fairmont or XR6 to make the Oil Pressure Guage in the EF Fairmont Cluster work. I was at Repco in Blacktown at the MEGA Centre and as I was leaving my carpark, the High Pressure Power Steering hose blew. GREAT!!!!

So I popped the hood to check it out, put the hood back down, and moved the car back into the carspace. I went to pop the hood again and the BLOODY CABLE SNAPPED!!!!!!!!!

So, who here has had to open a bonnet after the cable snapped? NOT FUN.

I called a mate who picked me up, and took me back home where I grabbed the hose from my parts car (thank god) and my tool box.

So in the middle of the carpark, I had to take off the front bumper, then from behind the grill, remove the bolts holding the bonnet catch in. After bending in the bolt tabs and dismantling the receiver dryer bracket I was able to lift the bonnet with the catch still attatched up through the hole in the radiator support panel.

Changing the power steering hose was the easy part.

Anyway, put it all together again, held the bonnet shut with a bungee cord and drove home.

The next day I had to replace the catch and as I had to dismantle half the front anyway I decided to swap out the A/C condensor as it was in pretty bad shape.

Condensor


Naked Front..... of car


I also replaced the Bonnet release cable so all is back to normal now. :nana:

Hopefully more fun mods to come soon.

BenJ

Aircon

I'm going to get reamed when it comes time to fix what the git broke.

Hello Again,

Now one of the stated negatives of a BBM conversion or EL Engine install is that you can't get the Cruise Control to work. Following my EL engine install I got around this by cutting and shutting two cables together. I used the EL cable attached to the throttle body, and the EB cable from the actuator servo, cut them both in half and joined them together.

This photo should give you an idea of what I mean.


And a close up of the bodginess - Hey, it worked!!!!


With the above mod (EL Dash and Console) in mind, I realised that the EB Cruise Control Module would no longer fit under the centre console.

For those that don't know, the EB Cruise Control is a complicated mess of wires, vacuum hoses and components. There are three separate devices. The Cruise module is under the console, the vacuum pump is located in the engine bay behind the washer bottle on the left hand side and connects via vacuum hose to the actuator servo on the right hand side. There are vacuum hoses under the dash connected to the brake (and clutch) pedal as well as wires. There are many things to check if it decides not to work. All in all, a real pain.

Seeing as I had the EL Engine and ECU I thought that I could use the EL Cruise Control. Ford got their act together and in the EF/EL the Cruise Control system is one device, and it is all electronic. A side benefit for me is that my bodgy cable join would be gone. I studied the schematics for both systems and identified that essentially both systems are stand alone. All they need is the relevant inputs and when connected to a throttle body it should work.

The main difference is that the EL in addition to the Brake Light switch, uses the Brake Pressure Switch, to cancel cruise. This is attached to the Brake Master Cylinder, and is not able to be fitted to the EB Master Cylinder. It is also not feasible to update the EB to an EF/EL Master Cylinder as the brake lines are routed differently.

It is however a simple matter of connecting 12V+ Ign to the Brake Pressure Switch wire to bypass it.

So, I got to work. I acquired the EL Cruise module and Cable as well as the Plug and a length of loom. I then made up a loom using wiring stripped from my spare parts car. I used a plug on the end that is located behind the Instrument Cluster to allow easy access to the wiring loom and to be easy to unplug for when the dash conversion happens. After modifying my custom cruise switches with different resistors, I unplugged the EB Cruise module, and after connecting the necessary wires, went for a test drive.

It works, and very well to. I have driven up to the Central Coast and back from Sydney and it performed like it should.

I am not sure if you need to have the EF/EL instrument cluster in, but I will say that the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) wire out is connected to the Cruise Module. If you were to try this with the EB Cluster, you would have to test if the normal VSS in wire will work.

A couple of pics.





Well I hope you found this interesting.

BenJ

And the 2008 Fordmods Macgyver award goes to (drumroll)

"BenJ"

Yeah (and the crowd goes wild)



Seriously though, great work old son!

Well done Ben, knew you would be able to work it out. Goes to show what can be done with the right attitude.

Thanks Guys.

I do have to thank snap0964 for his advice re bypassing the Brake Pressure Switch. Cheers Mate.

BenJ

Love the "McGyver Award" LOL
Is going wild the same as the "the crowd stood to his feet" or better?
I'll second the serious comment too!
Paul

Hi guys

I see from the photos that when you removed your EB engine you had the air con compressor still on it. Did you get the air con system purged beforehand or is there a way to do it without that? I am wondering because I thought that you couldn't disonnect the lines without something nasty happening....

Oh, and nice job on the engine swap. I have been browsing a few of your threads and must say nice job all round. There are some things you have done that I would very much like to eventually do to my EA wagon..

Cheers
Bruce

Bruce,
It's against the law to vent the gas to the air. Aircon techs empty the system through the valves using a sealed circuit, thus avoiding contact with the skin or eyes, which could freeze on contact with the refrigerant. Releasing the gas by just disconnecting the lines would give a nasty, dangerous quick release of high pressure refrigerant.
BenJ was saved that concern by a leaking valve or 'O' ring on the receiver dryer [we think] that had emptied the system, so it was due for a re-gas anyhow.
All 'O' rings were replaced with new [green] ones, the condensor has been replaced and he will get a new R/D and valve with his HR12 re-gas very soon.
Cheers,
Paul
PS It could have been a leak in the condensor, it was so damaged the scrap metal yard rejected it. LOL

Ah, thanks Paul - I thought that might be the case. I have a couple of cars I am pulling engines from so it looks like I'll have to do mine without the air con compressors.

Cheers
Bruce

i have accidently released one a few years back (before i knew it was illegal) luckily it was like 2 seconds worth of gas in there lol. all my other cars were out of gas.

When the guy who sold me my EL engine pulled it out of the car I was there.. .I couldn't believe it when he just walked up with a big pair of bold cutters and cut the air con line... Yellow gas went everywhere.. before I knew it I'd breathed some and got it in my eyes.. was very unpleasant to breath and had me coughing for ages...

nasty stuff.. but it was at least the newer gas that doesn't kill the ozone layer..

Hey Guys,

Yes, we were lucky in that we already had lost the gas through wear and tear.

If you are replacing an engine that uses the same air con compressor, it is easy to unbolt the compressor and leave it in the engine bay.

Good luck with your build.

BenJ

Jeez Frank, that bastard should be shot. A little closer to that s**t and you could have lost your sight or had permanent damage, I'm not kidding!! He could have at least warned you to get right back.
racedirector.. Bruce I just realised you're in Riverstone, I'm sure I can help you out with a loan of the engine crane, we'll have to work something out as I only come down [to Seven Hills first then go to the Liverpool meet] once a fortnight.
Paul