My Masi engine build

[vipernbox]

Awesome work....


I ran into many simliar problems when doing the main part of the mid engine project... Factory tolerences on the cars are BAD!!!! It took forever to get things leveled and squared like I wanted.. and even then I just kinda gave up and said "good enuff"


Seriously. I had taken some steel and tied eveything together so it would stay in factory postions.. I ended up undoing that and tweaking things quite a bit to end up with something I liked...

[Reaper1]

Is that the TU aluminum T2 rad? Looks like you have a mile compared to myself.

Yup, that's a TU radiator from the second batch. That clearance is going to tighten up even more because I'm going to reposition the entire engine/transmission. Details when I do it will be posted.

Awesome work....


I ran into many simliar problems when doing the main part of the mid engine project... Factory tolerences on the cars are BAD!!!! It took forever to get things leveled and squared like I wanted.. and even then I just kinda gave up and said "good enuff"


Seriously. I had taken some steel and tied eveything together so it would stay in factory postions.. I ended up undoing that and tweaking things quite a bit to end up with something I liked...

Good to know...and crappy to know at the same time. :/ Right now my goal is to see how the car sits and how the suspension actually works so I can plan modifications. Then I'll have to worry about things being mor square. Honestly, 1/8" isn't *horrible*, but I'd rather it be closer to 0". The way things are going it looks like the stock rear suspension is going to go the way of the Dodo.

[vipernbox]

Do you have a fsm with the factory measurements?

Just a quick glance will sum up allowable tolerances pretty quick.

[Reaper1]

Yes I do It is a 1990 FSM, but I don't think things changed in the rear of the car. I know possibly some measurements having to do with the core support might be off because that DID change in '90. The only other thing may have to do with to position of the center of the upper strut tower, but other than that it *should* be fairly close to 1990 specs.

On that note, if somebody has a 1988 FSM with the chassis specs in it, and can scan and send me a .pdf of the page, I'd appreciate it!

[vipernbox]

I'll send it your way tomorrow.

[Reaper1]

Thanks!!!

[Ondonti]

I bought a digital scale years ago and the best use I ended up with was simply getting someones camber back to what it was before disconnecting things. Not sure what to use to zero it out with.

[Reaper1]

Weight scale or measurement scale?

[Reaper1]

The engine is paid for. Now to get it shipped! Originally I thought I was just going to pick it up because I was living only a few hours away from where it was. Life changed, and now I'm quite a bit farther away! LOL

I decided to work on the engine bay wiring harness some since hopefully the engine will be here within a few weeks.

I'll do more with the suspension measurements here probably tomorrow.

[vipernbox]

For some reason I could only find an 85 book... Not sure where my 88 set is... maybe I left it at a friends house...

[GLHNSLHT2]

if I get over to my shop I'll see if I can look for them out of my 88 set. What are you looking for in particular

[Reaper1]

The chassis alignment specs. I don't know if the '90 specs are different than the '88, so I wanted to compare them and see if anything might be different.

[Reaper1]

OK...I made *some* progress today, but not as much as I thought I would. I started wiring in the PDU I have to get rid of the fusible links and clean up that part of the engine bay a bit. I forgot how tedious and time consuming it is to do all of that soldering. The last time I did it I was doing open-air soldering with a butane torch! This time I have a proper soldering work station which makes it a bit easier, but it's still not THAT easy.

On this side of the PDU I still have a couple of things to do like incorporate the fuel pump relay. That relay has 2 dedicated power lines coming off of it, so I'm going to make one solely for the fuel pump, and the other will run the injectors and coil. The ASD relay will then only be responsible for the O2 sensor and the computer (IIRC those main things are the only things run by the dark-green/black wire). Once I replace the regular O2 sensor with the WB and the corresponding signal, then the ASD will have a light load. I might swap the power wire to the coil to the ASD once that happens because that will even the load out across the two relays and circuits a bit more. I'm also going to incorporate part of the headlight circuit in there...at least the fuse. I don't think I can get both the high and the low bean relays in it, so it looks like at least one will stay outside the PDU. Not a big deal.

Anyways, here's some pictures!

The mess that is the fusible link wiring...


I don't know why, but I've noticed photobucket sometimes flips images over 180*! LOL


The fusible link that goes to the black plug is the only one not directly integrated into the main fusible link "spider". It is for the hazard flashers and the power for it goes directly to the positive battery terminal. The PDU has a provision for this circuit, but for the life of me I can't figure out why it's not tied into the main power bus in the the PDU. So, I think I'm going to re-do that and make it so it does draw the power from there and solder the output wire from the fuse directly to the harness wire.






MMMMM...I love spaghetti!! LOL This is just mocking up the PDU in the engine bay with the harness so I can see if the wires I have are long enough. Some I had to patch in a section...no big deal. I have some left over crap that I eliminated from the harness, so I'm using factory wires to patch stuff. If I ever have to troubleshoot, I'll just have to be careful which wires I'm following. The maximum patch length so far has been only about 6", and is a small gauge wire.


Here's where the magic happens! This is where the magic smoke is injected! LOL


Here's my progress for today...I got the radiator fan, A/C clutch, ASD, and the starter relays all soldered in. Don't worry, the electrical tape is temporary and is only there for separation of the different components to help sort things out.

[GLHNSLHT2]

ok, so you just want a scan of the picture titled "Fig. 3--Frame Alignment dimensions"???? I have the book sitting here.

[Reaper1]

ok, so you just want a scan of the picture titled "Fig. 3--Frame Alignment dimensions"???? I have the book sitting here.

Yup, that's the one!

[GLHNSLHT2]

sent it to your Gmail account. If it's not a good enough resolution let me know and I'll scan it at a higher res. All the #'s I glanced at look to match my 1987 page as well.

[Reaper1]

It's perfect! Thanks! Now to get time to do more! I HAVE to finish at least the PDU integration before I go back to it, though. Stopping in the middle of a complex wiring project is NOT a good idea! LOL

[cordes]

What are you using for the terminals in that PDU? Are those the same style connector as the Neon power distribution centers? I ordered up some, but I wasn't sure if I got the right ones.

[Reaper1]

I am soldering to the original wires that were installed in the PDU from the donor car. I simply clipped out the PDU from the donor car's harness as far back as I could when I pulled it at the yard.

I can tell you that the larger ones that are used on the relays are the same as the ones used on the big relays that run the radiator fan, A/C clutch, and starter relay. The dark blue power wire that feeds power for the radiator fan from my original harness was long enough that I unclipped it from the terminal, removed the one that was in the PDU, and clipped the one from the harness in. Same exact terminal.

[cordes]

Thanks. I'm pretty sure that I'll have it then. The terminals in the Neons are a bit different, but I'm pretty sure that they're the same as what Ford was using. That's the only thing close enough to what I needed anyway so I'm sure it'll work out in the end.