Progress Thread 2004 Comp Orange GT

[Noobz347]

I [think] I'm envisioning what you're trying to do?


Set the car up so that there is weight on wheels but also high enough that you can drop the K-Member.

Suspend the engine by whatever means you think are best. Hobo-Freight has 'things' for this.

Immobilize the inboard portions of the upper and lower control arms so that they cannot spread apart. Disconnect them and the steering rack from the k-member then move on to the motor mounts (inspect these if you haven't already).

 

[ctandc]

- Remove wheels
- Remove calipers ( paint them as well)
- Drop entire K member out of the car w/ knuckles / control arms still connected
- Suspend engine with an engine bar / cherry picker

 

[ctandc]

Long time no update. Daily driving the car, no problems. Did install a JLT V2 Ram Air kit - got a great deal on it. I know it's not a big HP gain, but I love the sound at the upper revs. I'll try to remember to grab pics.

Anyway - still my daily driver, still doing great - then the other day I randomly smell coolant after getting to work. No leaks. No drips. I forgot about it. Fast forward a few days - it gets REALLY Cold - and I notice a noise under the hood. Not loud. Goes away after it's warm. Only happens on cold start / idle when it's REALLY cold (like freezing).

I pop the hood to see what's making the annoying little squeak - looks like it's one of the idler pulleys / tensioner. No worries it's about time anyway, I'll just do a coolant flush, hoses, tensioner belt etc. Smell coolant again. Level is down a bit.

Nothing in oil. It's not burning it.

The original PI intake likely has a crack in the plastic where it goes UNDER the alum coolant crossover. Not enough to leak, but enough to cook off right at that joint. So I went to order the new Ford Service Part for the PI Intake.

Ended up ordering the Summit intake. Apparently when Ford got their supplier to make the intake, Summit Racing got it on it too. Except for no FOMOCO logo - it's the same intake (NOT Dorman). Same accessories. Same Instructions. Bonus - the aluminum coolant crossover is ALL alum - it is not plastic on the bottom where it bolts up (like the original PI intake).

I'll post pictures once I get it.

$199 vs $334.

 

[ctandc]

Maybe this is well known here - it wasn't to me - so here goes..

So for those with the 2V 4.6 - we all know the early NPI and PI intakes with the plastic coolant crossovers eventually would stress / crack and leak. Ford redesigned the PI intake (01 and later?) to have an aluminum coolant crossover. Unfortunately, the plastic surface of the intake still ran UNDER the aluminum crossover where it bolted to the engine. Enough age / heat cycles - it too will start to leak.

Until last year, the only choice was the junkyard (even the newest intakes are still 15 years old) or Dorman or one of the other aftermarket brands. I won't get into all that, but they weren't exactly solid options. Last year Ford introduced a new 'service part' for the TONS of 4.6 2Vs still out there on the road.

So for those keeping score, Ford doesn't make these intakes. One of their suppliers does. And for years, it was the cost of retooling / production for the supplier versus volume of projected sales by Ford. Looks like Summit decided to get it on it as well.

Here's the picture from FORD of the FORD Motorsports PT#M-9424-P46A

The picture of the Summit Racing intake I just opened ($199 vs $334 (LMR's price on the Ford part)

The only difference I can find is one has 'FOMOCO' molded in and one has 'Summit' molded in. Instruction sheet is identical - parts included - identical.

Ford:

Summit:

Summit

I'll compare it side by side when I remove my leaking '04 PI OEM intake. Dyno at LMR compared to original Ford PI is down a bit in power, up vs Dorman. But it's a 4.6 2V - it is what it is. But rather than spending $500+ on an old intake sitting in the box, or $160 for a Dorman, $100 (or more) for a junkyard 15 year old intake vs $199+ tax for the Summit? Works for me.

 

[ctandc]

Parts rolling in for the '04 Intake job. Since I'm replacing the intake, I'm going to replace the two heater hose assembles off the firewall

Motorcraft KH114 Outlet

Motorcraft KH88 Inlet

This is where a bit of research can add up to saving $ for more parts. Local parts houses want @ $50 each for these two hoses.

Fairway Ford has 'em both for $34ea + shipping
Amazon prime $32 and $36 respectively.

RockAuto? Under $30 each plus I grabbed the Gates upper and lower radiator hoses (all shipping from the same warehouse) - so less than $120 to my door w/ shipping and taxes.

$25 cheaper than Amazon (who didn't stock the Gates upper). $25 is $25.

If I can help it, when I tear into something, I only like to do it once. Plus I've got the 4L60E out of my truck, in the shop tearing it down to rebuild it. With that in mind, as in not having to go back in here hopefully for a long time, I figured water pump, tensioner and idler pulleys would be a good bet.

Was pricing out parts and noted Continental (I've had good luck with their stuff - they bought out Goodyear a long time back) had a complete belt service kit. Belt, both idler pulleys and the belt tensioner. Rockauto had it for $80 + shipping Checked Amazon? For some reason, Amazon had one in stock (just one) NEW for $44 shipped. Sold. Opened it up - all brand new unopened parts. Score.

Got the truck pushed out of the shop (transmission is on the stand) and all I'm waiting for is three jugs of Zerex G05 to show up. Sad that the local parts place has it 'on sale' for @ $20 a gallon before tax. I got (3) gallons shipped w/ tax for less than $46.

Plan is to tear it to it after work tomorrow.

 

[ctandc]

For those who didn't realize - the poster who posted an old pic of my car in this thread? He's the ORIGINAL owner. Never in a million years would I have figured the original owner would find my thread. He was the original owner, bought it new and did a ton of quality mods (built rear end 4.10 gears, Supercharged it, Bassani headers / y-pipe etc etc). The guy he sold it to apparently removed the supercharger, put the stock tune back on - and with 4.10 gears, the old guy who bought it and had until I bought it - the miles showed high of course.

Original owner let me know the original engine burned up a piston with the supercharger when it has @ 46K miles on it. New engine had @ 16k.
It had 97K miles on it when I bought it. That owner had it for almost 15 years. The speedometer / odometer off by 25% the entire time he had it. He put 44K miles on it.

In reality the car had @ 86k miles on it when I bought it - with the engine in reality only having @ 56K. Odometer currently sitting at @ 114K - in reality a bit over 100K.

Clear as mud?

 

[gkomo]

Smart tactic searching around. What i do, since i like LMRs Wishlist portal, is i put everything i'm wanting into that just to keep things organized, then when it comes time to buy i'll just search around the internet for a better deal.

An example, LMRs replacement gas cap has an "M" on it for like $14.95, RockAuto sells what seems to be the exact same thing for $3 and change.

 

[ctandc]

All the parts came in. Last night after work, got in the shop and broke out the pressure tester so I can see EXACTLY where the coolant system is losing pressure. I had a pressure testing kit for 10+ years. It had all the adapters I needed. Several years ago a buddy borrowed it and the pump broke. He offered to replace it, not knowing I got it used and the same updated kit was $300+ on a good day. I told him not to worry about it, just bring it back to me. I'd buy a replacement pump the next time I needed it.

All this came back to me of course after pulling the kit out earlier this week. Amazon had a German made setup that my BMW infected buddy raved about. It was on sale and would get here one day. Bonus, this also has the setup to purge and fill the system using the air compressor.

Turns out the ONE adapter missing from my old kit is the one I need for the 4.6 and the new kit? Has EVERY adapter BUT this one. The expansion tank setup in the 4.6 required a female threaded adapter that goes on the expansion tank, which accepts one of the traditional radiator cap adapters in the kit on top. 52mm OD for those keeping score at home. JUST the adapter? $60-120 depending. Autozone and Advance rent a tester setup + the adapters, but their they rent? Does not include this adapter. Turns out O'Reilly rents a different brand and has a separate adapter kit that's correct. $39.99. And my local place had it in stock. Got there when they opened at 7:30 this morning.

This is adapter kit:

The adapter you need for the 4.6 w/ the expansion tank

The red part screws onto the expansion tank - you use the traditional radiator cap adapter from your kit on the other end:

Pump it up to 16psi - and turns out I have a very slight leak at one hose union and the thermostat housing where the alum coolant crossover of the PI intake meets the plastic of the intake underneath it. Common failure point. Age / heat cycles, the plastic gets brittle. So I figure I'll take the time to clean up the engine bay as I go. Started by taking the battery out. I know how filthy under that battery tray gets. And while this car spent a lot of it's like in NY before I got it, it was garaged for the last 15 or so years and there is no rot. The worst is some surface underneath here and there.

The battery came out. Took out the two bolts holding the tray to the inner fender. Something didn't look right. The third bolt? The one that holds the tray to the frame rail? The head of the bolt was essentially GONE. Ended up cutting it out. And was of course confronted with this:

Acid leak sometime in the past. No rust AT ALL where the wiring look bundle is on the right on the picture. Cleaned it up, knocked the loose stuff off and slathered some rust converting paint on it. I'll get a second coat on it later.

That's what you get with with 22 year old cars. It is what it is. On to tearing out the intake

Not in a hurry - I have been daily driving this car since I bought it, rain or shine, so I'm going to clean up the engine as I go.

 

[ctandc]

Intake is off. Lots of cleaning as parts come out.

Looks like there was a bit of leakage going on at the RH rear and under the thermostat housing area - where the plastic intake is under the alum cooling port. Lots of cleaning to go. Water jackets look clean and the intake ports on head don't look bad at all.

Here's the two intakes - OE Ford PI intake in back vs new Summit / Ford OE part and I can tell you from comparing the new one to a Dorman, it is NOT a Dorman copy. Runners and construction are different

New design back side - intake gaskets incorporated in the casting - about time.

And the part that brings us here - even with the 'redesign' by Ford in '01 or so - getting rid of the plastic coolant crossover, they still had the plastic part of intake in between the cylinder heads and the alum crossover.

Back to cleaning parts and getting ready to put it back together.

 

[Noobz347]

Look at all that intercooler-brick room hidden away in there.

 

[ctandc]

Look at all that intercooler-brick room hidden away in there.

This car will eventually get some type of squeeze, but as of now it's my daily. I've had plenty of high HP daily drivers - hell I bought a '19 GT new and it was my daily before the CO GT. With a few simple mods it was a high 11 second car (6 speed manual not 10spd - those things were even faster) - during the COVID / price insanity I sold (not traded) my '19 to a dealer for a bit more than I paid for it new - and it had 35k miles on it.

The '04 is actually more fun as a daily. Granted the seating / driving position of the '19, especially on road trips was miles better. But most road trips we take my wife's daily - a '13 Camaro SS ragtop.

Got the car back together. A buddy dropped by the shop later Sunday afternoon, giving me grief I wasn't done yet. It was raining all day, so to me, perfect time to be in the shop. Apparently, cleaning individual fuel injectors, (I have a little rig to hook them up on battery and spray cleaner through them), cleaning out the fuel rail, cleaning / conditioning / greasing the coil boots etc is not considered "Normal" when doing an intake swap.

For both the Ford 'Performance' Intake M-9424-P46A and the Summit intake (they are IDENTICAL - down to all the hardware and the apparently AI Assisted written instruction sheet that is a bit murky) one of the complaints I saw involved hardware.

Several people griped about the threaded inserts for the bolts holding the coil packs were either 'not present' or they easily stripped out. Well they do provide new bolts for the coils. And after seeing the condition of the threads of my original bolts (coil packs, fuel rail, intake etc) I wonder if they cleaned the threads up.

Oh yeah, apparently I am OCD because I have a 25+ year old thread restorer kit - I simply clean old bolts and run the thread cleaner over 'em. FYI you can make a thread cleaner / repairer for nothing just take an old nut and cut a line inside the threads along each flat. But I digress.

The other gripe was the two bolts for the EGR regulator / solenoid bracket where it bolts to the intake. They don't have threaded inserts. The kit comes with two self-threading bolts. I didn't have an issue with them - but I bet over tightening them / not starting them straight in the hole could cause some grief.

There is no fifth bolt for the front extension on the plenum - the four main holes are threaded inserts. The fifth needs a self tapping type screw that did not seem to be included. I will probably pick one up - but the four bolts holding it in right now is super solid - maybe that's just me.

Two spacers were included to reuse the original '04 alternator bracket - since the coolant crossover sits a bit lower than OE - because the crossover is 'by itself' where it meets the cylinder heads - the plastic part of the intake manifold is not under it as it was with the OEM PI intake. (To me that's the best part of this new intake).

New belt tensioner, both idler pulleys, belt, water pump, radiator hoses and rear heater hoses.

Honestly the hardest part was fighting the OE hose clamp on the lower radiator hose at the engine. The angle was ridiculous. On the new hose it's setup so I can easily get to it. Filled with coolant, cranked it up....

And it runs like CRAP.

I'm thinking "maybe the ECU needs to get used to the new intake" - idles up, then down, then almost dies. As I'm going through all what it could be, I realize it has all the signs of a big vacuum leak. No Check engine lights either. Turns out not hooking up the vacuum line on the back of the plenum is bad. LMAO.

Get it up to temp, bled the coolant system and called it done.

 

[ctandc]

Original issue with the 4.6 intake - all plastic coolant crossover. Bad.
So Ford designs a replacement. With an aluminum coolant crossover - that is bolted onto the plastic intake - where the plastic is still what makes contact and seals with the coolant passages in the cylinder head.

This is what will eventually happen with enough time and heat cycles.

Ever had a 4.6 that seemed to have a hint of sweet coolant smell only after running at operating temp for a bit? No leaks. No outward signs of coolant loss, but now and again you'd need to add some to the tank?

Here ya go.

The new "Ford" design may have give up a bit of power over the original intake (nothing noticeable outside of a dyno) but the all aluminum coolant crossover simply prevents this from happening.

 

[ctandc]

Crawled under last night after driving it to work and back - wanted to make sure I didn't see any leaks. Noticed what appears to be a 'seep' of oil from the oil filter adapter - either the gasket or the oil pressure sender / plugged port. Replacing that gasket isn't a big deal, I can do it on the oil change coming up - but I get to drain the coolant I just put in. I've got to go pick up ANOTHER clean drain pan and actually keep in clean this time.

 

[squeak93]

Those housings have also been known to "weep" fluids out of them as a FYI.

 

[ctandc]

Those housings have also been known to "weep" fluids out of them as a FYI.

Yeah - I've had good luck cleaning up both surfaces and using permatex sealant on the Felpro gasket to get it to seal.

 

[squeak93]

Yeah - I've had good luck cleaning up both surfaces and using permatex sealant on the Felpro gasket to get it to seal.

I meant out of the casting itself, not the gasket sealing surface. Although a gasket leak is very common.

 

[ctandc]

I meant out of the casting itself, not the gasket sealing surface. Although a gasket leak is very common.

Really? I've only owned / wrenched on a few Ford mod motors. I'll clean it off and get a better look next time I'm under there. I wanted to plumb in a sensor line for an aftermarket oil pressure gauge anyway.

 

[squeak93]

Really? I've only owned / wrenched on a few Ford mod motors. I'll clean it off and get a better look next time I'm under there. I wanted to plumb in a sensor line for an aftermarket oil pressure gauge anyway.

The metal is cast and not the best quality and over time tends to develop micro cracks that seep slowly. I changed a gasket on an aviator swap 96 cobra about 3 times before I realized it was not coming from the sealing surface but the casting itself. Slopped on (very nicely I might add haha) some jb weld and it never leaked again. The oi filter adapters have a lot going on inside of them with oil and coolant both passing through at various temps.

 

[ctandc]

Other than both bumper covers, that I repainted myself a while back, the paint on my car is original - so 22 years old.

This is my daily driver AND I know my tendency to get caught in "Might as well" so taking it off the road for a full repaint isn't on the table just yet. I think I'm going to try and repaint it in "sections".

No one tell @95steedamustang LOL

I'm not going down to metal, 99% of the car will just be scuff the factory clear (a few small spots I'd fix as I went) and respray BC/CC.
I need to respray the faded rear spoiler anyway, I'm considering doing the trunk lid at the same time and see how it goes / look afterward.

I feel I can paint it in 'body line' sections so I don't have to worry about cutting and blending.

 

[squeak93]

I've had MOST panels on my mach resprayed due to rock chips or raccoons being kamikaze's. 103k miles over 23 years and tons of track/road track etc events take a toll. That being said, just took ANOTHER rock a week ago going to get an alignment on the freshly painted front. Grrr.....

Oh and F it, it's only money- has cost me a LOT of money.