Project SVOhwell close enough is underway

bonestock87 · Aug 17, 2011

Update: Slow, steady progress. Engine and trans reside in the car now. I got the new computer installed. Used the 86 TC's PC1. After I get bored with the power level I'll go out and get an LA1 and large VAM, but for now it's what I have to work with. The computer pinouts were the part I was dreading most, turns out it was the easiest part of the swap. It took me all of 30 minutes and that was because I counted and counted again making triple sure I had the right pin locations. All I have left is wiring up 3 of the ignition wires from the TFI module, putting trans fluid, oil/filter, and coolant in and it'll be ready to fire up. Check that, I still need to bend my A/C low side line to go up and around the turbo housing. I bought a driveshaft out of an 87 5.0L/T5 car so I'm set to go with that. Just need to put the T-bird's input shaft on it since it didn't come with one.....

Wish me luck this week, I'm hoping to fire it up on Saturday!! (Can't afford my Titan's 15 mpg's much longer..)

TripleBlk · Aug 18, 2011

Good luck on the initial start Saturday !

bonestock87 · Aug 18, 2011

Thanks! I'm nervous about whether I got the ignition wiring right or not. Everything else was cake. Hard work, but easy to figure out. (Note for those 40+ 'stangers like myself, don't stay bent over holding the tranny up for 20 minutes while you try to line up the bellhousing, it WILL result in multiple trips to the chiropractor )

I bought my oil, filter and coolant tonight. $45 bucks just for that! I used to change my oil for $15........but I digress.

I'm having a buddy stop by Sat. morning to help me get the clutch cable hooked up to the quadrant. I should have done that as I was putting in the pedals. Oh well. I got my A/C line bent successfully. That's a big worry now fixed. I left my A/C system in tact so I wouldn't have to recharge it. R134A is outrageous now too!

Wish I would have taken more pics along the way. Time is so hard to come by so all of my time had to be spent turning wrenches and scratching my head.

bonestock87 · Aug 20, 2011

It lives!! After getting the clutch cable hooked up and the exhaust on it was time to see if she'd start. Turned on the key and it cranked but no fire. I was 50% disappointed and 50% in disbelief that it actually cranked on my first crack at the wiring. After a couple of hours of re-reading all my instructions (thanks stinger performance!) I had an aha moment and hooked up all of my red/green wires together and magically it started. It's surging a bit between about 700 and 900 RPM but I haven't check the base timing yet so I'm not worried........yet.

I have to put the driveshaft and the hood back on and I'll go for a spin and see how she runs. I have the boost gauge hooked up to vacuum line but I ran out of steam for the night and will hook up power to it for lights tomorrow.

bonestock87 · Aug 21, 2011

Got the driveshaft on and pulled out of the garage. Something was wrong. the shifter was lifting up a half inch with each rotation of the driveshaft. Driveshaft came back off. I had no idea there were any differences, but apparently there are different yoke sizes for Ford driveshafts. The used one I got from an 87 5-speed V8 mustang measured 4" across where the u-joint mates the slip yoke. The turbo coupes slip yoke measured 3.5" across. I knew buying that driveshaft without the slip yoke on it would end up biting me. Crap!

So now I don't know if I need to just find a slip yoke from a mustang or return the driveshaft and have the turbo coupe's shortened for $60.

Other than that the motor is starting and running with no issues other than a hunting idle a tad. Can't wait to get it out on the road!

TripleBlk · Aug 21, 2011

Congrats

Nice job and congratulations are in order !

Might be a "blessing in disguise" to need the driveshaft work done. They'll balance it for you, too. You're lucky to have a shop nearby that still does driveshaft work.

79'293stang · Aug 21, 2011

Congrats! Getting it started is just the beginning. The mod itch is serious on these cars.

65ShelbyClone · Aug 21, 2011

bonestock87 said:
I had no idea there were any differences, but apparently there are different yoke sizes for Ford driveshafts. The used one I got from an 87 5-speed V8 mustang measured 4" across where the u-joint mates the slip yoke. The turbo coupes slip yoke measured 3.5" across. I knew buying that driveshaft without the slip yoke on it would end up biting me.

Was the "Mustang" yoke original to the car it came from? It doesn't sound like it; even the V8 cars only had 1310 u-joints. I have the original yoke from my '68 that I know is a 1310 and it too is only 3.5" across. It sounds like yours is a 1330. If that is the case, then all you need is a 1310/1330 combination u-joint. That's what I have at the back end because my '68's chunk came out of a full size passenger car with the larger joints.

bonestock87 · Aug 21, 2011

Thanks everyone on the congrats! It really does feel like a big accomplishment. I did all this on a gravel floor in a metal building that was more like a sauna this summer. The only help I had was my father in law in helping guide the "new" motor back in and a friend stopped by and helped me get my clutch cable hooked up. The wiring changes scared me to death, but in the end was not difficult. My kids think I've abondoned them this summer. But this was a dream project of mine since I could never seem find an SVO cheap enough I could get the wife to sign off on but still decent enough to start with.

On the driveshaft: I can only go by what the guy at the JY said, and it was marked as "87 Mustang GT 5-speed". But, that's great news about a combo u-joint, I hope the local parts houses carry those in stock. That would be the easiest solution. I wonder if that's a stock mustang driveshaft then??? It measured perfect at 45.5" center of u-joint to center of u-joint. Although I do have a driveshaft shop available, 2 actually, they are both near dowtown Knoxville which isn't terribly convenient if I have to cut down the t-bird's.

Again, thanks to all who have followed this and encouraged me.

65ShelbyClone · Aug 21, 2011

bonestock87 said:
On the driveshaft: I can only go by what the guy at the JY said, and it was marked as "87 Mustang GT 5-speed".

That's the thing with 25+ year-old junkyard cars; many of them have surprises like that. It could be that some past owner upgraded the driveshaft along the way. I have heard of people finding aftermarket 2.3T turbo manifolds in JY cars and one guy on TF found at least one aluminum oval port head in a JY car.

bonestock87 · Aug 22, 2011

Great call on the 1310/1330 U-joint fix Shelbyclone! Part number at NAPA is PUJ-353. I took the driveshaft and the trans yoke into the store and the guy was super thorough and mic'd it all. I told him when I got there I "think" I need the 353. Once he measured it and then looked it up he says to the manger who came over to help "hey he's right". Like he doubted me!

I drove the car down the road and I have some hesitation issues but when it opens up man does it pull hard! I love the kick that the turbo gives. I've owned several V8 mustangs and I'm sure most were technically faster than this one, but there's a bunch of fun to be had with this beast!!

65ShelbyClone · Aug 23, 2011

It's good to know that Napa can at least get a combo joint like that. The average AutoZone lackey around here wouldn't have any idea what it was, how to find it, or how to get one.

bonestock87 · Aug 24, 2011

The average AutoZone lackey around here wouldn't have any idea what it was, how to find it, or how to get one.

Dead on! I can go into Advance or Autozone and start talking to them about what I need and ALL they want to know is what year, what make, what model, what part. I think I'm now a NAPA man.

So I have the car running great now. Turns out I needed to move 2 pins at the computer to different locations. I followed Stinger's instructions for an 87-88 ECM (LA series) and assumed there'd be no differences other than the ACT sensor since the 86 isn't intercooled. I was wrong. 2 of the VAM wires go to completely different locations in the 86. It runs really smooth and pulls hard. I love the woosh! I keep blowing vacuum lines off the tree, but after I clamp them down and fix a small valve cover leak I'm ready to DD her. Now I have my very own, be it homemade, SVO. The rest of my car is pretty darn clean, new paint, carpet, headliner, headlights, tires. I may finally be done fixing this thing up after 3 years. What will I do now??

I'll post up some pics tomorrow.

shiftless · Sep 16, 2011

Hey man thanks for keeping your thread up to date. It's nice to see a hot rodder who keeps after his project and follows through. What you created is not an SVO...as the SVO is more than just its engine...but a turbo Mustang, which is the 2nd best thing. Congrats are in order and I know you'll have many great times to come with this car.

As far as what will you do now? Well, besides getting all the little kinks worked out and putting some miles on it to make sure it's reliable, the first thing I'd do is stock up on a couple spare (Ford brand) TFI modules and the special TFI tool as well. Keep those in the car Just In Case.

Never run the motor hard cold, and never run any oil thicker than stock specs, i.e. 10w30. Also, never use a parts store distributor; genuine Ford Motorcraft parts only, from the junkyard if necessary. These are the guidelines to making sure you never suffer a distributor gear failure.

Whenever you get ready to start turning up the wick, I'd highly recommend installiing an aftermarket EFU as one of your first mods. Please don't be fooled into wasting your time with the stock ECU; it's an antiquated design and more trouble than it's worth. I recommend a bolt in Megasquirt kit, along with good wideband, and a good ignition system (amplifier box + coil + wires) while you're at it. You'd be amazed at the difference these three mods will make for you, even on a bone stock engine.

Have fun!

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