Wiring questions; can you help?

JCullen · Jan 2, 2020

I have built a 1929 Ford pickup. I built it with Mazda Miata subframes and running gear. The 117 hp / 100 ft/lb of torque were not enough to push the boxy pickup through the air beyond 55 mph.
I am now installing a 2.3 turbo from an 85 Mustang. I was doing some research and found this site and a discussion regarding wiring.
Question, do I have to wire the fuel pump through the fuel pump relay and why if so?
I have found some wiring diagrams and do have the factory diagrams that are hard to see at age 74. I do understand wiring and can read diagrams well. But the Miata install I had an entire car to salvage parts from but with this SVO I only have the engine, turbo etc. good thing is, I have a friend 2 miles from my house that has 15 to 20 Mustangs and several SVO s in his back 40.....parts everywhere.
I want to simplify the wiring as much as possible and not use anymore relays and other gadgets than I have to. There will be no heater, air, door locks, no radio and on. Just an old Ford pickup that I want to run as well as possible.
Thanks for any guidance. This is my first SVO and I am learning fast.

90sickfox · Jan 2, 2020

The computer controls the fuel pump through the relay. The relay carries the electrical load of the fuel pump. The computer grounds the relay to prime the pump before cranking.

You don't have to use the factory relay or wiring. I'd still recommend using a relay and a suitable fuse. The 85 svo is fuel injected....I think. A bunch of the technical stuff is also shared with the volvo 240 turbo of around the same time.

General karthief · Jan 2, 2020

What are you going to use for ignition?

JCullen · Jan 3, 2020

90sickfox said:
The computer controls the fuel pump through the relay. The relay carries the electrical load of the fuel pump. The computer grounds the relay to prime the pump before cranking.

You don't have to use the factory relay or wiring. I'd still recommend using a relay and a suitable fuse. The 85 svo is fuel injected....I think. A bunch of the technical stuff is also shared with the volvo 240 turbo of around the same time.

I was looking at the wiring diagrams and saw the relay was interconnected with the ecu. When I removed the Miata and its ecu, I took all of the wiring out but left the wires to the fuel pump. I had a fuel tank built using the Miata pump and gauge unit in the tank. I read where the SVO turbo requires 34 psi of fuel pressure and that is the same pressure as the Miata.
I have it wired now that as soon as I turn the key to “on” the pump builds up pressure. This is before I have started wiring the ecu. I am guessing this will work but wonder if the ecu has to be fooled in some manner.
Again, I am trying to keep it simple and looking at the diagrams, there seems to be a ton of off engine relays and components on the Mustang/T-bird. I know the SVO was used in many midget-racing applications and know they did not have all of the extra relays etc.

JCullen · Jan 3, 2020

General karthief said:
What are you going to use for ignition?

General, sir, I am glad you asked.
When I bought this engine it had a distributor with it but not installed. When I tried installing it a couple days ago it would not go in. After studying the situation, I see the oil pump drive down inside the engine (which is driven off the distributor shaft) is a hex shaft. When I looked at the female end of the distributor, it is a splined receptacle. I asked one of my friends that has 20 or so ranger, SVO Mustangs, SVO T-birds etc, and he had never seen a splined distributor but thought it may have been an after market performance distributor.
Maybe you or someone on here can tell me.
To answer your question, I had planned to use the standard ignition from the 2.3 SVO.

JCullen · Jan 3, 2020

JCullen said:
I was looking at the wiring diagrams and saw the relay was interconnected with the ecu. When I removed the Miata and its ecu, I took all of the wiring out but left the wires to the fuel pump. I had a fuel pump built using the Miata pump and gauge unit in the tank. I read where the SVO turbo requires 34 psi of fuel pressure and that is the same pressure as the Miata.
I have it wired now that as soon as I turn the key to “on” the pump builds up pressure. This is before I have started wiring the ecu. I am guessing this will work but wonder if the ecu has to be fooled in some manner.
Again, I am trying to keep it simple and looking at the diagrams, there seems to be a ton of off engine relays and components on the Mustang/T-bird. I know the SVO was used in many midget-racing applications and know they did not have all of the extra relays etc.

I meant to say, I had a fuel tank built to fit the Model A Ford using the Miata pump in the tank.

JCullen · Jan 3, 2020

90sickfox said:
The computer controls the fuel pump through the relay. The relay carries the electrical load of the fuel pump. The computer grounds the relay to prime the pump before cranking.

You don't have to use the factory relay or wiring. I'd still recommend using a relay and a suitable fuse. The 85 svo is fuel injected....I think. A bunch of the technical stuff is also shared with the volvo 240 turbo of around the same time.

Yes, the 85 is fuel injected.
And I have the fuel pump running thru a stand alone fuse in the custom fuse block.
Can you tell me how many of the relays and sensors I can go without and still have the engine run well?

General karthief · Jan 3, 2020

This sounds complicated. Let me make a suggestion.
you can use the computer and wiring from a turbo mustang or t bird. Get the correct distributor and use just the wiring you need to run the fuel pump and ignition, you will need the wire diagram for the model you choose, just using what it needs to run.
You should wire the fuel pump like the factory did it, using the computer and the inertia switch.
You should use some sort of inertia switch in case the vehicle is involved in a wreck so the fuel pump does not continue to run and cause a fire.
Or get a stand alone system like mega squirt, (this would be my pick) you can build it yourself and it will give you the ability to tweak the ignition and fuel while having the ability to add other things in the future. The ms can also be used if you decide to swap to any other running gear from the turbo 4, any V8 to even a motorcycle engine. The programming capacity is nearly endless.
JMO and not based on any real mechanical experience but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once.

JCullen · Jan 3, 2020

I was also wondering if the fuel pump ran on 12 volts? I see a resistance wire in the circuit which would lower the voltage to the pump. Lowering the voltage would cause the pump to run slower and therefore not produce as high fuel pressure. On my Miata set up, the pump ran through the ecu. Right now I am direct from fuse block to the pump. The pump is receiving a full 12 volts. As soon as I turn the key to on, the pump runs.

General karthief · Jan 3, 2020

Stop with the miata comparisons. It will only confuse things. Like I said in the above post, two ways that I know of. That's not to say there is not another way but the two ways I have been involved with are the two listed.
I believe the fuel pump gets 12 volts.

JCullen · Jan 3, 2020

If there are 12 volts to the pump, what is the resistance wire for in series with the pump?

General karthief · Jan 3, 2020

Miata wiring to the fuel pump?

90sickfox · Jan 3, 2020

The resistor may be limiting the fuel pump to 12v to keep the pump from running faster with alternator voltage fluctuations....between 12.5 and 14.5v.

It would be great to wire in an inertia switch. Its located in the trunk to the left of the latch. ( the drivers side ). That thing is really a life saver. It also can be used as a kill switch. Just tap it with a screw driver and power is cut off to the pump. Press the red button and it has power again.

I don't know exactly what can be stripped out of the harness on the SVO. Most of the sensors would have to be used if you are using the factory computer.

JCullen · Jan 4, 2020

Thank you 90sickfox;
I am convinced I will use an inertia switch.
I read on another site that between the relay and the ecu, the voltage is 12 volts imediately to the pump but after a couple seconds, or until good pressure is built up in the fuel rail, then the ecu limits the voltage to 5 volts after that burst of energy.
This info came from a response on google regarding voltage to the fuel pump.
Have you ever heard that before?

There are a ton of off engine relays and devices on this little turbo. I was sure hoping to limit it those and still get full power and response.

JCullen · Jan 4, 2020

JCullen said:
Thank you 90sickfox;
I am convinced I will use an inertia switch.
I read on another site that between the relay and the ecu, the voltage is 12 volts imediately to the pump but after a couple seconds, or until good pressure is built up in the fuel rail, then the ecu limits the voltage to 5 volts after that burst of energy.
This info came from a response on google regarding voltage to the fuel pump.
Have you ever heard that before?

There are a ton of off engine relays and devices on this little turbo. I was sure hoping to limit it those and still get full power and response.

Obviously, the resistance wire is wired in series with the pump so that wire has to cause a voltage drop across it, leaving a smaller voltage to operate the pump. I was wondering if 12 volts to the pump is bad in any way?

junkyardwarrior · Jan 5, 2020

Use the inertia switch. If not, and there is an accident, it's pouring fuel onto the fire continually until the tank is empty. Let that sink in, if you are stuck inside the cab.....you are toast.

The SVO's harness is pretty simple. There are plenty of diagrams online so you can make heads or tails of it. Or it's also possible to buy a harness from ron francis I think. The only sensors you might not want to use would be the ACT and the KS (air charge temp sensor and knock sensor respectively). Almost nobody uses the knock sensor on the 2.3 turbo's. Why? The factory "slider" camshaft and followers are all worn out, lobes have a ditch in them. This causes a little bit of "noise" in the valvetrain which the knock sensor interprets as a "knock", thus retards the timing. Most of us just unplug the sensor and it will run fine. That part of the harness could be totally removed. The ACT isn't necessarily required but is a good idea to keep it if possible. EGR is another one that isn't necessarily needed, and if you remove the EGR system you can just cut the whole egr parts off of the upper intake and tap the holes for a pipe plug and you are done. If you remove the ACT, KS, and EGR, you will get codes and occasionally a check engine light, if you have one of those in your swap. It won't necessarily make the engine run worse; although the ACT does help it run "better" (safer) when no intercooler is used.

Fuel pump. The relay has constant power from the battery on one of the pins and then the wire from pin #22 (on PE catch code computer) is a ground. When you turn the key on, the computer grounds the pin which actuates the relay's coil, which then makes internal contact connecting +12 from batt and sends it to the fuel pump wire. The pin #22 is is correct for PE computer, but depending on which computer you have it may be a different pin. It's a really simple setup and it flat works, and works reliably, thus I suggest using it. You already have the mazda wiring in the car, so whichever wire goes to the +12v side of the fuel pump is the wire that connects to the ecu controlled fuel pump relay. There will be a second wire on the fuel pump for ground, and that obviously goes to ground.

In stock application (turbo 2.3 SVO) there are two fuel pumps. The in-tank pump is a low pressure pump that feeds a frame mounted high pressure pump. Ford used this setup on a lot of cars & trucks in the 1980's. Most just convert to single in-tank pump. But in doing so, we've also got to bypass the resistor, as there is one in-line with the in-tank pump's wiring to reduce the voltage going to the in-tank pump. The way the system works is that when you first turn the key on, the ecu grounds the pump relay and it primes the pumps for 2 seconds, then shuts them off. When you crank the engine, and while the engine is running, the ecu grounds the relay and KEEPS it grounded until you turn the key back off. It does not have a pressure sensor to sense "priming" at all, it just primes automatically without actually knowing what the pressure is-it assumes that it's 40 psi. The factory pump also has a check valve in it to keep pressure from dropping off after you turn the key off. Or that's the way it's supposed to work...sometimes the check valve doesn't work quite right and can cause 0.5 second (give or take a minute) cranking time. That's all the "prime" function does, reduces cranking time.

People get confused on the OEM resistor for the in-tank pump. All it does is reduce the voltage going to the in-tank pump so that it doesn't over-power the frame-mounted pump. One can remove the resistor wire, remove the frame-mounted pump and insert a fuel filter in the pump's place, which applies +12v to the in-tank pump, and the in-tank will support the EFI engine by itself. BUT it doesn't have a huge volume, and by now they're all worn out, thus most replace them with a new walbro 190 liter/hour or 255 liter/hour 5.0 Mustang pump. It bolts right in. That may not apply to your truck but that's what is most common; or at least most talked about. I think the T-birds also had dual pumps from the factory similar to the Mustangs, and same thing with those. In fact a lot of Fords in the 1980's and 1990's had dual pumps (in tank + frame mounted). Trucks especially up to about 1992.

I've heard of people just using the ground from pin 22 to ground the pump directly without a relay but the computer won't last long with that method. A relay MUST be used.

Again some of the turbo computers use different pin locations so you will want to use the pinout for whatever computer you have. If it's a 85.5-86 SVO you will probably have a PE computer which is what I referenced above. If you have a 84 SVO computer, it's likely to be a ZBA or TE. I 85's were TJ or PJ. Thunderbirds were LB3, LA3, LA2, etc then there were Merkur XR4Ti computers, PK, etc. Again some of the ecu's pins are different between them so you will want to know for SURE which computer you have, then download the correct pinout for it. The PE makes the most power but the LA3 is the most common-and has a faster processor and MUCH better cold-start strategy; although by today's standards, it's a train wreck. Yes it is possible to run a 87-93 Mustang 5 speed V8 computer, but you will have to buy a quarterhorse, insert it into the J3 port, and then tune it to run the 2.3. It will work, though, and gives you the opportunity to play with things more, potentially opening up a whole other realm of capabilities for that engine.

Stinger Performance 2.3T FAQ

I forgot to mention the turbo. To my knowlege none of the TC/mustang/XR4Ti turbochargers had any sort of actuators or solenoids on them. Just a boost reference hose/port that goes one to the wastegate and then the other to the boost control solenoid. Remove the BCS and all the tubing. Install a manual boost controller from the site above (stinger). Used to be a popular brand, boostvalve.com, but they've changed theirs up and they are no longer the quality that they used to be-I have one and the difference between 11 psi and 25 psi is about 1/8 of a turn of the adjustment knob; and that's with the knob backed out almost completely. The stinger valve works better. If not intercooled, stick with about 10-12 psi and no more. With a good intercooler you can still run 12 psi boost but you will have a lot more torque available; also you can then turn the boost up to 18 or so without too much issue assuming you have the 35lb injectors, large VAF meter, and the correct computer to run /recognize them. THe stock SVO turbo's were TB0344's (aka T3) and are fine to about 300hp. The t-birds (87-88) had a smaller turbo and are wheezing at 250hp but also they hit harder in the lower RPM band than the T3 does. But none of them have actuators or solenoids other than the BCS which I addressed, so if you have a turbo with actuator or solenoid on the turbo itself, it is not factory. Does it say "Holset" on the turbo? Those are common swaps....but they are generally lazy down low at the gain of a nice top end punch.

JCullen · Jan 15, 2020

junkyardwarrior said:
Use the inertia switch. If not, and there is an accident, it's pouring fuel onto the fire continually until the tank is empty. Let that sink in, if you are stuck inside the cab.....you are toast.

The SVO's harness is pretty simple. There are plenty of diagrams online so you can make heads or tails of it. Or it's also possible to buy a harness from ron francis I think. The only sensors you might not want to use would be the ACT and the KS (air charge temp sensor and knock sensor respectively). Almost nobody uses the knock sensor on the 2.3 turbo's. Why? The factory "slider" camshaft and followers are all worn out, lobes have a ditch in them. This causes a little bit of "noise" in the valvetrain which the knock sensor interprets as a "knock", thus retards the timing. Most of us just unplug the sensor and it will run fine. That part of the harness could be totally removed. The ACT isn't necessarily required but is a good idea to keep it if possible. EGR is another one that isn't necessarily needed, and if you remove the EGR system you can just cut the whole egr parts off of the upper intake and tap the holes for a pipe plug and you are done. If you remove the ACT, KS, and EGR, you will get codes and occasionally a check engine light, if you have one of those in your swap. It won't necessarily make the engine run worse; although the ACT does help it run "better" (safer) when no intercooler is used.

Fuel pump. The relay has constant power from the battery on one of the pins and then the wire from pin #22 (on PE catch code computer) is a ground. When you turn the key on, the computer grounds the pin which actuates the relay's coil, which then makes internal contact connecting +12 from batt and sends it to the fuel pump wire. The pin #22 is is correct for PE computer, but depending on which computer you have it may be a different pin. It's a really simple setup and it flat works, and works reliably, thus I suggest using it. You already have the mazda wiring in the car, so whichever wire goes to the +12v side of the fuel pump is the wire that connects to the ecu controlled fuel pump relay. There will be a second wire on the fuel pump for ground, and that obviously goes to ground.

In stock application (turbo 2.3 SVO) there are two fuel pumps. The in-tank pump is a low pressure pump that feeds a frame mounted high pressure pump. Ford used this setup on a lot of cars & trucks in the 1980's. Most just convert to single in-tank pump. But in doing so, we've also got to bypass the resistor, as there is one in-line with the in-tank pump's wiring to reduce the voltage going to the in-tank pump. The way the system works is that when you first turn the key on, the ecu grounds the pump relay and it primes the pumps for 2 seconds, then shuts them off. When you crank the engine, and while the engine is running, the ecu grounds the relay and KEEPS it grounded until you turn the key back off. It does not have a pressure sensor to sense "priming" at all, it just primes automatically without actually knowing what the pressure is-it assumes that it's 40 psi. The factory pump also has a check valve in it to keep pressure from dropping off after you turn the key off. Or that's the way it's supposed to work...sometimes the check valve doesn't work quite right and can cause 0.5 second (give or take a minute) cranking time. That's all the "prime" function does, reduces cranking time.

People get confused on the OEM resistor for the in-tank pump. All it does is reduce the voltage going to the in-tank pump so that it doesn't over-power the frame-mounted pump. One can remove the resistor wire, remove the frame-mounted pump and insert a fuel filter in the pump's place, which applies +12v to the in-tank pump, and the in-tank will support the EFI engine by itself. BUT it doesn't have a huge volume, and by now they're all worn out, thus most replace them with a new walbro 190 liter/hour or 255 liter/hour 5.0 Mustang pump. It bolts right in. That may not apply to your truck but that's what is most common; or at least most talked about. I think the T-birds also had dual pumps from the factory similar to the Mustangs, and same thing with those. In fact a lot of Fords in the 1980's and 1990's had dual pumps (in tank + frame mounted). Trucks especially up to about 1992.

I've heard of people just using the ground from pin 22 to ground the pump directly without a relay but the computer won't last long with that method. A relay MUST be used.

Again some of the turbo computers use different pin locations so you will want to use the pinout for whatever computer you have. If it's a 85.5-86 SVO you will probably have a PE computer which is what I referenced above. If you have a 84 SVO computer, it's likely to be a ZBA or TE. I 85's were TJ or PJ. Thunderbirds were LB3, LA3, LA2, etc then there were Merkur XR4Ti computers, PK, etc. Again some of the ecu's pins are different between them so you will want to know for SURE which computer you have, then download the correct pinout for it. The PE makes the most power but the LA3 is the most common-and has a faster processor and MUCH better cold-start strategy; although by today's standards, it's a train wreck. Yes it is possible to run a 87-93 Mustang 5 speed V8 computer, but you will have to buy a quarterhorse, insert it into the J3 port, and then tune it to run the 2.3. It will work, though, and gives you the opportunity to play with things more, potentially opening up a whole other realm of capabilities for that engine.

Stinger Performance 2.3T FAQ

I forgot to mention the turbo. To my knowlege none of the TC/mustang/XR4Ti turbochargers had any sort of actuators or solenoids on them. Just a boost reference hose/port that goes one to the wastegate and then the other to the boost control solenoid. Remove the BCS and all the tubing. Install a manual boost controller from the site above (stinger). Used to be a popular brand, boostvalve.com, but they've changed theirs up and they are no longer the quality that they used to be-I have one and the difference between 11 psi and 25 psi is about 1/8 of a turn of the adjustment knob; and that's with the knob backed out almost completely. The stinger valve works better. If not intercooled, stick with about 10-12 psi and no more. With a good intercooler you can still run 12 psi boost but you will have a lot more torque available; also you can then turn the boost up to 18 or so without too much issue assuming you have the 35lb injectors, large VAF meter, and the correct computer to run /recognize them. THe stock SVO turbo's were TB0344's (aka T3) and are fine to about 300hp. The t-birds (87-88) had a smaller turbo and are wheezing at 250hp but also they hit harder in the lower RPM band than the T3 does. But none of them have actuators or solenoids other than the BCS which I addressed, so if you have a turbo with actuator or solenoid on the turbo itself, it is not factory. Does it say "Holset" on the turbo? Those are common swaps....but they are generally lazy down low at the gain of a nice top end punch.

Junkyard warrior, Wow, this is the kind of help I was looking for. Thank you.
I am a 74 yr old and my experience has been mainly with VW Porsche and Miata. Back as a youngster I did play with some Fords Chevy and Plymouth but that was back in the 60’s.
I did teach high school electronics for 13 years so the diagrams don’t intimidate me.
The info about eliminating some controls is great. And the vacuum info is also help I was looking for. This is my first attempt at a turbo but I will be building another turbo car later in 2020.
My truck, a 1929 Ford pickup will have this 85 Tbird SVO but I am using some parts from an 87 Tbird along with the 87 ECU. I am adding an intercooler. It has been a challenge getting everything under the hood of the model A Ford pickup..
I will use you post and may get back to you.
Sorry I have not responded earlier but we are visiting in Arizona and attending Barrette-Jackson. Will be back in my Indiana shop next week.
Thank you very much for your help. I know it took some time to write all that you wrote above.
JCullen

JCullen · Jan 21, 2020

JCullen said:
Junkyard warrior, Wow, this is the kind of help I was looking for. Thank you.
I am a 74 yr old and my experience has been mainly with VW Porsche and Miata. Back as a youngster I did play with some Fords Chevy and Plymouth but that was back in the 60’s.
I did teach high school electronics for 13 years so the diagrams don’t intimidate me.
The info about eliminating some controls is great. And the vacuum info is also help I was looking for. This is my first attempt at a turbo but I will be building another turbo car later in 2020.
My truck, a 1929 Ford pickup will have this 85 Tbird SVO but I am using some parts from an 87 Tbird along with the 87 ECU. I am adding an intercooler. It has been a challenge getting everything under the hood of the model A Ford pickup..
I will use you post and may get back to you.
Sorry I have not responded earlier but we are visiting in Arizona and attending Barrette-Jackson. Will be back in my Indiana shop next week.
Thank you very much for your help. I know it took some time to write all that you wrote above.
JCullen

Junkyard warrior and others;
Thanks again for taking time to write such a good breakdown. We just got back from 10 days in Arizona and 2 days at Barrett Jackson. Fun.
Now back to the shop and my project.
I will use an inertia switch. Plus it looks like I may have to add an external pump because my Miata pump in the tank may not have the volume capability of the turbo. The tech at Stinger gave me this heads up.
I have added an intercooler although the 85 engine did not have one. So will I be hurt on performance by not using an ACT?
I plan to remove the EGR.
Can you tell me what the MAP does on the engine? And do I need it?
My turbo is a stock T3.
I will try to post some photos.

JCullen · Jan 21, 2020

JCullen said:
Junkyard warrior and others;
Thanks again for taking time to write such a good breakdown. We just got back from 10 days in Arizona and 2 days at Barrett Jackson. Fun.
Now back to the shop and my project.
I will use an inertia switch. Plus it looks like I may have to add an external pump because my Miata pump in the tank may not have the volume capability of the turbo. The tech at Stinger gave me this heads up.
I have added an intercooler although the 85 engine did not have one. So will I be hurt on performance by not using an ACT?
I plan to remove the EGR.
Can you tell me what the MAP does on the engine? And do I need it?
My turbo is a stock T3.
I will try to post some photos.

QUOTE]
This was my truck with the Miata engine.

junkyardwarrior · Jan 21, 2020

JCullen said:
Junkyard warrior and others;
Thanks again for taking time to write such a good breakdown. We just got back from 10 days in Arizona and 2 days at Barrett Jackson. Fun.
Now back to the shop and my project.
I will use an inertia switch. Plus it looks like I may have to add an external pump because my Miata pump in the tank may not have the volume capability of the turbo. The tech at Stinger gave me this heads up.
I have added an intercooler although the 85 engine did not have one. So will I be hurt on performance by not using an ACT?
I plan to remove the EGR.
Can you tell me what the MAP does on the engine? And do I need it?
My turbo is a stock T3.
I will try to post some photos.

Cool old truck!

On the ACT, it's best to use it if possible. Of course that also depends on what computer you're going to run, as the '87 could have been a couple different computers. One was an auto, two were 5 speed as I recall. As well, with either of the 87 bird computers, you're going to want to use 35lb (brown top) injectors and a "large" VAM if you don't already have them. There were two different VAM's, one was small (Merkur's, Thunderbirds from 83 through 86, and early SVO's I think also had them, Cougars, etc). AGain depends on the computer. Intercooler is a must with any of the 87 bird computers. The turbo is a turbocoupe or Merkur, not an SVO. All of the SVO's and 87-88 Turbocoupes had a factory top mount intercooler, the SVO's had a T3 turbo with a compressor outlet that would take a coupler and a pair of hose clamps. The 87-88 birds had a little bitty IHI turbo with the same STYLE (but would not interchange with the T3) compressor outlet on that tiny turbo that mated to a little bit larger top mount intercooler, because the turbo was so small that it would make a ton of heat and required a larger intercooler to "cool" the charge.

I prefer to keep the ACT, I usually remove the EGR if it is not functioning and plug the holes, then put the ACT in one of the holes in the intake that the EGR came out of. You'll have to thread a hole and possibly extend wires to it. Easy enough.

The MAP on these is not a MAP, it is simply a BAP. It reads barometric pressure and that's all it does. So if you're in the hills, the ECU adds a little timing to compensate for altitude. It does not need a vacuum line on it and if you do put one on, it will not run properly, if at all.

Also on the LA3 strategy, I have been doing some research on them and by today's standards, it is a mess in how it controls the engine. I am understanding that using an A9L with a moates quarterhorse and then playing with the settings does a MUCH better job in controlling fuel and spark than the LA2/LA3 did. I found that interesting. Of course that makes me wonder if a SN95 computer might be able to control it, basically the newer the better as far as the ECU goes. Probably why everyone I spoke to says that the PiMP is the way to go once you start modding the engine and turbo. One person I spoke with said going PiMP with no other changes on a stock engine with 3" exhaust and open air filter picked it up about 30hp. That's impressive. I do know that the stock bird computer dumps a lot of fuel into the engine under boost, they are rich, which explains why they "like" more boost and cool air. Mine (mustang) at 20 psi, stock head, 3" exhaust and open filter is uncontrollable in 2nd and sometimes 3rd gear in cool air. I tell my dad that it just makes it more fun; at least until summer hits and then it's a slug. That's the way my bird was too, and both SVO's.

One word of advice, if the engine is stock and still has the stock "flat tappet" (aka slider) cam in it, yank it, replace the valve springs with BoPort's drop in set, and put in a stock 2.3 Mustang (91-93) or Ranger 2.3 (90-94 I think) camshaft with it's roller followers. The engine idles a LOT better and the ONLY downside is that it's power curve signs off at about 5200 RPM, where the stock sliders-if they are not "worn out" (and most of them are by now) would pull clean to about 5900-6000. One thing can be done, though, with the roller cam, you can put an adjustable cam sprocket on it and retard the cam about 5° to get a lot of the top end power back, at the expense of some low and mid range torque. Again I drive mine daily and I like the idle/low/mid range off boost power better than 5500+. I just don't need to drive that hard all the time.

And lastly, I hope that IF I get your age, I can do half of what you're doing.

Wiring questions; can you help?

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Wasn't a pretty sight...and I've got big hands

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