woody, i know how that is, ive just now started to incorporate a machine shop trip into every complete rebuild, at 23 ive done a bunch of mechanical work but when it comes time to dropping something in ive only recently learned the true importance of making sure every bearing clearance, ring gap, valves, and bore clearance is within the set of specs im building according to, and i too struggle for the funds to make sure its done the way i want it, if you pick a good low miles engine you shouldnt have to do a complete rebuild. craigslist is your best friend there! goodluck!
Hey all did my home work yesterday on ford history. Today drove all over New Smyrna
Beach and Port Orange Florida all on wood power F-150 ran very well. I must have opened 15 lids today on cars and trucks looking for the best possible conversion donor vehicle. I settled on a 2000 Explorer with the 5.0 v8 push rod engine this was the best one I looked at and the explorer engine bay matches the ranger to the T. I jumped in for a test drive and had to open her up for a min. Had plenty of power for the little ranger. Now all I need to do is make a deal with the owner and get the truck here to begin the project. I hope I am not getting to far off topic talking about engines and not woodgas. I look forward to this build and any comments or suggestions are welcome.Peter, Steve and Brent thank you for all that you have posted to date.
Go right ahead Sean! We’re watching with great interest.
Ah that distributor is right up front too… One less headache.
I got Distributor envy!
TerryL
Hi Guys
To my surprise I found out yesterday that Ford stopped using distributors way back in the years. The oldest truck I looked at was 1993 and had coil packs. Even more interesting is there were little difference in wiring and components from 1993-2003.
Slightly disappointed here I really wanted the old dizzy back much cheaper for replacement parts. The picture is deceiving I know when I look at it I thought it was a dizzy.The good news is I have made some progress with this system on the f-150
I believe I am advancing the timing now at least that is what my laptop computer says when it is hooked to the truck. Because of the wasted spark system I can’t confirm with a timing light. HWWT Sean
FYI coil packs - from my experience and what I have read about them, the coil packs (aka COP, coil over plug) from Ford / Lincoln will fail, and it seems they are designed to last for about 100,000 miles, not too bad.
All mine went on a 4.6L V8 Lincoln at about the same time (between 100-110k miles for all of them). Some fail outright (easy to find them, just pull spark plug wires one at a time), and some are really pesky with intermittent failure. Symptoms - rough idle/running and momentary stumbles / hesitation when on the highway, like a little bad gas is going through, but this all seems to come and go. I replaced all with OEM, expensive but Chinese ones were just way too cheap a price to be of any quality (I am guessing).
how to test and tips -
I guess you could get lucky and only have to replace the boot,…I am not that lucky.
Hey BillA.
Everything you are saying is correct about the Ford Coil Over Plug systems - along with the weak spark plug thread holes an all of the early SOHC V engines. The earliest original slark plugs were body grooved just above the threaded portion and had a nasty tendency to shear and break off leaving the treaded portion still stuck in the head. Cringe when I had to work on these doing “simple” plug changes. Yep always had torn coil to plug boots always and had to attempt thread inserting repair on others - kinnda an only works as a one time fix. Then new cylinder head time. One engine I actually will not plug change for family and friends - let someone else take the risk, anger and bad rep.
This late revised 302 V-8 uses the external coil pairs with a single coil firing two cylinders through long plug wires. Pretty durable systems; Ford, Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep - I’ve never had to replace one. GM’s front wheel drive with these jammed on the cylinder up against the firewall just above the hot exhaust manifold are the ones with problems - replaced lots of these.
The Ford engines that perviously had distributors then changed to dual output waste spark coil pacs then had a stub shaft assembly also camshaft gear driven with a cam position sensor built into the top. They needed this sensor like all manufacturers then for OBDII mandated individual cylinder identification.
Ha! Ha! Also needed the cam driven stub shaft to drive the oil pump.
Can this stub shaft be pulled and an earlier distributor dropped into place? I do not know. The OffRoad Tuner guys will know.
Regards
Steve Unruh
It has been a long time since I have owned a Ford.
iirc I remember on my last one I had 460, One of the local racers had stated I could switch to a distributor if I wanted too. He said they are easy swaps. I had no reason too swap; it just ended up being a conversation I had with him. I have not done the swap but, to me, it appeared to be as easy as he stated. I don’t remember all the details.
G
Excellent.
Hi Bruce, I’m glad to hear you have gotten away from fords for the moment. I wish you the best with the “new” Mopar. I only hope that whoever rebuilt the motor did it right. Those 318s are special. Probably the most power for the size and weight. I have had several. Too bad the vehicles literally rotted around the engines. I had a 72 dodge dart with a 318. It would get up to 85 in a blink and would really climb the hills. It was scary. I saved all the engine parts in a 55 gallon barrel with lid, seal, and ring over the hill and when I was converting my 72 in 2005 I went back there to get parts and the barrel was filled to the top with water. Wish I had tipped it on it’s side or something. Live and learn. Boy was I bummed. It was a good engine so I pulled the heads etc etc etc. The car broke in two when my friend hauled it out. The front wheels had already gone through the fenders with the tortion bars twisting out … Mike
Sean, My OBD2 97 cavalier seems to be happy at around 19 or 20 advanced per the diagnostic tool I use while I’m driving. It will go up to around 45 when I coast down hills and it seeks and settles back into that 19 to 20 area when it’s back under load. It reads this as well when it is at 4000 rpm and the occasional 4500 rpm but I don’t like pushing it that high except on occasion as it has 208,000 miles on it and a lifter tick … I usually have to reset things after a drive as it always has an open injector circuit code for obvious reasons. When it throws the code, nothing seems to change with the timing. Mike
My son, Sean did a heck of a job on the gasifier and cooler design. It only took two hours to reinstall the whole mess.
Ok I’ll end this thread here and consider another one on the Dakota build sometime in the future.
Bruce, I like trailers because cars are a dime a dozen. It is a challenge to do systems on a trailer because they usually flex and don’t have smooth suspensions with large tires and shocks unless you build one that way. The trick is to keep the weight down so you do not have to register it and so smaller vehicles can pull it. Obviously a car that gets 30 mpg will use half the wood as a truck that gets 15 mpg … The slide in slide out concept works for me. You must have built short and wide. I was in Florida (Mexico Beach) just a bit over a week ago. It was 22 here this morning after an inch of rain yesterday. Expected high of 32 today. There was 3 inches of ice in my wheel barrow this morning. Condensate tanks would be frozen solid. Mike
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There is always residual moisture in the cooler that migrates to the tank long after shutdown. Problem here is the pipes continue to cool below freezing and then the droplets freeze in the pipes and also on the way to the collection tank. I can’t just leave the tank open or air will backfeed to the gasifier and keep it burning. Usually the next run will warm things back up and all will migrate but occasionally too much collects and I wish I had a heated building to park things in for a couple of days to let all thaw out. Been snow flakes all day here and it hasn’t been above freezing (high was 26). Upper teens tonight and then some warming ??? Only the shadow knows … Pros and cons to any place to live … ML
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Bruce, When I was in Florida just a bit over a week ago I was amazed as to how much liquid my kidneys passed and how it was impossible to get a pair of sink washed socks to dry. I was in the sun all day and didn’t get burned and here under similar temps and sun I wouldn’t pass a drop. It is a whole different environment. When you told me / us your EMT tubes were rotting through with less than a year on them, I could relate. My neighbor took on a couple of Florida “hobos” a couple of months ago. The older one split after a week and she dropped the one that was staying with her (etc) off in Dubuque last week and he is back in Florida. I’ve never been near your side of Florida but I grew up 6 miles from the Atlantic on the south shore of Long Island … Please keep us updated on how the Dakota works out. They rot out too fast here for me to consider one. I like the OBD2 stuff anyway. I’m actually amazed by it and the OBD1 precursors. My 95 olds wouldn’t even start on gasoline when it had woodgas available. I had my start blower in the air line up front so pulled the (wood) gas all the way to the intake before starting.
It’s 22 degrees on the porch right now as I type. Be in the teens in the morning … ML
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