1996 Ford F150 4.9L (300ci) I6 5MT 4x4

[Christ]

Originally Posted by comptiger5000

Depending on how much boost you plan to run, either the 302/351 injectors, or the Ford Racing 24lb injectors would be good. The 24lb ones would most likely need some ECU tuning, however, as I don't know if it can adjust the pulsewidth enough for those to work otherwise. With big enough injectors and tuning, you could probably run 8psi or so without an intercooler on 93 octane. If you add an intercooler, you might be able to push 10-11. I'm not sure what the limits of the engine are, however, without internal mods.

It would definitely perk the truck up a bit, and unless you get too heavy on the gas, it probably won't hurt MPG much. Of course, when you get it loaded and make it work, you can laugh at the V8 guys as you cruise right past them, and still get better mpg overall.

I just turned a friend of mine, actually. I can already laugh at the V8 guys and cruise past them, stock vs stock. AFAIK, the 302/351 doesn't make as much torque at it's peak as I do off-idle. muhahahah.

In fact, I can cruise past them, then chain up and pull them against their will.

I'm really just looking for a little extra pep when I get really heavy loads, to be honest. I'll probably also couple it with an RV-type cam to move the peak flow down lower and enable a stronger, flatter (like it could get any flatter) torque curve. (It should be called a torque field...)

[comptiger5000]

RV cams tend to be good for boost, as the turbo or S/C makes up for it on the top end.

[Christ]

Pics of the floor hole... I just screwed half a computer case over it for now so it would pass inspection... I'm not likely to bother actually fixing it ever...


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The hole after removing obvious damage.


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The hole after removing loose rot and badly rusted metal.

See the difference? Rot is almost universally worse than you think when you first see it.

[Christ]

At some point, I'm going to have my wife paint the entire floor with roof cement, then I'm going to cover the floor with the OE plastic/rubber floor mat again.

I scored a ZF 5 Speed (5.72 first gear, something like .8 5th) to put into my truck, in a 1992 5.0/5 Speed I purchased for parts. The parts truck has quite a few decent parts on it, and the ZF has a very clean, crisp shift to it. I feel that between the few parts I can use and the ZF, plus whatever I can sell, I made a VERY good investment here. I also got a title with the parts truck, which means I can later rebuild it as a work truck, if I am so inclined.

[Christ]

Few setbacks and problems with Gerald recently:

Brakes have been intermittently malfunctioning, sticking, or just not working at all. Finally "gave up" on me the other day... I took the opportunity to change the aged (read: ugly and corroded) master cylinder, and both front calipers with clean, nearly new units sourced from the local recycler for $50 even.

While I was there, I also managed to score one of those LUND grille block screen things that you cut to fit your grille. I got those for free... all of the panels except the one you can't cover for your hood opening, including the plastic brackets that hold them in. I'm going to paint them and install them later.

Changing the calipers and M/C didn't actually fix the brake problem. I still only get enough pedal to activate one rear brake. I need to check under the dash to make sure there isn't a malfunction at the pedal assembly itself, which is quite possible.

A/C pump pulley is shot... The clutches are gone, and the pulley rides crooked and grinds against a bolt. It heats up, and this, of course, caused the belt to break. Grabbed an OE belt thinking that it was the same for the no A/C configuration, but it wasn't. Ended up with a belt from a 3.3 Caravan, which bypasses the AIR pump as well. Not happy about that, but it got me home.

I notice that in order to remove the PS and A/C, I'm left with no accessories on that side of the engine... where the tensioner is. This won't work. I'll either need bypass pulleys, I'll need to relocate something to still be able to use the tensioner, or build a new tensioner from something else to mount elsewhere on the engine. There may be another way, but I haven't looked closely enough at it, yet. Been focusing on the brakes for the most part.

Almost managed to buy another 4.9L engine for a turbo application for $50 that was a crate motor with less than 500 miles from a fire damaged truck. No damage to the engine, just soot on it and baked paint. Missed it by just a hair, though. I'm still working on another one, however, same price, more miles, and extra accessories.

[Christ]

I also attempted to pick up a free old office trailer, approx 25', maybe 2,000 lbs... it had a pintle on it, so I went out and bought myself a pintle hitch... the axle on the trailer is all the way in the back, though. As it turns out, my truck can't handle the entire trailer's weight being on the tongue. I dragged the trailer's jack about 40 feet down the road before deciding to wait it out and install either extra springs, or a heavier pack altogether.

Since I have 3 parts trucks, I may just build a pack with a few extra leaves. However, I do have access to 1T, 1.5T, and 2T spring packs that will fit my truck for $40 a side. Might be something to look into, since I don't really care about how my truck rides.

[Frank Lee]

Re: brakes: sometimes bad rubber brake hoses can cause weird problems that servicing the things on either end don't fix.

[IsaacCarlson]

If you have a 4.9L in there you could just change the belt routing. I have posted pics http://arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=133218




It now uses a shorter belt. If you want the part number I can give it to you.

[Christ]

Yeah, it's a 4.9. I can't view those pics unless I sign up.. and I'm no woodsman, my friend. Mind posting them here as well?

I was thinking yesterday that if I remove the PS and AC, I can just run a shorter belt up so that it comes over to the tensioner from the top of the water pump, and the tensioner might have enough pull to keep it tight that way. That would require a longer belt, though, than what would be necessary if I were only driving the water pump, AIR pump, and alternator from the crank, with a tensioner on that side... longer belt = more drag, from what I'm told... negligible, but why add it if you don't have to?

Also, as to your "having to crank twice to start it"... yeah, I have to do that too. I've never checked the timing since I put the dizzy that I rebuilt in. I guess I should do that at some point... I'm getting lazy, I guess.


Frank - I changed the passenger side rubber line. I believe it was internally swelled, but nevertheless, it actually broke completely, leaving a pint or so of fluid under the truck. I now have brakes again, but they're still kinda soft, even after bleeding all four corners completely down to brand new fluid (draw through bleeding, then pressure bleeding). Essentially, they're back to what they were before they failed, so they work, and work well enough, but I'd like a tighter pedal. I'm going to eliminate the RABS system completely, so maybe that will "fix" the issue? I know they've been known to be troublesome... eventually I'm going to rear discs anyway.

[IsaacCarlson]

I pulled the serpentine belt today to check bearings and look the belt over and found out the smog pump bearings were just about seized and the power steering pump was really stiff and I had removed most of the A/C components earlier so I wanted to bypass the A/C pulley. I picked up a ribbed tensioner pulley and a MUCH shorter belt and rerouted it. I also checked the timing because I was having to crank it twice just to start it. The timing was almost 5° ATDC so I set it at 14° BTDC. Starts right up. It is not hard to steer and runs much smoother.

The alternator bolt was in the way so I ground the head a little and also cut the bushing down to flush. The belt now clears it by 1/16th of an inch. Just enough. The belt goes around the crank and up over the fan/water pump and to the tensioner and then over the alt and back down. SIMPLE. The belt is about 63" compared to 98" original. I still need to loop the P/S lines so I am not fighting the pump. I have been getting about 25 mpg as I have been hauling stuff....like my tractor and plow. I actually got close to 20 mpg pulling that thing.