ONEBADMK8
Dedicated LVC Member
When we first picked the car up even though it had barely 3800 miles the engine and engine bay were pretty rough and dirty.
It used to throw belts when decelerating and this produced a lot of belt shreddings and grime on the front of the block, lower intake and surrounding areas which is clearly visible on the left.
This engine was also in the Mach III Concept car (The green One) for a short time when it still had coil pack ignition, so I’m sure it has been "Broken In" (If You Know What I Mean).
We solved the problem of the "belt tossing" by having Lee at ASP Pulleys custom make us a pulley that had ridges on the front and the back, not just the back like the stock Mark VIII pulleys.
This helped contain the alignment but we still had a problem of belt walk at higher rpm's. We noticed while revving the car up from under the hood that the tensioner was moving forward under a load.
I shut the car down and Walt grabs the tensioner from the head and its moving all over the place, loose as a Goose!
So we replace that with a 1999 F-150 5.4 tensioner!!
That’s right. That was the part number 6 years before it was dated.
This did cure the belt woes of the car. Look at the filth on the left!
Cosmetically the car was sound except for the under hood items I have mentioned and the inner fender wells and strut towers being pretty chewed up.
To remedy this we stripped the engine bay clean, did a VERY THOROUGH and meticulous mask job (4 hours of masking) we then prepped the areas to be painted in a typical fashion and laid 4 nice coats of white. Very correct looking and clean now.
Here are a couple of shots.
Here’s a good shot of the fender wells. Also note the CHEESY screen that was used for the airboxes compared to our stainless steel treatment on the right?
Looked to us like nothing more then home storm screen. It was all separated and nasty looking, the box tops were also all scratched up and yellow looking. We stripped anything and everything off this area and re-did it 100%.
We stripped and prepped the plastic bottoms of the 1992 Ford Aerostar air boxes and repainted them a very correct heat resistant satin black and re-polished the tops and all the piping as well as the blower, valve covers and aftercooler radiator tank.
We also sent out the 80mm stock mass air housings out to Figga's automotive to be hot tanked. We left them the natural aluminum color, which is sweet! We then added K&N panel Filters in each airbox.
We then attacked the cheesy screens and bolts in the airbox tops. We replaced their screening with a heavy gauge stainless steel mesh, we stripped and repainted the black retainer rings that hold the screening in and finally we replaced the black crappy retainer bolts with polished stainless steel allen style button head bolts.
Here’s a nice clear close-up of the a/c compressor and the power steering pump. Look how close they are! There is barely an 1/8th inch of space between them if that!
Also note the oil lines which reroute the oil to the oil cooler located in the front bumper right next to the oil filter relocation unit. The oil lines pass within a 16th on an inch from the Harmonic Balancer!! The oiling system is 8.5 quarts.
Here’s a nice clear close-up of the a/c compressor and the power steering pump. Look how close they are! There is barely an 1/8th inch of space between them if that! Look how cruddy and dirty the two units are too.
In this shot you can also see the new boss that was affixed to the timing cover to accept the second idler pulley which is a Powerstroke diesel part number.
Here’s another shot of this area during the "Clean up".
Remember we replaced EVERY single under hood bolt with stainless steel Allen headed versions along with stainless steel washers.
It used to throw belts when decelerating and this produced a lot of belt shreddings and grime on the front of the block, lower intake and surrounding areas which is clearly visible on the left.
This engine was also in the Mach III Concept car (The green One) for a short time when it still had coil pack ignition, so I’m sure it has been "Broken In" (If You Know What I Mean).
We solved the problem of the "belt tossing" by having Lee at ASP Pulleys custom make us a pulley that had ridges on the front and the back, not just the back like the stock Mark VIII pulleys.
This helped contain the alignment but we still had a problem of belt walk at higher rpm's. We noticed while revving the car up from under the hood that the tensioner was moving forward under a load.
I shut the car down and Walt grabs the tensioner from the head and its moving all over the place, loose as a Goose!
So we replace that with a 1999 F-150 5.4 tensioner!!
That’s right. That was the part number 6 years before it was dated.
This did cure the belt woes of the car. Look at the filth on the left!
Cosmetically the car was sound except for the under hood items I have mentioned and the inner fender wells and strut towers being pretty chewed up.
To remedy this we stripped the engine bay clean, did a VERY THOROUGH and meticulous mask job (4 hours of masking) we then prepped the areas to be painted in a typical fashion and laid 4 nice coats of white. Very correct looking and clean now.
Here are a couple of shots.
Here’s a good shot of the fender wells. Also note the CHEESY screen that was used for the airboxes compared to our stainless steel treatment on the right?
Looked to us like nothing more then home storm screen. It was all separated and nasty looking, the box tops were also all scratched up and yellow looking. We stripped anything and everything off this area and re-did it 100%.
We stripped and prepped the plastic bottoms of the 1992 Ford Aerostar air boxes and repainted them a very correct heat resistant satin black and re-polished the tops and all the piping as well as the blower, valve covers and aftercooler radiator tank.
We also sent out the 80mm stock mass air housings out to Figga's automotive to be hot tanked. We left them the natural aluminum color, which is sweet! We then added K&N panel Filters in each airbox.
We then attacked the cheesy screens and bolts in the airbox tops. We replaced their screening with a heavy gauge stainless steel mesh, we stripped and repainted the black retainer rings that hold the screening in and finally we replaced the black crappy retainer bolts with polished stainless steel allen style button head bolts.
Here’s a nice clear close-up of the a/c compressor and the power steering pump. Look how close they are! There is barely an 1/8th inch of space between them if that!
Also note the oil lines which reroute the oil to the oil cooler located in the front bumper right next to the oil filter relocation unit. The oil lines pass within a 16th on an inch from the Harmonic Balancer!! The oiling system is 8.5 quarts.
Here’s a nice clear close-up of the a/c compressor and the power steering pump. Look how close they are! There is barely an 1/8th inch of space between them if that! Look how cruddy and dirty the two units are too.
In this shot you can also see the new boss that was affixed to the timing cover to accept the second idler pulley which is a Powerstroke diesel part number.
Here’s another shot of this area during the "Clean up".
Remember we replaced EVERY single under hood bolt with stainless steel Allen headed versions along with stainless steel washers.
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