Things Change.. Butters is now getting a 392

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Nothing just yet. Driving normal, it's pretty good. It's just when you roll into the throttle, at about 1/4 pedal, it'll give a flash of a kickdown and then resume to normal.. floor it and it doesn't seem to do it. Nick is wondering if there's something going on with the valve body because everything else is fresh. I'm still playing with different length levers to see if that makes any difference. The Bouchillion lever is much shorter than stock and that's what I had on there at first. I've been trying a longer lever for a few days now and it seems better but throw ratios are too different to work right. If I set it like it should be ..tv fully open at wot, the lever still has considerable pull on it at idle. Shorter lever and it kicks down easier yet or never shifts into 3rd. On the way home yesterday, I think it may have been getting better tho. It's just weird
The perfect solution to the kickdown problem is a manual transmission...lol
 
I had new fuse/relay panel sitting on the shelf that I decided to use.. Over kill with for the trunk with 4 relays and 20 fuses, but i didn't have to buy anything. I just used the fuel pump power feed as a trigger and ran a 12ga directly to the battery and fused it.

Drove into work this morning and put it under a load several times and didn't pop any main system fuses. I think the Holley pump was just too much for the system.

Ironically, while putting under a load , it didn't do the quirky kick down and just pulled hard, like a freight train. I was noticing a few days ago it was getting harder to replicate the problem when I took nick for a ride. And yesterday, I was easy on it, trying not to blow a fuse. Maybe the new trans just needed a little break in time. I'll put through some paces today and maybe tighten the TV cable up and see what it does.. Might even put the correct lever back on.

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Shift update...

Took the Dart for a spin and everything still felt like it was shifting good, other than a little early, which is expected without the kickdown adjusted properly. So I stopped at a local convenience mart and broke out the Allen wrenches and set the kickdown for full pull at wot. 30 seconds later, I pulled out and headed back to the shop.

When I pulled out, the shifts felt pretty close to spot on, just to the point of questioning if it was going to shift or not. I eased into the throttle and it didn't do the quirky kickdown without an actual kickdown. Then I gave it the real test at around 45/50 and popped the the pedal to the floor and gave it the Chump Test... This little Dart is no chump! Holy sheeet! Instant kickdown, tires ripped loose at 50, left front rared up, *** squated and was gone. I honestly did not expect the *** to get a little squirrely.

Pretty sure it's just time to drive enjoy it now. Few less things to focus on sure makes it more fun.
 
Shift update...

Took the Dart for a spin and everything still felt like it was shifting good, other than a little early, which is expected without the kickdown adjusted properly. So I stopped at a local convenience mart and broke out the Allen wrenches and set the kickdown for full pull at wot. 30 seconds later, I pulled out and headed back to the shop.

When I pulled out, the shifts felt pretty close to spot on, just to the point of questioning if it was going to shift or not. I eased into the throttle and it didn't do the quirky kickdown without an actual kickdown. Then I gave it the real test at around 45/50 and popped the the pedal to the floor and gave it the Chump Test... This little Dart is no chump! Holy sheeet! Instant kickdown, tires ripped loose at 50, left front rared up, *** squated and was gone. I honestly did not expect the *** to get a little squirrely.

Pretty sure it's just time to drive enjoy it now. Few less things to focus on sure makes it more fun.

Very cool!!
 
Had a flub over the weekend that made me do some thinking... Blew a plug out of my oil filter adapter, while cruising through town. It just never occurred to me that they had to be changed.. So many things have plastic in them anymore and I assumed those just stayed unless you wanted to add an oil cooler. I finally found what I needed in a hellcrate installation instruction pdf.

The main thing was that I was happy that I heard the port block actually pop and smack something. I thought I hit something in the road and looked up in the mirror. Uh oh, smoke, lotsa smoke! If I hadn't heard it, it coulda been bad. This opened up my eyes to the fact that I'm not constantly fixated on my gauges. So I came up with a plan

While I waited on Hagerty roadside (top notch BTW) I researched, reached out to a few people and then found what I needed on Amazon. - 12 ORB plugs. I also grabbed a pressure switch locally. When the plugs arrived, I drilled 1 out to 1/8 npt for a sensor. Ran a signal wire to my original dummy light (which I obviously need) and it works great. I now have something to get my attention, should I ever lose oil pressure again.

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Yesterday, I discovered that my tires will scratch pretty good when it shifts from 2nd into drive... Well, that's new!
 
Tried to start a burn out party at the hotel, during our power tour adventure. Worked until the police came along...

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Again.. Ford parking brakes can eat a bag of d!cks. They are horrible to get back tofether with axles in.
Agreed. Just did mine on my 8.8 and it was a PITA. What method did you use to connect to the factory cables? I had to fab some mounts to use the soft lines and even then they had to bend pretty sharp to point in the right direction. Only other option was to put them between the Ubolts. Sucks, but works for now.

Love the build btw. Such a sleeper look with awesome power. Hope all the transmission bugs are worked out.

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Agreed. Just did mine on my 8.8 and it was a PITA. What method did you use to connect to the factory cables? I had to fab some mounts to use the soft lines and even then they had to bend pretty sharp to point in the right direction. Only other option was to put them between the Ubolts. Sucks, but works for now.

Love the build btw. Such a sleeper look with awesome power. Hope all the transmission bugs are worked out.

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I cut the ends of the factory ford cables off and welded them to my stock dart cables. Weld a nut to the caliper bracket, added a set screw. I had to cut the Ford spring down a bit. It all seems to work OK

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Had a flub over the weekend that made me do some thinking... Blew a plug out of my oil filter adapter, while cruising through town. It just never occurred to me that they had to be changed.. So many things have plastic in them anymore and I assumed those just stayed unless you wanted to add an oil cooler. I finally found what I needed in a hellcrate installation instruction pdf.

The main thing was that I was happy that I heard the port block actually pop and smack something. I thought I hit something in the road and looked up in the mirror. Uh oh, smoke, lotsa smoke! If I hadn't heard it, it coulda been bad. This opened up my eyes to the fact that I'm not constantly fixated on my gauges. So I came up with a plan

While I waited on Hagerty roadside (top notch BTW) I researched, reached out to a few people and then found what I needed on Amazon. - 12 ORB plugs. I also grabbed a pressure switch locally. When the plugs arrived, I drilled 1 out to 1/8 npt for a sensor. Ran a signal wire to my original dummy light (which I obviously need) and it works great. I now have something to get my attention, should I ever lose oil pressure again.

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A light is always a great plan. Back in the 70's it was "Ditch the light and install gauges" but cruising down the street you can't watch the street, the idiots on phones trying to kill us and the gauges so everything I build has a light for oil pressure and if the charging system supports it (My old hot rod ford) along with gauges. The light catches your eye and the gauge states the facts.

Cliff Ramsdell
 
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