Another 6.2 for 5.3 swap going on.

[PatDTN]

That a '67 Galaxie in the way?

Sharp eye there. Yup. '67 Galaxie 500 XL convertible with factory a.c.. I bought it a long time ago on EBay from a guy in San Francisco who goes to junkyards and assembles cars for movie shoots. In this case he built this for himself. It had a 390 from a '72 truck and a C6 trans but he put a C4 kickdown rod on it and it caused the tranny to overheat.

I drove it home from San Francisco to my house in Virginia near DC with the top down. I pulled a cliplead off the firewall that turned out to be bypassing a relay for the power windows. With the windows all the way down...

 

[ls1frc]

Nice job!

When I do mine, I will just be installing the block and bolting the heads on after. Same with pulling.

 

[PatDTN]

I should mention that I put the truck up on jackstands and left it there this whole job. To support the trans I put a piece of 2x4 and a piece of 1x4 on top of the roll bar under the front of the trans. It was a perfect height and angle.

 

[iamdub]

Why did you disconnect the wire harness from the fuse block? You should be able to use your 5.3 harness on the 6.2.

 

[PatDTN]

Why did you disconnect the wire harness from the fuse block? You should be able to use your 5.3 harness on the 6.2.

I am using the 5.3 harness. That was easier than disconnecting it from the right front corner as far as I could tell. I did ask for any tips then watched a bunch of YouTube videos and separating the fuse box and unplugging large gang plugs was pretty easy.

Probably I should have fully removed the coolant reservoir and battery to see what it takes to release the harness up there.

I would have loved to pull the engine with the harness fully in place so I could move it across to the new engine but that's made more difficult by the fact that removing the intake manifold allows access to the transmission bolts at the back of the block. The harness goes over the manifold and indeed even over the fuel rail.

 

[iamdub]

I am using the 5.3 harness. That was easier than disconnecting it from the right front corner as far as I could tell. I did ask for any tips then watched a bunch of YouTube videos and separating the fuse box and unplugging large gang plugs was pretty easy.

Probably I should have fully removed the coolant reservoir and battery to see what it takes to release the harness up there.

I would have loved to pull the engine with the harness fully in place so I could move it across to the new engine but that's made more difficult by the fact that removing the intake manifold allows access to the transmission bolts at the back of the block. The harness goes over the manifold and indeed even over the fuel rail.

Now that I scrolled back, I see where you asked for tips. Damn. I'm on vacay and not around much lately. I would've walked you through a much easier way. IMO, I'd avoid disturbing the connections under the fuse box since they're known to become intermittently faulty over time even left alone. It's not uncommon for people to beat on the fuse/relay center or unplug and replug it to fix some electrical issues.

I just unplug all the injectors and sensors from the top end and flip the harness over to the driver's side. Disconnect the A/C, MAF, etc. plugs, unbolt the harness retainers from the front and passenger sides of the block down by the crank pulley and RH engine mount and let it lay on the cross member and/or front axle. You'll have to periodically move the wires outta way as you gradually work the engine up. I rotate the block just before it's at the top of the core support and spin it sideways and it comes right out, even with the mounts still bolted to it.

 

[PatDTN]

Too late. My harness continues from the top of the engine over behind the battery with a bundle of wires. Had I realized the fuse box plugs were a common problem I would have covered the connections with dielectric grease to keep corrosion down. Just getting ready to crawl around and finish making connections.

I have a new set of tranny cooler hoses to install so I think I'll tackle that with no wires on the right side first.

 

[PatDTN]

I was making pretty good progress putting the wiring harness back in. Then I decided to install my cooler lines. I tried for a while and realized I have no idea how that gets done. The hard lines can't be bent and don't have any breaks (yet.)

Tomorrow I get to pick up my computer which has some of my tune installed. Hopefully it runs and I can drive to the tuner for the rest to be done.





So far all this was going easily. I'm amazed myself.

 

[PatDTN]

Working on details now. I learned there are two different transmission oil cooler hose setups. Somehow the one I bought and cut up to get in ended up with the connection to the radiator pointing away from the radiator. Had to go buy another 3/8 compression union so I could cut the line again and rotate it. That and some gentle bending got it connected. That'll be something to keep an eye on for a while because it's a quick connection and under some pressure from imperfect bends.

To prime my oil pump I watched this:

I'll find out if it worked when I start cranking the engine soon. Gotta connect the exhaust and put on a couple of guides for wires and hoses and replace the crossmember I dropped out for clearance. The front wheels are off for access to the low parts of the engine so I need to slap those back on. Is that a light at the end of the tunnel or a train coming to smack me.

If I'd had a lift I probably would have worn it out going up and down to reach things. Would have been nice not to have jackstands in the way though. Wondering where a handful of nuts went...

 

[iamdub]

That primes the pump by replacing the air in the pump with oil. But, it doesn't prime the oil system with oil. The galleys in the block, cam bearings, lifters, push rods, etc. are solely relying on the assembly lube for the first seconds or minute or longer after the first start. I've heard lifters rattle at startup then tick for about a minute or so until they're filled/purged/pumped-up. Filling the pump alone may (and probably is) adequate. But, having oil pushed through the system as it would be by the spinning pump gets the oil to all the places it would go so there is absolutely no dry areas at that first start. I'll be the first to admit that it's probably overkill. But, pressurized pre-lubing makes gives me peace of mind.


Maybe compromise and do what he did in the video, but crank the engine with the pedal floored until you see oil in the rockers?