# '72 F-series project **URL:** \ **Category:** Builds\ **Created:** [January 10, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441 "2015-01-10T18:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![cougarspeed](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/cougarspeed/32/7468_2.png) [@cougarspeed](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/cougarspeed)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 7:21am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/61 "2015-02-02T07:21:54Z")
> [@focusinprogress](#): > > thanks Jeremy, you hit the nail on the head. I sort of wish I did a little more research on differences in 2V motors, I had wanted a police interceptor motor but couldn’t pass up the price for the 98 mustang GT set…I haven’t looking into it yet but I could get interceptor heads at M&M for cheap if they bolt on…You know much about the wiring on these things? none of the pigtails were labeled and so many are the same I don’t know what will go where and what I can delete. > > I’m hoping to get the truck back into the shop in a week or two to start pulling the front end apart and cut out the stock crossmember to bolt in the crown vic front end. Get a schematic Strip harness of any loom/tape Pin by pin from the fuse panel or ecu verify routing one wire at a time and follow through its entire length to make (some dont look like you need them at first but are used to trigger something else) Ditch about 50% of your harness Layout harness in bay to see if any wires should be shortened/lengthened to hide as many as possible Wrap in sexy mesh loom This is what I do on every build. Which is why you hardly see any wires in my engine bays. @LukeL did the last few and I did the Maro this way. Amazingly if you can follow a schematic it can be a one day job and you will be way more intimate with your wiring for future needs. ---
**Author:** ![Norb\_O](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/norb_o/32/5189_2.png) [@Norb\_O](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Norb_O)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 7:55am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/62 "2015-02-02T07:55:45Z")
^^ great method and also a great time to check condition/continuity of all wires to make sure nothing has broken inside the insulation. On my harness I found an injector signal wire that had been repaired and spliced (poorly) at some point and it was an easy fix while it was all apart. ---
**Author:** ![focusinprogress](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/focusinprogress/32/7227_2.png) [@focusinprogress](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/focusinprogress)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 8:09am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/63 "2015-02-02T08:09:34Z")
> [@cougarspeed](#): > > Get a schematic > Strip harness of any loom/tape > Pin by pin from the fuse panel or ecu verify routing one wire at a time and follow through its entire length to make (some dont look like you need them at first but are used to trigger something else) > Ditch about 50% of your harness > Layout harness in bay to see if any wires should be shortened/lengthened to hide as many as possible > Wrap in sexy mesh loom > > This is what I do on every build. Which is why you hardly see any wires in my engine bays. @LukeL did the last few and I did the Maro this way. Amazingly if you can follow a schematic it can be a one day job and you will be way more intimate with your wiring for future needs. that’s exactly what I want to do. I know I won’t be using ABS, airbag shit, EGR, and all that kind of crap. If I can delete EVAP I will too. I’ve already noticed a couple wires that look like they got smashed so I’ll want to check a lot of it out anyways. Hopefully I can convince @pirite to help with the wiring stuff bribing him with monster drinks and fatty foods. on another note, I won $600 last night on the superbowl pool I bought in on…so I started making a cart on RockAuto…I am serious about wanting to DD this thing and use it every bit as much I do/would my '12 F150 (which goes back in may)…so I figure now is the time to replace all the wear parts for quality/new. ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/focusinprogress/86012FCC-4683-4039-9C41-7C6940C0E600_zps6c6s6be9.jpg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/uploads/speedlife/original/3X/3/8/3867c56e95e92511f12358cd51cbaa814037415d.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![2TurboZ](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/2turboz/32/7577_2.png) [@2TurboZ](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/2TurboZ)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 9:41am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/64 "2015-02-02T09:41:50Z")
Mountaineer…not Mariner In any event…this looks super cool. ---
**Author:** ![Wahoo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/wahoo/32/8265_2.png) [@Wahoo](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Wahoo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 9:50am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/65 "2015-02-02T09:50:11Z")
I think 99+ they improved the head design, called performance improved heads. ---
**Author:** ![pirite](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/pirite/32/5308_2.png) [@pirite](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/pirite)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/66 "2015-02-02T17:57:48Z")
> [@focusinprogress](#): > > Hopefully I can convince @**[pirite](http://www.nyspeed.com/member.php?u=4783)** to help with the wiring stuff bribing him with monster drinks and fatty foods. FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU ---
**Author:** ![ultradriver10000](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/ultradriver10000/32/7397_2.png) [@ultradriver10000](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ultradriver10000)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/67 "2015-02-03T06:18:40Z")
I just spent $440 at rock auto lol, that place …rocks ---
**Author:** ![Deathproof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@Deathproof](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Deathproof)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/68 "2015-02-03T12:26:57Z")
99+ mustang GT heads and intake are the way to go. Pick up like 45hp. Should be able to get them cheap. ---
**Author:** ![focusinprogress](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/focusinprogress/32/7227_2.png) [@focusinprogress](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/focusinprogress)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/69 "2015-02-03T12:41:51Z")
> [@Deathproof](#): > > 99+ mustang GT heads and intake are the way to go. Pick up like 45hp. Should be able to get them cheap. if you come across any, please let me know! I’ve spent my whole life on 4cyl shit lol. I’d love to get some type of handheld tuner for this too, just to delete things that would throw check engine light (even though that won’t matter for my inspection and shit)…I want to retain an OBD2 port for diagnostics and such to be able to properly maintain this thing for the foreseeable future. I also want to get a short shifter, because I’m gonna need like a 2’ long shift lever, on the stock shifter I’ll have like a foot of throw from gear to gear ---
**Author:** ![LUKE\_L](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/luke_l/32/7462_2.png) [@LUKE\_L](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/LUKE_L)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/70 "2015-02-06T20:30:26Z")
> [@cougarspeed](#): > > Get a schematic > Strip harness of any loom/tape > Pin by pin from the fuse panel or ecu verify routing one wire at a time and follow through its entire length to make (some dont look like you need them at first but are used to trigger something else) > Ditch about 50% of your harness > Layout harness in bay to see if any wires should be shortened/lengthened to hide as many as possible > Wrap in sexy mesh loom > > This is what I do on every build. Which is why you hardly see any wires in my engine bays. @LukeL did the last few and I did the Maro this way. Amazingly if you can follow a schematic it can be a one day job and you will be way more intimate with your wiring for future needs. ^ what he said… 🙂 - - - Updated - - - I say dive in…it will make future projects less intimidating. ---
**Author:** ![focusinprogress](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/focusinprogress/32/7227_2.png) [@focusinprogress](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/focusinprogress)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 10:34am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/71 "2015-03-16T10:34:17Z")
So, I had started looking over the harness… it was cut in a few places (he said it wasn’t cut), theres a few connectors that are identical and not labeled, he never did mail me the key after 2 months of hounding him via text and he kept saying “I’ll have it out in the next couple of days”…and then I find out the PATS receiver isn’t in the ECU, it’s either in the gauge cluster or a module in the trunk…neither of which I got. So even if I had the key I wouldn’t beat the PATS system so, I have a couple options as I seem to have come up with via google. 1: Go to the junkyard and pull a harness, ECU, Key, and PATS unit from a crown victoria or another 4.6 car. 2: pay a fortune for a Ron Francis wiring harness that’s an engine-only harness and send him the ECU I got with these parts for a flash to delete PATS and tweak some other settings for performance and such ($1000+) 3: attempt to build my own harness from scratch using pigtails off the harness I was given, and build/run megasquirt II V3 or greater. option 2 would be the fastest/simplest. option 1 would be CHEAP. option 3 would likely be the halfway point between 1 and 2 both with cost and reward as far as tuning it for the future could be. I’d probably pay DIY autotune to just build the MS and give me an ecu pigtail to make the harness myself. thoughts anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 10:49am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/72 "2015-03-16T10:49:07Z")
Hard to know without knowing your budget, but I say [#3](http://www.nyspeed.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=3) . ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/73 "2015-03-16T10:51:18Z")
junkyard harness will be a huge hassle, and you’ll never know if the electronics have been rain damaged or anything. If you have the money, go option 2. If you don’t mind the effort and frustration, option 3. ---
**Author:** ![maxwell](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/maxwell/32/6524_2.png) [@maxwell](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/maxwell)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/74 "2015-03-16T10:51:18Z")
I’m going to go with option 1. Seems like the cheapest and most hassle free… ---
**Author:** ![focusinprogress](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/focusinprogress/32/7227_2.png) [@focusinprogress](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/focusinprogress)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:09pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/75 "2015-03-16T13:09:18Z")
one vote each. helpful. lol. If cost were thrown out of the equation, I’d go option 2 all day. If cost were the only thing on my mind I would go option 1. I think there’s enough people in the area that know MS that if I went option 3 and got stuck someone could help me, but again the hassle of it all takes a little away from the appeal of it. If I went option 1, and later wanted to do anything as far as tuning, I’d have to spend $400+ for an SCT flasher setup with software…at which point the MS would have been a better bet from the start. ugh. I am going to email DIY autotune and get a quote on a pre-assembled MS setup. ---
**Author:** ![maxwell](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/maxwell/32/6524_2.png) [@maxwell](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/maxwell)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/76 "2015-03-16T13:12:30Z")
Wouldnt you rather deal with an OEM harness now and get it running? Spend the money now and hope it goes well hacking up the already hacked harness, or get it running and 100% dialed in NOW on a clean harness, and spend a few bucks down the road. You know my vote… ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/77 "2015-03-16T13:13:34Z")
I just think the experience of making it yourself will go a long way (knowledge gained, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![focusinprogress](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/focusinprogress/32/7227_2.png) [@focusinprogress](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/focusinprogress)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/78 "2015-03-16T13:22:45Z")
> [@Onyx Z32](#): > > I just think the experience of making it yourself will go a long way (knowledge gained, etc.) I fully agree here…I think it’s pretty obvious that’s my rationale with most of the projects I’ve dove into. I have an email into DIYautotune about a pre-assembled MS ecu, we’ll see what I hear back. to go with option 2, it’s $870 for the base harness, then $350 for them to flash the ecu I have to delete PATS (anti-theft chipped key b.s.) and while they’re flashing they’d do a mild performance file and delete egr and all that nonsense. I have a bit of sticker shock on the price, but it would be a bare bones brand new purpose-built harness and plug-n-play. If I got a harness and ecu with key from the junkyard, I’d have to thin it out myself and inspect the wires/connectors for damage and then re-loom for my needs, and have no tune-ability without later spending about $650 for flasher, software, and a basemap to work from…at which point that plus maybe the $100-150 to get the stock junkyard parts…seems like option 2 is a no-brainer. Then again, if I can do the MS for half that…it makes that option pretty attractive. EDIT: on MS stuff, using the parts list from their 4.6 write-up…looks like $523.50 in parts plus whatever they charge to assemble for me, then add in a wideband…which is getting awful close to option 2. PISS. ---
**Author:** ![maxwell](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/maxwell/32/6524_2.png) [@maxwell](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/maxwell)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/79 "2015-03-16T13:55:21Z")
> [@focusinprogress](#): > > I fully agree here…I think it’s pretty obvious that’s my rationale with most of the projects I’ve dove into. I have an email into DIYautotune about a pre-assembled MS ecu, we’ll see what I hear back. to go with option 2, it’s $870 for the base harness, then $350 for them to flash the ecu I have to delete PATS (anti-theft chipped key b.s.) and while they’re flashing they’d do a mild performance file and delete egr and all that nonsense. I have a bit of sticker shock on the price, but it would be a bare bones brand new purpose-built harness and plug-n-play. If I got a harness and ecu with key from the junkyard, I’d have to thin it out myself and inspect the wires/connectors for damage and then re-loom for my needs, and have no tune-ability without later spending about $650 for flasher, software, and a basemap to work from…at which point that plus maybe the $100-150 to get the stock junkyard parts…seems like option 2 is a no-brainer. Then again, if I can do the MS for half that…it makes that option pretty attractive. > > EDIT: on MS stuff, using the parts list from their 4.6 write-up…looks like $523.50 in parts plus whatever they charge to assemble for me, then add in a wideband…which is getting awful close to option 2. PISS. Dude when you lay it out like that… 2 all day… ---
**Author:** ![XwalkerX](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/xwalkerx/32/7598_2.png) [@XwalkerX](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/XwalkerX)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441/80 "2015-03-16T13:58:10Z")
choice 2. do it once. [Previous page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441.md?page=3) [Next page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/72-f-series-project/271441.md?page=5)