My 351w Explorer EFI conversion thread

[pa69broncoguy]

I was thinking about trying to mount up the explorer gas pedal and cable, just because i already have it and to worked good on the explorer. I have seen in other threads about people using bronco pedals with different cables and they had to make a belcrank on the throttle body because the throttle was too touchy. Im not sure if using all explorer would help prevent this but I thought it would be worth a try.

 

[chuzie]

I use mustang bell on exploder tb

 

[lars]

I was thinking about trying to mount up the explorer gas pedal and cable, just because i already have it and to worked good on the explorer. I have seen in other threads about people using bronco pedals with different cables and they had to make a belcrank on the throttle body because the throttle was too touchy. Im not sure if using all explorer would help prevent this but I thought it would be worth a try.

Which reminds me that I modded my OEM pedal assembly- shortened the rod above the pivot point (end that goes to cable) by an inch and lengthened the rod below (end that has pedal attached) a like amount. Changed the leverage ratio of the pedal to reduce touchiness. The mod got written up in Bronco Driver magazine about 10 years ago.

Found a couple of photos. Here's one of my pedal assembly with the mod for the Mustang cable but before the leverage ratio mod:

I don't have a pic of the pedal assembly with the ratio mod out of the Bronco, but here's one of it installed. I had to cut an inch out of the bracket above the pivot and weld it back together to keep the end of the (shortened) upper rod aligned with the cable hole:

Just removing/adding an inch may not sound like much, but it helped a lot. I didn't have an Explorer pedal assembly and didn't feel like trying to find something else that would fit, which is why I came up with the mod (that and it was free).

 

[pa69broncoguy]

Hey Lars , Thanks for the info on the pedal. That sounds like a good mod that i could do. Any Idea what mustang I will need to pull the throttle cable from. I think that there is a fox body at the u-pull it, not sure what motor is in it. What motor should i be looking for?

 

[pa69broncoguy]

sorry , I just re read all the info again seen i need one from a 5.0 mustang Ill have to go looking tomorrow. Hope it's a 5.0 I know there is only one mustang over there.

 

[chuzie]

It's an easy swap. Grind the retaining tab, pull bell, drill and tap butterfly shaft, and bolt on. Not 100 sure if it is just the 5.0 stang that offers it, but go with what you know to be safe.

 

[hankjr]

Any reason the explorer cable won't work? I grabbed the cable and found a f150 pedal assy near the exploder I was yanking on. Truck pedal connection looked to be the same. I figured I would cut the top inch or so And weld it to the bronco pedal. I also grabbed the explorer pedal to check the pivot ratio to try to retain some sense of design intent.

No good?

 

[pa69broncoguy]

Any reason the explorer cable won't work? I grabbed the cable and found a f150 pedal assy near the exploder I was yanking on. Truck pedal connection looked to be the same. I figured I would cut the top inch or so And weld it to the bronco pedal. I also grabbed the explorer pedal to check the pivot ratio to try to retain some sense of design intent.

No good?

I checked out the stock pedal in comparison to the explorer one. The length above and below the pivot point are almost identical so there is no advantage to messing around trying to use the explorer one. Im thinking the lars pedal mod is the pedal setup I will try to use.

I never made it to the u-pull it today so i will try to fit up the explorer cable after i get the throttle pedal fixed up and installed.

I loosely bolted up the upper intake and was checking out the throttle body fittment. Anyone have any ideas on mounting it up, it seems like the iac will get in the way of the hood. It looks like possibly turning it upside down may work.

 

[lars]

Bronco gas pedal mod to use Ford Mustang 5.0 and other cables

I checked out the stock pedal in comparison to the explorer one. The length above and below the pivot point are almost identical so there is no advantage to messing around trying to use the explorer one. Im thinking the lars pedal mod is the pedal setup I will try to use.

I never made it to the u-pull it today so i will try to fit up the explorer cable after i get the throttle pedal fixed up and installed.

I loosely bolted up the upper intake and was checking out the throttle body fittment. Anyone have any ideas on mounting it up, it seems like the iac will get in the way of the hood. It looks like possibly turning it upside down may work.

Have a look at the first pic I linked in post #163. The mod to use the Mustang cable (and a lot of other Ford cables- many are identical at the pedal end) had already been done, and with reference to the photo it's easy to explain: At the top of the pedal rod is a steel ball that the stock throttle linkage connects to. Do what ever it takes to remove that ball- I used an angle grinder on the back side, then knocked it out of the hole. The hole in the top of the rod is about 5/16". Run a 5/16" drill bit through it anyway, in case it's a bit distorted. Now the hole is the correct diameter to accept the firewall end plastic bushing on most Ford throttle cables. Next, use a hacksaw to slot the hole, so you can connect the cable. Doesn't need to be fancy. Finally, use a torch (lucky me; I have an oxyacetylene rig) to heat the rod below the cable attach hole cherry red. Use a pair of pliers or crescent wrench to twist the end of the rod 90° so the cable hole is pointed toward the firewall instead of parallel to it. That's all there is to it.

As for the cable... On the Mustang 5.0 cable and several others I've seen, there is a metal flange on the cable housing at the firewall end, with two holes in it. You'll find that the large hole for the throttle pushrod in the stock Bronco gas pedal bracket is exactly the right size to accept the flange, and in fact one of the small holes in the bracket will line up perfectly with one of the small holes in the cable housing flange. Too easy. Put a screw in to retain the cable housing. Done. If you want to get fancy, drill a second hole in the bracket so you can use two screws and utilize both holes in the cable housing flange.

 

[lars]

I loosely bolted up the upper intake and was checking out the throttle body fittment. Anyone have any ideas on mounting it up, it seems like the iac will get in the way of the hood. It looks like possibly turning it upside down may work.

Here's a pic showing how mine is installed. Note that I modded my Explorer T/B as Chuzie described, with the bellcrank off a Mustang 5.0 throttle body instead of the stock one, which let me use the more common arrangement where the throttle body shaft is vertical instead of horizontal. I did mine about 12 years ago; I happened to have a stock, broken Mustang throttle body and noticed that it was very similar to the Explorer unit except for the bellcrank and a couple other odds & ends.

I just discovered that someone picked that up and wrote a tech article for this site with that mod and some others for the Explorer T/B. It's here:
http://classicbroncos.com/tech/how-to-convert-a-mustang-55mm-throttle-body-to-65mm-explorer-tb

 

[pa69broncoguy]

Lars, Thanks for the info, lots of good stuff. It looks like the mustang tb conversion will also probably help out with the throttle touchiness because the mustang has a bit longer travel. Did you run your throttle cable in front of the upper or behind it? I cant see it. Very clean install by the way, it looks really good.

Another question, I picked up some new spark plugs motorcraft sp-415 plugs. My motor is from a 89 f250 5.8, I cant find the spark plug gap anywhere. Seems like it should be easy, mabe im just missing it.

 

[mjramacher]

I think they are 0.54 that's what I gapped mine at just did them tonight my block is a 88

 

[pa69broncoguy]

progress

I have made some slow progress lately. I checked out the u pull it for mustang parts but found none. I decided to try and modify the explorer throttle body and cable. It looks like it should work so far. I welded on a piece of metal to the throttle linkage and reversed the ball to the top side. The cable should be plenty long enough and doesnt look like there will be any sharp bends.

I mounted up my obd2 port in the engine bay and picked up a couple led indicator bulbs from radio shack for my check engine and charge indicators.

Here are some pics.

 

[pa69broncoguy]

progress

I got almost all the rest of my wiring hooked up today. The leds that i picked up from radio shack worked out good and easily mounted in the plastic column surround. I also hooked up an old sun tach that i pulled from a parts bronco a wile back. I gave it a quick paint job so it didnt look so rough, i think it turned out good.

Here are a couple pics.

 

[pa69broncoguy]

throttle completed

I bolted up the intake/ throttle cable bracket/coil mount and throttle body today. The throttle seems to work good. I snapped a couple pics.

 

[pa69broncoguy]

test run

I got the rest of the swap hooked up last night and took it for a quick spin. It pulls very good through the whole rpm range . I was very impressed. I did have it stall on me when i let off at a stop sign. Today I pulled off the idle air control valve and cleaned it out with some mass air cleaner. I havent tried it out yet but think it should take care of the problem. Here is a pic of the finished engine.

 

[EFI Guy]

Awesome!

 

[pa69broncoguy]

Awesome!

Thanks, I couldnt have done it without your help and support !!

 

[pa69broncoguy]

I used a procedure of setting the IAC that efi guy told me about . Runs perfect now, no stalling at all now.

 

[chuzie]

Care to share?