Probably the worst part of the install... bolting up the converter to the flexplate and installing the starter. At least if your laying underneath it on the ground. Make sure the convertor spins freely and doesn't bind before you bolt them together. Gettin closer!

 

Thanks, will be doing that tomorrow, also a few other checks but won't be back at it until Monday. It was obviously a bit tougher than I mentioned but actually not bad. Sounds like we had better lifting equipment than was available to your project, we can raise and lower the machine at will, that is one heavy beast compared to the average pickup truck...

 

Well you are right about the torque converter and starter, we did it from above and below when it was on the hoist, plus we had to remove the overhead valve cover on the drivers side. once we got that stuff off it was fairly straight forward, we put in the four bolts lightly tightened, then cross torqued then to 35 ft lbs.The starter motor was a bit easier but because we fabricated a drivers side mount to take the Ranger engine we ran the positive and solenoid above the motor mount and the oil temperature sensor (with 12" extension leads) plug under the motor mount. The transmission cooler metal lines were a PITA but we didn't bend them, would have made life easier, but perhaps problems down the road. We are going to put everything together before deciding where to mount the Moroso pre-oiler assembly (accumulator), there is not much room to spare in the engine compartment. Going over to the local speed shop tomorrow for some advice on what connectors I really need, we were missing at least one so I'll get some expert advice on how to do it right. Attached photo is Mr. Ranger settled into his new home with Mr. LR3...

Finished with flex plate

 

? A pre-oiler will not help you when these snap off. And they will.

 

I am not sure what you mean, we were perhaps a bit too careful, took us 40 hours longer than the "factory" mechanics but I'm open to suggestions, we are close to buttoning this thing up and firing it up. If you think there is a problem please explain before we make a terrible mistake, those cassettes were very flexible and not showing any signs of cracks, plus we replaced the hydraulic tensioners with new ones. I have a brand new unused Cloyes and a OEM Ford set of chains and tensioners but they looked just like the ones in the 100K mile engine we are using. I am somewhat confused...

 

The engine is installed now. Run it. You bought them but didn't replace them? Why? They are plastic and get brittle with time and heat. They may not be broken today... but they ARE going to break. I don't understand the logic. The cassettes are the number one problem with this engine design. Go back to post #5 to satisfy your confusion. Why did you replace the engine? Because the what broke?

 

Hi back 5280LR3...
The intent was to use the Cloyes/Ford kits to replace the gears and chains on the original LR3 engine and perhaps get a supercharger for it, and the consensus among the 2 professional licensed auto mechanic friends who are giving me advice and some help on this is as follows:
The cassettes break because the chains are not under enough tension at start up and oscillate enough to hit the edges of the cassettes causing them (the cassettes) to eventually crack and break apart. The solution is to stop this oscillation from happening, and in practical terms there is only one way to do this (excepting chain/gear tensioner replacement), and that is to somehow get the hydraulic tensioner to operate. You can get this to happen by flooring the accelerator pedal and cranking the engine over until oil pressure operates the tensioner, you can use an external oil pump or you can use some kind of accumulator system. The engine was tested on the stand and did not have any "rattle" but for insurance we did replace the hydraulic tensioners with brand new OEM ones and tested/inspected the cassettes as best we could, finding no obvious reason for an engine tear down. If this was a mistake, then we will be doing it again, putting in the rebuilt original LR3 engine, and kicking our asses for being so stupid, we perhaps listened to those Ford 4.0 SOHC guys too much. I guess only time will tell...

 

Today was a laid back one, just researching a few things. Here is a photo of the Moroso 23901 accumulator minus the manual ball valve with a Hengyang 2W-160-15 DC12V 2 way (I hope) solenoid connected to a T with the engine port on one side and the oil pressure switch on the other, all using "Performance World" fittings. I was too cheap to buy the Grumman fittings and the Robinson? solenoid valve, hopefully all is OK, have also got a knockoff timer circuit for the solenoid which is also a bit of an unknown, but can build one if the store bought does not work...

 

Make someone video the first start up please, that will be quite a moment.

 

We'll try to do that. Today was install fuel rail, injector wiring, intake manifold, repair an electrical connector, check the coils and install the Moroso, torque motor mounts, install new iridium spark plugs and exhaust manifolds, busy tomorrow but granddaughter's birthday so perhaps not as much will get done...