I didn't actually get around to taking a picture, but Autopac fixed the car. That blows my mind. I was sure that they were gonna write it off. But if you have a stack of receipts for upgrades and stuff (not to mention the pictures of the work that you've done on your own time), it definetely helps. Good karma/ luck helps, too--what are the odds that one of your two witnesses has a picture of the other car/ licence plate? There's been times where I've stopped in traffic to offer my name and number as a witness, and I like to think that it's good karmic value.
Anyways, since I've owned the SC, I've felt that the shifts were sluggish, and that the car should feel like it has more power in daily driving. It's a heavy car and all, but something felt a little off. Someone had suggested that the TV cable on the AOD might need adjusting, and I'd adjusted it one notch tighter, and the throttle response was much improved. It's a huge difference. Also, the shifts, themselves, have always felt way too soft. I thought of getting a shift kit/ valve body upgrade, but the transmission felt like it was slipping on WOT shifts. Tightening up the TV cable fixed that, where there's a small chirp on the WOT shifts that was never there before, and the slippage is gone. One has to be careful with the TV cable, because the transmission can be fried if it's not adjusted correctly. We'll see how it works out in the long run.
I had got bored in the last month, as I'd done most of what I had planned to do on the car this year. Next year I'll put in the 36 lb injectors that I have, and will get the head gaskets done with some ported heads (head gaskets aren't fried yet, but some new MLS ones will give peace of mind), and will get it tuned properly. So this will have to suffice for now--some low budget and low time intensive things that can improve the factory intake system. I'm not putting a CAI in, because the metal tubing will heat up to ridiculous levels, and I want to use the factory intake because the thick rubber intake tube does wonders to keep heat out of the air charge, and I also don't want a cone filter sucking in hot air from the engine bay. These engines make a ridiculous amount of heat, so it's doubly important to keep heat out of the air charge. I also want to keep the factory look to the engine, for the most part.
Ported/ polished stock MAF:
It's doubtful that this will do much for power (especially since the post is still there), but then again, enlarging it slightly and getting rid of some of the casting problems may show gains, as it is the first potential bottleneck in the intake after the air filter. I wouldn't have bothered with this on an N/A car, but if at the very least, adds to the work of art in the polishing dept that is already in the rest of the engine. As mentioned, the 76mm C&L MAF made the car run like crap, and with the different sampling tube, it may have made the engine run leaner than it should. I put the polished stock MAF back in the car, and it ran fine. I'm hoping that it shows a small but genuine reading to the factory sampling tube. FI engines are traditionally very receptive to intake/ intake tract upgrades.
Also, trying to go about my build while using as many factory Ford SC parts as possible, is something that i'm trying to do (also because the adage about these cars is that they're "plug and pray" with aftermarket things is true!).
Airbox modifications:
At this point, it's wise to point out that my car just had an accident and was repaired, and has a rebuilt status when I had bought it. So modifications like this next one won't seem like such sacrilege. If it was a super low mile, all original car, I would leave it alone. But in the quest for more power.....
The factory setup has the much maligned air silencer in it--a large, bulky plastic thing that does silence the blower, but I don't want the blower to be quieter, I want it to be louder. I unfortunately didn't take a picture of my own silencer and the removal of it, but found a picture on the Interwebs:
The other thing about the factory airbox is that it is very restrictive, as the silencer hole still remains at the same size, and that is a small fraction of how large the panel filter and upper airbox is. The air filter occupies the whole square area of the airbox, yet there's only that small hole for it to draw air through.
That's likely why the claims of removing the air silencer haven't shown much of a gain. If you look at the bottom half of the airbox where the round parts are, it looks as though that could be removed. I analyzed the metal area below the airbox, and it was a very thin sheet of aluminum. I used a metal cutoff wheel and some tin snips and cut out the pattern that matched the area that I cut out of the air box, and arrived at this:
The ram air tubing is running in there (not yet secured), but there is a
significantly larger area for air to be drawn through. The foam edging will help to seal off the intake, as air would otherwise make it in through the thin area between the bottom of the airbox and the surrounding metal below it.
Here's with the modified bottom of the airbox, with the ram air secured to the air area. It's not sealed, which I think allows additional air to flow through the area. When I ran the ram air into the factory hole and sealed it with a rubber coupler, it felt like the car had lost power down low, as if its breathing resources were being choked off. At higher speeds, the ram air felt like it was working, but this particular design allows for some low pressure breathability, as well as a constant direct stream of air from the bumper at higher speeds.
There's not much that can be done with the top half. I looked it over, and I would prefer an angle that uses a wider angle/ range of the air filter area, as some of the tube entrance at the MAF will be drawing in air at an angle. I was thinking of custom designing some sort of airbox that had more of a 45 degree angle, but there's drawbacks to that, too. No point. This will have to do--though, I had radiused and bevelled the opening so that there wasn't as sharp of an edge for air to travel through.
Ram air tube:
It's not perfect, but my original mounting location was slightly under the bumper, which may have helped to draw air in, but it also looked a bit weird when you looked at it. This location is mounted behind the bumper air slots, which would cut down on airflow a bit, but the upside is that it is very hidden and stealthy. If you cannot see it, then that is even better!
Custom M/E Wagner dual adjustable PCV valve:
The idea behind the adjustable PCV valve, is that whenever you modify your engine, the vacuum will be changed. A factory PCV may not be adequate for the changes. Some guys try several valves in the hopes one will work, but there's never any guarantee that the vacuum will be drawing enough resources to vent the crankcase enough. These engine bays are really tight--I had to custom fab a bit of PCV hose to bend a little bit around the transmission dipstick. My idle has been off a little bit in the 'Bird, too......not bad, but a little erratic at times. Hopefully this helps with it. There's an idle circuit, and a cruise circuit, and I hooked a vacuum gauge up to it, but it also looks like there's a slight vacuum leak somewhere, too.