fishpick's 2012 Coyote Vert Build Thread (Base GT Convertible)

[fishpick]

Because it's only money, right, I just ordered one of these catch cans from UPR that's designed for the s197 and the 2.9L Whipple...
https://juggernautpower.com/store/i...controller=product#/upr_catch_can_color-satin

I was thinking about the Whipple designed thing - but really don't like the idea of stuff that's supposed to be leaving the engine just going back into the engine.. . that seems very counter logic to the entire point of the PCV system...

Once I get the blower on (install starts 3/22/17) I'll give this a go and offer a review at some point... likely not right away as I expect many more weeks after the build of sitting and staring at things before the salt if off our northern roads!

 

[fishpick]

Yesterday began the build... well, the "go faster" part of the build at least. Pretty sure this pic was me heading to the trunk to disconnect the fuel pump.
Since the 2.9 front feed Whipple install has been covered on Coyote engine many times, I thought I'd highlight some of the things I feel like were either "skipped" or "over simplified" as I work my way through the install. And since I'm doing the oil pump gear upgrades at the same time - I'll try to interweave the two as well.
I will say going into this there were / are a few particular steps that are concerning in my mind. They were / are bumper cover removal, harmonic balancer removal, front cover crank gasket replacement, the "5 minute window" for securing the front cover after slimeacone application and the dreaded oil pickup tube bolt.

As you can see it got the bumper cover off - but the Whipple instructions about 4 bolts in the wheel well are wrong... I ended up finding a video on YouTube that showed the actual "pull out and up" action to release the clips that hold the nose on... and promptly broke one of the 3 clips on EACH side... different clips tho... So there's another $70 in parts and shipping on the way from Tasca. When people say "removing their bumper is easy" - it is - if you are one of those guys who enjoys body, trim, interior work... I'm one of those guys that breaks every god damn plastic clip I meet - because they hate me.
Part of my build is also replacing the stock radiator with a FRPP one and a GT500 fan to move a bit more air.

I didn't realize there was so much "extra" stuff up here - condenser for the AC and the transmission cooler - all wedged in before the radiator itself. So with the radiator out these poor guys are relegated to zip ties to keep them in place for the ret of the job. Removal of the radiator is pretty easy with the exception of the squeeze pulling it out. Ford put this big wide feet at the base in the plastic surround (the racing one does not have that) and they come alive and grab onto everything they can on the way out.

Next is pulling the battery and the valve covers...

Few things here - the plugs for the coli packs - mother of god are they hard to release... car has 40K and this is likely the first time off... have fun there... broke a couple of the small plastic clips inside the plugs getting them off - there are 2 teeth that engage the coil pack - I broke 1 of the 2 several times... Cool.
Coil packs come right out... spark plugs... not so much. Clearly Ford does not believe in anti-seize... WOW... Have fun here... These were so bad I have now decided every new car I by going forward will have me pulling plugs on day 1 and applying anti-seize... WTF Ford - come on!
Here's a pretty common thing for the process so far... "Um - the directions say X but that's not really that simple"... like the alternator... it really is just held on by a bolt and a nut/stud... But it's on so tight I needed penetrating oil to reduce the friction if enough for it to move... if you haven't taken a Coyote alternator off before - you don't know this, resort to a service manual, and spend time doing that...

With progress being made - I am laying out all the parts in the orientation of how they came off so as to not make a mistake putting them back on. I'm also setting piles of nuts / bolts / fasteners together on a large piece of cardboard and labeling WHAT and WHERE they go... this should help prevent missing a fastener later at reassembly.

OK - A/C belt cut... water pump out... other things done... Time to pull the balancer. And - yes... the kit I bought from JEGS after asking them if it worked for a 2012 Mustang and getting an affirmative... does not work... There are no threaded holes in the balancer... MUST USE a jaw type... cool... Advanced Auto Parts here I come...

After much screwing around because the provided guide rod was way too short - I got it off... may never get the damn thing back on... but it's off now...
So on to pulling the front cover... First step is to remove 2 bolts and 2 nuts / studs from under the car that come up from the oil pan to front cover. Nobody ever talks bout these - but they are not easy to get. As a matter of fact between a couple of bots on the driver side valve cover near the break booster and these - you CAN NOT do this job without a u-joint / flexible driver for your sockets. Period. I have some - so I was OK - but these 4 are not easy - and they make me even more concerned with the "5 minutes" to get the cover on when closing things up... I don't see even one of these going in in the 5 minute window - much less all 4! Ohh well - will see when I get there.
Anyhow - worked about 7 hours yesterday and I'm at the "ready to pull the front cover" stage...

I have 13 bolts / a couple of nut/studs between me and the timing setup... and the dreaded bolt on the oil pickup...
Given the snails pace this has gone so far - I'm basically setting the bar at getting the OPG done and the front back on today. If I get the valve covers on too - great - but in general I'm finding things more more slowly than I had hoped!
I'm enjoying the process since I'm not in a hurry - and it's totally worth doing yourself to get to know your car better... (let's see how I feel when I'm done). I know pulling the radiator set me back some - but I also hope it will let me make up some time in the next stage as there is a ton of space to work in there now. OF course - after a full day of wrenching yesterday - my lower back is "stiff" to say the least! I am getting anxious too - I'm ready to start doing - not undoing!

 

[Paul.]

Cool man. Keep after it.

 

[SVTStampede]

Nice job so far. Just remember to remind yourself you don't have to rush. Enjoy it.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but your O rings on your upper radiator hose and "T" will probably be leaking when you put it back together. Something you might want to replace proactively.

 

[Paul.]

Agree with that. Same thing happened to me.

 

[fishpick]

Yesterday morning started off with stretching and an Advil or 3... Getting old sucks.
I got back at things early on picking up where I left off... The timing cover removal isn't too bad but the old RTV does stick a little. I just used a nylon / plastic flat edged tool from a cheap interior panel set to work my way around to get things loosened up and then when it's loose - it just pops off!
Timing chain removal / replacement - THe instructions from the service manual and the post here on OPG replacement (which is just a better version of the FOrd service manual) are pretty spot on. The use of the whiteout to mark a cam / sprocket and the chain is brilliance. One thing I would offer to anyone else doing this... The instructions have you remove chain 1 with the key on the crank at 12 o'clock, then go back to 9 o'clock and remove chain 2. Pull the OP, do the work, replace OP, replace chain 2 and then go back to 12 o'clock and replace chain 1.
I'll talk about the OPG's here in a second - but replacing the last chain... It would NOT go on with the marked links on the cam and crank sprockets... no matter what I did... It went on - but without enough room for the tensioner guide. I messed with this long enough that I got that sliver of panic going "ohh my god, what do I do, close it all up and tow it like this to a Ford dealer!??!" kind of panic. As I stood back I looked at the crank and though - you know that's at like 11:58 and the directions say 12:00 - let see if that works. 2 minutes of angle change on the crank yields about 1/2" of play in the chain.
When the directions tell you 12 and 9 o'clock, they don't mean early or late!
With that said - the oil pump removal, for all the "this is the worst part of the job" I was prepared for... turned out to be a pretty simple effort, actually... I still think the bumper cover removal and / or radiator removal were harder!
Yes - the lower bolt on the oil pickup tube is a pain - but I had a 10mm ratcheting wrench from Harbor Freight and that got it loose and a few cranks out. I then took a loop of fishing line, put it over the head and pulled the loop tight so when the bolt drops free, it won't head into the oil pan. From there I just loosened the bolt using a flat head screwdriver - easy peasy - took maybe 10 minutes total to get the OP off - and that's from working inside the car... (no lift here - it's on jackstands)

With the OP off - the gears are a snap to replace... Coated them with assembly oil - because it's red and sticky and fun to work with. Test spun them and was ready to put back on the car.

Then putting the OP back on - you have two things that are working against you. One of them is "why can't I get my oil pump back on" - the OPG's inside the pump have a channel that needs to be lined up with a ridge on the OP itself or you can't get it all the way on the crank... simple, but I have not seen this talked about anywhere else...

You can see the 2 "teeth and channel" and the flat spot on the pump body - aligned like this - it fits... change it - it does not. Easy.
The second issue is gravity conspiring against you to get the lower bolt back on to that pickup tube. But I have a fix for that too.
Look at the threading on the bolt... cinch a reversible slip knot of fishing line down onto the bolt as close to the head as you can. Now spin the bolt, wrapping the line around it so that when you "pull" the line the bolt will naturally be turning in the threadwise "tightening". Using a needle nose plier (and a helper to keep some tension on the wrapped fishing line) get the bolt up into the hole and then gently support the head into the hole using a screwdriver. Let go with the pliers and let your helper GENTLY pull on the fishing line... Using this technique it took me 3 tries to get it in the hole and then - one gentle pull and the bolt was threaded so far in I could pull the "loosening" side of the slip knot with pliers - and finish the job with my ratcheting wrench. 10 min tops!

The fishing line here is hard to see... but it's there!

SO - OPG and sprocket done, what's next?

Ohh yeah - you get to finally use .50 cents of the $30 tube of the Ford RTV to put the timing cover back on the car. Which presented a unique challenge. According to Ford you have 5 minutes of open working time on the RTV... the cover has 2 different sized bolts, a different sized set of 2 studs, and 2 bolts and studs down under the car from the oil pan up to the timing cover that are HARD to get at... so in looking at this race against the clock it became obvious I wasn't going to win... SO I devised an edge.

If you look closely at the cover you will see blue, green and red bolts... the corresponding holes under the heads / washers on the timing cover are also colored green, blue and red... This is a MASSIVE time saver when you are on the RTV clock. No guessing - it's just push the cover into place and as you see a color around a hole, you stick the matching bolt in that hole... simple. Sharpies provided the coloring.
I got the cover on, all bolts installed and tight, and the bolts that span any of the RTV joints torqued, in 5:45 - including a bolt and a stud on the oil pan that were closest to the outside where the RTV was. Never could have done it that fast without the color coding. Makes removing and replacing the front engine cover a snap!
From there - things go back together pretty easily - of course I replaced the front cover gaskets (there are 3) and the gaskets on the valve covers... I was also happy when my wife came out at the end of the day and asked how thing were going.

So today I'm starting with the Whipple manual and the steps of disassembly of the whole front engine I performed and making up the instructions so I know what's done and what's left to do. (gotta get the water pump reinstalled to really be "done" before starting the SC install - but that's it)
I can't tell you how happy I am to have done the OPG / sprocket - the piece of mind is TOTALLY worth the effort - which really wasn't that bad. 2 days for me not working at a breakneck speed for sure - but I'm now "ahead" for the Whipple since the front of the engine is nekid!

 

[fishpick]

While I don't feel like there was a ton of progress on day 3 of the install - I also hit a road bump with a missing part (or 2) in the kit and spent time on the phone trying to track them down locally... and went out to lunch with the wife and had friends over for dinner... so for only about 4 hours of effort - I can't really complain.
Got the new plugs all gapped and anti-seized and installed them and the coil packs. But most excitingly the water pump went back in and the factory intake came off... after spending 30 minutes searching through the entire Whipple kit for the "supplied fuel line removal tool" and determining there was no such component in my kit... I just used my fingers...

Now - here's a tip for removing the intake... the fuel rails and the 6 bolts holding it to the car are easy - but there are 4 points on the very back that have wiring harness pins on them. It is absolutely in your best interest BEFORE you pull the manifold to work with your pin popping tool of choice between the manifold and the firewall and get all 4 off before you start to lift the manifold off. I say this because not matter how clean you THINK you have things - there is going to be gritty shit that will want to head for the intakes as soon as you start to lift - so not having to set the manifold back down and then remove wiring is the way to go.
Here's the back of the manifold for reference - I'm pointing at 2 of the harness connection points and there are 2 just like it on the right of the image as well.

So with the manifold off, water pump back on, new thermostat installed, new plugs installed, and a few other odds and ends - it was time to start chopping up heater hoses. And also time to stop jumping around in the instructions and just start to follow the plans Whipple provides. Honestly - that was super refreshing at this point. After 2 days of some rougher instructions where it might say something like "remove the generator" - but no notes about "it might stick on the hinge" like the install instructions for the blower offer - it's nice to be in the land of idiot proof. So I was excited to just paint by numbers...
So I grabbed the bag for the passenger side heater hose and followed the instructions... cut the factory hose, remove the restrictor, install restrictor in new supplied hose, slide loom over hose, slide heat shrink clamp over hose, slide 2 pieces of heat shrink tubing for finish... uhhh... wait - there's no heat shrink in this bag... repeat same search through whole kit for this 2 3/8" heat shrink tube... well - there are 2 in the driver side kit... and a bunch of other crap that shouldn't be in there (extra hose connectors)... nice...
Call several auto stores, call heavy equipment store, call Fastenal... everyone thinks I'm on crack looking for 2 3/8" diameter heat shrink tubing. Well, since its not critical path (it's used to affix in place the nylon loom over the hoses to make them look factory nice) - I figure I can call Whipple and tell them my kit was short these things - and someday next week I might have the parts.
Then my wife suggested I call NAPA - and they have some in a warehouse that should be at the store today... so - good there (I hope).
Anyhow - I got the heater hoses done, the knock sensors repositioned and taped up with high temp electrical tape... I expect to have a blower on top of my car Saturday... assuming no more missing kit parts...

 

[fishpick]

Progress continues but not without a few hitches that I'm hoping Whipple solves first thing Monday morning...
In their kit you attach the EVAP solenoid to a billet standoff and there's supposed to be a quick attach nipple for the billet standoff in the kit... there is not. Also on the front of the intake manifold there are 2 connectors for the intercooler feed lines... the baggie with all the connectors had the correct number of o-rings... but they shorted me one of the 2 larger intercooler connectors... and there's still that shrink material from a previous post. Hopefully that's it - but for all the quality control paperwork in the boxes, I'm a bit disappointed, but also understand with this many pieces "stuff happens"...
I lost 2 hours driving around to NAPA (the heat shrink they ordered in was 3/8" not 2 3/8" like the kit is missing...) and then to an electrical store - they sold me a massive 2 3/4" shrink tube... and when I got home I tested it... and it oozes sticky glue when warm. While cool for other non-car projects, using this on a heater line seem like a wicked bad idea and endless pools of oozed glue... Also had to take the dog to training... so - maybe 5 hours today - maybe...
The good news is, the engine is looking like an engine! When I set the blower atop the manifold I stepped back from the car and said "wow - cool!"

I am heading off to Harbor Freight this morning to get a socket drive SAE allen wrench set... I have metric, but for some strange reason, even tho the WHOLE kit is metric, the bolts for the idler pulleys are SAE and need a 3/8" allen / hex driver and have exacting torque specs - a hex driver I don't own... If I did - this pic would have a belt on it too!
You can also see the Ford Racing Radiator is installed now too. Installation was easier than the removal of the old one because even tho the radiator part itself is much bulkier, the overall unit is is "more slender" where it counts because it doesn't have all the weird plastic crap on it at the base. I ended up working it in UP from under the car tho so the widest parts would come in under the AC lines (which are a pain in the rear). Once it place - I took the clips from the old radiator and they work great in the top and bottom holes to hold the AC heat exchanger... where I ran into a problem is the middle holes. For reasons unknown to me they are not as deep - so the clips wont fit, which means the trans oil cooler doesn't have a clip to receive a bolt. Now, it sits is a pair of clips on the radiator at the bottom- and its sandwiched between the radiator and the AC exchanger, so it's not exactly hanging out there flopping around... but I didn't like the top having any play in it. Solution was 3 heavy duty high temp black zip ties on each side. While not a nut / bolt strength solution... I gotta think if these come lose, whatever cause that is gonna be causing issues well beyond!
I hope to finish up today with everything left so Monday I can call Whipple with the missing parts list. I was hoping for a startup today to end vacation week - but without all the connectors - that's not in the cards. Ohh well.
Today is all about intercooler, intake and BAP (routing that long tube from the trunk to the engine bay sounds like hours of fun!)

 

[M91196]

Gates heat shrink clamps designed for radiator hoses should have been available local. Good job, lots of xtra work to keep this thread going.

 

[fishpick]

Gates heat shrink clamps designed for radiator hoses should have been available local. Good job, lots of xtra work to keep this thread going.

It's not the "clamp" I needed - they gave extras of those... it's the thin shrink you use for wires - the kit has huge 2 3/8" sections of that to secure the mesh loom to the heater hoses to make thing look nice... that's what I was shorted - and it's pretty rare I have discovered!

 

[fishpick]

I'm stuck - my Whipple belt tensioner on the supplied plate is very much wanting to travel where the auto transmission cooler lines run. I posted the issue and picture in this thread.
Logic would dictate bending - but that's only slightly safer (in terms of luck and success) for me than unclipping plastic trim clips...

 

[fishpick]

The hits keep on rolling today with the install... I have a page of notes about missing / incorrect parts in the Whipple kit to call about tomorrow...
For example - I upgraded to the HO water pump... they sent me the upgraded water pump and a small wiring harness... I assumed it was just a plug and play pigtail from the old pump to the HO pump...
Turns out the small harness they sent was REALLY for the BAP... which is good - because the BAP box had NO harness in there... And there's no clamp to mount the upgraded pump with - the standard clamp in the kit is way too small...

I have a rather long list of things like that... I have heard Whipple is tops with kit supply issues... and they have been awesome pre-install with everything else... I guess I'll see how tomorrow morning goes.

I'm stuck, as my last post mentions with the auto transmission cooling lines and the tensioner pulley...
Sooooo - at the end of the day today I thought - well - since I'm skipping all over in the install at this point since nothing can be completed - let me just take the guts out of the stock throttle body and pop them into the Whipple one, that's easy and simple and I have all the parts for that... First torx bolt came out but was "tough" and I was very ginger with it, second one, no warning at all, top sheared right off... then same thing on #4... and then, same thing on one of them holding the motor in place.
Searching the web - there's no part number for those little bolts... so - I guess I'm off to Fastenal or somewhere to see if I can find something like them...

I guess after several days of things going really well - it was time for the project to derail into the ditch.

 

[SVTStampede]

Well that sounds like a.... fun weekend. I'm sure they will get you fixed up though. If it makes you feel any better, I've run into problems with every supercharger I've installed. Misery loves company I guess.

That supercharger does look amazing on the engine though!

 

[fishpick]

Well that sounds like a.... fun weekend. I'm sure they will get you fixed up though. If it makes you feel any better, I've run into problems with every supercharger I've installed. Misery loves company I guess.

That supercharger does look amazing on the engine though!

At least I didn't blame the guy I got the kit from...

 

[SVTStampede]

At least I didn't blame the guy I got the kit from...

LOL, I would be lying if I said I didn't cringe a little when I saw your missing parts list. If you need anything like the original invoice, don't hesitate to contact me. Whipple is pretty awesome customer service at least.

First time you hear that whine, you'll forget all about the install.

 

[fishpick]

Ok - so - yesterday I talked to Whipple (if Mike was local - he would be on the Christmas dinner invite list!) - they are sending along all the missing parts - and I got to ask some other install questions (yea!).

Right now the BIG holdup is the snapped screws from the throttle body. Ford tells me "this is a non-serviceable part - so we don't sell the little screws"... and they thread gauge out at a friggin weird M3.5-6 X 12mm... so - yeah. Fastenal can get me some plain phillips head screws - we think - that match for $2... OR I can buy a wrecker TB for $120 and hope to get 3 off it... OR - I'm leaning towards this OR - I use 2 of the screws I retrieved from the original TB to secure the motor in the housing... and then use a tap to open up the 6 holes that hold the plastic cover on and get some of the nice allen head bolts that the kit uses everywhere to finish off the TB - and that gives me easy removal options in the future without worry!

The other hold up was the automatic transmission lines in the way of the tensioner pulley and I TOTALLY solved that one. Whipple said "huh - never heard of that one, just bend the metal tubes about 10* outboard". I did - and still wasn't happy. Then I decided I think the issue may very well be because as part of this build I replaced the stock radiator and fan with FFRP and GT500 parts, respectively. At the BOTTOM of the stock radiator fan shroud there is a boss and a clip that the metal bracket on these hoses would attach to - on the GT500 fan shroud there are little opening louvers.
Higher up tho - on bot hthe stock and the GT500 fan shroud - there is a boss with a clip - and that got me thinking... So - from under the car I used a long screwdriver to pry open the 2 clips on the bracket and then pried it open to get it off the 2 metal transmission lines, leaving the rubber insert on the lines right where it has always been. This is what the bracket looks like off the lines and opened up a little.

From the factory it's orientated down - I figured I would rotate it 180* so the screw hole is UP and use the attachment point on the fan shroud to secure it... The second thing I also figured was - heck, if I'm doing that - let's use the bracket LIKE a bracket to push these tubes out of the way - so after bending and trial fitting - this is what I ended up with.

Then - I thought - let's make this really easy - and used one of the stud / nut's left over from the old radiator and tightened that down into the clip on the boss.

Finally, I aligned that little metal tab INTO the cutout on the boss to keep it from rotating, tightened the nut down and then used a pair of chanel-locks to squeeze the opened up part holding the tubes down snug onto the rubber bushings I left on the tubes... I was even able to bend the little tabs that kept things locked forward so there's no way the tubes can come out.

This nets almost 2 inches of clearance from the tensioner and NO kinks of any sorts in the rubber tubbing portion of this... with no cutting and splicing of transmission lines needed! Best of all - it's SOLID - there's the same stock flex between the engine and the front end - but I never need worry about a line drifting over to get eaten by a belt!

I hope to get to the intercooler HE install this evening! When that's done it's then a waiting game for parts and figuring out the TB - getting excited to hear that rumble and whine!!!

 

[Joe 69]

Great info thank you! I have been following this closely. I'm about to tackle this in two weeks on my 2013.

 

[fishpick]

As for the throttle body saga... Got my screws from Fastenal - and they work! So the TB is together with the correct screws. I'm not sure why after talking with Whipple, even knowing of several other people that have had this issue, why they wouldn't change the damn TB to use standard 4mm screws and include them in the kit so this is never an issue for anyone... I don't get it. This is just annoying drama.
AND still no parts from Whipple... they are "in the mail" and the tracking number says they will get here Wednesday (that's 10 days from the day I called) - they must have shipped them FedEx Pack Mule Super Saver or some other crappy cheap and slow way. Not really happy... ESPECIALLY as I have worked through some of the last parts of the install and found MORE parts missing. My opinion of this kit is dropping and my apprehension of things actually working on startup is increasing.
For example, this is what consumed my Saturday morning, there's a hose that comes out of the top of the SC intercooler over to the airbox area. This hose then connects to a plastic T that is basically the filler tube for the whole IC/HE system. Then to the other side of the fill tube there's a line that is supposed to run under the intake airbox, past the ABS module, and down to the reservoir that lives right in front of the drivers wheel well. I'm guessing to produce this hose Whipple buys a bunch of 3/4" ID heater hoses with 90* bends on the end, cuts them to length, and then combines 2 using a male-male connector... well - my hose was not pushed all the way on the connector before they then heat shrunk the clamps on... and the damn thing was STILL too short. LUCKY for me - even tho they seem to have forgotten almost 10 specific parts in the kit and the stage 3 addons... they somehow packed me an extra heat shrink clamp. SO - I got a heater hose with a 90* in it from NAPA, took the short Whipple hose and cut off a heat clamp and that side of the hose, and extended the hose out. Now it fits with my inch added and another $13 of my own cash.
With the giant oval TB that haunted me after the stock TB screws sheared off - the shorted me 2 gigantic band clamps to connect the silicone sleeve from the TB to the intake tube... I cross referenced the Clampco's in the kit and found 2 of the same size, different brand on Amazon, so they will be here tomorrow... abouter $15 out of pocket.
They provide a new hose from the water neck 1/4" fitting to the degas tank... the bag was marked 2015+, I asked, "no problem, it will work"... sure it will - it's so friggin long I have a loop in it zip tied to keep it out of moving parts all hidden under the intake.
Now, I get that part of this is frustration with all the missing parts and Whipple's decision to ship them the slowest possible method... but I also HONESTLY feel like the quality of the instructions really kinda dropped off after the mechanical parts. Up until the whole IC tubing, the descriptions and the pictures really were great. Once I got to the tubing routing, things seemed to have gotten much more vague and some of the pics don't help. For example, when you install the fuel lines to the rails - the written instructions are very clear on where the lines go and the photos also show exactly where things go where as the 1/4" line I mentioned above or the tube that was too short - they just say "connect". Ehh, just me complaining from frustration.
Case in point - I got the IC reservoir mounted on the car using a hybrid of the MY 11/12 instructions and the MY 13/14 instructions because neither were "right" (although as a 12, maybe my car straddles some 2013 changes, I dunno)... and then - when I went to the next step - realized - the damn pump was facing 90* off... but I swear there is a blurry pic a few pages back showing it this way. So the last few times I have gotten to work on things it's not been "progress" it's been "what parts do I have, what am I waiting for, what am I now missing and what can I re-do because it's not quite right the way I did it based on the instructions".
I'm starting today over at a hardware store that has all sorts of strange screws, because, I know - this is shocking to the reader - my kit was missing some of the screws that you use to attach the filler tube I mentioned earlier to the side of the airbox... and they shorted me 2 of the screws used to attach the top of the airbox...
Next update will have pictures of where I'm at... and the small pile of screws and connectors they gave me that are not referenced in the instructions and are left over... which is always a super great feeling as well...

 

[Riddick]

First off, thanks for being so detailed and honest about everything so far. Once you get it all buttoned up and running you will forget all about these headaches. While you are doing it I will agree it does suck but afterwards it will be that much more rewarding. I have heard great things about the 2.9s and the Coyotes. Although the TVS does seem like its quite a bit easier to install. Best of luck on the final stretch, she will be whining in no time.

 

[fishpick]

I'm done, well, mostly done until my parts get here! Nothing left to do, mostly.
So here's some details on the throttle body, the issue and the solution.

On the left is the new one with all original electronics in it before I installed the screws I had to hunt down. On the right is the original "donor" - you can see the broken screws in it.

This is the completed throttle body - the screws I had to hunt down were unplated mild steel. So I didn't want them to rust, so I hit them with some white primer and some red paint. This is the extent of the "colors" I added under the hood. But - it's kinda cool and looks good on the blower.

Now - this is for other folks who are going to be working with this Whipple and a Ford Racing Radiator - the duct that comes in from behind the front grill to the old airbox will NOT connect because the radiator is thicker - and this in turn pushes the new Whipple airbox off kilter. The issue is the grommit in this picture I'm pointing to - so - get ye a hack saw and chot that thing off.

Once that's off - then drill a nice hole right in the middle and then you can push the whole duct in place and the clips with lock into the part from the grill pass thru.

You can see in the above pic the hole I drilled, a nice zip tie keeping things in place with the radiator bracket the grommet used to hit and on the left - you can see the clips in the duct locked in place!

Last tip - before you put the airbox in place, roll the rubber flange on the airbox side back all the way around like the picture shows - then once you get the airbox in place, positioned and attached, you can then "unroll" the rubber to make it "attached" to the airbox. I found the rolling it back and then unrolling let me position things exactly the way I wanted to without any resistance. Simple but effective.

I started by saying "I'm done" - so what does that mean right now? Well I ended up buying a bunch of screws I needed locally - and disassembled some hoses I didn't need (that the UPR catch can replaced) to get things I was shorted to finish heater hoses...

As I said to my wife "the warp core is installed".
I will say - damn this thing look awesome in person and is friggin HUGE!
Left to do:

• Wiring harness for the IC pump
• The final mounting of the BAP in the trunk with the velcro
• Put the wheel wells back together
• Put the bumper cover back on and trim it (I expect this to be a bit of effort)
• Put the wheels back on
• Reconnect the battery and install the Whipple tune, tune the dilithium crystals

THEN - Start her up and look for leaks!

Target date based on FedEx is Wednesday for all this.
In the meantime, I'm gonna get my straw hat and whittling knives out and start on the bumper cover trimming tomorrow.