"Thunder" 1998 Expedition Build Thread .... fixed pics!!
- Thread starter MISTERgadget
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MISTERgadget
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Got the donor completely torn down...
...and then began the process of cleaning everything up and getting everything organized.
It's deja vu all over again in taking this apart...
Oh, and remember what I mentioned about the 99 making some things easier? The 99 used an airbag module mounted in the same place as the 98, so I had to remove my bracket that was welded to the floor. Promise you won't tell anyone this is how I covered the holes.
...from one dash harness attempt to the next one
Got the dash harness installed and everything setup. The donor has EATC so I went with everything from the donor, you can see the air sampling tube for the EATC mounted there.
Remember what I mentioned about having access to all the bits being important? Turned out to be absolutely key. The Security module and harness changed too, and that harness plus into the dash harness/GEM, and then goes to all the doors. So I had to take everything apart, pull all the 4 of the door harnesses, and put them back in one by one. It was tedious, but at least I put new speakers in while I was there..
Another one of the "little things" I really enjoyed... was able to add a keypad with the 99's security module and door harness
A brand new condensor and heater core went in at the same time, so hopefully the last time I need to do this!
Now we'll have a combo that you never got from Ford in any F150/Expediton... EATC and a Lightning cluster!
First test of it all powered up showed mileage working and I could pull codes, it was telling me about everything that was unplugged under the hood! I'll call that a success for now!
...and then began the process of cleaning everything up and getting everything organized.
It's deja vu all over again in taking this apart...
Oh, and remember what I mentioned about the 99 making some things easier? The 99 used an airbag module mounted in the same place as the 98, so I had to remove my bracket that was welded to the floor. Promise you won't tell anyone this is how I covered the holes.
...from one dash harness attempt to the next one
Got the dash harness installed and everything setup. The donor has EATC so I went with everything from the donor, you can see the air sampling tube for the EATC mounted there.
Remember what I mentioned about having access to all the bits being important? Turned out to be absolutely key. The Security module and harness changed too, and that harness plus into the dash harness/GEM, and then goes to all the doors. So I had to take everything apart, pull all the 4 of the door harnesses, and put them back in one by one. It was tedious, but at least I put new speakers in while I was there..
Another one of the "little things" I really enjoyed... was able to add a keypad with the 99's security module and door harness
A brand new condensor and heater core went in at the same time, so hopefully the last time I need to do this!
Now we'll have a combo that you never got from Ford in any F150/Expediton... EATC and a Lightning cluster!
First test of it all powered up showed mileage working and I could pull codes, it was telling me about everything that was unplugged under the hood! I'll call that a success for now!
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MISTERgadget
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I went over it in one of the posts and it might have gotten lost a little in the whole explanation... but basically, all the wiring swap work was to be able to use a Lightning PCM and control a 4R100.
1. I got a deal on a used built 4R100 that’s normally $5000 new, and buying a E4OD built to that level would have been more expensive than updating the ecu and wiring.
2. Use a Lightning PCM - The 99+ ECUs in general and in particular the 03-04 Lightning ones are much faster than 97-98 processors, the adjustability and support for them is much better than 97-98 as well. There’s additional sensors and tables for the supercharged engine (air temp sensors before and after the blower being particularly important), and lots of tuners specializing in Lightnings with experience and files using those base calibrations.
Out of that, I got a bunch of little perks that made the extra work worthwhile too I think - able to use a Lightning instrument cluster, upgraded to auto climate control, got a door keypad, and a few other little updated bits that are nice to have.
I had the Lightning ECU and cluster on the shelf from my 03 Lightning, and after selling parts off the donor and scrapping it, I ended up with the parts off it for no cost.
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MISTERgadget
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Next step was getting the transmission in. It's always a nerve racking how high you have to get these to clear the trans jack and the bellhousing on a 4R100. Every time I tell myself I'll buy a better trans jack, and then when it comes down to it I keep using the harbor freight cheapie 
Not any photos of this in progress, becuase well.. the pucker factor is high pushing the trans on with the Expy that high on stands and the trans trying to roll off and kill you. I must say I love having the matchy-matchy oil pan and trans pan
The Conroy Fab transmission crossmember in Chromoly is a really nice piece too, light and frees up a lot of real estate for working on things or exhaust.
Not any photos of this in progress, becuase well.. the pucker factor is high pushing the trans on with the Expy that high on stands and the trans trying to roll off and kill you. I must say I love having the matchy-matchy oil pan and trans pan
The Conroy Fab transmission crossmember in Chromoly is a really nice piece too, light and frees up a lot of real estate for working on things or exhaust.
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So, in the continuing saga of "this should bolt right in" and then reality tells you no 
I had the OE Aluminum driveshaft out of my Lightning also sitting on the shelf. The spec sheet says the Expedition has a 119" wheelbase and the Lightning has a 120" wheelbase... I figured that must be rounding and surely the driveshaft would fit.... laid them side by side, the Lightning one was in fact a tad longer, and I'm still telling myself "yeah but the slip yoke probably makes up for it" and tried it anyway.
Nope, no dice. Even with the slip yoke bottomed out in the transmission (which is already a no-go as then any suspension compression would beat your trans to death), it wouldn't bolt up to the axle.
Well, time to clean up this OEM steel DS enough to be presentable for now. I wanted the lighter weight aluminum, I might still get a custom one made down the road (if it fits, it's pretty tight in there), but for now let's get it rolling.
Eagle eyed readers may have noticed the slip yoke on the Lightning driveshaft is larger. That's because the Lightning 4R100 uses the diesel spec output shaft and tail housing. My first time dabbling in u-joints, how bad could it be? Pretty messy if you're not used to it! Took the slip yoke off the Lightning DS to get it on the Expedition one.
I wire wheeled the shaft to get it cleaned up.
Followed that with a coat of black primer
Finally, a few coats of rustoleum gray enamel
I didn't get any then of pics of the new u-joints going in or of it installed, will have to take some for one of the next updates. I was pretty happy with how it came out, it looks much cleaner down there now.
I had the OE Aluminum driveshaft out of my Lightning also sitting on the shelf. The spec sheet says the Expedition has a 119" wheelbase and the Lightning has a 120" wheelbase... I figured that must be rounding and surely the driveshaft would fit.... laid them side by side, the Lightning one was in fact a tad longer, and I'm still telling myself "yeah but the slip yoke probably makes up for it" and tried it anyway.
Nope, no dice. Even with the slip yoke bottomed out in the transmission (which is already a no-go as then any suspension compression would beat your trans to death), it wouldn't bolt up to the axle.
Well, time to clean up this OEM steel DS enough to be presentable for now. I wanted the lighter weight aluminum, I might still get a custom one made down the road (if it fits, it's pretty tight in there), but for now let's get it rolling.
Eagle eyed readers may have noticed the slip yoke on the Lightning driveshaft is larger. That's because the Lightning 4R100 uses the diesel spec output shaft and tail housing. My first time dabbling in u-joints, how bad could it be? Pretty messy if you're not used to it! Took the slip yoke off the Lightning DS to get it on the Expedition one.
I wire wheeled the shaft to get it cleaned up.
Followed that with a coat of black primer
Finally, a few coats of rustoleum gray enamel
I didn't get any then of pics of the new u-joints going in or of it installed, will have to take some for one of the next updates. I was pretty happy with how it came out, it looks much cleaner down there now.
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JamaicaJoe
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Aaack.... I hope you don't have those recalled Harbor Freight Jack Stands. The widowmaker mark 2 models..
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MISTERgadget
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Those are vintage harbor freight from circa 2003... when all their stands and hoists had this awful ***** orange finish on them. They don’t build em like they used to!
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Next up, plumbing!
I started with the suction end of the fuel system... my original pump was not gonna cut it to feed enough fuel for all the air that Whipple can push...
A Walbro 450LPH pump went into place after some tweaking of the stock bracket. I also drilled out the wiring pass through and added a connector for 10awg wires to handle the additional draw of the larger pump.
Wanted to make sure everything was serviceable and modular like the OEM setup, and all the wiring was OEM quality, so a nice weatherproof Deutsche connector for large guage wires was used. For me, these little touches make a big difference if you're taking things apart again down the line.
All 10awg wire run up to the engine bay. It'll be wired to a 75 amp relay that's triggered by the stock fuel pump turn-on, keeping the inertia switch shutoff and all that functional. I also used an empty spot in the OE fusebox to power the circuit and with a larger fuse.
I started with the suction end of the fuel system... my original pump was not gonna cut it to feed enough fuel for all the air that Whipple can push...
A Walbro 450LPH pump went into place after some tweaking of the stock bracket. I also drilled out the wiring pass through and added a connector for 10awg wires to handle the additional draw of the larger pump.
Wanted to make sure everything was serviceable and modular like the OEM setup, and all the wiring was OEM quality, so a nice weatherproof Deutsche connector for large guage wires was used. For me, these little touches make a big difference if you're taking things apart again down the line.
All 10awg wire run up to the engine bay. It'll be wired to a 75 amp relay that's triggered by the stock fuel pump turn-on, keeping the inertia switch shutoff and all that functional. I also used an empty spot in the OE fusebox to power the circuit and with a larger fuse.
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So I had everything ready to do my fuel system stuff...
and then nerves set in....before I did my fuel system plumbing, I wanted to practice on something that felt a little less critical....although it's still a fire hazard so maybe it's all in my head.
Added the 5/8-18 IF to -6 AN adapters to my superduty trans cooler
I cut the original steel lines just ahead of the crankshaft pulley, so I could convert them to AN hose.
Then I used tube to AN adapters to convert the lines, and plumbed them into each side of the transmission cooler.
way better than the scrawny OEM trans cooler!
and then nerves set in....before I did my fuel system plumbing, I wanted to practice on something that felt a little less critical....although it's still a fire hazard so maybe it's all in my head.
Added the 5/8-18 IF to -6 AN adapters to my superduty trans cooler
I cut the original steel lines just ahead of the crankshaft pulley, so I could convert them to AN hose.
Then I used tube to AN adapters to convert the lines, and plumbed them into each side of the transmission cooler.
way better than the scrawny OEM trans cooler!
Couldn't the output shaft, be swapped out of the tranny, to make the alloy driveshaft fit?So, in the continuing saga of "this should bolt right in" and then reality tells you no
I had the OE Aluminum driveshaft out of my Lightning also sitting on the shelf. The spec sheet says the Expedition has a 119" wheelbase and the Lightning has a 120" wheelbase... I figured that must be rounding and surely the driveshaft would fit.... laid them side by side, the Lightning one was in fact a tad longer, and I'm still telling myself "yeah but the slip yoke probably makes up for it" and tried it anyway.
Nope, no dice. Even with the slip yoke bottomed out in the transmission (which is already a no-go as then any suspension compression would beat your trans to death), it wouldn't bolt up to the axle.
Well, time to clean up this OEM steel DS enough to be presentable for now. I wanted the lighter weight aluminum, I might still get a custom one made down the road (if it fits, it's pretty tight in there), but for now let's get it rolling.
Eagle eyed readers may have noticed the slip yoke on the Lightning driveshaft is larger. That's because the Lightning 4R100 uses the diesel spec output shaft and tail housing. My first time dabbling in u-joints, how bad could it be? Pretty messy if you're not used to it! Took the slip yoke off the Lightning DS to get it on the Expedition one.
I wire wheeled the shaft to get it cleaned up.
Followed that with a coat of black primer
Finally, a few coats of rustoleum gray enamel
I didn't get any then of pics of the new u-joints going in or of it installed, will have to take some for one of the next updates. I was pretty happy with how it came out, it looks much cleaner down there now.
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MISTERgadget
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Changing the output shaft on a 2wd transmission requires disassembling it completely. Either way, that wouldn’t do the trick. It’s just too long.
The Lightning yoke is on the steel DS for now, eventually I’ll probably take it to a DS shop to have the aluminum DS shortened and fitted.
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Spent a little time getting the interior more buttoned up
and here's what the engine bay looked like at this point
Now for a quick sugar rush to power through the rest of the fuel system plumbing.
I'm using 60# injectors with stock 5.4 fuel rails (they're all the same for Lightning/F150/Expedition). The bottleneck for horsepower on OEM fuel system is the regulator (can't bypass enough fuel at idle or low throttle when running big pumps) and the return side (again, same thing - it can't return enough fuel and it gets backed up and messes with the regulator's ability to keep FP steady) To alleviate that, I got a plug that deletes the OEM FP regulator, I'm running a Fore F2i regulator instead, and running a -6an return line back to the tank.
had to use this adapter to connect my new -6an line to the stock return fitting
and here's the nice Fore regulator going in
The Earl's Ultrapro line I'm using has a convoluted PTFE inside liner that's treated to prevent static electricity buildup, the convoluted interior makes it a lot more flexible than regular line, and the PTFE doesn't have any fuel smell or other issues that the normal hoses do, and will last forever.
My first try at mounting the FP regulator was too far back - was trying to keep it all kind of tucked tight to the rear, but the FP gauge line hit. No big deal.
Now it's all mocked up on the manifold, but I did need to order a different fitting - hadn't quite calculated that angle right!
I ran the -6an line using slightly modified OEM brackets and it runs side by side with the OE feed line.
Here on the left you can see where the new return line came up to meet the regulator
...and it runs the whole way back same as OEM - over the trans and then over the heatshield back to the tank.
and here's what the engine bay looked like at this point
Now for a quick sugar rush to power through the rest of the fuel system plumbing.
I'm using 60# injectors with stock 5.4 fuel rails (they're all the same for Lightning/F150/Expedition). The bottleneck for horsepower on OEM fuel system is the regulator (can't bypass enough fuel at idle or low throttle when running big pumps) and the return side (again, same thing - it can't return enough fuel and it gets backed up and messes with the regulator's ability to keep FP steady) To alleviate that, I got a plug that deletes the OEM FP regulator, I'm running a Fore F2i regulator instead, and running a -6an return line back to the tank.
had to use this adapter to connect my new -6an line to the stock return fitting
and here's the nice Fore regulator going in
The Earl's Ultrapro line I'm using has a convoluted PTFE inside liner that's treated to prevent static electricity buildup, the convoluted interior makes it a lot more flexible than regular line, and the PTFE doesn't have any fuel smell or other issues that the normal hoses do, and will last forever.
My first try at mounting the FP regulator was too far back - was trying to keep it all kind of tucked tight to the rear, but the FP gauge line hit. No big deal.
Now it's all mocked up on the manifold, but I did need to order a different fitting - hadn't quite calculated that angle right!
I ran the -6an line using slightly modified OEM brackets and it runs side by side with the OE feed line.
Here on the left you can see where the new return line came up to meet the regulator
...and it runs the whole way back same as OEM - over the trans and then over the heatshield back to the tank.
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MISTERgadget
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Next challenge - getting the headers in. Again silly me figured, you already had them on, how hard can it be to just get them back in?
ABS module was still out on the driver's side, so it was pretty smooth except for a couple of the bottom bolts that are tough to reach.
Getting my hand in through here for the bottom ones absolutely sucked
Everything had moved a bit with the new motor mounts, and the coating on the header made the bolt holes slightly narrower - so it had to be more precisely lined up and held just so to line up the bolts and get them to thread in smoothly.
Since I was already working on that side, got the tee and sensor in for my oil pressure gauge as well.
ABS module was still out on the driver's side, so it was pretty smooth except for a couple of the bottom bolts that are tough to reach.
Getting my hand in through here for the bottom ones absolutely sucked
Everything had moved a bit with the new motor mounts, and the coating on the header made the bolt holes slightly narrower - so it had to be more precisely lined up and held just so to line up the bolts and get them to thread in smoothly.
Since I was already working on that side, got the tee and sensor in for my oil pressure gauge as well.
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The passenger side gave me a little more drama.... the heads I got ported were used cores and at some point, somebody wasn't so nice to the exhaust manifold threads...
There was another one that was even worse....I definitely regretted not taking a thread chaser and tap to all the holes while the engine was on the stand, it would have been much easier to get everything fixed then!
Had to drill those holes out and tap them with oversize threads
Then timeserts went it to keep it all solid
Of course, it couldn't be that easy. Others have reported similar issues with the ARH headers and using ARP bolts with thicker shoulders, the tolerance stacking gets them just barely out of alignment.. add to that a pretty thick coating, and well... those bolts aren't going in how it sits.
Had to clearance slightly all the bolt openings on the header
and shave down slightly the washer heads on the ARP bolts where they interfered with the primaries... again the big 1-3/4 tubes and thick coating didn't want to play nicely.
The one on the right shows just how much I had to take out of the worst offender
Last but not least, the starter went it. I had to make sure the top bolt was on there too!
There was another one that was even worse....I definitely regretted not taking a thread chaser and tap to all the holes while the engine was on the stand, it would have been much easier to get everything fixed then!
Had to drill those holes out and tap them with oversize threads
Then timeserts went it to keep it all solid
Of course, it couldn't be that easy. Others have reported similar issues with the ARH headers and using ARP bolts with thicker shoulders, the tolerance stacking gets them just barely out of alignment.. add to that a pretty thick coating, and well... those bolts aren't going in how it sits.
Had to clearance slightly all the bolt openings on the header
and shave down slightly the washer heads on the ARP bolts where they interfered with the primaries... again the big 1-3/4 tubes and thick coating didn't want to play nicely.
The one on the right shows just how much I had to take out of the worst offender
Last but not least, the starter went it. I had to make sure the top bolt was on there too!
craig sargood
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That’s one hell of a build. And I thought I did a lot to mine...... good work.
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MISTERgadget
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Thanks man! It has been a long road. A lot of little stuff to iron out. Swapping all the wiring turned it from a 3-4 month project into a yearlong slog... and two big kicks in the nuts that are coming in future posts [emoji23]
JamaicaJoe
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I am going to get more popcorn.
Meanwhile my 2001 low miles sits outside woefully in need of tires, paint, upper and lower control arms, spark plugs, front brakes, wheel restoration, etc, etc, etc, none of the above involving more horsepower.
Should I spend that 35K on a shiny 2017 with 29K miles?
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Meanwhile my 2001 low miles sits outside woefully in need of tires, paint, upper and lower control arms, spark plugs, front brakes, wheel restoration, etc, etc, etc, none of the above involving more horsepower.
Should I spend that 35K on a shiny 2017 with 29K miles?
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MISTERgadget
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If you're gonna spend the money, my vote would be to wait till the 2018+ is in the cards.
You could also spend $10k on the 2001 and have a very sweet and unique 1st Gen, and keep the other 25K earning for you in the stock market.
I agree 100%. I can keep mine running in near perfect condition, for a lot less than payment. Plus, no one gives a rip what other people drive, they are only in to there own vehicles.
