obselesc
Member
Alright, I think I have solved the no cold start/low power issue we were having by shimming the injectors! I say I think, because the weather in Portland has been beautiful ever since I did the work, so I haven't had much of a cold day to test it on.
Shimming the injectors in place was nothing short of a nightmare. First time doing work on a Ford van engine, so I had expectations of it being awful, but it surpassed those expectations for sure. I'm a pretty thin dude and still ended up with scratches all over my arms. The real scary part was dealing with all the tiny bits/screws that are involved with the armature plate and the solenoid on the injector. I had one terrifying moment where a torx bit dropped down what I believe is an oil vent hole in the upper part of the case, but luckily found it with a magnet after praying to any and every god i could think of. I also ended up having to pull the last two injectors and shim them on the bench, which just made me think I should have done them all that way from the start. Anyways, if it extends the life of my injectors for another 100,000 miles then it will have been well worth the pain; and if it doesn't, at least I know how to change the injectors and it'll take me half as long next time.
In other updates we found side doors with windows! Let me know if anyone needs some 60/40 Ford cargo doors because the ones we took off are in great shape. We also got one side all buttoned up with insulation. From van skin to inside it looks like this: sound deadener + 2" XPS + Spray Foam + a layer of reflectix. I know that sounds pretty thick, but since we are reusing some of the framing/wall panels that were in the van when we got it, it works fine for us. I would say 1.5" XPS wouldve been the better choice, but the hardware store only had 2".
Hopefully I will have some videos in the next week that better document those updates, but tomorrow we drop the van off to get our high top installed!
Shimming the injectors in place was nothing short of a nightmare. First time doing work on a Ford van engine, so I had expectations of it being awful, but it surpassed those expectations for sure. I'm a pretty thin dude and still ended up with scratches all over my arms. The real scary part was dealing with all the tiny bits/screws that are involved with the armature plate and the solenoid on the injector. I had one terrifying moment where a torx bit dropped down what I believe is an oil vent hole in the upper part of the case, but luckily found it with a magnet after praying to any and every god i could think of. I also ended up having to pull the last two injectors and shim them on the bench, which just made me think I should have done them all that way from the start. Anyways, if it extends the life of my injectors for another 100,000 miles then it will have been well worth the pain; and if it doesn't, at least I know how to change the injectors and it'll take me half as long next time.
In other updates we found side doors with windows! Let me know if anyone needs some 60/40 Ford cargo doors because the ones we took off are in great shape. We also got one side all buttoned up with insulation. From van skin to inside it looks like this: sound deadener + 2" XPS + Spray Foam + a layer of reflectix. I know that sounds pretty thick, but since we are reusing some of the framing/wall panels that were in the van when we got it, it works fine for us. I would say 1.5" XPS wouldve been the better choice, but the hardware store only had 2".
Hopefully I will have some videos in the next week that better document those updates, but tomorrow we drop the van off to get our high top installed!
