Clutch and Related

I see a lot of questions come up about clutch and related components.  I thought it would be a good idea to share my personal preferences since I’ve been through a lot of different venders and combinations.

Let’s start with the flywheel.
I prefer a billet steel flywheel.  The lightweight aluminum ones are nice, but there’s just something about the billet steel that feels ‘sturdy’.  Also the aluminum ones come with a wear plate that is often hard to remove if it needs to be surfaced.

Clutch / pressure plate
I’ll preface this by stating that most of my builds have been less than 500HP, so that is where my experience is.  I’m a big fan of RAM clutches.  I’ve had their muscle car clutch, HDX, and power grip setups.  When in doubt, call their tech line or email them.  They will recommend their clutch that is right for you.  Comes with the TOB, which I’ve also had good luck with.

Pilot bearing
Dont skimp - just get the Ford Racing pilot bearing (M7600A is for the 5.0L Windsor).

Clutch Cable
The maximum Motorsports cable is the one to have, its the OEM cable and it will work absolutely perfectly for years.  There is also a spacer MMCL17 - make sure you get that too as some clutches will require it.

Quadrant and Firewall adjuster
Not all are created equally.  I like the UPR speed release quadrant (UPR-3004-08).  And I’ve been through a LOT of different quadrants over the years.  It has a great pedal feel and travel.  The firewall adjust I use is also UPR called a quick click (3004-17).  

Things to check - make sure you check the wear on the clutch fork and pivot ball.  Also maker sure to check out the rear main seal, although without a sleeve they typically continue to leak even after replacement.

1994 Mustang SVT Cobra

Well, it finally happened.  I came across a 1994 SVT Cobra that was worth buying.  It is now in the garage undergoing some upgrades and maintenance.  It already had some tasteful upgrades, but some were not really done correctly.  I've created a trello board to track the work on the 94 Cobra.  If you're not familiar with Trello, check it out, it is a fantastic organizational tool. 

To start with:
The suspension is stock. 
The brakes have been upgraded to cross drilled and slotted.
Engine has aluminum heads and a cam.
Stock T5 trans, with king cobra clutch
Rear has 3.73 gears in it, but I don't think that anything else has been done to it. 
30 lb injectors and mass air calibrated for 30s.  T4M0 ECU.

Other than the little things that need to be addressed, its a great starting point for a project car!  Here's a quick list of the upgrades that are going to happen over time.

Engine - dart SHP, about 460HP.  More details on this to come.
Trans - TKO500 with RAM HDX clutch.  will be upgraded to billet flywheel and powergrip with new motor
Rear - just built welded and braced 8.8 with TruTrac and strange 31 spline axles, 3.55 gears.
Suspension - tokico D-spec shocks struts, eibach pro kit springs with MM isolators.  UPR double adjustable upper control arms, maximum motorsport weight jacker lower control arms.  Subframe connectors, full length maximum motorsports powder coated.
Fuel system - new tank, quantum hanger with 450 pump, 80's, aeromotive rails and regulator, new feed / return lines.
Stereo system - two JL w6 10's with zapco power, new head unit. Mach system is already in place and sounds nice.
Exhaust - ceramic motorsport shorties and offroad H pipe pre-motor swap.  post will be BBK 1 3/4 primaries to 3 inch exhaust.
Tune with the quarterhorse
Various other things will be changed along the way.  Here's the trello board!

Trello Board 1994 Cobra

JLT Oil Separator Installation - 2017 Expedition Limited

I have a 2017 Expedition Limited, which has the 3.5L ecoboost engine.  I've been reading a lot about using an oil separator.  A little background - the design of the direct fuel injection can lead to oil buildup on the valves.  I'm not going to get into the details of direct injection and PCV in this post. There's plenty of info out there on this topic.  However, in 2018 Ford added injectors back to the intake as well as the direct injection - not sure if this is admitting there's an issue or not... you can decide on your own.

What I am going to talk about is how I now have a JLT oil separator installed for 55$.  For reference, the JLT kit is about 150$ new.  There's very elaborate oil separator kits out there that can cost up to 500$.  Some people argue that the separator isn't even needed.  My thought was that I'd like to have something in place, not crazy expensive, for piece of mind.  So, I started combing the online world for pricing.

What I learned is that there's really nothing used for sale for the expedition.  There are oil separators for sale used, but they are typically for Mustangs (very common application).  When I was looking at the connectors that the mustang separator uses, they were similar to the same kit for the expedition.  It got me thinking!  Then I came across one for sale, used, on the FB marketplace that a guy took off of his 2014 mustang.  He is local to me, so I could check out what he has in person before actually handing over the cash.  So we met, and it is the JLT kit, and there's NO WAY the hoses were long enough to install on the Expedition. The fittings looked similar though, so I bought it for 50$ cash.

I knew I would need to change the hoses out, so first step was to see what size I needed.  That meant disassembling the hoses and fittings from the JLT kit.

I used a heat gun on the low setting.  I rotated the heat gun around the fitting so one spot wouldn't get too hot or melt.  After about a minute, it was warm enough that I could work the fitting out of the end of the hose.  The hose is a semi rigid plastic that is shrunk onto the fitting.  Anyway, this method worked perfectly and I was able to remove the two fittings (Pic Above).  Now I was able to measure the hose.  It was about 1/2 inch, so off to the parts store I went.  At the parts store, we landed on 15/32 hose (closest they had to 1/2 inch), and I bought 4 foot.  Looking back, I didn't need that much, but I didn't know at the time where the separator was going to be mounted.  I had a lot of hose left over at the end. 

Next step was to remove the hoses from the separator itself.  They are metal clamps - reminds me of a pex fitting clamp.  I carefully cut the metal pinch, and the clamps were removed.  Again with the heat gun I softened the ends and pulled that off the separator.  In the pic above you can see the JLT hoses disassembled, and the stock PCV hose that I did not yet disassemble.  I did eventually disassemble the stock one because I used the straight fitting for the intake connection.  After everything was installed, I still had two 90 degree fittings left over.  So actually I didn't need the JLT fittings or hoses at all, and could have just used the ones removed from the stock PCV hose. 

The next thing I did was install the straight fitting into the new hose.  Its tight.  I used the heat gun again and it worked great.  I positioned the separator where I wanted it - somewhere that I could easily unscrew the can and empty it.  That gave me a good length and I cut the hose.  I did the same thing for the valve cover fitting, which is the 90 degree.  Then installed both hoses on the separator.  Again, its tight, so I didn't use any clamps.   If this winds up being a problem, I'll clamp all four connections.  The pic above is where the oil separator lives.  The bottom of the separator is resting on a bung from the intake tube and its pretty stable there.  I'm going to drive it a bit and check for any wear marks.  I'm particularly concerned with the area that the engine cowl contacts the separator hoses.  I may add something there to protect the hoses.

So that's how I got a separator installed in my expedition for 50$ plus the cost of the hose.  I hope this helps someone out sometime!