Tearing Shit Up and Filling Holes!

 Tearing Shit Up In December!!! And oh boy did we! 

As tempting as it may be, try and refrain from actually breaking your plastics and trim panels when removing (they make great templates later for bolt hole, attachment point locations and for curves you might need). So keeping this in mind I had the wood stove fired up and the shop a comfortable 75* for our trim panel tear down.

Carrie asked "So do we just start pulling them off, is there screws?". Yes and yes. Ford is tricky and hid screws behind the upper panels that hold the lower panels in place but to get to the lower screws, you have to be kind of brutish and just grab hold and give a big Ol' pull, hoping nothing breaks. Oh the sound plastic trim panels make when being ripped from their spring steel clips... Insert Thousand Yard Stare...

With all the plastics removed and precariously stacked we set to removing all the old nasty carpet from the rear, only leaving the wheelchair tie downs left to remove.

 

Carrie was inside (bolts) and I was under (nuts).

True to form all but one last stubborn bolt came out. Angle grinder time! Zip the bolt head off and now we’re completely stripped and ready to fill holes.

Que the welder!

 

 

~ Tim

 

 

Welding

“Do I get weld some of the holes?”  The answer is yes I do!   Last time I welded was in freshman ag class.   Let’s just say that was a few plus years ago.  

Tim did the first group of holes then said it was my turn.  A few tips and I was set loose.  I wouldn’t say I am the worst welder in the world but far from the best.  Tim was encouraging and lied saying I was doing a good job lol.  It was fun and I actually felt like I was getting the hang of it.  So if you are reading this and in need of a not completely terrible welder, give me a call!

~ Carrie

Shifty business! (The Good Kind)

I found a transmission at M&R! I let Max know that he didn't need to rush on pulling the transmission for me as I had the shop full up with vehicles in for service, which actually worked out well for both of us because he had work lined up also. A few days later I get the call from Max, "The transmission is out and ready for ya bud". It just so happened to be a rainy, sloppy, muddy day, off to M&R I sped to pay for and collect our possible "saving grace" of a transmission. Nothing was going to slow me down now.

I arrived at M&R and pulled in by their shop, hoping that they had hauled the transmission up front and all I had to do was drop my tailgate and load it up. Nope... Nathan led me out and down the muddy aisle to as close to the donor vehicle as I could get. I backed up  next to a few junkers so I was even closer and almost got stuck... Nathan and I grabbed the transmission and managed to get it loaded up without either of us slipping or tripping in the muddy mess.

I promptly paid the man and shut the tailgate. My first mistake.... I was so excited to have the transmission, I completely forgot to stick the dipstick tube back in the transmission, second mistake was that I didn't secure the transmission so it wouldn't slide around, third and final mistake, I also didn't secure the torque converter in the bell-housing so it wouldn't slip off of the input shaft. I'll drive slowly. It'll be fine... One person in front of me deciding to turn at the last moment later and "shooop-bang!" The transmission slides the length of my pickup box slams into the front of the bed, shooting off the torque converter and spilling about 3 quarts of fluid all over the bed of my truck and everything else I happen to have back there. It's a truck, though, no harm done in treating it like a truck, just as long as our transmission is fine. A quick check and we're all good!

Back at the shop, I unload and start swapping over the torque converter from our old transmission so we're guaranteed bolt up and fitment with our 5.4 flywheel. Repeat the steps from blog #8 and the new transmission is in. Pull the pan to service, and lo and behold! The insides are like new! Now I'm really getting excited! New filter, bolt the pan back on and fill with new fluid; time to fire it up and check the level. Fluid level is good now to check for gears. Reverse? We have reverse! Neutral is where it's supposed to be, no surprise there. Now all the way down into first.... Instant engagement!!! Second, nice firm shift! The rest of the gears all the same! I'm vibrating with excitement  this time! I jack it up, rip the jack-stands out from under the van, back on the ground and out the door! Test drive time!!!

I'll just let the video speak for itself.

The Search

To Quote Foreigner:

"It was a Monday
A day like any other day
I left a small town
For the Apple in decay

 

It was my destiny
It's what we needed to do
They were telling me
I'm telling you"

 

Monday is the day I have off and so it's also the day I've chosen to search for another transmission. The Sunyside / Outlook area harbors a hidden gem of a wrecking yard named Tee-Pee Auto Wrecking. This was where my search is to begin.  Acres upon acres of cars, trucks, suv's, busses and vans. Yes VANS! After talking with the kind feller manning the gate up front; he gave us a general direction and area to look. My brother and I started walking, and walking and more walking till we finally found a row of nothing but ford vans. Service vans, conversion vans, all kinds of vans!

I began checking door stickers for our "magic combo", Looking for a 1999-2003 with the 4.6 or 5.4 V8 and the transmission code "U" (Preferably with low miles and  with transmission fluid that's clean and doesn't smell or look burnt). First van, too old. Second van, wrong motor combo. Third Van, our first match! High mileage but the fluid looked and smelled good.

Fourth van, too new but still a possibility with the use of the older plug and speed sensor. Fifth van, our second match! Unknown mileage due to a missing gauge cluster but clearly written on the fender of the van were the magic words "Good Transmission". Fluid looked and smelled like brand new, even though it was missing the dip stick and tube.

Armed with confidence that I had located two possible candidates for our van I headed back up front with questions at the ready. How much $? How do I get the van up off the ground for me to pull the transmission (can you lift it?) and do you pull transmissions for a price? The answers; "$350 with no guarantee. You have to jack it up. NO We Do Not Pull Parts.... Slightly put off with the latter two answers we BS'd with the Front gate Feller (who will now and forever be known by this name) and paid for the two curtain springs I found and pulled for Carrie. I didn't commit to buying a transmission here because I still had one last place to look, hopefully my ace in the hole, M&R Sales and Towing... Talked with the owner Max and he went above and beyond searching and sorting through inventory cards till he found me a possible match. With the yard number in hand and directions to where it was in the yard I set out to see what condition the transmission was in and if all criteria was met. I was not disappointed. Good looking un-burnt fluid, lower miles than the Tee-Pee transmissions and an unbeatable deal I could not pass up. All with a guarantee! $50 extra and they would even pull it, I'm sold!!!!

~Tim

Took a Chance on Used Parts

Well, where do I begin?..

Used parts are well, just that, used parts. Everything was going fine at first. I easily pulled the donor transmission, put it on our roller cart and pressure washed all of the dirt and grime off (our baby cannot have a dirty transmission installed lol). Next, I prepped the Chateau for removal of the bad transmission by elevating all four corners up on jack stands (doing the earthquake wiggle test, of course) and spraying all bolts, nuts, and any other random fastener I deemed a candidate for removal. Then came the unbolting of the drive shaft... A little secret about Fords of this era. From the factory they were very concerned about drive shaft bolts backing out on their own and used Loctite and a liberal amount of torque when tightening them. All well except the bolt having a 12mm 12point head and limited space for an impact or ratchet. So pull out the wrenches and get to turning right?! Wrong! Remember the aforementioned Loctite? This was the result of my first attempt at bolt removal.

When facing stubborn bolts with loctite, a micro-torch is your best friend. Apply heat and hope it breaks free. Success! All four bolts removed, drive shaft dropped and we are on our way to getting this transmission swapped out!

Flywheel cover removed, starter removed, bell-housing bolts removed, shift cable removed, wiring harness unplugged and removed; slide the transmission jack up into place and lastly remove the transmission crossmember and mount. A little wiggle, tug, tilt and some colorfully creative wordplay later, and the old transmission is out.

Now just reverse this process with the new transmission, and we are golden! No problems installing the replacement transmission at all. Honestly, one of the smoothest transmission swaps I have had in a very long time (should have seen this as foreshadowing). Everything installed, bolted back and torqued; now time to replace the filter on this savior of a transmission... Pulled the pan and the bottom was filled with friction material from the clutch pack discs. Keeping an optimistic outlook, I pressed on and continued with the transmission service because, well you just never know. New filter in place, pan gasket installed, bolted tight and filled with fluid. The moment of truth... Turn the key, no codes for the transmission; always a good sign! Start the van, no weird noises; another good sign! Put the transmission in reverse, a positive "thunk" it goes into reverse like it means it; a great sign! Neutral, no noises; good, good! Now, for Drive.............................................................................................................. Nothing! Absolutely nothing, I mean ZERO forward gears! Worse than the problem transmission I had removed! I thought I had cut out all the hassle, gotten around all the endless hours of searching, and lucked out by finding a used transmission that perfectly fit our needs. I was wrong... All I succeeded in doing was wasting time and $125.60 in full synthetic transmission fluid. Keeping positive and the dream of what this van is to become alive I remind myself that at least the donor transmission did not cost us anything but fluid, filter and labor, and we are lucky to have not wasted more than that. This van is still going to be epic!

And the search is back on......

Wrecking Yard For The Win

 Research, google machine, more research, more googling of things and voila! 1996 & up 2wd Ford trucks, 2wd Expeditions, Mustangs, Crown Vic's and Lincoln Town Cars with the 4.6 & 5.4 V8's used the same transmission as our van. Now the hunt was on!  Thankfully, I have a wrecking yard at my disposal with a fairly large selection of vehicles to peruse for parts. Three 4wd Expeditions, three V6 Mustangs, one questionable Lincoln town car and no Crown Vic's... But hidden along the fence, buried behind a full size Bronco and a Toyota pickup. There it was, a 2001 Ford Expedition 2wd with a 4r70w donor transmission! 

Fired up the forklift, and started moving vehicles, digging out our donor. Up to the shop it went, all bolts sprayed with penetrating oil and away I go! You'd think I was excited about this project and you'd be right! Donor transmission out and on the ground, ready to go! Even with the setback of the transmission problem, although a bit defeated in the moment, the smile has yet to leave my face. I love having a project that is somewhat of a challenge, even more so I love having someone as invested and with the same amount of belief in our vision of what this van will become.

~Tim

"Lets tear shit up in December!"

"Plan of attack. Hey I've got an idea... Lets tear shit up in December! Lets start on the interior of the van. Lets start gutting the interior!". 

I could not have imagined hearing sweeter words.... Just like the Grinch my heart grew three sizes upon hearing this, that day.💗 And then the true meaning of Project Chateau came through, and the Tim found the strength of ten Tims plus two.💪

 

~Carrie

~Tim