802SHO 2010 Build

[802SHO]

Shop update.

I haven’t moved the lift over yet, but I did consolidate all of my drywall tools and equipment into the new space. Just staging everything so when the lift moves it’s bolt-down, level, and go to work.

While I was measuring things out to make sure my truck could comfortably get in and out of the bay, I noticed something I hadn’t really paid attention to before.

The garage door is 9.5’ x 10’, which sounds huge. And technically the truck already fits through the opening just fine on the winter setup. But my summer setup is 22x14 wheels, and those add enough track width that the truck needs about 103 inches of clearance to comfortably pass between the concrete pedestals that support the columns on each side of the bay.

That’s when I noticed the issue.
This one someone already gave a haircut to.
Those pedestals slope inward about 5 inches at the base before they go vertical. That taper eats up just enough space that the truck would be extremely tight getting through there with the summer wheels.
So I started looking closer at the pedestals themselves trying to figure out what I was dealing with. Mainly I wanted to know if there was rebar inside them before I touched anything.

Looking around the complex I found a couple damaged ones and another one where a chunk had already been knocked off. That made it pretty clear what they were made of.
Solid poured concrete. No rebar. Just massive blocks. Big chunk out of this one
After digging a little deeper I found out that was actually intentional. These pedestals were built that way to spread the load of the column and also act as impact protection for vehicles moving in and out of the bays. Which makes sense once you learn what the building actually was.

The shop sits on the grounds of Fort Ethan Allen, originally built in the early 1890s as a U.S. cavalry post. Back then the base revolved around horses — cavalry units, stables, wagons, blacksmith shops — everything needed to keep mounted troops operational. But the specific row of buildings my shop sits in came later.

When the Army transitioned from horses to mechanized vehicles in the early 20th century, the outer support areas of the base were converted into motor pools and vehicle maintenance buildings.

Which means the row of garage bays I’m moving into was part of a WWII motor pool.

So the exact bay where my lift will sit likely had soldiers wrenching on military trucks and Jeeps at some point. Kind of cool to think about the timeline of that space:

1890s → cavalry horses and wagons
1940s → soldiers servicing military trucks and Jeeps
2026 → Fully built EcoBoost SHO on a lift carrying the torch!

And since the Army engineers in the 1940s didn’t anticipate a Ford F-150 Raptor on 22x14 wheels needing 103 inches of clearance…

Both pedestals are getting a very modest 3-inch Military haircut (high and tight) to straighten that taper out and open the entrance a bit. Once the lift gets installed the SHO will finally have its permanent home base…literally.

Not a bad place to keep the tradition of turning wrenches alive.

 

[bpd1151]

What a great back story. How cool!

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[802SHO]

A direct descendant of a WWII truck after 80 years of evolution
Only slightly different. Mini Monster Truck Vibes

 

[Majestic]

I'd box and bolt those piers if you are going to cut into them.

 

[802SHO]

David just texted me back and this is getting even better.

He said this test has “grown quite large” on his end and he found a ton of potential parameters, so he’s working on getting the firmware ready to test them all properly. That’s exactly what I want to hear. I’d rather he do it right once than waste time guessing or chasing our tails.

So the 3:15 “quick remote session” basically turned into “let me finish building the test package, then we’ll collect real data.” Perfect.

I told him I’m free this weekend (I’ve got a couple jobs to look at but I can plan around a time window), and he said he’ll circle back once he gets the test wrapped up and we’ll go from there.

This is the kind of support that’s rare. Dude is clearly in conquer mode, not “idk bro.” Once it’s all sorted, I’m gonna do a short cold start / dash video and post it up.

 

[802SHO]

David from Tinker Electronics remote signed into my laptop earlier today. Did almost an hour of testing my PCM to see what parameters it responded to. He did 4 tests and then emailed himself from my computer results of those tests. He did two different test with ignition on, one test with engine on and one test with the TCM manually on with ignition.

Now he’s going to spend some time digging through the data to see what sticks and create a firmware update for me. He said that he might have some more tests to do, but we should be able to get everything that we want, including the odometer reading.

Since I had him on the phone, I asked him about the custom layout that I can design and he said that he’ll work with customers to make gauges to be functional, which I thought was really cool. He said make a layout and send it to me and I can make it animated.

So far all of this special testing and everything has been all included with the price. I haven’t paid for anything extra. I would definitely offer to pay extra for him to make a custom screen come to life. I mean, we did this on a Sunday, just outstanding customer service. It’s turned out it be way more than I imagined it would be, both in function and form + customer service.

It’s a work in progress. I haven’t installed the converter yet bc I’ve been excitedly side tracked with this endeavor. That’s coming soon! The weather is turning the corner

 

[802SHO]

It’s been a long week waiting for David to get back to me. I heard from him today. He said has hasn’t had time to go through the data yet but he plans to this weekend. And run some more tests bc there were a couple he knew for sure didn’t take during his observation of the live tests.

However, chasing my tail with fuel level accuracy is officially over.

I finally wired my fuel sending unit directly into the Tinker dash, and now the dash is reading the sender itself instead of the car pretending it understands a setup it was never built for. Better yet, I dug up the actual documentation for the sender, so this is now based on real specs, not assumptions, not forum memory, and not whatever somebody thinks another Ford used.
My sender is a Fuel Safe / ISSPRO tube-style unit, coated for E85, and the actual curve is 10 ohm empty, 180 ohm full. That is a 10-180 VDO range, not a Ford OEM sender curve. So the dash is now set up for the actual hardware in the car, not some random guess.

That also explains why the stock Taurus gauge was complete ******** with the fuel cell. The OEM cluster was trying to interpret a totally different sender curve and a totally different tank. I basically trained myself to refill early and live in the “don’t be stupid” zone after running it out once, because the stock gauge was never telling the truth anyway.

Setting it up was easy, went into settings and inputs and set the ranges Now the Tinker is reading the sender directly and it’s already acting believable. It was sitting around 27.5%, which works out to roughly 3.3 gallons in a 12 gallon cell. It’s stable, it reacts to fuel slosh, and it finally reflects the actual sender that’s actually in the car.
I was also able to rename RS1 to GAS, which is way better than looking at some generic input label. Then I set a hard warning limit at 20%. On a 12 gallon cell, that works out to 2.4 gallons left. That is a much smarter cutoff for me because I do not want to screw around with an expensive in-tank fuel pump trying to suck the last bit of fuel out of the cell. I already learned what that sounds like when the car ran out before, and I have no interest in hearing that noise again.

Also popped my cherry pinning a connector, so naturally I’m now ready to wire an ECU from scratch…yeah no. So yeah, this problem is dead. Fuel level is no longer guesswork, no longer OEM gauge fantasy, and no longer me chasing my own tail.

Random pics.
I decided on a final install look for the dash but this was me remembering to hook up the fuel sending unit first before I button it up.

 

[Zpak]

That’s precisely why I never wanted to start running e30 without the ethanol sensor. The fuel gauge is trash. I don’t want my gauge to tell me a calculation of miles to empty under a driving condition, I just want to know how much gas I have. Shouldn’t be so convoluted.

 

[802SHO]

That’s precisely why I never wanted to start running e30 without the ethanol sensor. The fuel gauge is trash. I don’t want my gauge to tell me a calculation of miles to empty under a driving condition, I just want to know how much gas I have. Shouldn’t be so convoluted.

That’s an excellent point. I think I can scale it to 0.0 for min and 12.0 for maximum, then it should simply tell me how many gallons are left. But for now I’ll leave it at % style

 

[kryptto]

@802SHO that replacement dash is coming out really well. what a bypass for a custom car.

 

[802SHO]

Pretty much done with the dash install. I have the Rife sensor and Prolink+ wired up too. I ended up wiring a power distribution block for switched 12 volt sources. Just something easy to grab switched 12 volt in the future from. I had it laying around from a couple years ago. My deleted wiper motor fuse (7.5) has a fuse tap with (5) fuse and that’s wired directly to the distribution block. The Tinker Dash and power converter both have a (3) fuse. I’ll test the Prolink+ and Rife tomorrow and add EMP to VCM Editor, scale it and start logging it.

The dash looked best with some 1/8 ABS plastic added to the sides and some black foam to cover up bracket and bolt visibility. Came out better than you’d expect. Can’t see any part of the OEM cluster underneath and no lights from it.
Here’s a video of a cold start. I’m just getting used to my new sequence of starting the car, powering the TCM just before I press start.

 

[Zpak]

Race car AF in there.

 

[kryptto]

Race car AF in there.

well said

 

[FrankK]

I'm amazed you can actually find something in your garage after two years. My garage is like a black hole, I know it's there but where is it.

 

[802SHO]

Alright we got some solid responses. Next test is tomorrow

 

[Majestic]

So... might actually make a pass in 2028?

 

[kryptto]

I have an airline ticket already booked for 2030 and it will be worth it when 802 is done for sure. this is a passion project they are done when they are done. very cool dash replacement, it was the item which was missing after realizing our OEM dash was never gonna hack it.

 

[802SHO]

I have an airline ticket already booked for 2030 and it will be worth it when 802 is done for sure. this is a passion project they are done when they are done. very cool dash replacement, it was the item which was missing after realizing our OEM dash was never gonna hack it.

2030? Shit, I hope I’m into something different by 2027

 

[802SHO]

Everything I wanted on the dash has been found.

Forward Gears (also Gear Select P-R-N-D-M)
Trans Temp
IAT2
Knock sensor B1 and B2
OAR
WGDC%

As I’m typing I’ll have to check about fuel rail pressure and torque source …some of that is me getting Greedy haha, taking most of what I look at in logs to be forever what I can see live at all times.

On the dash stuff that already works is
LTFT B1 — B2
STFT B1 — B2
ECT
IAT
Speed
RPM
MAP (Boost)
Battery

So for odometer David suspects that’s in the cluster and he checked some sources he had and about 2018 it became mandated for odometer to be broadcast on CAN whereas the cluster in my 2010 is like a subdivision of its own. It hasn’t responded to his tests yet for odometer but his Dash comes with a GPS for speed + odometer….he said if I hook it up (it was included) I don’t need to use it for speed but it will still give me mileage. I’ll either do that or use an app on my phone.

He hasn’t given up on finding my odometer reading but the included GPS is an option. Obviously I want to track mileage for maintenance purposes. My cluster is still installed and working and removing the Tinker dash is all of 5 min but if I can avoid that for my true odometer reading that would be ideal.

He said to give him until next week to get back with me. We did 4 logs with engine on. He didn’t find gear until the 3rd test and the isolated P-R-N-D-M was really cool. It was totally focused on that alone. His paperwork had D listed wrong bc when he first found it he asked if I was in D or P and I said P. So the gear select test he took notes. He slowed the response time down too for the test and he laughed when it started bc he set it too slow….but it was cool. P and 8 codes come up..like every 5 seconds it would broadcast that set. Then R a new set of codes, same for N, same for D and same for M. I thought it was pretty awesome.

David told me he wants to take the extra time with these tests to create a drop down Ford option. He said it’s faster for me to create a firmware update for your unique car but I want this to be an update and option for everyone. Then I will also get auto updates from time to time that I can use too. He said, when someone like yourself comes along and has a specific vehicle that’s off the radar, and ask for certain parameters we go ahead and add them.

This man stayed on the phone with me from 7:35pm until 8:50pm. Really can’t say how amazing the customer service has been.

Next up he will do live tests with the parameters added to verify they all work properly. As of now, all testing puts my dash in an awake but sleep state, all screen layouts show 0 data during the tests. The next test is with them active on the dash!

This will be a long post. Good read if using the bathroom for a #2. I’ve been forever in check mode and I’ve never liked how my TIAL Q BOV has been since installed in ‘24. My fender exits are loud, I can’t say I’ve heard it pphhhssssss. (Ever). Idling it looked totally shut but idling it should be shut…..I’ve asked Brad about if the data logs can tell it’s working (Seems to be he’d say). I’ve had Stefanie look with me revving, I’ve had her rev and me look….I’ve never seen it open. Idk guess it works though? I’ve analyzed the manifold reference ….asked Jordan does it look right. He’d say yeah looks good.

I’ve been circling it. Never had one before, I used the OEM BOV’s and plugged recirculating ports. But I’ve never had my exhaust up front in my ear either.

I decided to change springs from 10psi to 12 psi over my vacuum consistently -21 inHG it’ll range -20 — -22inHG. Mostly -21 inHG. So a 12 psi spring is good, maybe 11 psi spring is the sweet spot. I don’t think I was able to test it bc my Trans was browning out and losing power. Then winter and a bunch of other changes.

I think about it again and I go and buy a hand pump vacuum tester. I could not get it to crack open, the hand held topped out at -25 inHG.
I’m using ChatGPT for a consultant here lol. 12 psi should crack at 24.5 inHG. It’s too edge case it says. So I talk about it came with a 10psi spring and everyone uses that one pretty sure. Swap it in bc that should crack within the range of the hand pump, like 20inHG or something. Then I mention I’ve taken it apart twice already…once just to check it over bc it didn’t seem to work…2nd time to swap in the 12 psi spring. Then I swear I remember trying to move the piston by hand with it apart with no spring and couldn’t move it. All red flags for ChatGPT lol.

Ok I go to swap in the 10psi spring and I try to push the piston by hand with it apart..and I can’t…confirmed, Red flag.
This was frozen solid. I decided to push on it like it owed me money and I freed it
I used some Silicone **** and lubed that O ring and the rod. Ok now I’ve got it moving now easy with my fingers…wtf did this never work?

I do the vacuum test, it’s cracking open now
I’m looking at that and thinking that’ll stay open at my idle….then confirmed it on the car.
Hissing ….that’s cracked more than a hair. But HOLY SHIT it was never working! I’ve ran the 700ish miles and this 10psi spring has never opened at idle….ever. Crazy! This is a huge find.

I swapped the 12psi spring in and it barely cracks at 25 inHG but it cracks and that’s good bc it’s listed to crack at 24.5 inHG.
That tiny line is a gap to see through. When I let the pressure out of the hand pump it seats down. I was gifted a frozen out of the box TIAL Q 50mm BOV. Glad I finally caught this misbehaving part and got it working now….fucknA

Now I’m in get the car honest mode. No BS. My idle started acting up again….rev rev settle (dip 460+ RPM stumble). Maybe this BBK TB needs to really go. Brad was circling it…it should be fine but after my battery disconnected for weeks doing the dual battery install it was totally fine, rev rev settle perfect…but maybe it’s now messy bc it learned the OEM values and it’s off idk….kind of like when I first started car in ‘24 it was fine and then after a little time it did the rpm dip on settling. That’s what led to me asking Brad to increase idle.

Best free Motorsport consultant ChatGPT said after me explaining about it, it said swap the OEM TB back in since you still have it. You want the system honest and the OEM TB absolutely will be. You’ve been finding and fixing bad signals, weak grounds, signal clarity and every step brings the system closer to the truth and honest. That reveals the truth of what’s really going on faster instead of masking problems on top of problems that seem to come from here or there. You’re reducing noise and returning clarity. Since the OEM TB is 68mm and the BBk is 70mm….swap it out. lol yes sir! Ok so I had to clean up and paint my OEM TB first of course….
OEM TB is back and ready for more fun!

I’m also back onto my FPR. I’m on a roll….so I videoed my FPR during idle and Rev Rev and it actually went backwards about 62psi…it’s set to 70psi constant. It is idling but I used a boost signal post turbo pre IC and ChatGPT said that signal is noisy as ****, per Aeromotive’s instructions it needs to be manifold reference only. So I will have to swap in the high pressure spring bc 70psi constant with manifold reference would actually be 80psi constant with no reference. The only way to keep it 70psi constant at idle with reference is swap in the 75-120psi high pressure spring, use manifold reference, and set it to 70 idling. Then it’s an honest, 70psi constant idle and 1:1 Boost.

Yes sir! More to do

 

[kryptto]

holy shitzzzz that is an update lol. what a vendor to spend that time, he has such a niche product my guess he needs that support but very impressive. your car is an AI challenege? hey you have to do what you have to do, lol we will see and my bet is on AI.