Just a source of info on the current build I am working on.  More to come.

To kick this off, here is the short version of history:

1987 Sami:
Rebuilt all seals front and rear knuckles & axles.
Installed Lock-Right front and rear stock sami axles.
Calmini 3" lift springs. 
RR shocks x4
Full RR High steer kit ; 3" drop pitman
31x11.50 TSL's
LED light conversion (back)
Custom-made front and rear bumpers
9k lb wench (harbor freight)

Now up to today, we just pulled a 96' 16v 1.6 from a tracker last week.  Also snagged the complete fuel tank along with the power steering box.  The motor was only missing the dizzy and igniter.  I have a MSI-v3.0 from a never finished project laying around.  This has led me to explore using the MS on this motor swap versus a factory wiring nightmare.  From there I figured if I have to buy a replacement for my missing dizzy, I should explore programmable ignition also.

I am looking at a Ford EDIS system running off of a 31-1 crank mounted sprocket and a VR sensor.  This setup can be found for $50-60 bux on Ebay.  The MSII system can get the feedback it needs with this combo since the EDIS takes care of a lot of the work.

I tried to keep the history brief.  As I progress with this swap I will try to keep this as informative as possible. 




Getting rid of un needed parts and cleaning up the engine bay.



About the best highest spot to mount the Megasquirt box.  Since the hood latch cable is not used on my rig, this will make a nice place to run the wiring.  I may try to fab some type of shield below it so it doesn't get splashed while rinsing out the floor boards.



The a/c was already missing from the stock 1.3 when I bought the truck.  I went ahead and removed the related components.  Lots of firewall holes to patch up!

More "older" update pictures (chrono. backwards I know).





Axle brace I made and installed



Pix of the bed liner I did a few weeks ago

Your rear drive line is out of clock and sorry I left you another message on your other thread.

Your rear drive line is out of clock and sorry I left you another message on your other thread.

No worries. How do u mean out of clock?

The ears for the ujoints should line up. You will just have to slip the tcase end off and slip it back on with the ears lined up with each other. It is called phasing. Read this.  http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Driveline-101.shtml#Phasing    I will be watching this build, very interesting   

The ears for the ujoints should line up. You will just have to slip the tcase end off and slip it back on with the ears lined up with each other. It is called phasing. Read this.  http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Driveline-101.shtml#Phasing    I will be watching this build, very interesting   

Oh gotcha, thanks for the heads up and link.

...no wonder the plug wires wouldnt come out! So an overheated engine is the reason this tracker was in the junkyard I am sure.This was my first obvious clue.  My first non-obvious (but live and learn) clue would have been the timing cover was sorta mangled up like someone had tried to pry it off.  Well hind-sight, as I turned the engine over, the timing belt kept sliding outward about half way off the engine.  Warped head. I dug a bit deeper and pulled the motor apart to remove the head.  One side of the allen head bolts broke loose with ease... one was even loose.  The passenger side took a breaker bar they were so tight.

I had a good mind to rebuild this motor with 160k to start with.  I guess this just made it easier to decide.  Keeps me from being lazy and dropping in a tired motor tho right?

If I get the head planned down and the block checks out okay, what are you rebuild guys doing to the internals while your at it?  Not going forged pistons or anything extreme.  What about a non-extreme over bore?

Waiting on this to ship.

Gambling that the plug wires fit the 1.6 holes.  I figure there is some standard to the openings.

That's going to be one honkin little ride your gonna have with the engine your building. I take it the mega squirt is going to eliminate some of the stock electricals, or are you planning to piggy back it onto the stock ecu and wiring?

Here are some updated pictures.


Decided to upgrade to some new guages.  I used a GM fuel guage that reads 0-90ohm, Tach, Oil, Water, and boost guage for later use (boost not installed yet)

Also removed and blanked off the a/c controls.  I will keep the heater so I will just have a toggle for the fan and lock the vents in place




Worked on wiring also.  My megasquirt harness came in from DIYautotune Saturday. I didn't want this to be a hack job.  After new guages and the new ECU, there was a lot of stock wiring that was not needed.  I didn't want a bunch of unused plugs everywhere so we pulled everything electrical other than lighting basically.

I will keep the factory sami fuse box.  I added the  main fuse box, fuel pump & starter relay from the tracker.  I picked up a 6-fused aftermarket fuse box to use for the MS.  This way everything MS related is together and seperate from the sami fuse box.  I will probably fashion a splash guard to keep moisture off the fuses.

Still need to finish wiring, power steering swap, gas tank swap, and install motor once rebuilt.

Here are a few recent pictures: 


One thing leads to another...




Hell with a $300 clutch.  Local guy using copper cost me half that


Decided to go with COP instead of Ford EDIS-4 so I have a tach output and more control.  Ordered the 4 coil drivers today and am awaiting shipping.



Brown came in last week with my rebuild parts.  Dropped them off to machine shop and hoping this week I can start bolting the engine back together.  Will end up with about $1500 in parts/labor (half and half) for a fully rebuilt 1.6 with stainess exhaust valves, new intake valves, 3 angle valve job, .20 over and standard-standard on bottom end bearings.  Only thing not new is the crank and cam.  This "engine upgrade" has manafested to say the least.

Some updated pix. About ready to drop the motor back in and get things wired up.

Did have a slight clearance issue with the sprocket wheel and the fan blades.

you will need to move your power steering pump up to clear steering box and steering shaft