XFute-1JZsoarer

A capacitor isn't a battery and nor should it be considered to be used instead of a second battery. In fact, the only thing it may help is your lights and accessories from flickering in some instances because it actually prevents power getting to the amplifiers properly, and instead everything wired before it gets the power. The money spent on a capacitor would be better put towards a alternator capable of running your audio properly, as your audio will be powered primarily by the alternator, while using the battery to backup any large amp loads. The reason a cap is pretty much useless, is because it discharges itself in a matter of milliseconds, and then takes minutes to actually recharge itself properly, which it will never do while the audio is on because it'll keep discharging on big bass notes and slowly recharge till the next big bass note... It's because of this that it'll actually create a higher load on the alternator and battery. This pretty much makes a capacitor a expensive, useless, blingy volt meter (well the ones with a voltage display anyway). There really is no substitution for a good alternator. Even a second battery is only a bandaid fix for inadequate alternator current, as it too requires charging by the alternator which again means less power to the amps. There's been mixed opinions on the value of a good capacitor for years, but you'll usually find that the only people that say they work usually are the people that sell them.

The trick is finding the lowest impedance your sub(s) can be wired down to, and then using an amp that is stable at that impedance. Your not actually making better bass at low impedance, your just allowing the amps to flow power with the least resistance. Class D monoblock amps are great at handling low impedance, as that is what they are primarily designed for. Almost every class D mono will handle a 2ohm load easily, and others can go down to 1ohm (or even 0.5ohm like mine). A little off subject... When looking at amps to suit your setup, be wary of the usual BS sales tricks a lot of company's use. Some company's will say an amp might make 1500wrms, but fail to tell you that this rating was made at 16 or even 18 volts for a couple of seconds before it blew up, not at the 13.8v most charging systems make. And always look at the fusing for the amp to get a good idea of what power it'll really make, a 2500wrms amp won't make that power with 60A fuse, the rule of thumb is 10A to 100wrms (though some company's now use larger fuses to fool consumers too these days). Any decent amp will come with a "birth sheet" that will show the power it makes at different voltages and impedances). But none of it will matter if your running an inadequate charging system, big power audio means big power charging systems, this is a trap most beginners fall into (I did too). A 100 amp alternator and a normal battery will not support 1000wrms setup, and the rest of the vehicles ancillaries. It's all a balancing act with a lot of ways to screw up, but if you know about it, you can put together a decent setup that won't cook/blow itself, or leave you stranded with a busted alternator/battery. Hope this helps a bit, as I have been in this same boat myself.

Fair enough, you know what your doing better than I anyway. Was just a thought, as it looks like there's a lot of things to go wrong with all those hoses, fittings and pumps. But the digital gauge throws a spanner in the works anyway... Hope it works alright bud.

That's why I suggested the E series pump, then you only have the 1 pump and filter to deal with, which to me would mean less to go wrong. And the gauge doesn't appear to be too difficult to modify to work, then you could possibly use E series fuel lines as well. Might be worth looking into...

That makes sense, I just don't get why the didn't just put a intank hp pump, cause it's not like they used an external surge tank is it? I wonder if a E series intank pump would help clean it all up and simplify the setup...

Damn, that is quite complex compared to the ute! I've just got the XG intake fuel pump, rubber lines to the steel lines, then back to rubber at the engine bay, which had the filter near the mechanical fuel pump on the crossflow. So much easier by comparison...

That's fantastic info mate, I vaguely remember that method being used by my old man 20 odd years ago, but didn't quite understand how it worked till now, thank you.

I wasn't too concerned with the fuel feed pipe myself, as you stated it is a larger diametre pipe anyway. But the fuel return pipe was the one that had me thinking, as it does appear to be quite small... It seems that I'm fortunate that I'm working with a XF ute though, as the fuel lines appear to be routed the same way in the XG also. The wagon sounds a little more complicated in that respect. Sorry to jump in on your post Chris. This subject has had me buggered for a while now, and it's been hard to find info on it...

I'm having the same dilemma with the fuel hoses. I was hoping I could just use the steel lines that was already in place, and swap the hoses for EFI compatible ones. But I'm now thinking of replacing the whole lot (or maybe just the return line) for rubber lines mounted in the standard locations. Haven't figured out how to mount them yet, I'll work that out once I definantly know which way I'm going with the lines...

Thanks guys, some great info there. I was looking for one of those Angular Torque Gauges at the local auto shops, but had no such luck there. So I might just grab the scribe and protractor and mark my 120 degree markings that way, as I don't want to wait for another week to get one sent from eBay (the joys of living in rural areas). As I stated, I'm using a brand new ProTorque TTY headbolts set with a Permaseal Multi Layer Steel (MLS) headgasket, the info sheet that comes with the gasket says 30Nm + 120 degrees, so I'll use their settings as I'm sure I've seen other MLS gaskets come with those exact same directions. I just liked the idea of doing the 3 stage torque method as I have a good quality Torque wrench, but no angle gauge. But if you experienced fellas say to use the torque + degree method, that's the way I'll go about it. That's the info I was looking for, so thanks heaps for the helpful responses.

Hi everyone, I'm almost ready to start reassembling the top end of my 4L OHC engine and I'm finding conflicting information on which technique is best for torquing up the headbolts. I'm using a Permaseal MLS headgasket (with new headbolts of course) and the paperwork shows the usual 30Nm + 120 degrees method that's normally used with steel headgaskets. But I've found that workshops such as Real Dyno Performance (RDP) and Jim Mock Motorsports (JMM) apparantly use a 3 stage torque method... Stage 1- 40Nm Stage 2- 80Nm Stage 3- 110Nm Has anyone personally tried the 3 stage technique themselves? To me it appears to be the more accurate method to use, but I'd really like to hear what experiences you guys have had with either before I try the 3 stage technique myself. As always, I appreciate any info/advice you guys can share. Thanks guys. Jay.

The bolts are Torque To Yeild bolts, so I was thinking that the torque + degrees method was the typical way to go about it, but then saw that a couple of well know workshops went with the 3 stage method, so it had me thinking... Mind you, they didn't state that they were using studs or bolts either. The manual isn't much help, as it only describes how it's done with the composite type headgasket (40Nm + 90 degrees). Permaseal do tell you that it should be done at 30Nm + 120 degrees so it might be the safest way to go I guess. Think I might just go with they're instructions so I don't go screwing things up. Maybe I'll just scribe a mark on the socket to see where I'm up to, rather than marking the bolt and then having to take the socket off to see where I am, and then having to turn it a third time to finish it off. Thanks for the help guys.

One of my favourite Facebook pages there is! Top work mate!

Thanks mate, I might try do the same instead of using 2 rubber lines. Would have to be safer I'd reckon... Cheers.

Can anyone confirm if it's ok to use the thinner fuel return hard line from a XF ute in a EFI setup? I know I need to use high pressure rubber lines at the ends of the hard lines, but can I keep the return line from the old mechanical fuel pump instead of replacing the entire return line from a XG/XH. Or will it be too thin for the 4L to operate properly? I'm only running a mildly worked XR6 engine... Thanks in advance. Jay.

That would be awesome mate, I remember the lines looked the same when I stripped the XG. Pretty sure that was why I left them in it. I've still got the rubber lines that connect the tank to the hard lines put away somewhere, suppose I could just find them and see if they'll fit. Otherwise I'm considering replacing the whole lot with rubber EFI hoses.

This one is a 95 XG bottom end bud. The serpentine belt on this motor is only for the AC compressor, the other 2 belts are a V arrangement. I actually put a smaller diameter V belt on the alternator to help shift the pulley/alternator up away from the bottom support. That's how I was able to get away with just a slight notch to get some extra clearance. Though now I have a welder, I'm going to enlarge the notch and weld in a bit of plate to help keep it nice and strong. If I had my way again, I'd use a later engine with the full serpentine setup so there would have been heaps of clearance without cutting anything. Hoping to get the head pulled off and block cleaned up this arvo, finally got a nice sunny day today. Hope it stays that way!

Hey guys, I just aquired a EF/EL XR6 (94DT) head to drop on the XG motor in my XF ute. So lastnight I ordered a EA-AU Permaseal MLS headgasket that should arrive early next week. My question is, has anyone else used this particular brand of gasket? And if so, does it come pre-coated with some type of sealing compound, or should a copper sealant be sprayed/brushed on it, or should I just install it dry? The new head has been freshly decked 20thou, so has a nice clean surface, and I expect the block to be in a good, flat condition (after cleaning) as it only has 168,000kms on it. I've seen plenty of good reviews about this gasket, but nothing about whether to coat it or not before installation. I'll be using brand new TTY headbolts I have here too. Just want to make sure I get a good seal between the head and block, as I am running a Wade 977B camshaft with double valve springs, and expect the comp ratio to be a little higher than stock with the 20thou decking and the thinner MLS gasket. Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated as always. Thanks in advance. Jay.

Thanks Ando, I should be all good on the torque wrench front, I've got a new Kinchrome wrench to use for the job, and I'm using the VHT copper gasket sealant for the gasket. Finally got around to stripping the old head today, which was pretty easy considering all the exhaust and intake bolts were loose, even had one missing at the back of the intake! I ran out of time before I started cracking the headbolts, so I'm a little worried as to what I'm gonna find under the old head... The whole thing is confusing, as the motor come out of a 168,000km 95 XG, the inside of the head looks to be in fantastic condition, but everything else looks grubby. Fingers crossed I'm not in for any more rude surprises tomorrow arvo when I pull the head off, but at least now I can go through the engine bay wiring/hoses/gaskets and bring them back up to scratch without too much hassle.

I've gone with the VHT copper gasket sealant and Loctite 243, hopefully the gasket should turn up today, so I'll put some progress pics up once I get goin. I might be back on to ask the gurus for some advice if I get stuck, though it looks pretty straight forward to me. Thanks for the help guys. Jay.

Lol, sorry for the mis-leading thread title. If it helps any, I am considering a 50-100hp shot of NOS a little further down the track, as I have a 1/8th strip right behind our property to go play on. I've been reading up all morning about other similar setups as mine (couldn't get onto the OzFalcon site all morning), it looks like valve/piston clearance shouldn't be an issue, and apparantly I can use a couple of washers to get a couple more mm adjustment with the tensioner if need be. So it looks like an adjustable timing gear might be all that's needed to dial the cam in a bit better, but that doesn't appear to be a compulsory mod either. Any $$$ I can save here will go towards a decent exhaust/extractors, so I might just put it all together and fire it up and hopefully she will be all good. Cam should be a good match with the 5spd conversion and 3.27 final ratio

I thought as much, thanks for the advice bud. Permaseal recommend only using their MLS gasket with the head decked no more than 30thou, as the gasket is also 30thou thinner than a standard graphite gasket. So at 20thou decked (that i know has been done, could have been milled before that too I guess) it's gonna be close... I also have a new graphite gasket that I was going to put on with the standard head, so if I can't get away with the MLS, I'll just chuck that one on instead. I read (on Fordmods) that some others have taken more off their 4L heads and run the MLS with different results, some claim that it still worked fine, others say that they got timing chain rattle. Fortunately I'm not in any real hurry, so I'll just keeping checking my tolerances as I go. Anyway, many thanks to you guys for the info, looking forwards to finally getting it all together. I'll keep you guys posted on how I go with it. Cheers. Jay

I was looking into both of those products, is the Hylomar "Blue" the one to get? Is it copper like the similar Permatex sealant? Thanks very much for the input guys.

Cheers mate, any product recommendations?

Hey Binary, are you still chasing up pics for this manual conversion, i may be able to help you out a little, as I've been converting my 250ci, column auto XF ute to 4L and T5, and it would be more or less the exact same deal as what your trying to achieve. Let me know if I can be of any assistance mate. Jay.