I used the Hotwire Hotrod harness for my 5.9 swap. I used a '98 truck ECM with manual trans from Solo Electronics in Florida. I had a tired junkyard 5.9 with 90 psi cranking compression in the #2 cylinder, but 150'ish lbs in all the rest, of them. I also had a Hughes cam with their springs and the 24 lbs 4-hole Ford injectors with the newer electrical connectors on them. It hooks up with only 4 wires. I did run a after cat O2 simulator, but I didn't need to. When I got the harness, the only problem I had was they left a ground wire for the Pre-cat O2 sensor open. It took me a while to figure that out. I was lucky I had access to a Matco scanner, which really helped me set up the EFI, including setting the fuel sync.
I was running a regular 727 with a shift kit and a 2200 stall converter with 3.23 rear end gears. The car ran hard. It's a convertible and was probably running in the mid 13's like that.
I'm swapping in a stroked 408", ported Eddie head motor with a little bigger cam, hooking it up to a Powerglide bellhousing, a Precision 3000 stall converter with a 3-disc lock-up clutch, a Stage 2 200R4 trans from Extreme Automatics and 3.91's with a Truetrac.
I'm adding Vintage Air A/C, it already had power steering and with the 4-wheel disc brakes I have on it, it doesn't need power assist. The suspensions been upgraded and I put in aftermarket high-back bucket racing-type seats that are way more comfortable too. All I wish I had now is power windows. They only make the mechanisms for the front windows now.
It should be a lot quicker, get better mileage, be more fun to drive. I love the EFI! Hotwire makes a clean set-up. It will be safer with the improved seats, as before there was no head support should I ever get rear ended.
I went with an SCT Tuner to improve the performance and allow the bigger cam with the subsequent lower vacuum. I just was emailed a fresh base tune for my SCT Tuner to download into my ECM from Sean at HemiFever today. Once I get it up and running I'll video it with a wideband readout in the view, so Sean can fine tune his tune while I'm driving it.
You can find out more info on the build if your interested on my post in the driveline section. The transmission only uses a single 12V on/off switch for the lock-up on the torque converter and it only engages in 4th gear, so if you forget to turn it off, it unlocks automatically when your putting around town in 1st through 3rd. I did have to notch the crossmember and build a new rear transmission mount.
. i was going to use the factory harness from truck like badass but i woulk like to use 8 3/4 rear and have my speedo functional,as well as the hotwire looks much simpler. i was wondering in anyone has used either of these companies and how was the product and assistance with it?
