Tech - Very detailed photos of GordsFord HE install

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The GOrdsFord HE rocks! Excellent quality, straight bolt on installation (NO cutting of any hard parts), takes advantage of maximum area available in grill.

Here's a series of photos to detail the installation. I compressed the photos to make this load faster, that's why the arrows look jaggy. I also used photoshop to alter images for visibility, mostly lightening the mid-tones.

OK, So Step #1

1a) Jack car up, and place on strudy jackstand

1b) Remove airfilter assembly (whatever kind you have)

1c) Remove Battery

1d) Disconnect headlight wiring harness at bulbs

1e) Disconnect foglight wiring harness at bulbs

1f) Unscrew the center pins of the four push pins that hold the plastic radiator cover on, and then pull the cover off being careful to catch the push pins as they come out (two of these points are circled in GREEN on the photo below, the pins and cover have already been removed)

1g) Unscrew the center pins of the two push pins that hold the bumper cover on next to the headlights, and pull up to remove the push pins (the YELLOW circle on the left of the pic shows the passenger side pin before removal)

1h) Unscrew the two nuts holding the side of the bumper cover to the fender (the YELLOW oval circle shows you where they are)

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Step #2

2a) unscrew the two screws that hold the inner fender to the outer fender. These are just in front of the front tires at about the point shown by the arrow.

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Photo for Step #2

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Step #3

3a) Remove the center part of the two push pins (circled in YELLOW), and then remove the rest of the pins.

NOTE: You do NOT need to remove the four pins holding the little air dam in place (GREEN arrows), it will just come off with the cover)

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Step #4

4a) From underneather the car, reach up inside the fender (inside the inner fender) and remove the two nuts from the cover studs (just like you did behind the airfilter area). You can use the horns to orient yourself to this photo

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Step #5

5a) Pull out on the bumper cover at the sides where the two studs on each side go through the fender

5b) pull the cover off the front of the car

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Step #6

6a) Drain the HE coolant by disconnecting the lower HE hose (on the passenger side)

6b) Disconnect the upper hose onthe driver's side

6c) Unbolt the four lower bolts (the two front ones are circled in GREEN the rear ones are in the same approximate location). You will NOT reuse these bolts

6d) Remove the lower bracket piece that holds the HE in place

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Side-by-side comparison

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And from the top

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Step #7

7a) Remove the two rubber pieces from the lower HE bracket you removed in Step 6

7b) Remove the matching two rubber pieces that are found in the upper bracket that is still on the car.

7c) Follow the instructions to use a box cutter (with a new fresh blade!) to trim the four rubber pieces flat.

7d) Follow the instructions to trim two of the pieces to a shorter length.

TIPS: 1-make sure that the pieces fit snuggly, not too tight, but not loose either. Take your time here and trim a little at a time)
2-On the face of the rubber pieces opposite the little rubber tips, cut a 45 degree bevel (you can see this on the piece that the arrow on the right of the pic is pointing too. This will clear the radius of the top rails and allow more contact area between the rubber an the HE

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Here's a shot of the stock length and shortened pieces after flattening.

NOTE: 1- cut the shorter ones evenly from both ends so that the little rubber tips stay centered. 2-Note the 45 degree bevel on the piece on the far right of the pic

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Here's how the shortened rubber piece should fit between the rails. The stock length one is shown for comparison

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Step #8

8a) Use the parts in the kit and follow directions to add a three inch extension to the upper HE hose.

8b) Also add the longer lower hose.

NOTE: We'll talk about this in a couple more steps, but note the are circled in green. When you have the HE properly installed, it should be snuggly retained, yet you should be able to grasp the end tanks and wiggle the HE fore and aft without the top rails making contact inside the top of the black bracket.

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Step #9

9a) Here's how you get the snug fit without being too tight. You'll use the nuts and washers inthe kit as spacers between the lower bracket and the mount.

NOTE: You use the longer bolts in the kit to test fit the lower bracket. When you have it snug so that the HE won't move side-to-side, yet the top wil move fore & aft (i.e., the top of the HE is not in solid contact with the bracket) you've got it just right.

Test stack nuts and washers and fit them in the gap while the properly adjusted long bolts are holding everything together. Keep adding washers until the stack won't fit inside the gap, then remove that last washer and you've got your gap (kind of like a think feeler gauge).

9b) Remove the temp bolts one at a time and replace with the shorter permanent bolts with proper nut/washer spacing stack.

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When it's all bolted together, confirm that you can't move the HE side to side, but that you can move the top of it fore & aft at the points circled in GREEN.

The YELLOW circles are just showing the final bolt/spacer stack