Well, the time had come for me to start the work to install the LA3. Aside from the fact that you have to swap computers, the LA3 computer has one thing that the SVO's PJ lacks: an ACT sensor. This means that you have to wire an ACT sensor up into the computer and to the sensor itself. Let the fun begin!.

The first thing to do is get ahold of a computer pin for the ACT. I went to a junkyard and pulled the computer out of another car, and opened its harness and pulled out a dozen wires or so. With some trusty wire clippers, I snipped myself a handful of harness pins. Now I can literally wire up my own harness if need be. At any rate, I put the wire I'll use for the ACT thru the firewall and after a bit of heat shrink and electric tape, the wire is connected to the pin and put into the harness as PIN#25. I also chose to use a black wire. I took the ACT harness I got from a mid-90s model taurus and spliced it to the ACT wire comeing thru the firewall. I hid the wire in the vacuum tree holder thingie on the firewall and put the wiring into the loom for the main harness wiring bundle. After splicing it so that where the black wire meets the ACTharness wire AFTER the loom begins, I was able to hide it well enough that it looks OEM. Go me. Now, onto the intake fabbing...

The first order of business was to tap the ACT into the intake somewhere after the intercooler. I would have put it into the lower intake, but I was an onery idiot and had already put the lower on the car. I decided that the upper would do just fine *and it will* and took it to a local machine shop to have the work done. I put the upper down onto the lower to make sure that I had clearance for everything. The machine shop drilled it and tapped it where I asked them to do it and 4 hours and $30 later, I went and picked it up. I was so happy! They did a nice, clean job. I set the upper onto the lower, threaded in the ACT and hooked up the connector and... DAMN. Looks like I forgot that the connector adds about 2" to the length of the sensor. And I will bet money that the fuel lines wont move. Especially as the location is right as they connect to the fuel rail. Could I have put the bitch in any worse of a place? NO. Hmmmmm...

Well, I got the hook up from another Turboford.org guy and he sent me a power drill and a 3/8" tap. I put the ACT up higher this time after TRIPLE checking everything I could think of that might get in the way. I also had to pipe plug the other ACT hole that was drilled prior. needless to say, my intake looks like it has leprosy or something, all these weird useless holes in it... but hey, at least its done.