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It’s been eight years and three presidents so finally time to get this project rolling again. At the bottom of this post you’ll find links to my previous project threads, which I’ll be pulling a bit from. Boy I miss some of those cars. This is technically a restarting of the Volvo project, sprinkled with some occasional updates from the rest of the stable. Current Driveway: 1979 Volo 265  The Project. This one has been sitting for about thirteen years, just waiting for its moment. Could that moment be now??? 1989 Mustang Interceptor  The Legacy. Well the car is gone so that’s an update. Otherwise everything has been sitting in the garage for like six years waiting for work to calm down so I can focus. Work hasn’t calmed down, but I don’t want to wait any longer. 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis  The Survivor. Found this on ebay a while ago (2015) and for the price I couldn’t resist. One owner, who died, and I got it from the estate sale basically. 2012 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon  The Daily. After my Fiat was stolen in 2019 I was back in the station wagon market and my dreams of finding a reasonably priced Saab with a manual weren’t bearing fruit so CTS it was. Plenty to say about this car and it's also for sale! 1987 Ford Bronco II  The Baby. Just picked this up and definitely shouldn’t have. I got a deal, but loving hell these things have shot up in value. You couldn’t give these away back in the heyday of the Explorer in the 90’s, but boy howdy are they desirable now. Thread Structure I'll be adding replies below for each car where the more in-depth stories can be told and edited as needed. Otherwise, just the typical project thread full of poorly-lit photos and fun anecdotes. As suggested in the questions thread, I'll do a reread of the first Volvo thread and will post an analysis of how that one progressed and why things didn't continue. It isn't a happy story, but life goes on and all we can do is learn from our experiences. First Thread Link: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3377193 Second Thread Link: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3712555 Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Jun 1, 2023 |
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Jun 1, 2023 06:38
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The Swap This is the meat of the thread right here and also the slowest project I’ve ever attempted. I’ll be lucky if there are still parts to buy for the engine and transmission by the time I get around to actually rebuilding them. Guess I’m lucky fox body Mustangs are finally hitting the desirable zone which could mean a slight bump in parts availability. Sometime in That time is now, mostly. I've begun again with the Volvo and even found my old budget spreadsheet from over ten years ago. That and some more stuff will be linked below. This project looked way more feasible fifteen years ago when you could easily buy 302 long blocks and my genius mechanic friend was still alive. I'm going to use the next few months to take stock of the situation and re-identify all the parts I currently have on hand, whether they are still usable, and if I can still get the remaining stuff or not. I've also found out that the intake cover for the old GT-40 tubular intake is now selling for almost a grand on ebay, which is weird. Sure hope mine is still in the box. Below is the current timeline. Much of this will depend on weather, when my friends are able to help, and whatever else pops up that I have no control over. Oh and how much money I have available, that will probably be the biggest bottleneck when we get close to the end. I'll purchase parts as they are needed, but I want to have the full assessment done before things get rolling so I'm not wasting time/money. I'll also be adding in a second page on the budget document that will be separated out by months to help budget the items more effectively. January-February: - Dispose of original engine and transmission - De-grease and pressure wash engine bay and transmission/driveshaft tunnel - Reread all of TestPoint's original thread and accompanying documentation - Print out original Volvo wiring diagram and label all original wire ends, while also checking continuity at both ends when possible - Do the same with Ford's wiring diagrams and note where each will join, plus what will need to be replaced - Print out Ford vacuum diagram and identify which lines need to be replaced (all of them). This will be a very fiddly part of the project I'm sure. - Identify model of current rear axle to determine if it will be viable. If not, find an 8.8 with disc brakes (old Ranger in junk yard) and a shop that can cut it down to fit - Meet with owner of Mustang shop I know and discuss general fabrication options for driveshaft rear end. He should be a good person to discuss the project with insofar as who I should be talking to when I need help - Drop fuel tank and dispose of old fuel then inspect original sending unit and remove pump(s) March-April: - Assuming the project is still viable, this is where the action begins - Read book on rebuilding and tuning 302 and T5 transmission - Rebuilding them seems pretty straightforward and the Z-spec T5 uses the same rebuild kit, according to Ford, so no big issues there with parts you can still get that from Ford or anyone else for that matter - Track down second pair of Virgo wheels and center caps - Determine when rebuild kits can be purchased within budget. This will depend heavily on how the other cars are running. If I can get the Bronco stabilized, then I'm fine with the Merc and CTS waiting for their respective major work - Bring body shop guy by the house to create an estimate for the rust repair and general paint work. This shouldn't be all that expensive, the majority of the paint is in terrific condition - Have motor and transmission mount brackets fabricated and paint them May-June: - Begin engine and trans rebuild process - Will fill rest in once things get rolling A Few Points To Consider ~ The PRV weighed 350lbs and the 302 weighs 450lbs. What can I do to get the weight down? Aluminum heads? Already got aluminum intake manifold, that'll help. Ordered a scale and I'm going to weigh the Volvo's drivetrain before it gets scrapped. I don't really *need* to spend a couple grand on aluminum heads, but it would be nice if the weight could be matched where possible. ~ The front seats have zero side bolstering so any amount of fun driving will create major slide all over the place issues for driver and passenger. Should I look into replacing the front seats with more modern Volvo seats? I would very much like to keep this thing looking as stock as possible, even the interior. ~ Tires will be a problem. First off, the tire companies aren't really support 15" wheels anymore. Second, the virgo wheels I'm using are only 6" wide. That mean I need to stay around 205 wide for the tires, or they're going to get a bit too big for the wheels. That doesn't leave very many options, like almost nothing really.I also would prefer to avoid the typical BFG CompT/A approach for muscle cars, but will get them if there just isn't anything else that's viable. ~ Choosing the correct speedo gear for the transmission should be fun. That's another part that I hope is still widely available by the time I get this thing on the road. At least now I have a phone that will tell me how fast I'm going so I can easily verify the speedo. Need to find a local speedometer shop that can fabricate a cable with the Ford connector at one end and the Volvo connector on the other. I still have the Mustang's cable, maybe it can be fabricated from that. ~ The tach connection is interesting, looks like there's just a potentiometer on the back to have it read a V8 signal. Other than that it's just some wires. ~ Will need to pull the radio head unit and have it rebuilt. I'm sure the 8-track belt is toast and those capacitors are ancient by now. This won't cost much and finding the belt will be the only issue. Also should look into replacing the stock speakers while I'm messing with the interior. ~ What in the world am I going to do about the headers? Sure as hell won't be able to fit long tubes in there, but I'd really like to have equal length runners if at all possible. I've got an exhaust shop in town that I used for the Merc and those dudes were amazing. I'll probably just use some stock manifolds for testing the motor out and then tow it over to their shop and have them fabricate everything from the engine back. That'll allow them to position the O2 sensor and cats where they will fit well and not burn up the carpet. Weights, gonna confirm all of these soon: PRV engine - 350lbs? M46 trans - 90lbs? 302 engine - 450lbs? T5Z trans - 75lbs I'll get some good photos of all the parts once I get them inventoried again. I'm hoping to get the garage all cleaned up this week (the first week of January) and that will help with finding the items not in their storage bins. Old budget spreadsheet. This is getting slowly updated as I reassess things. I'll highlight the on hand items after the inventory is completed. google docs The original turbobricks thread that I got all the info from. https://turbobricks.com/index.php?threads/volvos-that-run.250257/ Archive.org snapshot of the original conversion kit site: https://web.archive.org/web/20100227025309/http://www.converse-engineering.com/volv8_kit.html I'm going to try to reach the dude again and see if he at least has the drawings for the engine/trans mounts and any other documentation available still. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Jan 13, 2024 |
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Jun 1, 2023 06:39
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The Survivor 1978 Mercury Grand Marquis Lima 460 V8 Ford C6 Automatic This one currently sits at around 79,000 original miles. It lived in Iowa its entire life and somehow never got any major rust. The owner died before I bought it, but I did find a 65 Mercury owners manual in the glovebox, plus a few random 8 tracks and a map of Iowa, so he definitely had a type and stuck with them. The rear seat feels like it was never used and there is somehow only a single cigarette burn in the entire interior and it might be from something else as the ashtrays are all pristine. All four of them. Back when I got it everything seemed fine. The AC worked once some R12 was added, the engine ran reasonably well, transmission was perfect, and even the 8-track belt was fine. Within a month the brake lines rusted through near the rear junction, so the entire system was replumbed, and then the AC developed an issue. My friend, and best mechanic I’ve ever known, was helping out with it at the house when he had time, but was dealing with health issues so things moved slowly. While he had the AC apart he had a heart attack so I parked it while I worked out another path for getting it back together. During that time the carb got all clogged up and the gas went bad in the tank, so that got cleaned out and I rebuilt the carb. Weirdly, one of the mufflers also blew out a baffle so it had a fun rattling sound on top of the carb being poorly tuned. That was a couple of years ago so fast forward to this year and I finally took it to the shop I’ve been frequenting to let them get it all sorted out. The engine is running perfectly now and it’s quite happy on the highway. AC will likely be dealt with next year and the brakes need attention, the front left isn’t correctly adjusted and they seem to be grabbing incorrectly at each corner, so it’s back in the garage while I focus on getting the CTS figured out so it can be sold and I can be back to only owning cars over thirty years old. Oh I also had the entire exhaust redone from the headers back with modern cats and dynomax mufflers that aren’t too loud, but sound more interesting than the original Ford ones. Overall this car isn’t that interesting of a project, just your typical old car repairs. It’s just unique as a representation of the last gasp of the big body American sedans with outrageously huge motors making absolutely no horsepower while also getting under 10mpg. I like it because it gets a very fun reaction from younger people, plus the usual “I had one of those” or “My parents had one of those” stories from everyone else. It’s extremely comfortable and such a distinct experience compared to modern cars that I plan on keeping it around until I can’t get parts anymore, or run out of space. Future plans: Install one of those EFI kits with a fuel pump in the tank Fix the minor bodywork issues and some paint touchup Repair AC and convert to r134 Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Jun 1, 2023 |
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Jun 1, 2023 06:39
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The Daily 2012 Cadillac CTS Sportwagon Cadillac LFX 3.6L V6 GM 6L50 Automatic As mentioned above, this was a quick purchase after my most reliable car (2012 Fiat 500 Turbo) was stolen. I had been looking at these when I bought the Fiat, but GM didn’t make many and only the V’s get a lot of attention. I also really wanted air-conditioned seats. After the Fiat incident I found a wagon after a couple of weeks that seem viable. Less than 100k miles, top equipment package, 3.6 with RWD, ventilated seats, etc. Did the paperwork to buy and ship it to Texas, but the dealer decided he wanted it and canceled everything. That was annoying, but nothing I could do other than complain to the site hosting the sale. Next one I found was in Vegas with 65k miles and again all the options I wanted. The carfax had a minor rear damage note and the mileage was a bit weird like it sat for a few years or something, but given how few of these there are and how even fewer there are with low miles and the options I wanted, well I could only be so picky and picked it up. Figured I could fix any major problems and still be fine in the end. It was from an Autonation so I was expecting the process to at least be professional. The Fiat came from Carmax and they were great. Extremely easy going and efficient. I guess Autonation changed their model over the years and are sort of a franchised thing with no real quality control cause these guys were seriously annoying and incompetent. It was having the sunroof liner thing installed so I had to wait for them to finish that and I think they also put in a new fuel pump, reinforcing suspicions around it sitting for a long time. I did send one of those guys you can pay to do an inspection and take photos and he gave a glowing review of it, but who knows if he knew what he was doing or not cause he missed a few things. Anyway they finished the work and we got the shipping arranged. It was supposed to arrive right before Thanksgiving and the driver got held up for whatever reason so he calls and says I can come get it at his house on the north side of Houston (forty mile drive) otherwise I can wait two days and he’ll bring it down. Already had a friend staying at my place for the holidays so he drove me up there and I get the key and notice it doesn’t have temp plates or any sort of paperwork from the dealer. I’m used to buying cars from regular people and not having plates, that’s an easy form to fill out, but this thing is financed and they’re supposed to provide them as far as I know until I can get plates from the county. I did find a Nevada temporary permit or whatever form in the glovebox, but it ran out before the guy even picked it up to ship. I guess they filed for it when the car was sold, but never bothered to get a new one after it was done being fixed in their own shop and just sent it along with no paperwork on a holiday weekend so I couldn’t get a temporary myself even if I wanted to. Called and yelled at them and they said they would fedex a new form, but that never happened and I just sat on the car until the next week and I was able to go to the tax office to get a temp tag. The main paperwork was being sent to me, but wasn’t here yet so I couldn’t get the actual plates yet. They also charged me too much in tax on the sale and Texas had to get some form from them to verify and that became a separate nightmare of bureaucracy which was extremely not worth the effort for like $100 in overcharges. Next up, inspecting the car myself. So I start digging into the interior and first thing I notice is that you can see the ground through the spare tire well in the back. Looks like the rear end repairs missed a spot so that work was definitely professionally done. It’s only like a 1/8” crack, but still that’s a pretty obvious issue that should have been caught by the body shop and the guy I sent over to inspect it. After that I’m checking out the key fob thing and figured out why it has a rubberized case on it; the fob itself is cracked and falls apart if it isn’t in there. Called the dealer and ask them to pay for a replacement since they basically didn’t give me a single good key and they basically told me to gently caress off. Annoyingly, the physical key that’s inside the fob only opens the doors. It won’t start the motor or anything, only the proximity sensor will do that. I think it will unlock the shifter if you pull up the center console so you can at least get it out of park to move it, so that’s nice. I ended up just buying a new one from GM and it works fine except it registered itself as "driver 3" so I can't used the seat memory. Took it to two different shops and neither of them could get the key to reassign itself to driver 1 so I gave up on that and accepted that I will have to push the button on the door each time I get in. Since then the car has had major front end suspension issues, a bad vapor canister, cracked headlight casing filling up with water and, as per every single GM car of that era, both headlights turned yellow and fogged up within a year. The HVAC system also has an infuriating ticking sound that’s coming from a plastic gear by the gas pedal that sounds like a relay isn’t engaging correctly or something. It’s also started making a similar noise on the other side and now the AC won’t always kick in on the passenger side. Apparently there’s some known issue that GM has a bulletin out for, but I’ve been focused on the front end and the AC basically works still. The front end is a whole ‘nother situation that has been driving me crazy. It started to feel like when you have blown out shocks that leave the car bouncing on the springs when you go over a bump so I bought new struts from GM, matching the original FE2 suspension, and was immediately annoyed by having to deal with coilovers. This is the first car with that design that I’ve actually replaced the suspension in and boy is it irritating if you don’t have a big ol’ spring compressor system. Somehow got all four replaced and it seemed fine, but the same feeling slowly came back after a few weeks. Also in this timeframe GM stopped selling the original shocks/struts for the CTS wagon I have. The only option I could find on rockauto were Monroes. Bilstien doesn’t make them for this model and KYB didn’t have anything, it's bizarre how little support this car has. I can get them for the AWD version from KYB and GM, but not RWD. Interestingly, GM is selling the rears again, but still only the AWD fronts, so I got the Monroes and also did the control arms and sway bar links in hopes of tackling all possible points. Same exact result. It also has felt like the wheels are out of round when turning at slow speeds. Like the suspension is so loose it wobbles once every revolution at low speed. It’s fine once at speed and doesn’t feel dangerous, but before I did them last it was actually swaying around on the highway at around 70 enough that it was scary. Like the front end was lifting up or something. Last annoying thing: the tailgate struts gave out last year so the motor would lift it up, but then it would just fall down after a second or so. I survived with a broom handle for a while, but finally gave in and changed them out and goddamn are those annoying to get at. The clips were maddening to reach and I cut the hell out of my arms trying. They did end up working and the system was back to normal after a few hours of trying to not damage the headliner. Then four months later it’s doing it again and I’m very curious what the hell happened. Did the shocks fail already? That seems unlikely, I’ve never had them go bad that fast. They were the ones rated for this car specifically and they shouldn’t have been overloaded by the weight so I’m not sure why and much like the coilovers I really don’t want to go through that again. Is it an issue with the motor or the position sensor? Who knows, but I’ll be replacing them before it gets sold. It’s been fine otherwise and is still putting along after 25k miles. I really like it as a wagon and the 3.6 is plenty powerful, if not very fast. The mileage has been bad the entire time I’ve had it though, maxing out at 23mpg on a 100% highway drive. Usually it’s in the mid teens around town and I’m not exactly racing people. I’m guessing it’s just been trouble the whole time and sitting did something to it that hasn’t been noticed by anyone working on it. Like, it runs fine and isn't surging or cutting out or anything, it just gets bad mileage. Future plans: Eat the cost and take it to a shop that knows what they’re doing to address the front end once and for all. After doing the coilovers twice I’m extremely not interested in doing them ever again and will just pay what it takes to have someone else fix it. I’m still undecided on the AC. I feel like it would be best to take it to a dealership to address it, but I would guess any decent shop can also look up the same info a GM shop can and will do the same troubleshooting. Once those two are wrapped up I’ll probably have a body shop touch up the scratches and polish the headlights so I can sell it. Parts availability has been annoying enough that I would rather focus on the older cars and let this one go. It also doesn’t have the benefits of a modern car that I really want. Specifically adaptive cruise and CarPlay. This thing has support for the older apple stuff, but I had to get some hacked USB cable off of eBay to get it to talk to my phone and all it does is play music, no bluetooth calling anything. Maybe if the drat headlights weren’t $1,000 each I would consider keeping it, but it just isn’t worth the headaches and someday I’ll finish the Volvo so my wagon needs will be met. It does support DVD-audio which is pretty sweet and I love the ancient navigation screen that goes up and down, I’ll definitely miss those and the power tailgate. The V’s have been very good at holding their value and I’m sure they will continue to do so. Not sure what this will end up being worth really, the wagon fan market is very finicky and the previous wreck will probably outweigh the low mileage bonus. I’ve never cared about making my money back on all these cars, I buy them for the experience first, so we’ll see what happens. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Jan 2, 2024 |
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Jun 1, 2023 06:39
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The Baby 1987 Ford Bronco II Cologne 2.9L V6 Ford A4LD Automatic Before this one, the El Camino was the worst car I owned that ended up being worth the most money. Although to be fair, this is way better built and designed than any g body that isn’t a Grand National and those also weren’t built all that well they just went really fast. The El Camino was also stolen so I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen again, even if it did lead to significant cash advantage for me. Interestingly, the El Camino and this Bronco II are the only cars I've taken on cross-country trips and neither had working AC. Story here is I’m gearing up to sell the Cadillac and wanted something fun again. The Merc is badass and all, but it isn’t exactly engaging to drive. The Volvo is still a long way from completion and neither of them would really be a daily driver anyway. Maybe the Volvo will end up being fine for tons of miles, but that’s to be determined. Overall Impressions - Boy does this thing drive like a truck, just more unstable. This is not a vehicle I would recommend someone drive without a good amount of time to get used to if they haven’t driven older trucks before. I’ve had Ford’s with the i-beam front end, but they were all full-size and large enough that they didn’t bounce all over the place like this does. - My god the visibility is unreal. It’s arguably better than a convertible since you’re up so high. Even with that spare in the back, I can see everything out the mirror. Those windows in the back are so drat huge and it’s even weirder for people in the back seat, just nothing but windows all around you. Very fun for an off-roader, but a shame Ford dropped the removable windows idea they originally had. - I kind of wish it had a manual, but at least the auto has overdrive unlike the Merc’s C6. I’m sitting at 3,000RPM at 70mph on the highway and getting high teens for mileage. Not bad for a truck in the 80’s, just nowhere near as good as that early 80’s ranger with the 4cyl. That thing got like 40mpg or something. - It’s a real good mix of small truck and roomy interior. The front seat area feels very spacious, while being a fairly small vehicle overall. Storage isn’t all that long with the seats down, but the roof is so high in there that you can fit all kinds of stuff if you get creative. Future plans: - I’m putting KYB’s in to replace the old Bilsteins and might change them out with something more fun in the future, but they should be great for the time being. Ford still makes the OEM shocks, but they aren't any cheaper than the KYB's. - Need to replace the fuel sender probably, so that’ll be soon. (fixed!) - The cargo cover’s brackets were removed by the PO and he kept them in a bag, but the screws wandered off so need to track some down. (fixed!) - Fix the AC, hopefully it just needs to be charged. (fixed!) - Redo the exhaust. The welds are just insanely bad, total amateur hour, and I’m considering dualing it out with an exit on each side to match the factory location for the single exhaust. Not a high priority, but it does smell quite a bit so I need to check all the welds to see if there are any leaks. If so we'll have to bump this up to high priority. At least it should be cheaper to do than the Merc if I keep it single outlet and I can also reuse the Ford muffler, it looks to be in fine condition. - Wheel bearings and some other bushings need to be replaced, standard old car stuff. - Also a new factory style tire cover for the spare. The one on it is sized for the stock tire size and I’ve got slightly wider tires on it now so it barely fits. Insane that these came with 205 wide tires when new, no wonder they were all falling over. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Jan 2, 2024 |
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Jun 1, 2023 06:40
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31 May 2023 Update Finally got the Bronco back from the shop. They didn’t find much else wrong with it beyond what we could see while it was on the lift in Roanoke, just the passenger side radius arm bushing is looking bad and the high side schrader valve was leaking so that got replaced and the AC is working quite well now. The shocks and fuel pump/sender will be here by the weekend so looks like I’ll be pulling the tank after all. Was going to fill it up on the way back from work, but forgot my wallet so I guess it all worked out. Just hoping I don’t have to remove the bumper to get the tank shield off, apparently that's the only way from what I've seen. I'm working on the trip story for the Bronco which should be ready in a few days.
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Jun 1, 2023 07:13
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Can't believe I've never read any of your old threads till now. My loss
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Jun 1, 2023 08:18
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i remember the chp mustang. that thing was pretty cool, it deserved to be more than just a powertrain donor
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Jun 1, 2023 09:19
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Raluek posted:i remember the chp mustang. that thing was pretty cool, it deserved to be more than just a powertrain donor It actually ended up back with the guy I bought it from, I just kept the engine and transmission. He did the bodywork and redid the paint and is using it as a track car. Couldn't have hoped for a better second life. I'll get a photo of it next time I'm on that side of town.
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Jun 2, 2023 04:46
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Bronco Update: Tried to get a few small things out of the way before the title transfer on Friday so I took a look at the following: - Previous owner said the rear washer fluid pump was dead - Rear hatch was very squeaky when opening/closing - Rear hatch light wasn't coming on when open So the hatch light was just a played out switch in the door. The original style is still available so I ordered one and got that switch out. The light is still finicky, but works most of the time. If I get a chance someday I'll trace the wires and see if anything is loose in there. The old switch. Spring was completely dead and one of the clips was broken, definitely not functional anymore.  New one installed  The hatch being squeaky was just the usual unlubricated hinges. Sprayed some white lithium grease on them and it's back to it's old silent self. For the washer pump, I avoided using it on the trip back and just checked it earlier today. Well, I checked the hoses first and found this:    Looks like the hose got disconnected at some point. It's actually too short to reach the nipple, who knows how that happened. I oriented it away from the truck and engaged the pump to see if it actually worked, after filling it with fluid of course, and well it seemed to be working fine and shot water out as expected. I grabbed the hose to bring it to autozone to get some bulk hose with and threw it in the CTS. A bit later as I was heading out the house to leave for work I saw this under the Bronco:  Guess we've got a more annoying problem than I thought. I'll pull the panels off this weekend and see if it's just a bad hose that's leaking, or the tank itself. it's located behind the passenger side taillight, I'm guessing, but will get photos once I'm in there. Also this weekend: all four shocks and *hopefully* the fuel sender/pump. probably will change the oil as well, they put some weird small filter on it at the jiffy lube he took it to. and speaking of fluids....
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Jun 2, 2023 05:00
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Got a delivery the day after I got back from DC, let's see what was inside: lol that stamp  Oh good it's my favorite thing to buy every time I get a new car: period factory literature!    Normally I don't obsess over buying the car in the color it was in for all the press materials like Doug does, but it did seem to work out with this one. Also this is the first time I've picked up an actual press photo and blurb, but it was cheap and in perfect condition so great. I also found another item from that era, but it isn't here yet. I'm very excited about it and hope it gets here soon. And of course, Motorcraft oil, filter, and antifreeze. First time rockauto has put tape on the caps and they sure did find the most adhesive tape ever, took way too long to get off. 
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Jun 2, 2023 05:07
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Bronco Journey Being the rationale vehicle acquirer that I am, I begin looking for two vehicles I remembered from my youth. A Bronco II and an Allante. Immediately I notice two things: that Bronco II prices were not immune the truck obsession of the past few years, and that Allante owners are all insane. These people think they have Bronco II’s to sell, yet they instead have an ancient Cadillac with a motor no-one wants to work on. I got real close to picking up an Allante, but the owner stopped answering my questions after I started asking about things he obviously didn’t want to explain so I continued watching the Broncos that were on my short list and left my dreams of Northstar problems on the shelf (for now!). There was one on carsandbids that was way too rough for the price it was commanding, in my opinion, so I didn’t pursue it, but there was a single one on ebay of all places that somehow stayed within my budget (including shipping and tires since all used cars need tires no matter what it seems). The seller was extremely easy to talk to and happy to take more photos and answer all my questions. I learned a lot about interrogating sellers and backing off when they stop giving you what you want with the CTS and this dude ended up being the best seller I’ve ever dealt with that wasn’t someone I already knew. Unfortunately, as with most of the cars I’ve picked up the past ten years, it wasn’t anywhere near me so I had to trust that this guy wasn’t lying. Photo from the auction:    I might be a bit obsessive, but it always bugs me when people take pictures of their interior and don’t bother to orient the wheel to center. And if any of y’all had a Ford truck in the 80’s, you’ll recognize the sun visors hanging down at an angle. They all did that after a while and there are a bunch of forums posts from the past few decades with different strategies for fixing it. Some are just ridiculous. As is likely obvious, I won the auction and we started working out how to get it to Texas. The auction ended midday on a Friday and the day before I found out this guy was leaving the country on the following Tuesday so it had to be picked up Monday night. The shippers of course couldn’t guarantee that immediately so I put together a contingency plan of flying out to DC the next Friday to pick it up (he had it at a Public Storage near Reagan airport) and then driving it back to Texas.  This was of course an insane idea if only because it’s over thirty-five years old and a truck known for falling over. It also needed tired very badly, so I would have to arrange that on the trip as soon as possible, and I also had to be in Houston by that Sunday afternoon for work so nothing could go wrong. Obviously this was a terrible plan and I really needed the shippers to come through.  The shippers did not come through and I can’t say I blame them given the short notice. I had to make the call by the end of the day Saturday and they didn’t confirm they could do Monday night until Monday morning, but I had already bought the plane ticket by then and had the owner fedex me a set of keys and title transfer paperwork signed by him. This also was my way of confirming the truck actually exists since I was worried the whole time that this was a bizarrely complex scam. He sends over the tracking number on Monday and it’s set to arrive by 10:30 on Wednesday. 10:30 rolls around and suddenly the tracking site shows it as being delivered at 10:28. I had it delivered to my job which has a guard at the delivery location 24/7 just in case and they reported no fedex truck arriving yet that day. I call fedex and get a call center guy that obviously is not equipped to help me figure out what happened, but he did confirm I had opened a case on the site and that they would contact me soon. That didn’t happen and I went to Austin to watch some wrestling,  the whole time wondering if an envelope with what I assumed was the only copy of the title for my new car that might not exist had gone missing and the owner was now in Europe so not particularly equipped to swing by the Florida tax office and request a new one. I get home and finally get a call from the guard in the morning letting me know the envelope showed up overnight and yes there were keys jingling around in there. An hour later fedex finally calls to check in and see if the envelope ever arrived, which was considerate of them. Also in the middle of the fedex saga, the owner let me know he left the title inside the truck, so that was a relief in case it had gotten lost. Time to prepare to fly out. I’ve got a suitcase full of tools and everything else I can think of to help in case something breaks, plus a dozen tapes for the ride back.  First time I’ve checked a bag in ages other than the times they ask for volunteers at the gate, but it was all fine so no big deal. Oh look it’s the war machine  I land at Reagan and drag two very heavy bags into a taxi and arrive at the public storage that the owner has sent me gate code and combination lock info for. After walking around the entire building I reach unit A029 and nail the Master Lock combo on the first try, the first in a string of successes that will fill my weekend. The gate opens and all that stress finally washes away.  Then I remember it also needs to start and drive or I’m not getting back to Texas in time and some of the stress flows back in. I get in, the doors were unlocked, and find the second set of keys with vintage ’95 Python alarm fob thing attached. The truck starts right up and settles to a reasonable 1,100 RPM idle in park. I back it out to get a look at it and load up all the luggage and notice the exhaust smells exactly like my old fox body mustang. Guess it’s a Ford thing. I try to plug in the FM transmitter to the cigarette lighter, but it’s too recessed into the dash and won’t seat fully. Looks like we’re going to be listening to tapes the whole way back!  Let’s get this started right with a period correct album. Public Image Ltd’s Cassette, released the year this was originally bought. I pull out of the storage unit absorbing the sounds of the ancient Ford V6 struggling to accelerate on top of John Lydon’s complaints about fake friends and feel for the first time that this just might work out. Most of the trip is uneventful so I’ll stick to the highlights. Oh and I forgot to mention that there were two issues the seller mentioned in the listing: that the AC wasn’t working and that the fuel gauge was dead, two things that are very fun in a road trip to Texas in late May. (Correction, he said the AC *was* working, but it wasn’t by the time I picked it up) I’ve arranged to stay in Roanoke Friday night and immediately get tires on Saturday morning so I can get on the road and make it to the southern tip of Mississippi by the end of the day. The drive is fine, but I do notice that there’s a significant rumble at 65 and goddamn this truck has no power at all. I think it might actually be slower than the AMC I had and that thing was dangerously slow. At least the Bronco has brakes that work so we’re already off to a better start than the Hornet. The tires are dry rotted all the way around at the base of the tread and checking the date code they’re about eight years old so not all that surprising. I just needed them to get me to Roanoke and they did that much. The truck also maintained a rock solid temperature the whole way and somehow got 20mpg according to my calculations, but that seems like an outlier as all the other fillings were between fourteen and nineteen. Side observation: I miss vent windows on cars. These things are essential when your AC doesn’t work, they let in so much air and at a rate that it cools off quite a bit. Used them the whole trip and it was great, if not a bit loud. Original Tires https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NymcsUQYNFE I realize while driving on Friday I forgot to call the tire shop on Thursday and make sure they order the tires so I call them an hour before they close and they guy says there are enough in the area and he’ll have them added to the truck tomorrow and they should arrive by noon, which could put me behind enough that I won’t make it to Meridian. We shall see! In the parking lot of discount tire, waiting.  Luck fell in my favor again and they get the tires by ten and I’ve also got an alignment lined up at an NTB down the street and head over there after the tires are on. The guy running the shop is very cool and lets me come in and check out the underside while they have it up on their lift. This is awesome and exactly what I wanted to see. The front left wheel has a bit of play, but nothing that will be obvious while cruising, there’s a slight leak at the oil pressure sender, and the bushing are cracked on top of the shocks. Also it’s got old Bilsteins which is unexpected. Another unexpected thing is he had an OEM Ford muffler installed when he redid the exhaust like eight years ago, that seems like a ridiculous choice to me when most people just go with something cheap from Walker if you want to stay close to stock. Rest of the truck looked amazing and there was no obvious rust at all. The whole shop at the NTB was looking at this truck too and sharing car guy stories about their youth. This was easily the best chain tire/alignment shop I’ve ever been to, everyone there had a great attitude and seemed to take their jobs seriously for a place that seems to chew through employees at the ones I’ve been to. So if you’re in Roanoke, I recommend the NTB on whatever highway that was you can PM me if you’re curious. New Tires https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBsG-hmNvmk Stopped at as many rest areas as possible, always love seeing how each state handles them. The Louisiana one was quite nice and even had some old ladies in there telling the worst jokes I’ve ever heard.  Also this fun dispenser at a Loves in Mississippi.  There was an insane wreck in Tennessee just before I got into Georgia that lasted like an hour and ended up being a semi missing its front wheels. No idea how that happened and I only took a picture while we were all just sitting there waiting.  That’s the end of the potential drama on the trip. The rumble at 65 was gone and it didn’t feel like it would instantly flip over if I ever let go of the wheel anymore, but it certainly still feels like it’s going to lose control when it hits road imperfections and is quite dangerous in the rain. Both of which I got quite a bit of on the trip back. There was also the fun trend of people driving progressively faster and more aggressively as I got closer to Texas. Everyone on Virginia drove under the speed limit, which was wild to me, and by the time I was in Louisiana I was getting passed by semis non-stop. The highways also followed the same trend. Beautiful scenery and smooth roads up north, turning into boring fields and nonstop construction on absolutely terrible roads that were just embarrassing to behold as I closed in on Houston. So I made it back just in time to pickup my dog from the vet and head to work.  Final report from the journey: a surprisingly consistent performance from the Bronco, no leaks, and a tape deck that works fine. Much like the trip in the El Camino fourteen years ago, it was a terrible idea that somehow all worked out. To round it all out, I'll throw in some photos from the road in the next reply.
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Jun 2, 2023 06:03
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pictures!          
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Jun 2, 2023 06:09
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Did the Bronco come with the TV (PVM?) or what?
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Jun 2, 2023 06:15
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Did the Bronco come with the TV (PVM?) or what? lmao i was wondering the same thing. sweet score, if so. otherwise, good opportunity to pick up bulky stuff from random craigslists on your way through! that truck is cleeeean. never really appreciated those, but when they're all so much rougher than that, this one stands out. Sir Tonk posted:It actually ended up back with the guy I bought it from, I just kept the engine and transmission. He did the bodywork and redid the paint and is using it as a track car. Couldn't have hoped for a better second life. thats a relief!
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Jun 2, 2023 06:44
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I remember reading your old that's, welcome back! I'm really happy that the Mustang went back to the original seller and got resurrected!
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Jun 2, 2023 12:11
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Did the Bronco come with the TV (PVM?) or what? Oh yeah I left that out of the story. So a guy I know works on old PVMs and was selling one he restored to my friend in town that wanted it for his game store. I found out that his house was on my route so I stopped by and got to see his workshop and we had dinner and I grabbed the TV so we could avoid the hassle and risk of shipping it. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Jun 3, 2023 |
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Jun 3, 2023 01:04
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Also was able to get photos from the previous owner from when he did the interior. I've never seen a truck this old with paint that clean under the carpet and seats.    I didn't take a picture, but when we were under it on the lift at the shop I noticed four lag bolts sticking out under the transmission tunnel, and there was like three inches of thread. Sounds like he lost the original threaded bolts for the center console and just drilled four overly long lag bolts into the body instead. Unfortunate, but could be worse. I'll get images while I'm under there doing the shocks this weekend. also really hope he hooked up those drain tubes for the sunroof when he put the headliner back in.
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Jun 3, 2023 01:34
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Getting back to Texas tomorrow and have a few repair updates ready to type up. Should be posted this week now that work has calmed down.
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Jun 25, 2023 01:27
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Certainly a different autonation, but my experience with them was absolutely horrible as well, and they hit me with the wrong tax too (they registered it in the wrong county...  ). Still trying to get their GAP to pay out, they're complaining about a $100 difference in numbers. I finally filed a complaint with the state of TX against both the GAP provider (TX Dept of Insurance) and the lovely bank they financed me through (complaint to TX OCCC), since they refuse to talk to each other at all.I'm betting the difference is in the taxes between the counties. Wanna see more of the old stuff! randomidiot fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Jun 25, 2023 |
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Jun 25, 2023 01:55
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Ooh. Hell yeah! I’ve got a 1977 Lincoln Mark V with a 460. Looking forward to updates on the Grand Marquis.
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Jun 25, 2023 03:54
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Quick post before I finish typing everything up. Was looking for the original mud flaps Ford sold back in the 80's and was able to track down the part number eventually, which led to a fun "suggestion" on one of the dealership parts sites. 
Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Jul 6, 2023 |
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Jul 4, 2023 22:50
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Next Up: Shocks, oil pressure sender, fuel pump(s), figuring out missing bulbs, the dome light, and a few other weird missing items.
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Jul 4, 2023 22:52
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Suspension Update: Had a free weekend in early June and figured it was time to do the shocks finally. This included taking a look at the sway bar components and leaf springs, of course. I've never replaced or really done any sort of maintenance on leaf springs and these ones definitely could use new bushings. Also the oil pressure sender and some small stuff like greasing a few points and the windshield wipers. So the shocks that it came with are some quite old Bilsteins. So old that I can’t find a reference part number online anywhere and any text that was on the body of the shocks is long gone. Either the PO bought some that fit the size and load levels, or they used to carry them which is a reasonable enough assumption for twenty years ago, if not longer. He doesn’t remember when he put them on.   Unlike the 66 Galaxie I had that somehow still had the original Ford shocks on it, this one was fairly easy to get apart. Everything unbolted and went back together without much drama. I had picked up some sway bar bushings from Summit, but they were too large so they’re being returned. The current ones aren’t too bad so it can wait until I get around to the radius arms.  Oh hey I found some rust!       All done.  Comparison.  The radius arms will need to be addressed, both shops I’ve had it at mentioned the passenger one immediately so I’ve already got those and will be heading into that new horizon sometime in July I hope, Never replaced them before. Done plenty of tie rods, end links, pitman arms, etc, but never radius arms. Seems simple enough, but as with a few things on this truck the hard part is getting to the bolts and then getting the assembly out. Little did I know that the real challenge would be something that typically takes longer to unpack from its box than it does to install. The oil pressure sender. It was working correctly so why would I be changing it? Well there’s a leak in that area and I was really hoping it would be from the sender and not the oil pan gasket, we’ll find out soon if I was correct or not. (Picture of sender in box) So if you’ve replaced one of these on a a domestic car from like I guess 1990 or earlier, then you probably know that they’re real easy to get out and your primary concern is oil going all over the place. To be proactive, I did this while also changing the oil. Smart move, I only got an ounce or two of oil all over the place. This also led to the discovery of the oil filter being some smaller generic part, he had taken it to Midas to have the oil changed before I picked it up. As I would guess anyone posting on a car forum knows, those places are notorious for stuff like leaving the old gasket on the engine and putting the new filter on it, or tightening the filters like they’re lug nuts, or leaving out your air filter, or whatever thing you would expect from someone making minimum wage with no formal training. If you want an oil change for less than the cost of parts, every so often you’ll end up paying another way. I’ll get to that in a minute though, we aren’t done with the sender unit. So this thing is located in quite possibly the most annoying location of any similar part I’ve ever dealt with. I’ve had to get at some crazy bolt locations, but bolts/nuts are easy in the end since they’re a standard size that’s simple to grab with a tool. This thing is a circle with notches cut out, so a box wrench can’t really get a grip and you need to use a socket. I think I used a normal socket on the AMC when I changed that one, but you can get a specific socket like this Autozone one.  A picture of the sender, forgot to take any before it was installed.  But that isn’t going to work since the frame is right under this thing. I could only get a grip on it with my fancy channel lock style pliers. It wasn’t all that bad getting it out, just took forever, but man getting it back in there and tightened was a mess. Could maybe get 1/10th of a turn each rotation before I hit something. The Knippers.  It eventually got to a point where it felt tight enough, obviously it couldn’t be torqued down, and it hasn’t leaked so good job! The light is working as it should and well we figured out where the oil leak is coming from and oh good it’s the pan gasket. To get the pan off you of course need to either pull the motor entirely, or unbolt the motor mounts and jack it up like eight inches. I haven’t decided how I’m going to approach this quite yet. I’d actually like to get the motor out and do some cleaning up of the wiring in the engine bay and replace all the old vacuum hoses, plus repaint the valve covers, but my hoist is still dead and that all sounds kind of tedious in the dead of summer down here. I was so annoyed with this situation that I didn't get any pictures, so here it is installed.  That's the motor mount right next to it and it's blocking any real access, so I get why at least disconnecting the motor would help simplify things. Going to check on what it would run to have my shop change it out and will decide then. If it’s going to be over a grand, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is, then I’ll fix or replace the hoist and just pull the motor. It’ll give me a chance to get a look at the underside of the motor anyway and I can reinstall the oil sender to the proper torque level. The threads discussing this on the two big bronco forums are so casual about the process. They’re all like, “eh, just pull the motor takes two hours tops.” And as someone that has pulled like three motors in the past twenty plus years I can’t say I agree, but everyone has their own definition of what is easy. So onto the oil situation. The 2.9 uses the same Ford filter that basically every one of their cars used for forty plus years. The classic FL1A. I already had one lying around for the Merc so just used that and ordered another to have as a backup since I'll obviously use it since three of my cars use it. The drain bolt is easy enough to get to and is on a bit tight, but that's nothing compared to the filter. That shop did exactly what all of those quick lube joints do, they torqued it to some level way beyond what it's rated for. I was like, well I've got a solution for this I have one of those strap things that will grab the filter and let you get some torque applied to break it. But no, they used a much smaller filter than the FL1A and the strap is too large to grab it. So I try some more grabbing with my hands, but it isn't budging. Now we're into the creative phase so here comes the screwdriver and hammer. Trouble is, this thing is above the frame and a bit hard to get a good angle on, so I have to hammer the screwdriver in there a few times before it settles enough to be able to use it to pry the filter enough to break it. Keep in mind this thing was changed two weeks prior, it shouldn't be this hard. Also, of course, I got oil all over the place as the filter drained out of the new holes I was making in it. Eventually it came loose and I was able to get the correct filter in place and put it all back together with its new Motorcraft oil. Service Champ! Good job Rob!  Everything that was pulled. Got the trailer hitch out since it will be in the way when pulling the tank and I'm not planning on towing anything in the near future.  That wraps up the first big maintenance weekend. Also did small stuff like the wiper blades, put on an OEM radiator cap, and poked around in the engine bay looking for anything missing or mounted weird, but I’ll get into those results later. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Jul 6, 2023 |
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Jul 6, 2023 04:31
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Let's look at this trailer situation. I might have alluded to this already, but when I was asking questions before I bought the Bronco I saw a black box attached under the dash and wanted to know what it was for. Myterious!  It kind of looked like an old radar detector, but I was incorrect.  Turns out it's a very old style brake adjuster for when you're towing a trailer. This thing has a hard brake line running to the under dash unit, plus a bunch of wiring that hits both sides of the engine bay.  There's this thing on the driver's side:  Which says RESISTOR on it real big. Looks like a reverb unit form a guitar amp. Then the wiring goes all the way to the other side of the bay where the start solenoid is and has this guy hanging out there not doing anything.  So it obviously jumped across to grab onto one of the solenoid posts to get 12v when it's running, or something, but currently it's just hanging out there not touching anything so the whole system is just there, but not doing anything. What is kind of interesting is that the knob on the box moves when the brakes are engaged. Obviously the fluid is pushing it since it's directly connected to the master cylinder, but it's still weird and was confusing when I first started driving it. At this point I'm just going to pull the entire system out. I would have already, but since it means I have to worry about getting air in the brake lines I want to wait until I have a friend available to help out if I do while getting that fitting disconnected. I also haven't found the trailer connections at the back. Anyone ever see a system like this?
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Jul 6, 2023 04:50
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Sir Tonk posted:Let's look at this trailer situation. Looks like a mechanically powered electric brake controller. The new ones have an accelerometer in them to know how hard you are braking, but that one looks like it uses the brake pressure to adjust the current to the brakes. If you wanted to override the trailer brakes, you pull the handle, and that sends whatever current you want to the trailer. The 7 pin connector for the trailer has probably been removed at some point. Im glad the new ones are just "pay for the electronics and run the wire" because messing with your brake circuit doesn't look like much fun. E: Looks like its this: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/17535801997...ABk9SR6ru3r-lYg blindjoe fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Jul 6, 2023 |
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Jul 6, 2023 17:12
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blindjoe posted:Looks like a mechanically powered electric brake controller. Huh, that's interesting. I'm keeping the associated parts that go along with it for the time being, as I remove them. It has a T-junction at the master cylinder that I need to pull still, but need to wait for a friend to swing by and help me bleed the brakes when air inevitably gets in there. Fortunately, all they did was push the original line over to add the junction. Already pulled the wiring.
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Oct 16, 2023 03:13
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So I've been on car fixing break for the dead of summer due to the insane heat down in Texas and work being crazy while we have a guy out on long term medical leave. Now that it's nice outside again things can get going. Upcoming stuff: Oil pan gasket on the Bronco is going to be done by the shop I use. With my engine hoist's piston being blown out I can't get the engine up enough to pull the pan so gonna eat the near thousand dollars and hopefully will never have to replace it again. Dropping it off in a week or so. After that I'm going to do the radius arms, which looks like alot of fun, and the EGR valve if I can get the tube running to the header to unseize itself. Also really need to dig out all the silicone the PO put in around the sunroof and put some real sealant in there before anymore water gets in. Other stuff that has popped up over the past few months: - Power door locks stopped working - Alarm fob main buttons stopped working - Alarm siren started working - Low fuel light stopped turning off All of those but the fuel light are related I'm pretty sure. The door locks started after I let the battery run down and the alarm was acting funky after that too. The button on the fob is just bad, I cleaned it up with some IPA and it worked for a bit then stopped. I'm just going to replace the button itself, it's easy enough to desolder and is a very basic design. The door locks though, that seems like an issue with the alarm system overriding their functionality. Going to start tracing wires after I get it back from the shop. Pulled all the alarm guts out from under the dash and was poking around to see if anything obvious was up and did find a bare wire just hanging out there that was live. It showed around 5V and was fluctuating constantly. Cut the copper off and taped the end. I'll get some photos when I'm in there next, the motion sensor box is pretty fun looking. The fuel indicator light is likely just a "car is old" problem. It actually fixed itself today when I was moving the Bronco out of the way so I could clean the CTS, so that's nice. That's the quick update. I'll get back into the swing of things over the next few weeks. Gonna be traveling this coming week and the first week of November, otherwise I'll be working on these cars in hopes of tackling the major issues before it gets "cold"
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Oct 16, 2023 03:42
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Early December Update: Had to send two of them to the shop for stuff I couldn't do at the house. Specifically the oil pan gasket on the Bronco and a general inspection of the Mercury since it's been sitting for most of the year, which turned out well and it's driving fine now that it has some gas in the tank. So I have it in to get the pan gasket done and the shop tries a few methods for handling that, none of which were the one I recommended one that the people I've talked to have all said is the easiest (pull the motor). First they pulled the intake manifold and tried to jack up the motor, but couldn't get it high enough that way, so they instead pulled the transmission for whatever reason and finally had it done a few days later than planned. They also did the radius arm bushings at the same time. Get it back and there's a new clunk in the front end that I'm still trying to diagnose. It's most obvious when accelerating from a stop with more than 50% throttle or so. It's shows up when turning sometimes and generally something feels loose. Talked to them about it and since it needs to get aligned they'll try to diagnose when I bring it by for that. Second new issue is what led to today's post. It's now running very cold. Like, right at the bottom of the temp gauge, in the "L" section for you Ford people. That's new, it's always hung right around the center of the gauge no matter what, unless it was well over 100 outside then it got pretty close to overheating. Asked them if they changed out the thermostat or something like that, but they didn't touch it so I'm confused. Maybe it suddenly decided to stick open for some reason, or maybe something got messed up while they were in the motor. Oh and the oill pressure light issue is still there. Once it warms up and you come to a stop it'll start flashing the pressure light and eventually go solid until I put it in neutral and bump the revs up closer to 1000rpm. It's a weird problem since I didn't notice it until after I first changed the oil, didn't happen at all on the trip back from DC. Gonna check and see if maybe the collector in the pan isn't getting a good seal. I've been given some strategies for diagnosing that without having to yank the motor, or the transmission I guess. Anyway, back to the running cool thing. Maybe it's a stuck thermostat and it's just a wild coincidence that it started after they worked on it. I've changed a bunch of those, it's easy. Never had a problem before and I can boil the current one to see if it responds correctly. Even got an official Ford thermostat for the job so you know it's going to go well.  Was going to do the O2 sensor as well, but didn't get there. Upper hose comes off fine. It's got overly long circle clamps, but wasn't stuck to the radiator or neck so that's good. Then I start with the inlet neck cover thing. It's made in Germany, so 10mm bolts. Lower one moves pretty easy and they're all accessible without pulling the fan or shroud, which is always nice. Then I start on the upper two and they get loose *real* fast and seem excessively short.   Perhaps a bit off, here's the lower one:  As is likely obvious, the two upper bolts broke off in the block. Now I've done this at least a dozen times, likely more, and on cars way older than this thing, and have never had a bolt break off. I wasn't even considering it as a possibility, but here we are.  Looks like it'll be going back to the shop earlier than planned and I'll have to use the Cadillac for the trip to Dallas this week. I'm tempted to get on them with some vice grips and a torch, but they look very seized to the metal around them and I'd rather not complicate the extraction process for the shop and end up costing myself even more to get them out. Anyone ever have this happen? I've had exhaust bolts break off and even the metal around them on the head snap off (a common occurrence with FE engines), but have been fortunate I guess since the exhaust ones can usually be repaired easily enough. That's the update for now though. I'll be taking the Merc to a body shop to get an estimate for the minor body damage and few rust areas so I can get that in my budget for next year. Also got an estimate for converting it to r134 and repairing the AC system, but that can wait until like April probably. Upcoming projects are the brakes on the Cadillac and I guess the O2 sensor in the Bronco and diagnosing the oil pressure light at idle. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Jan 5, 2024 |
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Dec 10, 2023 01:08
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If you aren't prepared to go all the way to "can't be tight if it's a liquid", leaving it as it is and taking it to a shop is the right call. It's possible, but unlikely, that you could get those stubs to unthread with any sort of mechanical-only solution like vise grips or a stud removal tool. It's more likely that either of those options just break off what's left above the gasket surface. Easy outs or improperly attempted drill+tap jobs can leave you with broken off tool steel in the middle of the hole, making everything much more difficult. The route I would go if trying to fix that would be to take a larger nut that fits on/around the threads and weld it onto the stub, giving you both somewhere to pry from and also shocking the whole thing with heat that might break up the corrosion. If that fails or the threads are absolutely demolished (say, whoever was in there last cross-threaded both upper bolts) then you're looking at drilling it out and some form of thread repair (helicoil, timesert, etc).
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Dec 10, 2023 20:27
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Yeah those all are good ideas and if my hoist was working I'd just pull the motor out and go to town on it. The "weld nut to it" idea is a close to what I was thinking. Thankfully I'm getting the seals replaced in the piston for the hoist soon so I can at east use it to start on yanking the PRV from the Volvo. If it's too expensive to have them re-threaded at the shop I might end up going to DIY route, certainly would be more feasible with the engine on a stand. Either way the thread should get more interesting once the hoist is back in action. Also need to dig up the CAD drawings for the engine and trans mounts so I can have those fabricated for the Volvo.
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Dec 10, 2023 22:07
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On another topic, as this Volvo project has drug on I've wondered about the long term viability of running a 302 in there. Does anyone have more insight into how much longer the aftermarket will support the windsors? It's always seemed to me like they'll last forever, but it's been a few decades since Ford had that motor in the explorer and someday that market has to dry up. Maybe it's a better topic for a general discussion thread, or one already exists. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Jan 5, 2024 |
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Dec 10, 2023 22:11
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Post Christmas Update: Talked to the shop and will be towing the Bronco over there on the 2nd. Should be a cheap fix, all things considered. Will also have them investigate the running cold tendency to see if it is tied into their previous fix, or just how this thing behaves when it's colder than 70 outside which seems unlikely based on how cars have been designed for decades. And finally we're starting to see some movement on the Volvo. My father offered to get the bottle jack fixed for the hoist and after checking with a few shops around town, came back with the news that "it's chinese, they won't touch it" which is a very Texas response from machine shops I've dealt with. Coincidentally, one of my presents this year weighed quite a bit and ended up being a brand now bottle jack that almost perfectly matches the old busted one. Got it all bolted up and it's working perfectly so far. Now I just need to get one of the casters fixed so it stops getting stuck. With that accomplished, it's time to finally get going on pulling that motor. To do that I need to get the 302 onto the engine stand so it's easier to move around the garage and also test out the hoist. Got it up, but needed to get a friend over to help straighten it out before it could go on the stand. The chains weren't level anymore, for whatever reason.   The wall of fan shrouds.  And after the second day, it's on the stand.  We also drug the Volvo out and sprayed it down and pulled the hood off. I'm pretty sure I've got most of the bolts out of the engine insofar as the motor mounts and bellhousing, so hopefully it all comes out smoothly tomorrow. I think I just need to disconnect the shifter, driveshaft, and a few random cables. Also should check the labels I made six years ago to identify where plugs originally went. Oh and had some unexpected extra action after wrapping up. I usually leave the back door open when the weather is nice so the air can move around in the house. At one point I went in to grab something and closed the door on the way out. After we wrapped up I went back in with the dog and saw a cat run out of the kitchen, which my dog immediately attempted to chase down. It was the cat my neighbor upstairs has that she lets wander around the neighborhood. He's friendly enough and will watch us from the edge of the patio, but he did not expect this onslaught and ended up running between rooms before I finally got him out the back door and back to his owner. He was very not interested in being picked up and carried out, so it took a bit. Meanwhile, my dog is flipping out and not helping the "calm the cat down" situation. Most fun part was the remnants of what I guess was either the cat getting bored once he got stuck in the house, or trying to escape. Either way he destroyed a brand new roll of toiler paper.  Hope for a good update tomorrow. The weather has been very nice down here the past couple of days and I'm trying to get some large movements accomplished this week. The most fun will of course be getting rid of the PRV and transmission, which I'll need to borrow a pickup for. Going to contact the DMC people up north just in case they want it, but I doubt they do so it'll likely go to the scrap yard. Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Jan 5, 2024 |
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Jan 1, 2024 02:33
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Got a late start waiting for my friend to show up, but we got the big stuff done today. Engine and transmission are out of the Volvo and on the ground while they want to be taken to the scrap yard. Got it up and everything is disconnected, I think. Forgot to cut the fuel line and a frame ground that ran to the battery cable. Oh and the heater core lines. Everything else was still disconnected from when I started this years ago. All I had to do was get the driveshaft out of the transmission, but that ended up not working as planned (the u-joint would *not* move) and of course it decided to disconnect between the two sections and not from the back of the transmssion, like intended.     The shifter was quite tedious to remove. There was a pin at the middle of the shaft that seemed like the release point and it probably is, but the bushing inside wouldn't budge. After my friend banged on it for a while, I found a hex screw at the underside where the linkage meets the ball at the bottom of the shifter and that was holding in a pin that kept it in there. Once that was removed the shifter came right out. Overall the engine came out fairly smoothly. The ability to take apart the front end on these cars so easily made it a breeze compared to others where you need to go at an extreme angle to get it in/out. Hell I would have kept the hood attached since it will go vertical if I remember correctly, but the ceiling is too low in the garage. And we're all out. Decades of oil and whatever are caked all over the body panels. Gonna drag it out tomorrow and do a basic spray down and capping of hoses and whatnot to keep animals out. Will definitely get this repainted when I have the rust issue and minor paint chips fixed once the engine is ready to go in. Hopefully the rack is still fine, that thing is not cheap.  Side by side. Love how small the 302 looks next to most any OHC motor. Gonna do some measurements on them from the motor mounts to the top of the intake so I have a better idea of what I'm working with once it's in.  The mustang's driveshaft next to the front half of the Volvo's. Some may notice the left one is larger than normal, that's an aluminum one and it weighs less than that section of the Volvo's. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll fit under the Volvo very well the space is not nearly as large as the fox body's.  A few shots around the engine and transmission.     Easily the most annoying distributor location I've dealt with to date. Seeing this reminded me of back when I got this thing and was trying different fixes to get it running, before the mustang got wrecked and the project came together. Pretty sure I was just trying to do the cap and rotor and it was so difficult that I gave up.  Where it will be until we drag it to the junk yard. 
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Jan 2, 2024 01:59
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Updated the Volvo project description post and will continue to do so every month or so as necessary. I was reading some of the turbobricks thread again tonight and the main takeaway is that the driveshaft will be the most annoying part of this project.
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Jan 2, 2024 05:19
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Just curious, is the transmission bad? If not I'd think you could get at least a few bucks for it on TB, I don't think it's V6 specific is it? I mean, the bell housing is but that unbolts.
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Jan 2, 2024 20:08
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it's just a regular manual from that era as far as I know. The PRV has stiffer springs up front and a few other things like the rear end. Otherwise same as the 4cyl. It's certainly more viable than the motor and I would much prefer it go to someone that needs it instead of being scrapped
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Jan 2, 2024 20:14
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Past few days have been focused on getting the garage cleaned up and organized before it actually gets cold around here. Found a few things I was looking for and a bunch of old parts for the Hornet that I can give to the guy that bought it. Also some even older parts for cars I haven't had in ages so gonna probably offload them on ebay or wherever so they don't go to waste. First up, had to tow the Bronco to the shop so they could drill out the bolts and look into why it's running cold. The driveway is down a hill from the street so we had to pull it up to the crest. Everything worked out fine and after being asked a bunch of old car questions by the AAA guy it's at the shop and I'll likely have it back next week at some point.  The Volvo is sitting where it will be for quite a while, with the engine behind it. All the relevant parts are inside of it so they don't get swiped if the garage gets broken into again.  Got most everything off of the floor so it should be much easier to keep the garage clean and free of the spiders and rats that love hanging out in there. And the Merc somehow barely fits with the door closed and those toolboxes in front. We're talking like less than two inches of space. Definitely need to hang a tennis ball from the beams.  T5, power steering, and AC compressor are all on the table ready to be fiddled with. These will all begin in a couple of months. I'm hoping to rebuild the power steering pump as well as the T5, assuming I can find the kit still. Will also take the compressor somewhere to have it checked out ahead of time.  Cross-referenced all the parts I had lying around and most of them are for the Merc. Predominately bushings and whatnot. Also got wheel bearings for the Merc and Bronco that I'll need to do in the spring. Got four new thermostats for some reason.  While talking to my friend at the shop he recommended a drivetrain place in town that would be great to work with on the driveshaft and rear end when we get to that point. I'll swing by in a month or two so I can bounce some ideas off of them and see if they're interested in the project. Some unfortunate news on the parts front though. The guy that broke into the garage appears to have taken both the old Mustang radiator and the one from the Volvo. Now the Mustang's radiator was much too tall to fit in there, but I would have liked to have the Volvo one still so I could use it to determine what size I can work with and hell it would have been interesting to determine if it was adequate for the 302. The OEM radiator isn't on rockauto and I'm having trouble finding an original part number. Keep running into ones that claim to be for a 265, but end up just being the 245 one for the 4cyl cars. Fortunately I don't need the transmission cooler lines so can just find one that fits the dimensions and cna handle the heat from the engine. Might just end up working with a local shop to fabricate something as we get closer, assuming I don't find an original by then. Fortunately, they didn't take the condenser so I can at least see if that will fit in front of that space and OE replacements are under $100. Radiator Sir Tonk fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Jan 5, 2024 |
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Jan 5, 2024 02:56
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Volvo Side Note The Shift Knob Many years ago I pickup up an old Volvo shift knob on ebay with the intent of using it with this project. It is, of course, not close to the same thread size as the shifter on the T5.    I'm hoping to have this section of the shifter re-fabricated with the smaller thread size. Not a huge deal, but would be a nice addition since I definitely can't use the original knob wit the overdrive switch on it. The original Mustang knob will work fine until I can figure this out. Ideally I can get it made by the same people doing the motor mount plates. It's quite small so might be a bad idea in general. Fortunately it's simple to change out the arm when installed.
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Jan 5, 2024 20:41
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God drat I love the G Marquis. What a beautiful two tone. I’ve got a 77 Continental Mark V and have similar problems fitting it in a garage. Such is the weight of the cross we bear, I guess. e: scrolled up and realized I’m only here to talk about the G Marquis and my Mark V. But that’s not true! I like the rest of the updates, especially the Volvo. I should eventually stop introducing myself and just talk like a normal person. But not today! Dr. Lunchables fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Jan 6, 2024 |
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Jan 6, 2024 02:38
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