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Topic: Starting fresh (Read 22708 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #105
I raised it from 3 1/2 to 3 7/8 and it helped a whole bunch. And also made it to my local cars and coffee this morning.

Still have to sort some things out but overall I'm very happy with the way the suspension performs. It's just everything else that is lacking now. The old 5.slow moves it pretty good the aod is mushy and soft just like it would be for a bone stock car.

It holds turns very well and feels like it stays relatively flat in the turns. That will be even better when I put the sway bar in the rear along with the PHB.

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #106
Going more aggressive with the alignment will make a significant difference in handling. I wanted more aggressive, but the shop I used was apprehensive of using what I wanted. I wanted 1-1.5 degrees negative camber and 4.5 degrees positive caster. I ended up with .9 negative camber and 1.5 positive caster. It still works very well.
It's Gumby's fault.

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #107
I'm sure I'll end up tweaking it a bit but I'm still getting a feel for it. Like I said its been 10 year since I drove one I don't even remember how they drove but I can tell you first hand it is tight and snappy. I have the slow ratio rack and its probably a good thing. There's no mush in the steering especially with the MM steering shaft, heim joints on the bumpsteer kit and derlin rack bushings. I daily a truck every day so theres a slight learning curve here every other car I've personally had has been run through the mill and been clapped out before I even got it.

The only comparison I can even manage right now is my girl has a 08 Saturn Aura XR the sport edition with 80k on it and it has been meticulously maintained. First time I drove that thing it felt like a slot car. Well the bird feels like it's a slot car that you had to ask the clerk for the key to unlock the case on :toothless:

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #108
Today after work I'm going to try and get to the bottom of why my brakes a still mushy I'm going to reroute some lines and possibly bypass my prop valve for the front to take an element out of the equation. Leave the rears on the adjustable

Then the next thing that hinders me from really driving it is the F#@%*.: Windows. Both are stuck down at the moment which wouldn't bother me since it sits inside mostly but mother nature would notice me driving it on a beautiful sunny day with 0% chance of rain and 100% just hammer it down on me.

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #109
Bypassed the prop valve and capped the front ports on it T'd off the line lock and now I have front brakes and the line lock holds the car still. The rear brakes need bled some more now due to my proportioning valve bleeding pressure between the front and rear ports, now I have a really expensive adjustable rear bias block lol.

Also swapped my door glass from the calico car into this one to speed up the process a little bit and save me a little headache for now on those window clips. Gives me more time to mod the clips and all that jazz and possibly tint the windows while they're out

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #110
I have to dig through my bookmarks and screen shots, but I have a link for aluminum window clips. I'll have to dig them up. I wanted them for my car, but I glued the glass in, and then found the link.
It's Gumby's fault.

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #111
I was thinking of trying my hand at making a 1 piece window clip with more surface area to attach to the glass. Like 1.5" deep and however long between the two studs drilling it full of holes and epoxying the tar out of it.

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #112
Grease everything up good. Buy some cheap terry cloth and something to hose everything off with. Wd40, alcohol, just about anything will work. Once eberything is clean, I like white lithium grease. Its expensive, but it still works okay when its dirty and is really easy to get anywhere.

Once that's done, get some silicone window stuff, hose down all the rubber seals and edges around the window. This will make a mess, but it will bring all the rubber back to life and make it softer and make it not stick to the glass.

Then finally, I really like black windshield adhesive. I clean up the window really well where the track lines up good.  I then lightly sandpaper the glass near the tracks then clean it up one more time. Do a few dry runs without any glue and make sure the window is in the proper place on the tracks. Then dump some of that black goo in there, roll the window all the way up and leave it for a day or two.

I've bought new clips when they are broken, I have drilled holes on them hopong to make stuff stick better, but its really not needed.

The cleaner and better greased everything is, the less the glue matters honestly. The reason I use the wind shield adhesive is because it is specifically designed to bond to glass and plastics, its sort of rubbery so it can take some side load if everything isn't perfect and it sticks like a mofookie. We go from about -10°f to about 110°f every six months or so and it does really well. Ive never had to reglue it if I lubed everything up good first.  The only thing that sucks is thst it will not cure below freezing, you want it to be 60+° outside for it to cure fully.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #113
I fought that situation for awhile too.  Its been so long I forget what I used.  I got plastic clips from the "HELP" section at the parts store, drilled holes in them, and sanded the window glass area.  Used some sort of auto glue epoxy stuff, its been holding for years now.
Mike

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #114
My windows are fixed for now. I'm glad to be a parts der.

Now my real dilemma with the next phase of the build. The engine I have is from a mustang and it ran good that's all I know about it. Well I'm starting to make decisions and moving funds around to start achieving my goals. Well I got to looking at it today and figured I would dig it out and start pulling it apart. Then I noticed the casting # on it. E6... Oh no here we go let the f*ckery begin. Pulled the carb intake and various other things along with one of the heads and yep. Flat tops. And an extra bit of fun comes with it too. Theres signs of foul play between the pistons and valves. So now is time for another unplanned decision. Take a chance and flycut these pistons, or put a cheap set of hypereutectics new rings and rod bearings to get me by

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #115
I've got several sets of HO pistons, if you want to go that route.

Pay for the ride, you can have a set of 'em ;)

'84 Mustang
'98 Explorer 5.0
'03 Focus, dropped a valve seat. yay. freakin' split port engines...
'06 Explorer EB 4.6

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #116
Pm sent

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #117
Option 2: Trick Flow TW heads. Will work with flatops no problem. But more $$$$.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #118
I'm going to stick with the edelbrocks I got.

Re: Starting fresh

Reply #119
New piston time then  :grinno: .
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.