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Topic: 87 "coug" resto winter project (Read 80516 times) previous topic - next topic

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #465
i paid for three tech support / remote sessions to fine tune anything.
i will be able to tune myself later as well when i get past the learning curve.

your right,,, tweecer installed allows you to slip your eec back up into its original mount but not all the way.
apparently on the support group at yahoo forums, i seem to be the only one who really gives a  about that.
the eec holder integrates a hump back friction clip fixed to the chassis of the car so that the metal case of the eec is in constant contact wtih chassis ground when properly installed.  I am forced to integrate a separate ground wire soon so i can duplicate this application / ford design which i want to keep.
i attempted to remove the bracket to mod the plastic and open it up to accommodate the tweecer,  if its impossible for me,, im sure its impossible.

All my band clamps i got are really nice for this exhaust, i am having a blast on how clean everything is going in. 
they are beefy stainless steel and amazing!
if you slot in two spots your "ouside pipe about 3/4'' by diving in a thin side grinder disk, it makes an even better seal.
here> for 6.50$ ea which i got 10 of them
https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/walker,36438,clamp,5816



its a pain getting 2 1/2'' tubing over the axles,, i may need to cut the tail pipes at the axle area and make that area adjustable up and down due to how tall these tail pipe humps are.

My old usa made exhaust pipe expander broke on me with all this thicker wall tubing.
this.........
https://www.ebay.com/p/KD-Tools-2071-Exhaust-and-Tail-Pipe-Expander-USA-Bin-b/1322941317?iid=382527014627&chn=ps

so,, i bought another non "kd" brand and apparently these are made of  stuff.

i searched and would like to present you with the very best thing ever for exhaust tubing work........... "made of USA materials" ha ha..........
LISLE   34400  - got mine on sale for under 80$ from rock auto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUWeohvz540

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #466
no tail pipes on.. but start up went pretty good.
no big issues so far.
gotta recal my wide band o2 but thats about it.,, other than get support on the phone to do a remote session a couple times.

start up day is history...........
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s60jsthi7qdcff8/VID_20180729_141159.mp4?dl=0

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #467
doing up exhaust,, random pics.
no lers yet, trying to devise a mount to theh pipe work that interfaces with the factory ler hanger.

This was an original 3.8L so i only had one ler hanger bracket.

my oldest son did up home made exhaust and it was so tucked away that the factory hangers ended up getting in the way especially since he used glass pack lers.

i ended up inheriting his two mounts so i used one of his to complete this round.

im doing band clamps everywhere to repairs later are easy.  its better if you use a side grinder and dive your wheel into the exterior "overlapping" tubing in at least two spots but a smidge less than the overall width of your band clamp.  this way the outside overlap pipe decreased in diameter evenly to snug up and form to the pipe its wrapped around when the band clamp is tightened.

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #468
on the driver and pass side, this off road hpipe came with o2 sensor bungs.  they are clocked wrong and i will just have to go with it.

they needed to be anywhere in between the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock postions of the round tubing.

on the drivers side i was told thats where my wide band o2 needs to be.
im not an expert on this but i always thought the passanger side was a tad leaner because of the cyl 1 injector / spark is a smidge shorter in duration because of the dizzy stator width.  Tweecer told me that the wide band needs to be on the lean bank and that is the drivers side.  so... put the wide band on the drivers side at approx the 2:55 hours position.  .... or at about the 80deg position if the top of the circle of the pipe is zero.


also,, note that this hpipe came with two mounting horns on it that were supposed to slip into some support mounts that i think are a part of the 5.0L dual exhaust family.  since my car came with single tubing,,, i fabricated up some old shock absorber rubbers then safety wired them in place to the metal horns.
they rest evenly on the transmission cross member.

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #469
well, i had no choice,, i had to cut the passenger side tail pipe to the rear of the axle on the vertical turn "down".  this allows me to make this section more adjustable because the fuel lines are way too close to the top peak of the hump for my liking.

i already made my slip joint to bring the two parts together but,, the horizontal section between the rear qtr and gas tank is now off.

i am taking it to a shop with a pipe bender to adjust it the way i want it.

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #470
measured my tps green wire and dialed it back to less than a volt,, i think its steady on .9vdc.

did compression test
hot engine-  cyl1 and 5 both are at 165 psi.


cold engine all cylinders are at 190 except for cyl 7 which is 173.  I may need to leak down test this one to see if i have a rocker adjusted too much.

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #471
well dang,,
my leak down tester has the spark plug size that is stock for our cars.
my heads take the next size up diameter spark plug thread shank "width".

now,, my compression tester has the size i need to do compression,, but the quick connect fitting (crimped on) does not snap into my leak down tester...........

what a pita

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #472
did a leak down test on cyl 7 and no issues.

matter of fact,, each cylinder was like watching a re-run,, 100psi shop air and leak down needle said there is zero leak.
in addition i was listening for air in the TB, oil fill , oil dip stick and looking for bubbles in the radiator,,, all good.

so... i think i need to ignore the low cold compression reading on cyl 7 and recheck everything after a few miles.

here is a pic of cyl 7 leak down

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #473
173 vs 190 is 91%, well within the 10% specs I usually see quoted. Could be that the rings in that cylinder had more lubricant and haven't fully seated yet.

I'd run it as is and check.it after a couple hundred miles.
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

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #474
I second that.  Run it, break it in on a good break-in oil, then recheck it.
I broke mine in on synthetic and I regret it.  Every time I fire it up, I get a short puff of blue, and I go through a quart of oil in 1200 miles.  My rings never got a really good seat.  It has decreased over time, but I wish it were better.

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #475
mike-  i always assumed(could be wrong) that break in oil was always going to be thicker than the oil you intend to run normally.
I may have messed up as well, i put rotella 15/40 for these few test starts.

today's list is to get back in to a situation where the car will idle.
I dont think i will get there because of the Maf tables and my first initial support tune isnt complete.

im getting mixed signals from tweecer , in that i am being told to have the car road worthy before first tune remote support yet the car is not going to drive on its own without the first tune.

today i will verify fuel pres and if i can manipulate the idle, see what information i can jot down about vac pressures.  since i have to force feed the idle screw to keep it running, im betting this information is useless.


when the car idles , the pass header glows red... i should check and add timing but a part of me says to leave it at 10btdc and let tweecer set  up things.
i was under the impression that the initial pre-loaded tune gets me "running ok",, but apparently thats not the case.
I am reluctant to keep starting the car when i know i have to up the idle to keep it running.

so,, after i piddle a bit, i will move on to rear / bumper & lights, then a seat with belt then set up my call , 1 of 3 tune support calls to get things dialed in.

im guessing by week after next i will have info.

I still have a constantly on oil light while running and need to figure out whats the issue.
I have oil making it everywhere,  i have a 4'' oil sender extension that might have air in it so i will see if bleeding solves that or another switch.  I dont think the one i put in is new, but i did manually make / break the inside disc contact with a tiny screwdriver to verify continuity.  i think when i pushed in, the ckt opened, then closed again when i let off.

to avoid problems taking it on the road and not having been inspected yet, state police told me to make sure .........
-car is registered, insured then pay 10$ for a 48hr pass to drive the car from point A to point B for obtaining my state inspection.
-if the car has trouble, this pass will let me head back home and make another attempt to drive to the inspection station.
~~ all of which is fancy speak for making sure i have a way to take a few test hits... and not be in the bad graces of the police.




i want to have all my questions addressed prior to tune call 1 incase there are issues i  have numbers like
-compression tests
-leak down tests
-vac at idle (dont think i will get good info)
-fuel pres
-engine build specs


meanwhile, as i explained to tweecer, the car is not safe to drive now because the amount of idle i have to dial in, it puts the rpms high and that means i wont have good brake booster.. or good brakes...

at this particular moment i have another open issue,,, i have no idea if the transmission is working because i am not putting it in drive at 2000rpm.  with all the tiny metal flecks i found in the trans,,, knowing if the trans is going to work or not is still an open item.  I am just crossing my fingers.


what i believe is not pre-tuned on my tweecer is the MAF and the wide band 02 info,, those two things are going to screw with me in either rich or lean conditions,, since the data isnt loaded, im prob lucky the darn thing even starts at all.  (or for the damage to the engine then "unlucky" ) depending on how you look at it.  this is why i am reluctant to keep starting the car up.

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #476
on another note,,
if it were not me doing the test,, i would be skeptical if anyone else said thier engine build had zero leak at 100psi shop air.... i used the tool correctly so i guess i have to simply go with it.
i remember getting these heads here from a member,, i took them apart and cleaned up the seats with a mild laping compound.  I laid the head sideways and poured water into the exhaust ports.  over night not a single bit of water escaped.  did the same for intake.  so.... maybe the data is right.

87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #477
What is untuned on your tweecer is the MAF transfer Function, the injector hi and lo slopes voltage offset and breakpoint, displacement, and spark table scaling.  I would not be surprised if you're massively over-fueling.  The PW required to start and idle a 302 with 19# injectors would result in an overfueling condition 8 days a week, because the EEC doesn't know you have more injector until the new injector data is made part of the tune.  MAF transfer can be bypassed for idle testing simply by turning off the ignition and unplugging the MAF and then restarting.


87 "coug" resto winter project

Reply #479
horn button done up to suit a cougar.
i just pulled my first steering wheel,, was too easy, thought it would be a pain but not.
installed the tbird sport / xr7 wheel in place of the more tame oem wheel.


covers on the dizzy and the coil area using oem parts just found..............