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Topics - JeremyB

16
Lounge / Unhappy 'bird
Bought a '06 Accord yesterday*. The driver's window came off the clips today on my '87. :o
The only other time my '87 has had any real issue was when it refused to start after I took it for an oil change. That was the first time someone else had tried to start my car.
She's jealous, I tell ya. :p


*I was looking for an Accord/Camry/Fusion/6. Dropped the Camry from my list because it rides like a boat compared to the rest. The Camry SE has a ride comparable to the other, but I couldn't find many 4-cyl SEs near me. I all but dropped the 6, for no real good reason. I was favoring the Fusion, in part to be  contrarian to all my friends who think domestics can't make a decent car.
The Fusion had a buzzy engine off idle, but other than that it was equal with the Accord wrt ride/NHV/etc. Accord had a bit better EPA mileage. Both cars had nearly the same depreciation and near the same reliability. The big disappointment was ABS wasn't standard on Fusions until '08, and I wasn't about to drop $17-20k without ABS. The best I could tell, only ~10% of pre '08 cars had ABS - a shame. It didn't help that the local Ford dealer sucked ass, so I resolved not to give them my business. Thus, the Accord won out.
17
Suspension/Steering / Ride Height Measurement Request
I was a doofus and didn't measure my stock ride height before installing my coil overs. I'd like to know how much I actually lowered my vehicle.

A measurement from the fender to the ground, or referenced from the LCA bolt to the ground for a stock '87-'88 vehicle would greatly assist me finding the answer.

Thanks.
20
Engine Tech / '87 3.8 running poorly (mostly under load)
So I'm driving down interstate from the Magic Cityto the  Rocket City a while back and I notice the car beginning to vibrate. Hmm. Eventually I have to slow to 67 or below otherwise it shakes enough to make objets in the rear view mirror get fuzzy. It idled pretty good, but would begin to shake (which I think is a manifestation of a lot of missing) on acceleration. It does it whether all the time, with no regard to closed/open loop.

Things I've done so far:
Removed the plugs.[INDENT]Driver's side were all rich
Passenger's side were all lean[/INDENT]
Checked vacuum at idle - seemed a bit low
[INDENT]19.5" in park
16.5" in drive[/INDENT]
Checked fuel pressure. The gauge wasn't long enough to watch it while the hood was down, so I just backed up in the driveway and floored it for about 10' (real smart, eh?)
[INDENT]Solid 38psi[/INDENT]
Ran the codes. Ran KOER in a row twice to see if the 42/92 (rich both sides) would clear up. They did, but a 44 (thermactor inoperative passenger's side) popped up.
[INDENT]KOEO - 11/11
KOER #1 41/92
KOER #2 44[/INDENT]

I still need to check timing - mainly to verify the damper hasn't slipped. But since it only vibrates/misses under power I don't think that is the problem.
I'll also recheck the plugs to see if the new ones are repeating the old pattern. Also take a look at the distributor cap look for any patterns/wear.

New/nearly new (<15k) parts
[INDENT]Ignition Coil
Spark Plugs
Spark Plug Wires
Dist. Rotor/Cap
[/INDENT]

For full disclosure, what I thought was an exhaust leak was a loose spark plug (#2 - passenger's side) that shot out in early May. Once I replaced it the leak was gone and it ran like a top again.

So, any advice at what I should look for? This is very annoying, especially since I finally finished the 5lug swap and have the 99+ axles in. I want to drive!
21
Site Suggestions / Board Picture Hosting
Can someone throw the switch so that pictures hosted on the board can be linked to via the [img] function? That you can put the pictures where you want and not at the end of a post where they use a lot of their usefulness. Upping the pic limit per post from 3 to 5 or more would also be nice.
22
Misc Tech / Tripminder replacement display help
A parallel project to slapping in a split port engine into my Cougar will be a Tripminder replacement. (No I haven't started the split port swap. I am a horrible procrastinator :()

A microcontroller will take inputs from an injector on each bank and the VSS to calculate mpg. The results will be output to a display. What kind? I don't know, but I'm sure someone here will be able to shed some light on what would work best.

Here is a link to the displays that Parallex sells. I'll be using a Parallex Propeller chip.

The OEM tripminder is LCD. It is somewhat hard to see in direct sunlight. The Parallex displays are either LCD, oLED, or VDF. Anyone have experience with how these look in direct sun? If not, time for Mr. Google.
23
Lounge / Cranky Cougar
I drive my Cougar once a week to keep it limber, and today was the day. I turned the key, but all that resulted was loss of internal lighting and a click. pers. I noticed that the positive battery cable was caked in corrosion last week when I was checking fluids, so I deduced that it was the culprit. After cleaning the affected area with a brush, baking soda, and water I went to crank the beast and it started without hesitating.

I put the car in reverse, but it refused to move. Hmm. E-brake was released, so I did a walk around, but didn't find anything that would hamper my progress. It felt like a sticking drum. How do you fix a sticking drum? MORE POWAH. So, I put it back in reverse and let the 3.8 unleash its mad fury. Turns out the mighty 3.8 wouldn't budge it.
Another walk around revealed that nothing had magically appeared to stop my movement, however, my WOT burst had sprayed a 1+ foot long cone of carbon onto the concrete of my driveway. Nice. The car "wound up" around the rear right wheel, which pretty much  confirmed the culprit. Our drum brakes are self energizing, which meant (in this case) that the secondary shoe was stuck and trying to move in reverse was just wedging it in harder. The solution was to go forward - a slight problem as my garage door was about 4 ft. in front of the car. Anywho, I gingerly mashed the gas pedal with a foot on the brake and freed the drum without crashing into my garage. Yah me!

When I tried to crank it on the way to lunch, the dreaded click was all that was heard. A quick look under the hood revealed the negative battery cable was slightly loose and was the cause if the intial problem too. :dunce: I only have one tool set between the two cars, and it was in the Tbird. :dunce::dunce: I did manage to get it to crank after wiggling the cable around some.
24
Lounge / How about them Buckeyes?
0-2 in BCS Championship games vs. SEC
0-8 all time bowl game record vs. SEC

Good times!
25
Lounge / I am the worst mechanic evar
For the past several months I've noticed a ticking from my T-bird ('87 3.8L). My best guess was an exhaust manifold leak. However, like all things car related, I am a horrible procrastinator. Also, the passenger side O2 sensor was getting lazy - so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. 90% of the effort of getting to the O2 sensor is also needed to remove the manifold.

Fast forward to Sunday night. I was driving home from Birmingham after watching Auburn beat Alabama for the 6th time in a row. :shakeass:
I exited off the interstate and on to surface roads. A light ahead turned red and I let off the glass and idled up to it. It turned green as I came upon the intersection and I went back to the gas. At that exact moment I heard a *POP* and then a very loud *BAH*BAH*BAH*BAH*BAH that varied with engine rpm. I thought to myself "Oh snap, the gasket blew plum out!" and kept on going. Driving into my neighborhood with an open exhaust at 11pm was quite uncomfortable. I dashed into my house and waited a few minutes until I felt the eyes of my neighbors turn to more mundane things.

I popped the hood and took a look around, but found nothing amiss at first. A further look (and feel) around netted the #2 spark plug - still attached to the wire - dangling about the engine bay. :mad: I changed the plugs 25 months ago and 16,500 miles ago!!!
The other plugs were all tight. :( Oh well, could be worse.
26
Misc Tech / I can see clearly now, the rain has gone... (Headlight Install)
I got a last minute call from my buddy to go hiking in N. GA last weekend, so I decided to take the T-bird. It would involve driving at night so I also decided to slap in my new headlights that had been awaiting installation for almost a year.

R&R is pretty straightforward.

  • Remove headlight bulb and place it safely out of the way.
  • Remove 4 nuts holding intermediate headlight bracket to chassis
  • Remove 2 nuts holding inner light (This is needed to get clearance to remove headlight assembly)
  • Remove headlight assembly from car
  • Rotate 3 headlight adjustment pieces 90 degrees to release headlight from intermediate bracket (I used a set of adjustable pliers and needle nose vise-grips)
  • Install new headlight onto intermediate bracket
  • Installation is reverse of removal ;)


My old headlights were quite yellowed, as you can see in the pictures. The difference between the old/new set is beyond amazing. High beams with the old pieces were noticeably less bright than std. beams with the new ones. On the way over to Atlanta, I put the high beams on and a lil' pee came out from the excitement.


Intermediate bracket.
The three adjuster pieces go into the back of the headlight. There are 4 studs on the opposite side that interface with the chassis.


This is what happens when you mess with 20 year old plastic. I need new adjusters.
Two of the studs can also be seen.


Don't think it is supposed to look like that.
The three slots are for the adjuster pieces.









Are the adjusters long or short?

E7SZ-13032-D HEADLIGHT ADJUSTER SHORT
E7SZ-13032-C HEADLIGHT ADJUSTER LONG



Anybody know where I can get NOS outers?
27
Audio & Other Aftermarket Electronics / Surface mount tweeters up front?
Has anyone tried putting surface mount tweeters on the triangular plastic trim piece on the far front piece of the side windows? Just curious.

I would think it would be a better location than putting a set of tweeters in the stock dash location and having a set of 6.5" in the wall, but I am audioally retarded.
28
Suspension/Steering / Front coil-over install
I finally got the front half of my 5-lug swap done today and drove it around. The whole process went quite smoothly, except for a missing spindle-caliper bracket bolt.

"New" parts:

  • '03-'04 Cobra LCAs
  • Koni Double Adjustable coil-overs (275 lb/in - 12")
  • Maximum Motorsports Caster / Camber Plates
  • '94-95 SN95 Spindles
  • SN95 Outer Tie Rod Ends
  • '99-'04 V6/GT Calipers
  • '99 Cobra Wheels (17x8 - 30mm offset)
  • spoogeho Ecsta ASX 225/45/17

A '03-'04 Cobra rack and solid steering shaft had already been installed beforehand.

I only drove it a short distance to test out the brakes, but the difference was very noticeable. I did two ~55-5 braking stints and was amazed at the amount of feedback that was apparent. The old setup (stock with spoogeho A/S 795s 205/70/14 ) would lock up the RF with a quickness; especially in the wet. It was downright dangerous and the cause of an offroad excursion several months ago. Disassembly of the old calipers didn't offer any answers to why it was so.
I didn't really notice the 140% increase in wheel rate. Maybe I will after the newness wears off, but the ride appears to be just as smooth as before. No added NVH.

The '99-'04 V6/GT calipers are cast aluminum with two 44.5mm pistons. This results in a 10% piston area. That, when superimposed with the 11" rotor, makes for a system with is biased ~20% more towards the front. An aftermarket proportioning valve is a good idea. If you are going to upgrade to SN95 spindles, but aren't going to use the Cobra setup; I would highly recommend the '99-'04 V6/GT calipers, they're lighter and stiffer than the single piston steel '94-'98 calipers. The only downside is they're a bit more expensive.

I found that '94-'95 spindles increased track width from 58 3/8" to 59 7/32" (w/'99 Cobra wheels). This ends up to be an actual increase of .9" when the difference in wheel offsets is accounted for. The stock wheels are 14x5.5" with 1.12" (28.45mm) offset. The wheel/tire combo lines up almost exactly with the outer fender. If you drop a plumb bob from the fender, it just clears the tire.

The OEM strut is 23.6875" (all decimals are just a manifestation of their fractional equivalent) when measured from the bottom mounting hole to the end of the threaded portion of the shaft.
The Koni strut is 22.125" long

Given this information, I believed it was possible to run the Koni struts and only lower the car ~1". I forgot about the C/C plates up top. :hick: They raised the strut relative to the top of the strut tower.
The OEM strut mount positions the strut 1.5925" above the sheetmetal.
The MM C/C plates moves the strut to 2.25" above the tower.

Thus, the distance from the top of the strut tower sheetmetal to the lower spindle mounting bolt for the two are:

OEM: 22.095"
Koni: 19.875"

A difference of 2.22" :punchballs:

The OEM strut has 6.875" of travel, versus the Koni's 6.125". This means, at full compression (negating the fact that the bumpstop cannot compress to 0") the previous measure is:

OEM: 15.22"
Koni: 13.75"

A difference of 1.47"  If you try and average out the two differences in length to calculate ride height, you will end up running 1.845" lower to achieve the correct proportions of bump/droop travel.

Clear as mud? Kewl. ;) Basically, it means you must lower the car at least 1.845" to run Fox Mustang Koni D/A struts. I don't have exact measurements for SN95 Koni struts, but by my best guess; they don't turn out much better.

I don't want to lower my car that much, so I am going to cheat on droop travel (unless it ends up causing poor driving characteristics) and by raising it some. The only possible solution might be Koni's SA strut inserts. Depending on the insert length, you could cut the original strut higher than intended and use a spacer at the bottom to get a bit more length out of the setup.

The 2nd half of the project will be completed (hopefully) in two weeks.
7.5" w/'99-'04 axles, Eaton TrueTrac, 3.08 gears from Motives Gears, and all new bearings.

[SIZE="3"]---------------Pictures---------------[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]
My friend Scott helping get this party started right[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]Old'n'Busted[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]Ye ole strut[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]BRAKE FAILURE IMMINENT[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]Old LCA Bushing[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]New LCA Bushing[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]
'03-'04 Cobra LCA[/SIZE]

[SIZE="1"]

Koni/OEM Comparison[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]Closeup[/SIZE]






[SIZE="1"]Remember kids - Safety First![/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]Clearancing the spindles for the 99+ calipers[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]Brake bracket that needs to be modified to work the the 99+ hoses[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]Not much clearance between the hose and chassis[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]
$17 bolt - I thought it would cook me breakfast for that price[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]The New Hawtness[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]New setup with unadjusted tie-rods[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]Side Profile[/SIZE]


[SIZE="1"]
Finished product. Poor T-bird needs paint and bodywork something fierce :(
You can see the hood/header panel/fender misalignment caused by my agricultural excursion[/SIZE]


Both cars. Both needing much TLC.
29
Body/Appearance/Interior / Paint: Keep it white, or go gray/silver
The front is done, with the exception of one missing caliper bolt. :( The rear will be worked over in a few weeks, depending on the availability of my friend who knows how to swap gears. Paint (and some body work) will be the next step.

I had originally decided to keep the factory color, white, but now I'm thinking about a gray/silver color. The Cougar will remain Argent/Midnight Regatta Blue, so why not change up the T-bird.

I'm not sure why I'm only considering gray/silver, but that's how I roll. Chuck's car looks pretty hot. I've also seen a picture of a SN95 done up in Dupont Phantom Grey Effect that looks good. I also found out that Phantom Grey was the paint color of the Airwolf. Can't go wrong with that, eh? I'm not sure how gray would go with my '99 Cobra wheels. They'll be replaced, eventually, but the replacement will almost certainly will be gray/silver too...I'm not a fan of chrome wheels on my cars.

Current state of affairs:


Chuck's shagy beast:


Dupont Phantom Grey Effect:
30
Electrical Tech / Residual Fuel Pump Relay Voltage
Many moons ago the Cougar ped out on me while on a 2k mile road trip. It also had a partially fried EEC (not related to the breakdown), which required me to ground the FP output on the self test connector in order to run the fuel pump. Once I towed the car back via U-haul, I replaced the fuel pump, fuel pump relay, and the EEC. When I cranked the car all seemed well, until I turned it off. The fuel pump kept running. In face, the fuel pump would run any time the battery was hooked up.

I left the car in the garage and forgot about it for a while, until last Saturday. I crossed my fingers and plugged in the original Motorcraft FP relay. The relay came on for two seconds with KOEO, ran while the engine was on, and stopped when the engine was turned off.

I probed the relay points (from the EEC) and noticed it went to 12V immediately when turned to KOEO, and settled to a constant 7V after about two seconds. This doesn't seem normal. Any explanations?