Progress Thread French dude with a '79 Fox joins the forum - have less than 2 decades to get running!!

#81
KRUISR said:
When the garage pulled the motor they investigated a bit and found the cam had broken in the middle. The car only had the valve train moving on the front 3.5 cylinders.
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my mom sold a SS El-brand x with a 454 in it and he came back some months later and told us we were driving it around with a broken crankshaft :scratch: I talked to the mechanics that had the car and was told they think he ran it out of oil, of course at that point it wouldn't hold any oil , seized a rod onto the crank, yanked a piston sideways in the cylinder, chucked a rod cap through the oil pan.....and it still ran.....sort of....they said the front four cylinders worked but the timing was hit and miss and hit twice then miss a few, rattled like a tin box full of marbles, when a cylinder would fire they said the engine would try to come out of its house.
The one mechanic ie scarred for life.
 
#82
LILCBRA said:
The ball stud circled in blue is for the throttle, the part circled in red is for the AT kickdown, and the solenoid looking thing bumps the idle when the AC is in use. Or at least that's what I've been told. ;)

So the "red thing" probably shouldn't be cut off if you can help it. I mean you can always manually kick the transmission down into second if need be, but it's nice to not have to do that.

Side note: I just received a Haynes manual for the 79-93 cars, I can take a look in it if you need me to. Othewise, it may not be a bad idea to pick one up for yourself. Here's the Amazon link.



Edit: As for where the wiring for the electric choke goes, I think all it needs is 12v with the key on.... :chin
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Yeah I'd love for you to take a look, at that point I don't know if I'm misremembering or if it was just inverted somehow. I do have a manual that came with the car but it's a 4cyl only version that doesnt feature the 2.8

Regarding the red thing tho: I -have to- cut it, otherwise it doesn't fit because that piece hits the valve cover. I can't even bend it because the fitment is too tight even that wouldn't be enough. Also it was not on the original carb I yanked out which makes me confident it's not required for this engine.

I'll take a picture next time so you guys can see the fitment

Electric choke just needs 12v? I thought it would need some kind of controller or something. If that's true I guess I'll swap it back, probably less of a headache :)
 
#83
KRUISR said:
carb linkages.webp

The kickdown rod goes on the straight rod circled in red. It is held on with a snap clip.

The rod with the ball end is for the throttle pedal cable to attach. It snaps on.

Accelerator cable.webp

Bullet style end goes on the accelerator pedal, the other end onto the domed pin on the carb.

Yes the '83 had a 3.8 V6, but I would bet the carb was the same.

Funny story, when I bought the car it was not running. With a little fiddling we got it to run, sort of. It would start and idle but sounding like it was missing on a couple cylinders. We ended up finding a good used 3.8 and swapped it. When the garage pulled the motor they investigated a bit and found the cam had broken in the middle. The car only had the valve train moving on the front 3.5 cylinders.
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Oh yeah I think that's right! Guess I got them mixed up :confused:

Though in that picture you can also see it doesn't have the third thingy we've been talking about.

Breaking a camshaft in half is crazy though! only other time I saw that was in that one roadkill episode.
 
#84
Here you go my friend. There were only a couple pics of the 2150 carburetor in the Fox manual:

20250212_192206.webp
20250212_192219.webp


And this is the only place in the schematics that I found that listed a choke.

20250212_193959.webp
20250212_194009.webp


Hope these help a little.
 
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#86
Hey everyone!
Big update: Car started! It sounds good too! :banana:

Did some wiring for the pump (I feel I did a pretty good job ^^ ; Proper 4 way switch and everything, just couldn't find an inertia switch locally) and reconnected everything, except the fuel tank; which was both full of old gas and surprisingly clean inside.

IMG_20250307_180109.webp


I did simply reinstall the og mechanical pump to close the block, but if you know anyone that can make a blockoff plate I'm interested.

The carburator linkage in the front does hit the EGR valve a little. Turning the EGR 180° would fix that problem but I'm not sure that's a good idea. Otherwise I'll grind it down.

1741710789004.webp


Next is making sure the transmission works, checking the brakes and airing up the tire/changing the wheels to see if it moves.
Also tach doesn't work and I still haven't figured out how to deactivate the hazzards but I'll cross that bridge when I get there...
Annnd the carb needs adjusting, feels like it revs a little high (as far as tach-less earballing instincts go) and it doesn't want to hold idle for too long. Any tips for that is greatly appreciated.

Finally: a small startup video! All the microphone did was shake to death so it sounds pretty brutal, but I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did :rlaugh::
Cold Startup
 
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#87
Man that is awesome you got it running!!

As for the block of plate for the mechanical fuel pump I would just make one. Some 1/4" thick plate steel the same shape as the fuel pump base with two holes properly spaced and a fuel pump gasket should do the trick.
 
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#92
Not sure what color your 79 tach wire is
You need a 1979 Mustang EVTM
Or, to have the diagrams posted possibly by LILCBRA like the ones he posted in post 84
But
Your tach wire at the ignition coil negative terminal, might be the same exact wire that goes inside to the tach in the cluster connector
Chances are that your tach is toast if that wire is blinking with the engine running
See if your local library can let you access AllData online for free
That site will have ALL the manuals for you to print, free possibly, if your library pays the subscription service like they do around here
 
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#93
manicmechanic007 said:
Not sure what color your 79 tach wire is
You need a 1979 Mustang EVTM
Or, to have the diagrams posted possibly by LILCBRA like the ones he posted in post 84
But
Your tach wire at the ignition coil negative terminal, might be the same exact wire that goes inside to the tach in the cluster connector
Chances are that your tach is toast if that wire is blinking with the engine running
See if your local library can let you access AllData online for free
That site will have ALL the manuals for you to print, free possibly, if your library pays the subscription service like they do around here
Click to expand...
Alright thanks! I do now have a manual for my model year and engine so I'll check that out ;)
Might be a pain to test since you can't start the car when the cluster is unplugged, guess I'll just go get some blood rushing in my head with some underdash action :nice:
 
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#94
manicmechanic007 said:
Or, to have the diagrams posted possibly by LILCBRA like the ones he posted in post 84
Click to expand...

Yeah, I forgot about this post when I got home from work yesterday. I was going to open my manual and find what I could for him.

Hopefully your manual has the wiring diagrams - I'll try to remember to check in tonight and share what I can find for you.
 
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#96
manicmechanic007 said:
You should be able to start and run the car with the cluster removed
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Oh? Mine won't, I hear a clacking from some kind of relay I don't recognize from before and nothing more.

Feel like I read that info somewhere too, can't remember if it was on a forum or in the manual.
It might also be possible that this car's past electrical "renovations" have something to do with it.
 
#98
Ok @ZachOrie - here's the diagram following the 3 connections to the tach. I'm no electrical guru or anything, but it appears that the red with yellow hash wire #640 is your tach's power wire, the black #57 wire is ground, and the dark green with yellow dot wire #11 is your signal wire. Here are the diagrams.

20250328_201920.webp
20250328_201925.webp
20250328_202024.webp
20250328_202123.webp
 
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#99
@ZachOrie - I know you said that you had gotten a manual, but these wiring diagrams are also very handy.... they are color-coded with factory wire colors, more durable than paper, and sometimes are easier to use than a book with folded out pages, especially when one is laying on their back on the floorboard, trying to track down some underdash wiring issue.

www.ebay.com

11 x 17 COLOR Wiring Diagram for Ford 1979 Mustang (Fox Body) 2 pgs | eBay

Make & Model: Ford Mustang (Fox Body Style). YOU WILL GET A DIAGRAM - NO MATTER WHAT. Prospero's Wiring Diagrams presents 11 x 17 - Bigger than other wiring diagrams. The Quick and Dirty on Our Wiring Diagrams.
www.ebay.com
 
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#100
85GTStangGuy said:
@ZachOrie - I know you said that you had gotten a manual, but these wiring diagrams are also very handy.... they are color-coded with factory wire colors, more durable than paper, and sometimes are easier to use than a book with folded out pages, especially when one is laying on their back on the floorboard, trying to track down some underdash wiring issue.

www.ebay.com

11 x 17 COLOR Wiring Diagram for Ford 1979 Mustang (Fox Body) 2 pgs | eBay

Make & Model: Ford Mustang (Fox Body Style). YOU WILL GET A DIAGRAM - NO MATTER WHAT. Prospero's Wiring Diagrams presents 11 x 17 - Bigger than other wiring diagrams. The Quick and Dirty on Our Wiring Diagrams.
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
Nice, ordered them for my 1990.
 
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