and the saga continues....
As it goes things are kinda in limbo. I have a new distributor coming, I ordered from Bronco Graveyard. Seems either the ones I would find elsewhere are shaky junk or they just don't have any. At least the ones in my price range. I would like to have got a nice MSD but really, it's just the housing itself that is different offering no performance or better build quality I can discern. Pretty Red cap. (that costs $50) They even state they use quality OEM parts inside! I can't believe the turmoil surrounding such a simple part. Many cheap ones I read about have crooked shafts in them causing the oil pump shaft to bind and then break! I find it odd too that there are Sooo many people out there buying distributors for 89' Mustangs that there all gone. Even places like Auto Zone or Parts plus I think even Napa, either had cheap junk ones or there on order. Many sell the Cardone rebuilt one's. Seems their a 50/50 chance they come with a bent shaft. I think they rebuild oem parts with cheap stuff they use to build cheap ready to run units! They both have bent shaft problems. So anyway. I got mine where it was available and can return it easy if it all goes to......it is a bad part.
I have had some issues I kid you not. I have decided I don't like old aluminum manifolds.....So I think it's smart, while I have the manifold exposed and to minimize all sources of vacuum or water leaks to pull all the T's, water fittings and sensors in the manifold. Well that went to hell, inna bucket real quick! Seems when you start disturbing these pieces when they leave the manny, they like to BRING THE FRIKKIN THREADS WITH THEM!!!!
Now I'm pissed again.....gimmie a minute.
Ok..so I tried to remove this plug thing in the upper and reseal it. Would NOT budge. And...it threatened to strip out the socket if I was to push it too far. So I stripped it to raw metal and covered it with epoxy. I hate half assed work. Everything else removed just ok. The T took like the last thread with it. So I cleaned it up and reinstalled it. The real problem lay with the water passage to the egr spacer. It took half the threads with it! Not in one spot either, all randomly. I couldn't even feel it when I broke it loose. I thought it was going ok. Then I seen the carnage the two fusing together caused.
I did this with the manifold installed in the car figured just as good as any time to re-seal these places and what could go wrong? Right? Wellll....If it was not installed I would have handled this problem a nuther way. But it is and I really feel good about how the manifold is installed and I don't want to rip it out to fix it properly. And I do hope to change manifolds sometime in the future anyway. So the best next thing I could come up with was good ol' fashioned JB Weld.
So's what I did was clean it too raw metal and clean up the threads. I tried to use a tap to clean things up but felt it was doing more damage than good. Getting the aluminum out of the steel threads was about impossible. They become one. Won't even pick out. I had to remove two threads from the end to get to half way decent threads to grab ahold. I managed to get it in to about 3 full threads. I filled the threads with jb inserted the piece and cranked it in until I felt it hit a spot where if I kept going would be bad. Then I covered it just in case and let dry. It feels really good (nok on wood) but I don't like it. But...
Here it is cleaned up.
This is how far I was able to get it to go in before committing epoxy to it.
Then the glue...this is wet and before I cleaned it up a little.
So that's that. What else? O I took the throttle body to the machine shop and had them fix the idle screw for me. It was broke off and mangled from po so they milled it off and drilled and tapped me a new hole. Came out real well.
I also am waiting for parts to assemble the heater hose routing. Brass elbo's so I can bring the hose out and around the back of the engine to connect to the water on the manifold. I probably will eliminate all that and the egr in the future version. But waiting for those parts, didn't realize they were gonna have to cast them! (joke bout how long it's been haha...) :-I
All along I have been trying to find a good way to install the new gas pedal and linkage. Not happy with any possibility. Where it needs to go is directly behind the engine. There is probably less than 2 inches between the firewall and the block. Makes a 90 degree turn, not good. Other places it is on a angle way to high for comfort. So I keep plodding along until the right way shows itself. I may have to result to some kind of mechanical way to pull the cable outside of the parts given for the job. Something like being able to attach a bracket to the end of the pedal rod to extend where the cable connects putting it in a different area from where it's mounted. Not sure what but working on it. Maybe incorporate the old linkage somehow. I did get the 36" cable in case I need to go around the upper and it can be shortened to fit the install...however that will be.
In the meantime I wait for parts and chip away a little at a time when I have time that is. Everything has gone all wonky lately. I had my backup car die, my lawn tractor died. Found out I had a freeze plug leak in my boat, inside the bellhousing.....that means pull the motor. And in there I had surgery and await one on my elbo soon! So I need to wrap up some of these jobs as I will be out of commission a while.
As a side note, Men. Do NOT delay your "special" checkup, when your 50+. I did and they had to remove an obstruction that turned out to be benign. I believe they changed the thoughts on when to do this checkup from like 50 to 55. I am 55 and would have found this sooner if I did it sooner. Just sayin, it's a thing. Pride is a bad thing in this situation so bend over and cough.