Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.

Noobz347 said:

Take pictures of everything!!!!!!

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What "Everything?"

droopie85gt said:

So 2 weeks or so off out of the country? Holy , the 3AMD is going to wear you out like a cheap suit. With no way to go down to the Lair and verify the he is telling you, you may just go crazy. Or have serious insomnia.

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Tell me about it. The little ******* was already in maximum overdrive last night. He had me worrying about the flexplate, and the modifications that I now have to undo. Had me worrying about the converter measurements. Thinking about the radiators for the heat exchanger, relocating the oil coolers out of the G-shroud and moving them outward. Wondering if I can get away with one of those little radiators, ( instead of two) and wondering how much additional water I'll need in a reservoir (other than what's circulating) Having to drill a hole in the head to access the water jacket so that I'll be able to route water to the heater, instead of using the pipe nipple that is at the very back of the head. Those few things, and countless others...cost me sleep from about 2:30AM till the alarm went off at 6am this morning.

I have to deliver a car to Panama City Fl. today, spend the night, and drive back with the client's old car. Tomorrow will be the only time I'll have to do anything to tide me over for the next two weeks. While I'm driving, I'm supposed to get a call from the converter guys to tell me how bad "shouldn't be too bad" really is.

So....if I don't fall asleep on the 5 hour drive down there....I should know something and be able to do something between now and then.

Spoke with converter dude today. Still not cut and dried. Wants me to measure my crank pilot to be sure of the inside diameter.
He asks me who built the converter.......( cause it ain't theirs)
I go...Uhhhhhh PATC???
He says, yeah...out of Lousiana right?
I guess...
Still dont know if that was good or bad.

I've decided...I have seen Hell.

It's not that bad a place really...But it wont take long before you'll hate it.

Hell actually has a name...its called Capt Anderson's seafood restaurant.

Notice the decor in hell...
Now add in the ambiance....there is elevator music wafting through the air..
The plaid carpet helps the Geriatric squad keep their hoverounds on the right path,.the ferns overhead cant possibly have been dusted since they were hung in the late 70's
The food is stupidly overpriced considering the sides you get ( canned mixed veggies, and a scoop of mashed potatoes)

And to think, this place came highly recommended by the BMW customer I delivered the car to tonight.

And the kicker for all of this excellence, is that my canned food, and small piece ( 4oz) of broiled grouper cost me 41 bucks with the tip.

Now, I get to go back home to my fleabag hotel owned by none other than Pradip
Singjak enterprises...kind of another version of hell in of itself..the first room I walked into smelled like the toilet overflowed..

Noobz347 said:

Ah. Travelocity, I see.

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No...Concur. I could've probably chosen a better hotel, but I'm not on vacation and I figured Comfort inn....

So......I have a couple of hours before I leave,. And a half day when I get back.....what could I possibly expect to accomplish?

Well.....

Brakes,...engine bay,...heat exchanger..

In no particular order:

Still missing some dry time, the gold pinstripe tape that divides the colors, and the bolts that hold everything in. But this is another ““Mike, why are you painting sht again?” Project...doesn’t look as good as it does in the pic, but...regardless.......it’s better than it was before.

There he is,..all be his lonesome...Mr Manual. Still gotta get brake lines plumbed to the prop valve up front.

im thinkin I’m gonna remove those fans..and...
Stuff this dude in between:

im gonna try the one radiator. ( instead of two) If a 03 Cobra can get away with the little weenie assed oil cooler lookin thing to cool the water for the roots S/C that’s on that engine,..having this thing with a fan attached, and a 1/2 gal reservoir holding residual water should get the job done.
whererever I can jam that thing in..and find room for one of those electric SBF water pumps ( that I just happen to have two of).

droopie85gt said:

Christ Almighty, if there ever was an oxymoron...COMFORT INN. Drury, Hampton Inn, candlewood suites all sound a might better. And there are so many GOOD places to eat in Pensacola. Was the sale contingent upon eating at that hole?

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it was panama city...Comfort inn is part of a chain that includes these hotels

AND...all of those crotchedies think that that restaurant is a great place.

Well...Pinstripe tape's applied.
Next up is the rest of the bay..(Mostly just needs cleaning, and touch up on the chips in the black paint.
Then Brake M/C pedal config.

This is all I know:

On the red car I had manual everything. The car had a standard manual rack ( Not the "sport ratio") and it was a bitch to steer in a parking lot.
The car had manual brakes. Cobra rotors and calipers front and rear. Drilled and Slotted front rotors. The pedal was modified as per Wilwoods' recommendation, I was using a 7/8" Wilwood M/C as per their recommendation. A Wilwood adjustable prop valve set to their recommendation.
If a child stepped out in front of that car while going 30 MPH...he'd be dead. I couldn't lock those brakes up to save my ass.

And since I know that already:

All of that behind me, Turns out that I'm going to be trying this again. This time, stock Cobra rotors and Calipers,..a Stock 15/16" M/C, the same adjustable prop valve as before,....the same stock brake pedal, modified at the pushrod intersect point to increase my leverage, with the same 1" extension added to the pedal to increase it's length. I hope for their sake No children step out in front of the Monster.

Again....I'm there.
Talkin to the walls.

I understand that there are people here that could give a rats red bunion hole if I ever updated this thread again.
( I can now count them beyond the fingers I have on both hands)

It'd be different if I just posted a stack of pictures, didn't say dick about them, then disappeared for another month...

But...I'm vigilant. I provide colorful insight, witty commentary, " How to do it" tech, and even more colorful pictures with circles and arrows pointing to the garbage.

Does anybody care?

Nope...They don't give one ( what was the term two tone used?.........,,oh yeah...."Iota" ( what the phck is an iota anyway?)) it's the same as if I showed up at your respective garages with a "look what I did".
And you looked,...Did a "Barney Fife", pulled up your pants a little, sniffed and said.."Yeah,....that's OK I guess."
And then went inside your house, and left me standing there, wondering if I should just go on home.

But that's ok. This happens for all of us here and I get it..For the people who bother to take the time to do the work, take pictures, and offer insight as to how, or what they did,..and then post all of that sht on here to get maybe a thumb up...makes you wonder why you bother, they know it too....... They know that it's the way things are..

Now I could stop watching this stupid ball game,..go downstairs, take pictures and stage the photos to show what I did today..but it's only for the benefit of two " actual" guys, and 7 others.

( You ever pay attention to the likes?... It goes...Dirty dingus, Buford Pusser, Boba Fett, and 5 others liked your reply)

Doan make no sense.

I've modified the brake pedal...pretty radically. From what I've learned, a power brake pedal ratio is something like 4:1. In other words, if the distance between the pivot point and the center of the brake pad is 12", and the distance between the pivot point, and the intersect point for the M/C pushrod is 3".....you divide 3 into 12....(4)...you have a 4:1 pedal ratio.

Now,..if you extend the pedal,...( Cause you don't got no power brakes) make the distance between the pedal pad and the pivot point 14", then raise the intersect point of the M/C pushrod to 2"...14 divided by 2....you have a 7:1 pedal ratio.

7:1....the little kid that steps in front of me may live to see the light of day tomorrow

The problem with doing that is that the pad is sometimes too low. Maximum Motorsports has a specialty pedal arm drilled to provide the pad the ability to pivot so that it'll always follow your foot as you apply braking pressure.

They sell that kit for 149.00

The problem for them is they posted pics of that kit.

I cloned that kit for free.

Yea me.

Anyway....I have done this..suffice it to say.....you'll have to take my word for it..

a91what said:

Sweet, I am interested to see how the manual brakes work out. If i can get rid of the MC for more room I will, I have never driven a car with manual steering either so I want to hear what that is like. The ever leaking PS pump can go away forever.

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You and me Steve...talking to the corners of the room..if it's not a muffler thread, or a does this seat make my butt feel as fat as it is thread,..nobody around here is commenting.
Except the Iowa boy,....evidently, his house is fixed up for the winter.