Progress Thread 1989 LX 5.0 convertible - mild project

I'll definitely keep an eye on it. It seems to have stopped, for now.

AeroCoupe said:

Four things come to mind. The fuel sending unit gasket, the fuel pump hanger gasket, the tank vent gasket, and/or the filler neck grommet.

This is a pic from Mustang5L5’s car and you can see all four item I am referring to. Furthest one to the back is the fuel sending unit, one with the red plug is the fuel pump, white one is the vent, and black one on the side closest in the picture is the fuel neck grommet.

Click to expand...

Where is the tank vent routed to?

The heads and cam in this car are a mystery to me.
Other than the aluminum heads, it has BBK shorty headers and 70mm throttle body, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, de-cat, H pipe and unknown mufflers.
I'm working on baselining it and will be changing all fluids, etc.
I've been watching the base idle reset videos and feel like that's something I can do at home.
With the bigger than stock cam, do you think 14 degrees BTDC is a good starting point? With a lumpy cam, what's a good idle RPM I should shoot for? Somewhere around 750-825 or so?

It seems to not be leaking or venting fumes but, from what I've read, there are probably somd grommets on top of the tank that need replacing.
I'll try to not overfill it and put those on the future "to-do" list.

I've had the car with a local Foxbody guy who did the top on my buddies Fox. He's almost done swapping out the quarter window motors and top cylinders. The motors failed shortly after I got the car home. The cylinders worked fine, bug showed signs of weeping. No better time to fix them, right?
He's also snugging up the top and making a few fine adjustments. I also replaced some rubber while he's in there.

I also found these rear speakers, crammed in there and hold on with one screw. I bet that rattled like crazy!
Next stop is the stereo shop, so I can reinstall the interior, shifter, console, etc.

Not yet.
The first order of business was to get the quarter windows working so I could drive it and not fear the weather. Ended up replacing the weeping lift cylinders and some rubber bits while we are in there.

Clutch question: I have reason to think that my clutch cable is stretched or at the end of it's adjustment.

The transmission shifts fine going up through the gears, never grinds, doesn't pop out of gear, etc. However, going DOWN from 3rd to 2nd, it's sometimes hard to find 2nd gear. Again, no grinding or anything, just tough to find.

The car has an adjustable cable and quadrant on it. The pedal doesn't have much free play at rest. The firewall adjuster seems to be out rather far, about 7/8". In the LMR video, they show it screwed almost all the way in.

Is there an adjustment at the transmission that might help? Does anything sound like a simple "out of adjustment" problem?
Lastly, if the cable IS stretched, is there a preferred cable; 5.0Resto, Steeda, Ford Performance?

AeroCoupe said:

I run a Steeda adjustable cable on both cars and they are really good IMO. Do you know if the cable currently in the car is adjustable down at the clutch fork?

Click to expand...

I am assuming it is, because I have the quadrant and firewall adjuster. Doesn't that mean you have an adjustable cable? Is it possible it's just not adjusted correctly?

OK, so educate me here.
On one of the Facebook groups, someone shared this:



It looks like my cable is on the hook farthest away from the firewall. I haven't checked the end at the clutch arm yet. I'll probably have to get it checked when it's at the shop, on a lift.
I don't know what kind of cable I have but I am assuming it's adjustable. The quadrant and adjuster look just like this kit:



IF the cable is adjustable, and since I have a firewall adjuster, should I change the attachment point on the quadrant?
Or, should I start with just a baseline re-adjust: screw adjuster all the way in, adjust cable at the clutch, fine tune at the firewall and leave the quadrant alone?