Progress Thread 1993 LX Hatch Progress

[nickyb]

Paint come out great, and your doing it up right so far.
Just two things ill suggest strongly ill add
1) get rid of the msd coil( personal experience they suck)
2) get that hot air intake in the fender well and turn it into a c.a.i.

Good luck getting her done,she's a beauty.

 

[Mac131]

Good car for sure. You got a lot of expensive work done allready on it. Like five lug wheels and tires. Looking foreward to more

Thanks! Yeah, it has a solid base which is nice. Putting in a cobra booster next week. The rest of the 5 lug conversion looks pretty solid.

 

[Mac131]

Ahhh

Lol. You could try a product called simple strap. It's a stretchy rubber type strapping made for bundling objects together. I've found it works excellent as an abrasion layer. I have some on my AC line where it tucks behind the supercharger to protect it. It's handy for lots of things. I use it all the time.

If you take your time stretching and spacing each wrap evenly you can get a real nice look, similar to road bike handlebar wrapping. It looks good. It doesn't stick to anything. Just by friction it sticks to itself. So you'd need a zip tie or self fusing rubber tape at each end.

interesting, that sounds like some good stuff. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

 

[Mac131]

Paint come out great, and your doing it up right so far.
Just two things ill suggest strongly ill add
1) get rid of the msd coil( personal experience they suck)
2) get that hot air intake in the fender well and turn it into a c.a.i.

Good luck getting her done,she's a beauty.

Thanks! I have a factory style intake on the way. Hate this hot air disaster. Thanks for the tip on the coil too! Any recommendations on a replacement? The cap doesn't have a brand but says made in USA.

 

[Mac131]

More interior dying today... Harmonic balancer should be here tomorrow. I'll be changing that and the front seal. Man, it would be nice to cruise around in it this weekend!

Center console will eventually get the cup holder upgrade.

 

[nickyb]

Thanks! I have a factory style intake on the way. Hate this hot air disaster. Thanks for the tip on the coil too! Any recommendations on a replacement? The cap doesn't have a brand but says made in USA.

Get a motor craft coil from rockauto, mines been going strong for 10 years now.

 

[AeroCoupe]

If the MSD works then leave it. Have had mine for years and works flawlessly. They had a huge issue with clones on eBay and Amazon. If you do decide on replacing it then the one nickyb suggested would be good or he wouldn’t be using it. I’ve heard Standard’s Blue Streak is pretty good as well.

 

[Mac131]

If the MSD works then leave it. Have had mine for years and works flawlessly. They had a huge issue with clones on eBay and Amazon. If you do decide on replacing it then the one nickyb suggested would be good or he wouldn’t be using it. I’ve heard Standard’s Blue Streak is pretty good as well.

Ahh good to know! So I'm looking at my throttle body butterfly and damn this hole seems big. I know the stock ones have it to prevent vacuum lock. It doesn't appear to be drilled out, but who knows? It's 3/16 in size.

 

[nickyb]

As far as the msd coil,I got one from oh oh O'Reilly's and it worked flawlessly for a few years.
Then my car started to act little strange on morning start ups.
After pulling what little hair a haid left out.trying to figure it out , it turned out to be the msd coil
Now most wouldn't even notice the start up issue I had but when it comes to my stang I get anal retentive.
Any noise, a few more revolutions to start in the morning and I'm set off to never never land.
Like mentioned keep yours till it goes out or acts up,but may I suggest having a motor craft coil on hand.

 

[nickyb]

Oh your holes in the t.b. blade was probably opened up to get it to idle better, check the idle air controller.

 

[Mac131]

Oh your holes in the t.b. blade was probably opened up to get it to idle better, check the idle air controller.

My IAC is "new" with no adjustable plate in between.

 

[Mac131]

As far as the msd coil,I got one from oh oh O'Reilly's and it worked flawlessly for a few years.
Then my car started to act little strange on morning start ups.
After pulling what little hair a haid left out.trying to figure it out , it turned out to be the msd coil
Now most wouldn't even notice the start up issue I had but when it comes to my stang I get anal retentive.
Any noise, a few more revolutions to start in the morning and I'm set off to never never land.
Like mentioned keep yours till it goes out or acts up,but may I suggest having a motor craft coil on hand.

That's a good idea. If I do, the MSD will be the spare

 

[Mac131]

More progress today...replaced front seal and harmonic balancer. Water pump weep hole is dry, so that's good. Also installed the newly dyed center console. Considering installing the under drive pulleys that came with the car...

 

[nicholase]

What was wrong with the balancer? wobbling?

My car had underdrive pullies when I got it. I didn't know and was always wondering why I couldn't get a normal belt size to fit.

It ran on the hot side and charging wasn't great even w/ a 3g alt. Maybe there are different ratios and mine were off or something? When i figured it out I put normal ones on and all those things went away.

 

[89ripper]

Underdrive pulleys were all the rage back in the day. One of the first mods I did and I couldve swore that there was a seat-of-the-pants feel of HP increase. The trade off for any increase in HP is not worth it imo

 

[Noobz347]

Underdrive pullies are good for folks that track often and drive it to get there regularly.

For street Mustangs, they're a gremlin for some and a devil for others.

 

[Mac131]

What was wrong with the balancer? wobbling?

My car had underdrive pullies when I got it. I didn't know and was always wondering why I couldn't get a normal belt size to fit.

It ran on the hot side and charging wasn't great even w/ a 3g alt. Maybe there are different ratios and mine were off or something? When i figured it out I put normal ones on and all those things went away.

For those exact reasons I am probably not going to put them on. I have a 3g alternator but the last thing I want is my car to run hot...I like A/C on my skin.

Yep, balancer was wobbling. I wish I could post a video of it up here but the site doesn't like it.

 

[Mac131]

Underdrive pulleys were all the rage back in the day. One of the first mods I did and I couldve swore that there was a seat-of-the-pants feel of HP increase. The trade off for any increase in HP is not worth it imo

Really glad you guys are chiming in about this...I don't want any stupid drivability issues.

 

[Mac131]

Underdrive pullies are good for folks that track often and drive it to get there regularly.

For street Mustangs, they're a gremlin for some and a devil for others.

Yeah, sounds like a lose/lose situation for me. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Mac131]

Just ordered a motorcraft coil, cap, and rotor from the Zon. Upper intake is coming off tomorrow. The vacuum routing is kinda strange...the T fitting is completely capped off with the PCV going right into the large port in the center. I know that specifically where it pulls vacuum matters. Not sure in this instance, but I don't want to take any chances.