Need some help (Speedometer and clutch cable, low idle, stumbling)

So I did my water pump and thermostat yesterday and everything went smooth, but it was a classic case of 1 step forward 4 steps back. I found:

1) My speedometer cable is frayed and needs to be replaced, looks like to got too close to the header (which will be taken off and sent for ceramic coating, they were glowing after about 3 minutes at 1300RPM, I’d also like to have them identified, I’ll post a pic tonight). What's this like to replace?


2) My clutch cable needs to be replaced, it’s binding somewhere and it clicks a few times as you push it down. Is this a PITA to replace? I'll do some searching right now to see what others have said.


3) Here’s an interesting one that I really need help with, the 2 coolant hoses going into the throttle body were bypassed with a small pipe about 6 inches long. I took off the bypass pipe, and hooked the coolant lines back to their original ports on the throttle body, started the car and almost instantly found a pool of coolant right under the throttle body. Is there a gasket that needs to be replaced here?


4) There was a vacuum line I found to be completely collapsed, looks like 3 inches or so has melted because it was too close to the hot header on the passenger side. Again, I’ll post a picture tonight, what I’m wondering is, is if these can be bought new or if there’s a way to repair the damaged section.

5) I seem to have a low idle now that I can’t recall was there when I last drove the car in early December. The idle will sit around 550 RPM, this is low, correct? I did have to take the distributor out (long story) to get to a thermostat bolt, but I lined it back up EXACTLY where the score line was on the distributor. Could the timing still have been affected? The car also seems to stumble now, if I give it a quick blip of throttle it will shudder then the RPM will climb, and I actually had it backfire out the intake once… I can only assume the timing is way off on that one…

Luckily I’ve still got a couple months to get all this stuff buttoned up.

Thank’s everybody for reading and the help!
 
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1) (which will be taken off and sent for ceramic coating, they were glowing after about 3 minutes at 1300RPM


3) Here’s an interesting one that I really need help with, the 2 coolant hoses going into the throttle body were bypassed with a small pipe about 6 inches long.


4) There was a vacuum line I found to be completely collapsed, looks like 3 inches or so has melted because it was too close to the hot header on the passenger side.

5) I seem to have a low idle now that I can’t recall was there when I last drove the car in early December. The idle will sit around 550 RPM,

The listed quotes above are all likely related. Low idle, glowing headers, stumble/stutter... all indications that you're running extremely lean as the result of a vacuum leak. Don't attempt to do anything else until you've tracked down and repaired ALL potential vac leaks. Fix the obvious ones first then find the others by first eliminating your glowing headers and second by spraying a light mist of starting fluid around your engine bay while at idle to detect the smaller ones.

As for the TB coolant lines... well... leave it bypassed. Those lines are near useless in the first place. There's all manner of theories out there as to why Ford put them there but it's mostly conjecture and I know of no case where anyone has documented and effect (good or bad) with not using these lines at all.

The speedo cable is relatively easy to replace. Disconnect your old at both ends. Attach some small steel cable or strong nylon cord to the end of the speedo (you choose which end seems easiest to you). Pull the old cable out (effectively fishing your nylon cord through the firewall). Secure the cord to your new cable and work it back into position. Reconnect and done.

As for your clutch cable: Try re-routing the cable in, around, under, or through various components in the engine bay prior to considering replacement. If that doesn't work, some liquid graphite would be your next step (got to get it "IN" the cable from each end, of course). If that fails then consider a replacement. Might as well get rid of that crappy ratcheting cable adjuster while you're at it and get a good QUALITY fire wall adjuster. The "Fiore" is outstanding if you can lay hands on one.

For damaged vacuum lines... FN REPLACE THEM! Don't patch, don't band-aid, don't try and rejuvenate... Just replace them from end to end and save yourself the headaches of chasing down crappy splices in old vac lines later on. You probably have junk vac lines under your hood and dash that you've not even identified yet and are surely a contributor to your lean condition and idle problems.
 
Thank you very much for the info! That's all very useful.

Could the timing have also been messed up, even though the distrubtor is right where it was prior to removing it? Would that be a cause to any of my problems as well?

It could yes, but until you find and fix those induction leaks, you'd just be chasing ghosts.

Inversely, you could theoretically "tune-out" your idle problems without fixing the leaks (to a point) but would end up having accomplished nothing. You'd only mask the problem.
 
So this is what I'm up against... This is the line that needs to be replaced. It goes from the vacuum connector (is there a proper name for it?) and goes down into the top of the smog pump.

It's the line to the right of the silver line:

photo-34.jpg


It leads into here, which is right near the smog pump:

photo-33.jpg


Could this one line for the smog pump be causing me all this?