New 2.3 Fox Owner In Ny

Tom S

Member
Oct 15, 2013
123
8
19
New York
Just picked it up last week in order to finish my other projects . Much easier to work on a car if you have one to drive . No rust 2.3 one owner car but the original owner was n her earlier 90's and lots of curb rash on all 4 wheels . Drivers seat is toast and center console top is missing . Tracked down some seats , wheels and console pad . Just need to get out there and pick them up .

ry%3D400


The rear view mirror is tiny and would not stay on so I swapped it out for an oldsmobile auto dim I had laying around the house . It was actually in the den as a "conversation" piece LOL . Everyone did ask , why is this here ?

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tealtiger93 I looked at your cardomain . So your running a header and 2 1/2 exhaust . How are you liking it and what did you feel ? Seats of pants and mpg's ? No other mods at the time I'm assuming .
 
I did pick up the chrome Pony's and black visors from a 94 . The visors are a little bigger but I think they will work out well . Plus they were $10 and in perfect condition . Mine are very raggedy . I'll post pics of how they look tomorrow . Tried pulling a power seat but could not get to the rear bolts . I just wanted the pwr seat track and pwer lumbar . I did not have much time to spend in the yard .
 
tealtiger93 I looked at your cardomain . So your running a header and 2 1/2 exhaust . How are you liking it and what did you feel ? Seats of pants and mpg's ? No other mods at the time I'm assuming .
I like the exhaust, the idle is mistaken for a 5.0L often. Once you get up in revs, you can certainly tell it's a 4-cylinder but it sounds much better than most imports IMO. It has more pull above 3,000rpm than it did before but I didn't notice any change in MPG. Mind you, I installed the exhaust in March '05. And you are correct, the car has no other mods.
tealtiger93 your in the Allentown area . I was there last week and in Frackville/ W Hazleton today . Out at Harry's U Pull . Bought the wheels in Frackville . Small world .
I've been to the Harry's in Allentown and Pennsburg but never Hazleton. I'd like to get up there one day, it's by far the biggest of the 3.
 
Pennsburg is hard on the feet (rocky) , Allentown very dirty (lot of oil spills) . Hazleton is more of a very large package store . You need to get there early though . Lots and lots of walking just to get to the Ford section .
 
Got the visors in and the auto dim/compass mirror wired up . Cleaned and swapped the drivers seat over . It's a plain Jane LX seat but oh so much more comfortable than the raggety one it replaced . The mirror dims and the compass lights up . It stays at S or SE though . I'm supposed to drive in circle's 3x's slowly until it re-calibrates . The mirror was from PA so I guess it still thinks it's there .

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Obviously the crappy one is on the right .

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Can't make out the compass reading in the photo very well . It was from a Lincoln Mark VIII and everything fit well .
 
Just shampooed the front mats before vacuuming the interior over the weekend . Next is to take some of the slop out of the throttle cable using zip tie's as suggested by others on here . Maybe even get the chrome Pony's I bought earlier this week .
 
I just did the zip tie on the stretched throttle cable fix . Wow what a pain in the neck , back and shoulders . I was able to get a couple of ties on and it drives so much better now . No lag when you step on the pedal and wait for the cable to catch up to the pedal arm .
 
Wife used the car to go to work on Friday and called to let me know the power locks had takin a dump and she couldn't lock the car . Drilled out the reviets , removed the actuators and wala locking doors . I haven't had a car without power doors in years . What a pain . Now to order new ones . This wasn't something I wanted to brag about "upgrading" . Well better than losing a tie rod at 50mph .
 
Re-did my drivers seat today . Hoorah for me . I used a passenger side seat because they are easier to find in good condition . Good thing is my seat frame was not bent . I put the extra seat track on line and it's selling for the price I paid for the seat . My bottom seat pan does not have the provision for a pwr lumbar switch so I used the manual one from my Jeep . What a mess the old seat was in . This is the old seat foam . The wire was coming right through .
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The springs had little tension and broken in the center . I used the better one and springs plus added two more at the thigh area . Overall better tension now .

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Done .
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Added a piece of automotive padding left over from a previous project . Tried laying on top of the springs but it was making the entire seat upholstery too stretched out . So it went in on top of the foam . Feels cushy . Did not use it full thickness , just a medium to thin layer .
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As for the top , the foam was swapped out for the passenger side one and the manual inflatable lumbar was just slipped in on top of the foam . Why isn't he on the comfy one ? This is with the pillow completely deflated . I drove around with it on the seat and partially inflated in my Focus before installing it .

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Finished . Can't wait to try it out . You don't need much to get it done . Only draw back is the hole on the back where the passenger release was . Think I'll try one of the vinyl repair kits . Kept one piece of upholstery to use as a patch .

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This was all that was needed for a more comfortable ride . T45 , 10mm , 15mm . A piece of padding and the air pillow . This air pillow is 8 years old and has never left me flat .

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I would like to re-dye them a charcoal color later on . I had cleaned up my door panels and removed the map pockets . The P.O. had glue the arm rest on the passenger side and I was not able to remove it w/o tearing the panel slightly . Thinking of trying to make my own map pockets too .

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It looks better . Even if I do say so myself .