Reviving one that's been sitting 20+ years
- Thread starter BestGuess
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Yeah, I have the original bumper with the vin tag so I bought another used bumper and cut that one and painted it.
Ohh man, I aint looking to putting in substantial work to make the bumper fit. I think it's close to fitting now, I quickly threw the nicer of the two bumpers on it the other day just to see what was up. It was close to fitting.
I've got to get it running better I know that much.
I've got to get it running better I know that much.
- Mar 2, 2015
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That was kind of a joke. I did that Terminator lower on mine. That work was all self inflicted.
Since y'all were showing intercooler pics I want to get in on the action too.
Since y'all were showing intercooler pics I want to get in on the action too.
Thread whoreThat was kind of a joke. I did that Terminator lower on mine. That work was all self inflicted.
Since y'all were showing intercooler pics I want to get in on the action too.
That's a nice car. I would absolutely love to get my hands on something exactly like that in that same color. There's something about that '80s brown that I find appealing when considering the sea of white/silver/gray/black that's out there these days.
This thing isn’t nice. Saw a 79 posted up for sale for fairly cheap the other day with no title that looked mint compared to this POS.
I realized I like reviving junk that’s rotting away and this car is a prime example.
Update: THIS THING F@$%ING SUCKS!!!!!!
No but really, it does suck.
Been messing with it a little here and there. Trying to get the tune a little better before I button up more of the car and then end up having to take it back apart again for something. Noticed, no matter what I did tune wise that it wants to not run good just above idle, where the car would spend a good majority of time while driving and whatnot. Got some other people that race and tune in on helping me notice whatever it is that I'm not seeing and they were confused as well. A buddy was over helping me and we crank it up one time and he revs it slowly and the thing revved fairly smooth. Keep in mind it was in the low 30's when we were messing with it, so not warm outside. It didn't make any sense that it would rev smooth then and then a few minutes later back to the same junk. The next day it dawned on me, how could the cooling fan being on have any effect on the tune. I crank the car and let it warm up to whatever, but below where I have the fan set to come on. Engine revved fairly smooth several times. Let the fan come on and it wants to not rev smooth. Idles fine though. I unplug the fan power wire from the battery and it seems that it revved smoother. After talking with a tech at EFI Source and going over a few things with him, he told me to take the alternator out of the loop and see what it does. I take the belt off and eliminate the alternator and it seems to rev smooth, at least where I can drive the car up the street. I also hooked the power back up to the cooling fan and the solenoid I have for the fan and no real difference. I also looked at some datalogs of the voltage that the ECU is seeing. Very erratic and there is some spikes in voltage even with no alternator. So I have some sort of electrical issue. I am going to address my grounds again and maybe use a 6G alternator that isn't PWM controlled.
Another issue I keep having is the dang belt alignment!! What a pain that has been. I have tried using a flat edge to get the alternator aligned with the crank and it seems like I just can't get that right or something. The belt was rolling off the front of the crank pulley originally, so I trimmed on the alternator junk some and got it better, so I though. Now it want's to roll over the back of the crank pulley and it's chewed the belt up. Anyone have one of those laser alignment tools they want to let me borrow?
No but really, it does suck.
Been messing with it a little here and there. Trying to get the tune a little better before I button up more of the car and then end up having to take it back apart again for something. Noticed, no matter what I did tune wise that it wants to not run good just above idle, where the car would spend a good majority of time while driving and whatnot. Got some other people that race and tune in on helping me notice whatever it is that I'm not seeing and they were confused as well. A buddy was over helping me and we crank it up one time and he revs it slowly and the thing revved fairly smooth. Keep in mind it was in the low 30's when we were messing with it, so not warm outside. It didn't make any sense that it would rev smooth then and then a few minutes later back to the same junk. The next day it dawned on me, how could the cooling fan being on have any effect on the tune. I crank the car and let it warm up to whatever, but below where I have the fan set to come on. Engine revved fairly smooth several times. Let the fan come on and it wants to not rev smooth. Idles fine though. I unplug the fan power wire from the battery and it seems that it revved smoother. After talking with a tech at EFI Source and going over a few things with him, he told me to take the alternator out of the loop and see what it does. I take the belt off and eliminate the alternator and it seems to rev smooth, at least where I can drive the car up the street. I also hooked the power back up to the cooling fan and the solenoid I have for the fan and no real difference. I also looked at some datalogs of the voltage that the ECU is seeing. Very erratic and there is some spikes in voltage even with no alternator. So I have some sort of electrical issue. I am going to address my grounds again and maybe use a 6G alternator that isn't PWM controlled.
Another issue I keep having is the dang belt alignment!! What a pain that has been. I have tried using a flat edge to get the alternator aligned with the crank and it seems like I just can't get that right or something. The belt was rolling off the front of the crank pulley originally, so I trimmed on the alternator junk some and got it better, so I though. Now it want's to roll over the back of the crank pulley and it's chewed the belt up. Anyone have one of those laser alignment tools they want to let me borrow?
Made a little battery rack and installed a larger battery that I had. Had 2 new batteries that were the suggested series/size for this thing die and since I’m fighting with an electrical issue I’m changing some junk. Got a refund for the bad battery and got this larger Interstate I’m going to try. Also moved the engine and battery grounds a little and may try to add another ground off the engine back near the trans. I also put the belt on the alternator and that thing was clanking and squealing some, but appeared to be trying to charge. Car would idle with the alt belt off, didn’t want to idle with the belt on. Didn’t get my laptop and try to get any datalogs.
Wished I knew someone who had one of those laser belt alignment setups.
- Mar 2, 2015
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About 10 bucks at HF gets you a magnetic laser for a saw. It can be stuck to anything metal to get a straight line. Position it so it shoots the groove and you'll be able to see if it's straight.
What part of VA are you in ? I think I might have met you before. I'm in Fredericksburg.
What part of VA are you in ? I think I might have met you before. I'm in Fredericksburg.
I’m in the Lynchburg area. Not sure we’ve ever met, but it seems like I talked to someone, maybe on FB that was building a mustang and from VA. And thank you for that recommendation for the magnetic laser. I’m going to check that out tomorrow.
Been working on it a little here and there. Need some headlights and some bulbs, needs other odds and ends. Just received its 5th alternator, technically. I rebuilt this one and it's working good so far, or seems to be. Still got a weird issue with the radiator fan that I am trying to figure out. I have driven it to the gas station close to my house though and probably put 10-20 miles on it around my neighborhood trying to troubleshoot the issue I have.
Crazy issue that I’ve been chasing my tail on. First thought that when the fan kicked on the alternator couldn’t keep up and it was drawing a bunch of amps and voltage and throwing the injectors off. The car would rev fine before the fan came on, after the fan it wouldn’t. Rebuilt and upgraded the alternator, changed some grounds around, and replaced the battery and the issue got a lot better. But, still breaking up and acting weird with the fan on. Unplug the fan and the car runs pretty decent. Talked to a guy who is a tuner and helped me tune another car and he reviewed a datalog. Said it looks like the RPM trace goes crazy while cruising and the fan is on, it’ll fluctuate a few hundred RPM in a single frame. He thinks something is happening to the PIP signal or the TFI. Could be EMI. Now I’ve got to troubleshoot it to make sure or figure out how to correct that.
Ford Taurus dual speed, using only the high speed. Wired through microsquirt to ground switch and kick it on at 165*. Using a continuous duty solenoid with a flyback diode. Fan is grounded to the chassis with an 8 gauge wire, hot wire is fused and runs straight to the battery with 8awg wire. Two small poles on the solenoid one goes to 12v switched the other goes to microsquirt to make the ground.
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