Reviving one that's been sitting 20+ years

02 281 GT said:

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.

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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?

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.

90sickfox said:

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.

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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.

Got one of those lasers from Harbor Freight. Too dumb to figure out how to correctly position it on the pulleys to get an accurate reading.

But……a friend also has a belt issue on his Capri. With some discounts at Advance auto I was able to get one of the Dayco laser alignment tools cheaper and he split the cost with me.

Custom lowering kit which includes cut rear springs from my 79 Mercury Zephyr. And if you didn’t notice, got that custom drag setup wheel package. 17” on the front and 15” out back. Nothing but the best for this one.

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.