A couple technical questions if I may...

[ford man]

Hey guys- concerning my '85 LTD Crown Victoria...

I have the brass bushing for the transmission tv rod on top by the throttle linkage, but what about the bottom? I tried to put another brass bushing down at the transmission but it's a different size. Does the rubber bushing at the bottom ever fail? Is there a brass bushing available for the bottom?

My other question is: Has anyone used the Felpro printoseal performance intake manifold gaskets? I want to re-seal my stock intake and just want to be sure the printoseal gaskets are the right port size. Sorry if this has already been covered.

Thanks in advance. I really appreciate your responses,

Isaiah

[1990LTD]

port sizes will be slightly off usually. when you hear people talking about gasket matching an intake or cylinder heads, they're grinding out the excess metal so the ports match up more exactly to the gasket. 302 intake gaskets are 302 intake gaskets unless you've got bigger aftermarket stuff on there.


i have not heard of the bushing at the transmission end failing. the one on the throttle body likely fails due to proximity to engine heat.

[1987cp]

Brass bushing for a TV rod? I'll have to have another look at the vestigial bits off my '81, but usually the brass bushing trick is discussed in the context of the factory TV cable on a SEFI car.

As for gaskets, just have a gander through the various intake gasket options for SBF and pick a set that suits your needs. Most any intake gasket should do ... I found a Fel-Pro set that came with nice rubber end seals for just $10, which I think was the very cheapest one AutoZone offered. Weirdly, I recall it including the SEFI upper intake gasket but still being cheaper than the ones with annoying cork end seals listed for the carb-spec models.

[ford man]

I ended up getting the 13 dollar factory style replacement felpros. I searched the print o seals and apparently they don't last long term and a lot of guys have problems with them. More of a race type gasket.

My brass bushing works great... Just wondering if there is another one available for the other end of the rod. The brass bushing works the same if it's for the rod or the cable, is my understanding.

[gadget73]

The plastic one down at the trans end doesn't really seem to go bad. They are virtually impossible to get apart, I know that. There is a bushing up top on the rod cars though, same plastic or brass part works on those as the cable drive cars. The bushing is slightly less critical on the rod cars though since the rod won't really fall off if the busing crumbles. It will monkey with the TV pressure, but not enough that you're at risk for smoking the trans like the cable cars are. Also, when that rod falls off, it seems to default to high pressure instead of low. Not really sure why, but usually you'll find a CFI car with the rod off shifting very late and hard instead of early and mushy.

[ford man]

Thanks Gadget! That puts my mind at ease...

[BerniniCaCO3]

I still haven't done the brass bushing upgrade... just how frequent are failures? My rubber bushing still seems rubbery, for now.

[sly]

frequency... don't know. they can happen anywhere from about 40K miles to when they break. If you have one... the best advice is to replace it as soon as you can. Especially if you ever put the hammer down.

[gadget73]

The one in my Mark VII died around 150k miles and I think it was 10 years old. I know it died because on the receipt for the transmission replacement is a charge for a new bushing. The one on the car, as installed at the dealer, is brass. To put it in perspective, the last transmission job I had done was about a grand. A bushing is what, 10 bucks?