1982 Ford LTD-S 351W Police Car

[Brown_Muscle]

FINALLY FINISHED! Exhaust is up all the little nuances are taken care of... It fits GREAT, very impressed at the results. I used a RTV copper sealant on the mega clamps i used as added security, so i have to wait until it dries tomorrow before starting it up *Crosses fingers for no leaks* Here are pics!



*PS i'll post more pictures once it is on the ground. Can't wait to drive it!

[johnunit]

that looks killer. Is that a custom H-pipe or modified or what? The cats look like what I have but not the piping forward of it.

[MattsLincoln]

looks so good i cant wait to do my lincolns exhuast that is basically the same setup.

[Brown_Muscle]

It's a walker mustang h-pipe. 2.25". the pipes are s-10 midpipes with welded adapters.

[johnunit]

nice. Those bends on the midpipes are WAY better than the mustang 2.5" stuff. Scottmang had said that before, but that's a big difference.

[packman]

Did you start that sucka up yet or what?!? You can't leave us hanging like that :smirk:



Packman

[Brown_Muscle]

Well, started it today, sounds good. A lot deeper sounding especially at idle. All header pipes except cylinders 2 and 7 are turning purplish blue yellow....I would not have expected it to happen so fast, at least on a motorcycle if pipe discoloration happens that quickly it indicated a very lean condition. The fact that cyls 2 and 7 arn't running as hot is another disturbance. Any idea's here? Engine running test confirms code 22 "fuel always lean" also got a code 25 for the thermactor system

[87gtVIC]

Looks nice Phil. Hopefully you can sort out your issues.

[Brown_Muscle]

Thanks! I'm sure it has been doing this for quite some time...i just never knew about it. I need to drive it though to see if it has any other symptoms

[sly]

always lean and air injection... sounds like blown check valves (those big ass steel ones on the air injection crap). Try plugging up the hose from the smog pump and see what happens.

[Brown_Muscle]

I'll try it out. Now that i think of it, i believe the thermactor code is bogus, because my friend observed it during the 2 minute 2000 RPM warmup cycle. i read over the instructions again and it says nothing about observing codes at that time. I'll also check the stepper motor that controls the mixture in the carb.....that would cause it to run lean overall. still strange that those 2 cylinders are burning cooler though...wouldn't make sense that the carb is at fault there though.

[ford man]

Brown Muscle, your exhaust looks REAL nice! It for sure is running leaner then before with your new free flowing exhaust. Think about it: now you got headers, no cats, and free flowing pipes.

I don't know anything about VV carbs but carbs in general need to be tuned to compensate for any changes that are made to the rest of the engine. I would step up 2 jet sizes and see if it runs better or worse. If slower then before just 1 jet size and your done. If it runs better then drive it a little while and check your plugs or go up 1 more jet. Now that you got the free flowing exhaust you can find more power in tuning your new combination.

Do you still have to smog your car?

[Brown_Muscle]

Thanks! I do still have cats though. I am unsure of whether or not you can even buy jets for the VV carb. There is a motor in the carb that controls A/F based on the o2 sensor, that should be able to compensate to a certain degree, if it's working correctly. The smog is hooked up and seems to be functioning correctly.

I was able to acquire a dealer manual for the 82 VV that has some adjustment, however they simply show you how to put them back to factory spec....with no indication as how to make it run leaner/richer. I also have a diagnostic PDF booklet for the MCU and various sensors if something goes wrong or is working incorrectly. I'll try doing all the diagnoses tomorrow that i can (i suspect that motor that controls the mixture, as the engine still runs smoothly, and i did not run any tests prior to this, so for all i know it could have been exactly the same as before....we shall see

[Brown_Muscle]

Oh and guys with mustang ball flange type exhausts how tight did you make those flanges? i have some leaks around them but i have plenty of room to crank down.

[sly]

until the impact wrench wouldn't drive the nuts any further... but mine's an electric impact... and it was the panther ball style with two opposing nuts. I would think the same would go for the 3-way... snug them up kinda even then crank the hell outta them.