85 351 4door Vic **DUW**

[johnunit]

Sometime this fall I'm going to have a few exhaust shops that I've had recommended look about patching up the leak and maybe putting in some magnaflow or catco cats in it.

after that, 2 inches might feel small

[hemihotrod402]

hey, on your list, the mufflers, go with the glasspacks. They are significantly cheaper than other mufflers (flowmasters), but you get the same sound out of them.

I used black magic interior cleaner on the vinyl top, and it still hasnt faded since. It says NOT to use it on vinyl tops, but the top was gone anyway. And it actually worked.

liking the car, this is the first time I stumbled upon it. Same color combo as mine! (cept you got the 351 and velour interior)

And the AOD shift kit made by B&M costs exactly 51.00 form jegs

[johnunit]

The B&M kit will probably happen sometime next year when I do a filter and fluid change, thanks.

As for the vinyl, it's cracked (hundreds of cracks) since I took those pics, probably because I used Armor-all. It's also turned all turquoise on the top, but that probably could be helped by something like the black magic you mentioned. I'll try that out, but it's still all gotta be replaced to ever look respectable up-close.

And thanks for the compliment on Sophie. There was a reason I took a shine to your ride when you posted it.

[1987cp]

Glasspacks sound the same as Flowbastards?

Seriously, go to your local AutoZone and ask to see the cheapest mufflers they have in your dimensions. The ones I'm running now cost me $20 each retail, and lots of glasspacks cost more than that.

[HotRodLincoln]

Glass packs run like $25 each here in VA. The most expensive ones I found were $31.99. Straight pipes would be your best bet. I've run straight side-exit dual exhaust on my TC since April, and the po-po have never once asked me about it, other than "What engine makes that much noise?" They are practically free too if you have other exhaust work done. And I have 2 Catco cats that replaced the four little ones that were there. All said, I paid $530 for my entire exhaust after the manifolds, cause the cats were $199.45 each. Just my thoughts, I'm an exhaust afficionado of sorts.

[johnunit]

Replacing the 4 cats with 2 catcos or magnaflows, and putting cheapie mufflers or glasspacks will likely be the way I go in the short term. I'm trying to set something up with a guy who apparently charges 30 dollars per "operation". Meaning that to cut out two mufflers and weld in new ones would be 60 dollars, which isn't that great a deal I don't think, but to cut out the 4 cats and replace them with 2 3-way types would also only be 60, since it's pretty much the same amount of work.

That'll still add up to $250 with parts and labour, though, so it won't be this month. Anything behind the mufflers will wait awhile, as all that was replaced fairly recently and seems to be of good quality (not even rusted yet).

[johnunit]

Over a month since my last update... yuck.


I just picked up 4 one-year-old winter tires for 60 bucks ("these whitewalls are ruined, no way I'm paying 80.."). If nothing else, it'll be nice to finally replace the ANCIENT rear tires. I don't know how much I'll drive Sophie in the winter though. If she's as bad in the snow as I suspect, I just might throw a tarp over her at my dad's and leave her be except for exceptionally nice weekends.


In bigger news for the car, I'm about to do my second weekend at a part time job at Superior Tire (finch and Dufferin for the GTA'ers). Minimum wage work moving cars and throwing on tires, but I'll take it. What all this means is that Sophie will finally have some money thrown at her.

An oil change is top priority, but after that I'll be looking at finally nailing down my suspension and driveline issues, replacing the rotors (+pads?), getting more than 2 speakers working, and maybe searching out some GT40P(are P's the ones with the 351 bolt sizing?) heads and 4 barrel top end.

I'll get the winters on (complete with pretty white walls) and maybe do some minor paint work, and throw up some more pictures of Sophie.



In other news, apparently, just because when you floored it in the rain at 30MPH it didn't spin the tires, doesn't mean the rear end won't break loose when you go into second...

[1987cp]

I did OK last winter with my snow tires and adding some weight to the trunk. The weight was pretty much essential, though ... sliding around in the Vic helped me realize why I'd always been able to get around OK in the wagon even with comparatively unsuitable tires on it. This year I've installed my old Monroe air shocks I had on the wagon previously, and plan to throw sandbags directly into the trunk rather than having them interfere with rear-seat legroom. I have two 70-pound bags I got last year at Menards, but ended up driving with extra wheels in the trunk in addition to those bags in the back seat, so I guess I'll see whether I need to add a third bag this year.

[johnunit]

Thanks, that's about what I expected.
I'll probably go with the 60lb tool kit, fire extinguisher, and see how reasonable things are. I'm lucky enough to have both houses on a bus line and my mom's (where I am on weekdays) within walking distance from the school, so I won't have to drive it on the really nasty days. The stock engine and 2.73 trak lock should help me out a bit too. If not, there are some lead weights hanging around the shop at school (think gold bars) that I can throw in.


I'm also in the process of undercoating the crap out of the entire bottom of the car. I even found a crevice to spray in on top of the gas tank. Tomorrow, fingers crossed, I'll finish turning the underside black, as well as ditching the trailerpark special look of whitewalls in the back and blackwalls up front.

[79lincolnlover]

Take some pics when you find the time.

[johnunit]

I will once I find time at school to slap on the white wall winters.

[Nathan in MI]

You know, somehow I've missed seeing this thread all this time, and so while I was reading it I was preparing to post a bunch of VV stuff to help you out, but then I saw the PMs you and I had exchanged awhile back.

How's that carb acting now? Still have the off-idle hesitation? If so, what's probably happening is that your accelerator pump isn't working, which is the same thing that happened with mine. I ended up rebuilding the thing and it ran great afterward. I don't know if I ever sent you the link to the article I wrote on rebuilding those things. Mine is still on my '89, and if I ever decide what I'm gonna do with that stupid thing I'd gladly let you have the carb off of mine. We'll see if I can reach a decision on that car's fate...

[johnunit]

The off-idle hesitation is more or less gone, it's just generally gutless down low (below 2500ish rpm?) and takes a long time to warm up (flooring it after 3-4 minutes of warmup time will often cause it to almost die).


I did skim your thread about the re-build, and if I remember right I came away thinking "maybe" to rebuilding mine, I just don't know where the hell I'd get a rebuild kit since most people just swapped to a 2050. I think I still have a vacuum leak somewhere and want to get a vacuum gauge and A/F gauge on it before I commit to swapping out the carb or rebuilding it. In the next couple months I should have a good idea on that.

Thanks for the potential offer, if that carb does become available I'd be interested.

[johnunit]

I did the first half of the alternating turn signal mod today. I left the other side original for now just for you guys, so we'd have a before and after video. Here you go.




Also, I should have uploaded these months ago, but this is one of the brake pads that was on the car when I got it. I drove about 1,000 KM on these.

[1987cp]

The turn signal is kind of nifty. What was involved in that, just splicing a couple wires?

That brake pad is very impressive.