Monty's 1989 CV LX

[monterey1962]

New spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, and rotor = Smooth running 302. I guess sitting for all those years and running that old gas through the engine didn't help things. Distributor cap was toast. Spark plugs were in rough shape, too. Car is road ready.

[DerekTheGreat]

Wow, that's the first time I've heard of basic tune up stuff making a difference. Cool. I have yet to get lucky like that.

[monterey1962]

3 years?! It's been 3 years since I worked on this thing?! Maybe drove it 200 miles in that time. Put the car on the lift and did an inspection. Brakes, wheel bearings, steering, and such seem good. Fuel gauge has been non-functional for quite some time. Dropped the fuel tank, today. Tank was full of rust and has always had a nasty dent on the drivers' side. Fuel pump assembly was rusted and the screen was full of debris. Dead fuel gauge was from a cracked and sunken float. Ordered the following: fuel tank, fuel pump assembly, fuel filter, filler neck seal, and float. Came to $300 with shipping.

Tank removal wasn't too bad. Pumped out four gallons of old fuel, only to find that there were six gallons still in the tank. Didn't feel like it, though. I think the worst part was all the dirt that was built up on top of the tank. Couldn't do a damn thing without getting a face full of dirt. Hoping all the parts show up by next weekend.

[DerekTheGreat]

It's going on two years since I changed the oil on the Lincoln. Haven't even put 1,000 miles on that oil change and it's still tan. Drove it the other day though!

[monterey1962]

New tank is in. Doesn't fit like the original tank, and it put up an ugly fight to get the straps on. New fuel pump assembly didn't mount very well, either. Hoping that seal doesn't leak when I fill fuel. Gas gauge seems to work with 5 gallons in the tank. Car runs and doesn't stink god awful from old fuel anymore. Old fuel filter was full of rust and debris. Will try to get pics up later.

[monterey1962]

Flushed brake fluid. 150K miles on this car, and the old fluid came out black with some debris. Put 303 on the tires, again. They are old, but have always been kept inside. Finally got around to installing the interior lights. Went with original style bulbs instead of LEDs. LEDs just didn't look right in this car. Spent an hour digging for parts. All my extra parts for this car are scattered around here. Still more work to do on this thing before it's back on the road.

[packman]

I don't know what it's like on the '89s; but on my Mom's '86 CV; I had to buy threaded rod and cut studs for the gas tank; because I couldn't mount the new tank on the original break-off studs.

Keep chipping away and you'll be cruising the boulevard before you know it

[DerekTheGreat]

This is the one you did a great job painting silver, right? Been so long I forget now.

[monterey1962]

Yes, this is the one I painted silver. Looks like I opened a can of worms due to my neglecting the car for so many years. Found even more parts for this thing: ES poly suspension bushings (front and rear), nicer trip-minder, nicer speedometer, wiper stalk, etc. Hell, I think I even have a rear sway bar somewhere. Looked tonight and found that the stock bushings are wasted. Debating if I should do body mounts, too.

I'd like to get this car as close to "done" as possible before moving on to another project. Would be nice to just get in and go with this thing.

[monterey1962]

A few pics of the fuel sending unit before and after cleaning.

I ordered new fuel tank strap studs. I'm not happy with the way the tank is mounted, and will need to remove the straps to see what's going on.

[DerekTheGreat]

There's always something to do..

What's the story on your '95 F-150, does it have a thread?

[Giraffe]

This is a very nice car. It's to see it getting some love! I need to swap in the new fuel pump in mine and get it running again.

[monterey1962]

What's the story on your '95 F-150, does it have a thread?

No thread, yet. It was my Grandpas' truck. It's rusted very badly. I'll probably start a thread on it if I get around to fixing it up.

I'm not happy with how the new fuel pump assembly is sealing to the new fuel tank (both from RockAuto). Hoping that it doesn't leak when I get more fuel in it. I may drop the tank out again and inspect.

This car (well, all of them really) were neglected because of my health. I've lost three years worth of getting things done. However, I feel that I have a much clearer mindset now. Just don't want to get ahead of myself or overwhelmed.

[DerekTheGreat]

Ah, my grandpa had a '96. Half ton, regular cab, long box, straight six, five speed XLT he bought brand new. Fond memories of that thing, last saw it some seven or eight years ago. It was sad back then, probably dead now... If you start a thread on that, maybe I'll start a thread for the '79 G10 we have. I'd like to sell it this summer, have too much krap to look after.

Take it one step at a time. I'm getting to where I'm noticing I'm not as spry as I once was. Stinks having to work on yourself when you'd rather work on other things lol.

[monterey1962]

Pulled the gas tank out, again. Didn't see anything that could have caused it to hang up when trying to bolt it in last time. Old studs came out with minimal fuss. The new studs that I ordered are a match. Tank will probably stay out until I get the suspension and body mounts done.