My 1987 Mercury Colony Park

[87gtVIC]

Nice. Looks great in there.

[86VickyLX]

I want to put one in my '83, but it's factory carb. I would need that pesky "fuel flow sensor" which is virtually impossible to put one's hands on (in place of the ECM providing a fuel flow output).

I would like to see one to see how it works. I'm curious how it estimates fuel.

[Tiggie]

Had one of the fuel flow sensors on my 82. I looked through my pics but can't find a picture of it. Was mounted on the intake manifold and had fuel lines running through it. So it measured actual fuel. Was more accurate than my 88 which always overestimates gallons used. I miss that car. Had it been a Tudor it would still be mine.

[gadget73]

I'd bet its less complicated than you think it is. I'm expecting little turbine that spins with fire juice flow, signal probably induced like an ignition pickup.

The question is what the specific output signal is. It may be the same as a generic fuel flow sensor that you can obtain easily rather than trying to find the stupid rare Ford part from 30 years ago.

http://www.futurlec.com/Flow_Sensor.shtml

for example has one for 13 bucks.

I guess one of these days I'll have to drag the scope out to the car and see what the fuel flow signal is.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

LoL yeah, you need a light. Even if it looks like it's in the "old/right" position just tweaking by a fraction of a millimeter can change things. I've noticed that with my cars I have to overcompensate before tightening the dizzy too, that once I begin tightening that nut the timing changes a bit after. OCD problems.

I found out that this distributor actually has to be set further out than the old one to get the timing right. Going based on just the marks I made didn't get me really close, but good enough that the timing adjustments could be made from that point.

Once I got the light on, I was having trouble finding 10* BTDC. I got under the car, bumped the starter with the coil unhooked and found 0* and 10* were marked up so they'd be visible. Hooked up the coil and got it running again. I started retarding the timing, and then I see 10* coming around along with 0*. I'm not quite sure how far advanced the base timing was, but I figure it was probably around 20* or something like that. I got it back to where 10* was at the pointer, and it sure seemed a lot more agreeable to start than before (seemed a bit tight).

Cruises around good again. I don't think its possible to get a 302 as smooth as a 4.6, or at least not this one, then again I expect some more NHV out of a higher mileage, 30 year old vehicle compared to one that's 10 years newer with about half the miles. I just wish it would upshift out of third easier when I'm in a neighborhood doing 25 MPH. It'll hold 3rd down to about 20, and it bogs the motor. Really annoying in neighborhoods with speed bumps. Shifts good and runs good otherwise.

[Steveh66]

I added the Mileage monitor to my 85 wagon. Love it.

It still has the VV carv on it so i had to add the fuel flow meter. Just found an NOS meter on ebay and built my own wiring harness.

They are neat!!

[DerekTheGreat]

Sounds like you need to adjust that TV cable some. My townie comes out of third below 19mph. Will shift into it at that speed if I'm hardly pressing pedal, will shift right out with any more pressure, no bog.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Sounds like you need to adjust that TV cable some. My townie comes out of third below 19mph. Will shift into it at that speed if I'm hardly pressing pedal, will shift right out with any more pressure, no bog.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

It probably needs some readjustment. I had the line pressure bumped up in April so the shifts would be a bit snappier and kick down from OD would be before I got the pedal to floor, but for how long the throttle body was left undone from the intake just resting in the engine bay, that may have messed with something.

[gadget73]

you did set it with the SPOUT unplugged right? its like 20-30 BTDC with it connected, and 10 without it.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

you did set it with the SPOUT unplugged right? its like 20-30 BTDC with it connected, and 10 without it.

I did. Timing was way too advanced to start with before I got it set properly.

[gadget73]

K, just asking because you wouldn't be the first person to fall into that trap.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Finally got around to doing some work that didn't involve fiddling with the engine or electronics. Some time ago I found a '90 LTD CV police car and snagged the rear control arms and sway bar set. Now, given what a PITA it was to get the control arms out with the exhaust in the way, I opted not to install them for now, but to go ahead and get the sway bars installed.

I flattened the lip a bit on the rear control arms so that there wouldn't be any clearance issues with getting the bar set. It dropped perfectly into place after doing that and bolted right up.


I also drained and re-filled the rear end. I was using conventional Castrol 80W-90, but I've been trying to flush it of any debris since it had gone through an axle bearing which put a lot of shavings back there. There were definitely shavings in the fluid that was drained, but nothing indicating catastrophic failure of a bearing, more so just residual shavings from before. I should have stuck a magnet on the inside of the cover, but didn't think about that until afterwords. I may still put two strong ones on the outside of the cover to help draw particles towards them and away from the gears. I used Valvoline SynPower 75W-140 for the replacement fluid. I've run that viscosity in the '97, and it seems to work really well in the '87. The typical axle noise seems to be considerably reduced.

After taking care of the rear end, I did swap the hollow wagon front bar for the police solid front bar. The bar to frame bushings were trashed and the end links were installed upside down, rusted, and equally trashed. The metal caps that go over the bushings had deformed and had the impression of the bolt head pressed into them. The bushings themselves looked too small, one had split apart and was missing chunks, and the rest were wallered out and cracked. Essentially the front bar was just hanging there.

Replacement bushings were installed, but I will say I wound up with bushings that were really tall beyond the bracket. I cut these level to the old ones and they bolted up nice and snug, with no unusual movement or free play. I used Moog for bar to frame bushings and sway bar end links (polyurethane type end link bushings).

Taking it out for a spin, things were dramatically different! It was so much flatter in sharp cornering and ride quality improved. Even more floating was eliminated and it tracks even better! I'm not big on overly harsh suspensions, but right now this is where it needs to be. Essentially the suspension is like this: Police Front & Rear sway bars, KYB Gas-A-Just Police shock absorbers, original front springs, cargo coil rear springs, original front & rear control arms. It's not a complete HD suspension package, but it sure does beat the standard underpinnings, and it definitely beats where it started at, with sagging rear springs and dead shocks.

On the way back to where it stays, it did get a needed bath to get all the dirt and dust off of it.


I also took the time to toss on some new wiper blades. I wound up with a good pair of 22" blades that had the large and small pin arm holes. 22" blades work just fine on these and clear a good bit more of the windshield. Just a consideration for anyone who may feel the 18" blades aren't cutting it enough.

[jaywish]

The existing rear control arms may be the same gauge as the police arms. The stock arms in my 88 were of the heaver gauge.

[87gtVIC]

Looking good!

Whats the latest with the tailgate.

Still angers me that it got hit.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Looking good!

Whats the latest with the tailgate.

Still angers me that it got hit.

Old one still on there. Replacement still sitting behind the shed. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll motivate myself to go start processing the replacement.

Depending on what paint combination I come up with to match with the rest of the body (assuming what I have in mind is close enough), I may touch up a few areas. The paint is peeling off the upper trim on the driver's side (no primer, just applied right to that trim). I'd consider retouching the roof, but I don't have an area that would be really clean to do that, but we will see.