kishy's 1985 Country Squire

[kishy]

Even the Panthers do have nylon lines, from the fuel tank to the frame rails, and at the fuel filter, and at the connections to the engine. They're disguised inside of rubber tubing that makes them look like rubber. Aside from the steel line corroding and screwing up the quick connects, there isn't much to go wrong with them.

Putting them in the rubber hose is a smart idea...protects against damage from rubbing on stuff.

[slack]

It has one repair splice from before I owned it, but otherwise no issues that I know of. I've never gone under there and poked at it just to see if it will fail but it hasn't given up on it's own. Panthers use the same stuff at the fuel filter, at the top of the tank, and from the frame to the lines on the engine, along with a section at the front and rear of the fuel rail. None of that ever seems to fail either.

Even the Panthers do have nylon lines, from the fuel tank to the frame rails, and at the fuel filter, and at the connections to the engine. They're disguised inside of rubber tubing that makes them look like rubber. Aside from the steel line corroding and screwing up the quick connects, there isn't much to go wrong with them.

Putting them in the rubber hose is a smart idea...protects against damage from rubbing on stuff.

Cool. Thanks for the info guys. I knew about the one by the fuel filter but never had a reason yet to check for them elsewhere. Learn something new every day.

[DerekTheGreat]

Indeed! Why I troll here every day during the week.

[kishy]

I had a bunch of overtime banked up (I do not take my OT as money, much rather get it back as time...) so I took yesterday off. I did not realize when I did that, that it is Canada Day weekend and was already a 3-day-weekend with Monday off. So that's cool. It feels like Sunday already, so I'm kinda 2 days ahead of myself.

Yesterday was a pretty hot and humid, really gross day. I made myself pretty sick between not eating (I never can when it's like that out) and not drinking enough water...by the evening I was in rough shape and ate almost nothing, drank a glass of water and fell asleep. Fun.

But, I did accomplish finishing the supply side fuel line, as well as mostly finishing the evap line (just need to route it a bit more at the front end and done). Nylon, as I promised myself. I put the longer section of nylon line inside vinyl tubing for rub protection.



Today, repair bearings installed, axle shafts installed, diff cover put back on. Note to self: fill with oil.

Driver side drum brake rebuilt along with new parking brake cable, brake line, and drum. Passenger side and remainder of parking brake mechanism will be next, likely.

Rear shocks are attached at the top, not the bottom. The extra couple inches of axle droop afforded by keeping them unhooked at the bottom is helpful while I make up the axle brake lines. I just get entirely under the car, sitting in the space the fuel tank normally occupies. The shocks are super easy to do with the tank out because you can just chill out under there.

Mounting the fuel tank will require repairing the trunk floor, as 1) there's no point temporarily trusting the terrifying looking strap mounts and 2) the new straps I bought match the attachment style of the vehicle I cut the new floor pan out of, which is different from original to this car. So I will either move up to the engine and do my re-gasketing and timing set, or I will move on to figuring out the floor next. Since I still have not welded anything, looks like the demo/figure-it-out project is going to be the actual job itself. What could possibly go wrong?

[slack]

Nice!

Are those Monroe's in the back? I had issues with the ones I installed in my car. The rears failed within the year for some reason so I had to replace them. I've been running KYB's back there since and they've held up for a couple of years so far. Probably just some duds from the store though.

How difficult was the repair bearing install and the e-brake line change?

[kishy]

Nice!

Are those Monroe's in the back? I had issues with the ones I installed in my car. The rears failed within the year for some reason so I had to replace them. I've been running KYB's back there since and they've held up for a couple of years so far. Probably just some duds from the store though.

How difficult was the repair bearing install and the e-brake line change?

Blue Monroes, yes. NAPA Response house brand, made by Monroe. RockAuto cheapies at something like 8 bucks apiece. I have non-NAPA-branded blue Monroes on the Lincoln and they are absolute garbage, but they will do for now.

The repair bearing install is straightforward, you just need the right tools. Do not get the Harbor Freight axle bearing puller unless you will use it within the warranty. I had purchased that set, then kept it for maybe half a year without using it yet, then leant it to a coworker and it broke for him on the first smack of the slide hammer. He bought me a new brand name set as an apology; these ones are GearWrench brand. Held up find for me. My slide hammer is actually a dent puller kit, so it's pretty lightweight, probably about 3lbs I'm thinking, and it did the job.

Installing the new bearings is a bit different. For starters, the seal is integrated, and the resulting install will stick out of the axle housing a small bit when it's driven in all the way. Make sure you have a metal-faced bearing driver to knock it into place, the plastic ones absorb the impact shock and you won't be able to get it in the final 1/8" or so without a metal face tool. Fortunately my local parts store does the loan-a-tool thing with that so I didn't need to buy one.

I initially used a block of wood to drive the one side in, and that was a big mistake. The wood deformed and pushed the seal in slightly on the top side. I'm going to run it and check after a bit to see if there's oil leakage. I'm thinking there will be, but maybe I'll get lucky.

The repair bearings were Amazon cheapies. The axle shaft on the passenger side does have a very slight groove worn into it, so repair bearing was the right choice. They're Parts Plus brand, and the two were not identical, clearly being made by different manufacturers. One side has two seals, inside and out, and the other side only has one seal, outside. Time will tell which one was better, I guess.

E-brake line is a pain in the ass as they always are. The spring on the end of the cable that goes into the drum brake is always too long and that makes it complicated to assemble the brake, but whatever. Once it's all connected together it will work correctly, just difficult to get it together initially.

[gadget73]

One way to get those out without the tool is to remove the carrier, and just use a long-ass rod from the other side. Feed the rod right through the axle and drive the bearing out. Needs to be width of the car plus about a foot, and should be somewhere near axle shaft size.

make sure you polish the axle well where the repair bearing will sit. They failed horribly on me and I ended up putting new axles in. My axles were rusty where the new seal surface is, so it just wasn't going to work.

[kishy]

One way to get those out without the tool is to remove the carrier, and just use a long-ass rod from the other side. Feed the rod right through the axle and drive the bearing out. Needs to be width of the car plus about a foot, and should be somewhere near axle shaft size.

make sure you polish the axle well where the repair bearing will sit. They failed horribly on me and I ended up putting new axles in. My axles were rusty where the new seal surface is, so it just wasn't going to work.

I feel like getting one's hands on an appropriately sized rod is harder than just buying the tool lol. Not to mention it's a parts store loaner, often.

Yes, I made that connection and studied it. I did use some fine sandpaper to clean it up but then once installed realized it wasn't even riding that far out, so it should be fine. Except the deformed seal, which might leak. It's going to come down to a number of variables. The deformation is right at the top so there will not be active oil contact against it, other than what is carried on the surface of the axle shaft. It will probably be fine for a while and then fail prematurely, is my guess.




Today, finished the right side drum brake and completed replacement of the parking brake cables. Mechanism appears to be working correctly. Just need to get everything adjusted and that will be good to go.

Bolted down the brake booster (this car got a reman) and master cylinder. Still need to finish one metal brake line to the right side drum brake, after that, it'll almost be fluid time. I'm holding off on putting the front brakes together because I don't want the rotors to surface rust too bad before the car actually hits the road.

Filled the rear diff. Used the remainder of the super old 80W90 my neighbour gave me. Still smells and looks normal, I'm not worried about it.

Tried to get the trailer hitch bolts to turn. Not happening. Some force will be necessary. It's a 1-1/4" receiver, and offensively rusty, so it's got to go sooner or later. I think it will be in the way for the trunk floor repair if I don't get it off first. I have a 2" Class III ready to go on when the time comes and am hoping the holes will be in the right spots.

[87gtVIC]

I pulled a trailer hitch off of a wagon in the yards ages ago. Three of the four bolts cooperated. The fourth one gave a good fight. I had to get vice grips involved and somehow by luck and chance things were in my favor and it all came apart. Hope you just need some more leverage and the fasteners that hold the bolt heads in place stay put for you.

[gadget73]

If you've got some 3/4 black iron pipe laying around, that'll do for a driver rod. Not saying its the ideal tool, but it works in a pinch.

for rusty parts, you need a fire wrench. If the heat won't break it free, you can just burn the bolt off and deal with it after it cools.

[kishy]

I pulled a trailer hitch off of a wagon in the yards ages ago. Three of the four bolts cooperated. The fourth one gave a good fight. I had to get vice grips involved and somehow by luck and chance things were in my favor and it all came apart. Hope you just need some more leverage and the fasteners that hold the bolt heads in place stay put for you.

The problem is the bolt heads are not "carriage bolts" like the one I put in the Lincoln. The bolt heads are freely turning inside the frame rail. On top of that, the threads are severely rusted so even if I get it to break free, I think I may be more likely to break the wrench I tuck into the frame rail than I am to turn the nuts off. Some careful angle grinder use should do the job.



Rad is out. Will not be reused; it shows visible leakage in some of the fins (copper-brass unit). I have a new aluminum standard duty rad on-hand and will install that.

AC bracketry totally removed. It will go back on with AC itself in the future.

I have a new-old-stock-reman power steering pump on hand. Probably going to put that on this car. Seems like maybe a waste of a shiny nice looking pump but whatever. Means I don't need to reseal the pump that's on it now first, and that saves me time, plus I've got no good workspace to do that at the moment.

Yanked the water pump and timing cover. I was not the first person in there. Timing cover is the one which expects a cast iron pump, but the pump on the car is aluminum. Timing set is not original (no nylon teeth) but is single-row and is badly stretched. Either that or it is original and the nylon has totally fallen off.





Slack:

https://youtu.be/EzTF9ysoOe4

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Here's an odd question: If the car is CFI, why does the timing set still use a mechanical fuel pump eccentric despite the lack of a mechanical fuel pump?

[kishy]

Here's an odd question: If the car is CFI, why does the timing set still use a mechanical fuel pump eccentric despite the lack of a mechanical fuel pump?

My best guess is that, at the stage in engine assembly where the timing set is put on, it was not yet known which timing cover and fuel delivery system the engine would receive. Seems silly, yes.

My 84, also CFI, was the same way. I could have left the eccentric out but see no benefit to eliminating it, so in it stays.

[gadget73]

Its also there to keep the dowel pin in the cam. Later cars have an L shaped thing in there for that purpose, but possibly it didn't exist in '85.

[DerekTheGreat]

Well, weren't the Canadian cars non CFI? So could it be possible they set the engines up for carb or CFI?

Kishy, was that a nylon gear?