kishy's 1985 Country Squire

[kishy]

Surprisingly that engine looks very clean inside.

It's the worst of the ones I have, or at least the valley is so far. Now that the intake is back on I can proceed with the valve covers and not get all the crap from the covers in the valley/ports.
But agreed, it isn't full of grossness so that helps.

Flap disc with angle grinder on the heads! You brave!

Yeah...well...I broke 3 scraper blades and finally had enough. It's a 7k grinder which is pretty slow by grinder standards and I was really light with it. I did the same on one of my others and it was fine lol, and that time it was an 11k grinder.

Turn the amps up more on the welder. Looks like its not actually melting the base metal, only the wire.

High or low...min max is all you get. I agree with Thain though. You are kinda just on top of everything not actually penetrating much.

oh, no variable? hm. Maybe worth checking the ground connection too if you haven't. Rust under the clamp reduces the power.

I haven't quite figured out how this works. I have voltage switches of "MIN or MAX" and "1 or 2" grouped together, and a wire speed knob that goes up to 10. The results you saw above are at about 3.5-4. Below that the wire just arced off without sticking to anything and above that I get wire too fast. As I understand it, I want to be using lower voltage because it's thin metal, and my wire speed should be about right, I may need to clean the metal better and get my working speed figured out. I'll have to play with it a little more.

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Tonight, torqued down the intake manifold. No going back. Here's hoping the gaskets stayed aligned correctly. The tabs on the head gaskets weren't doing their job holding them up so they could have shifted slightly. Hoping not.

Drilled a hole in the trans pan and drained that. A drain plug will go where I drilled.
Pulled the filter. Drained the torque converter.

Fluid is super dark, super gross. Not much of a smell to it, but it's definitely past its prime. I was the first person in there in the car's life (dipstick plug in pan).

Fluid refill will wait until closer to being able to run the engine.

[DerekTheGreat]

Did you verify all gears worked before going through that trouble? Look like she might be smoked.

But wow, drilling a hole is a brilliant idea. I'm really interested to see how the drain plug thing turns out so I can copy it.

I really want to call that thing left in the trans pan the "cherry" as it seems fitting. I mean, you were the first there..

[kishy]

Did you verify all gears worked before going through that trouble? Look like she might be smoked.

But wow, drilling a hole is a brilliant idea. I'm really interested to see how the drain plug thing turns out so I can copy it.

I really want to call that thing left in the trans pan the "cherry" as it seems fitting. I mean, you were the first there..

Did not verify anything. It has first and reverse, which means it also has second. It's very likely it could be missing OD, but third is probably still there. As long as it has up to 3, it's street driveable. If it has only up to 2, not a roadblock for the car show I want it in on Saturday (that's still a hilarious prospect right now though).

New fluid and filter only ever helps. If a trans dies following said service, it was going to die anyway.

Drain plug will be one of these: https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-24513-65128.aspx
I've installed them in all of my AODs so far. They get used very infrequently, but it's a nice feature. I install with RTV to avoid the leaks some people complain of with them.

I kind of want to put a string through the end of the 'cherry' and hang it from the rear view mirror, but nobody would appreciate that who doesn't have an AOD.

[DerekTheGreat]

Oh I'm not saying the service will hurt it, I'm a firm believer in those and try to have my stuff done every 3 years or 20k miles. I'd have just put the rear up on jack stands and attempt to test the cogs to see if it has all five.

Yeah, that's why I don't do my own trans service as it make such a mess if you just drop the pan..

That would be great, do eet. At least we'd get it.

[sly]

I use max on my 90A wire feed and about 4-5 to weld together two sticks of speed steel (1/8 thick stuff you get at Home Depot that has the holes pre punched in them). Then I dwell on the area and build up the weld some. Like I said... I end up grinding stuff off a lot... but I also get the metal to be red hot for at least one second after I pull the heat away. No clue if that will work with that sheet metal or not though. I would like to get a better welder though.

[gadget73]

too much distance will also make the wire flash and burn off before it sticks.

I use long bolts with the heads lopped off as guide pins to hold the intake gaskets and align the manifold for installation. It helps make sure nothing moves that I don't want moving. Just make sure they are long enough to poke through the manifold with it installed, and cut some slots in there to help with removal. Mine are actually made from Explorer throttle body bolts I think. They were on hand and not a length that was useful for anything else.

[jaywish]

With light gauge sheet metal, after you do some tiny one spot tacks around the entire piece. There is an important technique. Do a tiny spot then move ahead 8 inches or more. Then do a tiny spot. Move ahead 8 inches or more and do another spot. Then go back and weld another tiny spot adjacent to the 1st spot, then adjacent to the second then the 3rd. Eventually you will have a complete length of weld 24" or longer.

This helps keep the sheet metal from warping. A light quick touch is what is needed for light steel. At least that is what I was taught and it works for me.

[kishy]

Tonight, replaced the diaphragm in the...uh...cold idle cam unloader. Since it isn't a choke pull-off. But it does use the same part and methodology. But whatever.

Also replaced TPS (new), ECT (good used), ACT (good used), O2 (good used). Lit the car on fire trying to get the O2 out (the insulation on the AC evaporator box is not fireproof). It was seized in there pretty well. Need to re-do the wire pigtail from the harness.

Replaced valve cover gaskets. Not enough fucks are available to have made the valve covers look better or tried to de-sludge anything. It is my least clean engine but it still isn't too bad. Used extra cheap rubber gaskets, time will tell how long those last.

Glued rear view mirror button onto the windshield using one of those Permatex tubes. I stuck it on a little high because I'm tall and hate how low they usually are, then realized it might interfere with the visors. I'll figure something out. Was hoping to use a super wide 70s Lincoln mirror in it but I won't be happy if I can't use the visors.

[DerekTheGreat]

That engine really doesn't look too bad. Just looks typical of one which has sat for 10+ years. I think Bobcat (Logan?) said the LoPo in his 2 door was so bad when he removed the rocker covers the whole area was sludge, like there were pockets where the valve springs & rockers were, areas between were straight up forbidden fudge..

I'd probably run seafoam in the crankcase to help clean that schmutz out and free up the rings if they're stuck. Change it after 1000k or when it gets black.

[gadget73]

yeah, dirty but not horrible. When they have large hard chunks or it looks like a Jello mold, then you've got problems. A few oil changes will loosen a lot of that crap up.

[kishy]

Minor-ish updates:

7/20: Finished the evap line. Soldered the correct pigtail onto the blower motor.





7/21: junkyarded, did not successfully find a better fuel filter bracket, so sandblasted the old one. Did successfully find a new intake manifold coolant fitting, and sandblasted it. Later primed and painted these items.



7/23: Installed the reman power steering pump on the bracket. Pump is not yet on the car, but it will be. Old pump had the typical shaft seal leakage. The car also has a leaky steering box, severity to be evaluated once the car's on the road. Also installed new pressure line on the steering gear, and new rubber hose section for the return line, but kept the metal part as it was better than the new one.



7/24: Fuel filter bracket and fuel filter installed. Intake coolant fitting installed. Replaced broken distributor cap adapter with junkyard good item. Soldered on junkyard O2 sensor pigtail.

[gadget73]

The blower connector melted on mine, its currently butt-spliced together so it works. The motor must have been changed at some point, its got the adapter that converts it from a side of the motor plug to the pigtail. I can still unplug it, but its not quite proper. Thats been my fix for the last couple of electrical things that melted on me. Works fine until you have to remove it.

[mitymerc]

Keep up the good work mang.

[kishy]

I appreciate the encouragement. I've been feeling kinda down with how long it's been taking me to make progress on this thing, but between the heat or being dead tired after work...I don't think I could move any faster.

Today, pulled all the plugs. They are all in identical condition (look decently healthy) and with identical gap (0.045, which has been widened to 0.050). Motorcraft copper plugs. They'll get replaced eventually but I think it should run quite happily on what it's got. The wires are Champion based on the orange boots; undecided if I'll replace them pre-emptively or not. Distributor cap and rotor are visibly in good shape. I think the ignition stuff was done not too long ago, in terms of mileage.

Throttle body is back on with fuel lines connected. EGR and spacer are back on. Emissions solenoids reinstalled. All vacuum connections are reconnected. New PCV valve and new oil cap. Bad line sections replaced and a few routing issues corrected using the Lincoln as a reference. Crank balancer and puller reinstalled. Crank timing marks wire wheeled, 0 and 10btdc marked with a wax pencil, then all timing marks hit with a clear enamel paint. TV rod connected with a brass bushing because it's all I've got, but I want to get a plastic/nylon/rubber/whatever one for it. In the CFI and carb application I feel quite strongly that the original design bushing is less likely to pop off than the brass one.



To-do is looking like, in no particular order:
Power steering pump and alternator (thinking I'll keep the 1G for now)
Radiator + coolant fill (system was flushed with the old rad in)
Fill the trans (at a time that the engine can be running)
Finish the R.R. brake line
Assemble the front brakes and bleed the whole car
Small patch in passenger front floor
Carpet
Lock actuators and door cards
Finish trunk floor
Go through my collection of fuel gauge senders and find the best one
Fuel tank
Toss a battery in it and cross my fingers turning the key.

Also the Tripminder buttons are corroded or something and basically don't work without being super abusive of them. Typical though.

[gadget73]

You can take the tripminder apart and feed a piece of paper through the contacts. Its basically a metal "box" with a piece of spring brass under it. When the button is pushed, the brass pushes down on the foil of the board. Stick paper in there, push the contact down and pull the paper out to polish it up. Add some contact cleaner if you like but its really not needed. The tripminder physical construction is interesting, its got several layers of boards all packed into that little box.