My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[87gtVIC]

Look here

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/forum/technical/gmn-reader-s-rides/23560-my-1987-two-door-crown-victoria-aka-the-brown-blob?p=1103707#post1103707

[Arquemann]

Alternator bracket is on with one less nut now, seems to fit just the same in relation to the alternator itself.

- Redid the coil and ignition module wiring, most of the wiring is in place and shouldn't need any more modification
- Finished up the fuel lines, will probably redo them sooner or later as I'm not quite satisfied with them, but they should do for a while
- Bought new PCV grommets but I can't get the angled breather tube off the other valve cover at all, old grommets are really hard
- Mounted the ac compressor and the chafe protection has suddenly deteriorated alot...

All the things I do take alot of time because I spend alot of time thinking, tinkering and making everything look nice. I'm not just bolting stuff back on, I'm putting things back better. The cons of working slowly is my feet and back don't like it at all.

I hate the AC hoses and their routing in this thing, hoses are bulky and ugly and the routing unnecessarily garbage and very unsightly. Even the slightly newer ones with the can hanging off the compressor are a bitnicer to look at. I'd love custom hoses but our hydraulics supplier would get an aneurysm from the fittings and the cost dummy high.
Atleast the ac compressor isn't up front and stuffed into your face like on older Fords.

[gadget73]

yeah the AC plumbing is kind of a mess. Fox cars are dumber with the routing, the compressor and alternator are basically reversed so the hoses run right across the engine bay.

[Arquemann]

She's up and running now!
First startup was incredibly uneventful, my old Dewalt chuck wasn't up to turning the oil pump, so cranked it a while before plugging in the fuel pump, I had the distributor eyeballed almost dead on at 10° btdc. Plugged the fuel pump in and the dang thing fired up without any throttle.

A couple lifters took a while to stop clicking, runs smooth and no bad noises. Got up to temp, t-stat opened, throttle response is good. Sounds different and louder. There's a veeeery quiet tinking noise intermittently, like lightly tapping a loose tile, that has a bit of a ring to it. But honestly it gets lost in the mechanical noise.

Lower radhose started seeping by the radiator after shutting the car off, I was able to tighten the clamp quite a bit, so hopefully that's dealt with.
The flanges between the cats and Y-pipe leak profusely on both sides. Probably a combo of screwed up flanges and new gaskets which might be too stiff to squish properly.
TV cable adjustment to do, plus some wire tying and organizing left, mainly to appease my sense of aesthetics. Dunno if the carb will need adjusting, only a stock roller cam in terms of modifications.

Dunno how long I should keep the break-in oil in the engine, standard piston rings should seat pretty fast and there's no cam break-in to do. It's 10w30 mineral oil.

[gadget73]

usual advice was about 500 miles, or I guess about 750km, and a lot of that is about flushing out the assembly lube and any small dirt and grit that got in during assembly as well as whatever comes off the cam and whatnot. Roller cams don't shed like flat cams do so there is a whole lot less of that to deal with but there is still some amount of wearing in that happens in the first little bit of time.

[87gtVIC]

Nice job. Looks really nice under the hood. Simple and clean.

[Tiggie]

Victory! Glad it was uneventful when started. It does look very nice under the hood.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Very nice! That engine looks great.

[DerekTheGreat]

Looks very good under the hood, like brand new. Fix the spaghetti of spark plug wires.

[Arquemann]

Thanks for the kind words fellas!

After hopefully having sealed the exhaust leaks yesterday, today I redid the plug wires, accidentally switched cyls 6 and 8, started it that way, it coughed in the intake a couple times and I shut it off. Now I should have the plug wires right and the damn engine sounds like a vw diesel, smooth and constant quiet-ish rattling noise.
I dunno what I did, if anything, but I'm fucking terrified tbh.

Ran out of time today, so tomorrow I'm going through fucking everything.

[Arquemann]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vi4BEFDh2keKpr738

What the hell is this noise? Exhaust leak? Valve train? To me it sounds too uniform to be bottom end.
Fires up nicely, on choke it sounds exhaust-leak-y, but dropping off the choke it starts rattling. Timing is fine, afr is fine, it's not coming from the accessories.

I snugged up all the exhaust manifold bolts, didn't seem to make a difference, also popped off the pass. valve cover, nothing seems loose. Surely the rocker arms are the same on roller/non-roller so I'm not having some weird geometry issues?
Can I loosen and tighten the rockers while running, how tight? Half turn after it stops clicking?

Here's a longer clip, where it drops off choke/high idle:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3RrCNDwwM5tQMfa47

[DerekTheGreat]

Not sure it's something I'd be worried about. Sounds ignition component related, or at least not valvetrain or bottom end. That's a nice car you've got there. That engine doesn't even look like it's running when it is, very nice.

[Arquemann]

Not sure it's something I'd be worried about. Sounds ignition component related, or at least not valvetrain or bottom end. That's a nice car you've got there. That engine doesn't even look like it's running when it is, very nice.

The rattle is too loud to just ignore, otherwise it does run smooth as butter.

[sly]

Is it a hydraulic roller or a flat tappet setup? I would expect a flat tappet setup to be a little noisier than roller. It may just be fresh engine noise and will quiet down as you drive it and everything beds in. I didn't notice if you had a smog pump on it, but those things can be weirdly noisy.

[Arquemann]

Is it a hydraulic roller or a flat tappet setup? I would expect a flat tappet setup to be a little noisier than roller. It may just be fresh engine noise and will quiet down as you drive it and everything beds in. I didn't notice if you had a smog pump on it, but those things can be weirdly noisy.

Exploder HO factory roller cam. New RA lifters which I'm a bit wary about.

Smog pump started squealing horribly about three years ago and I ditched it. Wouldn't have use for one with the 4bbl Holley anyways.

The rattle is a bit too loud for my taste just to "see if it goes away".

I want to recheck the rocker adjustment, but I'm not sure if I can do it on the fly with the bolt on positive stop ones.