Yeah, the pain is manageable. No much more than before, just different. All of the tissue, etc around the site is angry.
The original location for the fuse box was going to be on the PS near the strut tower. My desire to not relocate the battery and use a stock-sized one caused the same interference issues. Since I had nothing going in this spot on the DS, I moved it there (and lengthened a bunch of the wiring as needed.
I think I like the spot closer to the strut tower, honestly.
Just trying to get it into its home, so I can start making all of the needed connections for power and other stuff. I'm using the relays, etc in the box for lighting/fans/fuel pump, etc.
This engine bay stuff I can do while I'm limited on mobility, so I'm going to try and take advantage of the bit of time off work and the time alone at home during the day to make a little progress. I still have about another week in this brace they have on me, so that's annoying.
Well, I'm 2 days post surgery and I can hobble around at least. The weather is beautiful today, so I got out for a bit of pondering on the car.
I'm trying to decide where I want the fuse/relay box to live and how that's going to affect my MAF and air box location.
It's going to live on the DS of the engine bay for sure, but I currently have 2 options for location. Either back by the strut tower
Or farther forward
You can see that the orientation of the throttle would like for the air box to be in that front corner (which it is on the 2011 Mustangs).
Using the stock Mustang airbox is out, as it's too big to fit in the spot if the fuse box is in there.
I really don't want to use a cone filter in the fender well. I'm going to have a PS pump in there anyway, so things are going to be crowded.
Short term might be a cold air box with a cone filter behind the headlights for the time being, as I either try and find a suitable stock-type air box that might work, or design and 3D print something that uses some sort of panel filter element.
I can buy or build an MAF sensor housing to replace the one that is integrated into the stock airbox lid, so that's not an issue.
Well, I had hoped to toss the front suspension on the car before my surgery in a week, but I realized I didn't have one part to make it happen. It was mainly for motivation and just to start to get an idea how it'll sit with drivetrain, etc in it. Going to be very limited on what I can do for the next few weeks.
At some point I'd tossed the original strut boots, because "I have the old set from the LTS I can use". However, I missed one key thing.
I'd modified the LTS boots for use with the CC plates.
All that rubber I ground off of there is needed when trying to use stock-type strut mounts. Oops.
I hadn't planned on putting CC plates on this car yet, even though it'll probably need them. So I need to get some, or just dig up a set of the stock boots for the time being.
I'm going to be chomping at the bit to get at this thing once I am mobile again. I'll probably be in the garage on crutches doing what I can regardless.
So I pulled it out and threw it in the trash. new will be going in when it's time.
Still a bunch of gross under it.
The only hole is in the "plug" on the pass side rear floor area. The rest is just surface rust. Had a little water ingress over the past couple of decades sitting out. You can see the remnants of the build sheet on the passenger floorpan next to the seat bolts.
The rust will be treated and the plug replaced and sealed. Now I have access to run the wiring I need to the back.
The surgery is just arthroscopic, not a replacement. Managed to damage the socket lining due to some other issues. Pain of some sort most days. Was really bad when I was cycling, but some PT and readjustment on the bike has shifted that to discomfort instead of pain. I'm very active, and having my riding and running cut down by over 1/2 has done a number on my mental state.
The wiring isn't that terrible. Every connector is ID'd and recorded. Still gonna be fun, and I'm not final wrapping things until I get the car to fire up.
OK, well winter set in and I didn't have much time to fiddle with things that were out of the garage.
Speaking of the garage. Part of my holiday was spent getting 2" insulation up on the roof rafters to help maintain the heat a bit.
It was open rafters and while I have a heater in there, it doesn't do well at keeping things warm when it gets super cold, and it ran all of the time, which kills my electric bill. Finished it up between X-mas and NY. While the concrete floor was cold-soaked for a bit, almost immediately I could tell it was working. For sure the heater didn't run as much as it did. Confirmation came in the most recent bill for that time period. Compared to last year, it was quite a bit colder on average, but the usage was down by 25% over the same time period. I call that a win.
Now to the car stuff. Wiring, wiring, wiring. Spent most of the frozen time working on harnesses, etc.
I had originally planned to mount the fusebox over on the PS of the engine bay, but it was going to really be crowded with the battery, etc, so I opted to move it to the DS.
There it's crowding out the airbox I was thinking about using, but I'll be able to figure something out.
I did design up a bracket to mount the fusebox and 3D printed it. The red bracket in the picture is just the mock-up, but I printed the "real" one out of carbon-filled nylon.
At this point, I need to get stuff laid out in the engine bay to finalize some wiring lengths and prepare the bulkhead connector for the 20-ish new wires that need to enter the cabin. Inside, I need to yank out the carpet. One, it's nasty and will be replaced. Two, I need to have access to run wires to the back for the FP and other emissions stuff that's at the rear of the car. OBD2 diagnostic port and throttle pedal need to be wired as well.
I needed to shift the car around on it's stands a bit to be able to open the tailgate, but I needed to get the trans mount installed, so that was properly supported. The task to day was to get the Stiffler's mount in place.
It wasn't a drop-in, as I needed to slot or elongate the slots in each of the frame brackets. Designed for a Fox, yes, but not the LTD/TBird floorpan. This mounting is temporary, as eventually I'm doing SFCs, etc. under the car, and will tie this mounting into that. I need to get the suspension on the front of the car and be able to properly load things up to design and install such things. Seeing as the LTS will need something similar, I'll make a couple sets.
Need to get the fuel system together, and I have a Deatshwerks DW200 pump on the way. Similar to the Walbro 255hp.
That's where we are at the moment. I'm on a time crunch to get some things done before the end of April. Have a hip surgery coming up and that will take me out of doing the heavy and contortive work for a few weeks. Not going to be able to climb around on the ground for a bit.
I would use SN-95 struts, mainly due to the extended length. I picked up a set of the Koni non-adjustable orange struts(STR.T) for the LTS, which is the same as your 85 TBird. Decent choice for a driver. I've used KYBs as well, but they don't last too long.
On the rear, you really have no choice, if you want something decent. All of the 79-04 Mustang shocks are too short to use as-is. Either make yourself a set of my old lower shock brackets (I have the old drawings linked here on the forum) or get a set from 23Parts.com, as they've put them into production and should have them on their website.
Are you talking "base" V6 convertible, or V8 convertible?
On the GT and Cobra springs, there isn't a whole lot of difference. The Cobra spring rates are a slightly lower at first glance, but the progressive rate is different and get more aggressive as you compress the springs more. They might feel "softer". The load rating is about the same. The V6 springs have a linear rate (on all 4 corners IIRC, but for sure on the rear). They also have a lower load rating. Not recommended.
Somewhere I have the specs for all of the standard 96-98 springs based on the 3-letter codes. It has been over 25 years since I was digging around in these. If I have a look, I might find the paper with the details.
In '99, Ford changed the way the values on the springs were listed on the tags. Before that, you would have the 3-letter code and the spring and load ratings listed (Metric). Such as "RRR" which was a '96-98 Cobra rear spring had "28.9/3470" which is the spring rate in N/mm and load rating in N. Converting that to lbs/in and lbs is 28.9x5.7 lbs/in and 3470/4.44 lbs. Or 165 lbs/in and 780lbs. As an example, the stock rear springs in my old '84 XR 7 were "JAD" "33/4200" (185 lbs/in and 944 lbs)
In the end, the main difference in the springs is the load rating, as they changed what springs were in the cars based on options, etc. The V8 convertible springs were always the highest load rating, which is what I tended to use on the rear of my cars. (I have always tried to use Motorsport C-Kits on the front). You can see in the example above, the rear springs on our cars are kind of beefy.
Anyway, probably a lot more than you asked for, but it does remind me to try and find that info, for posterity sake.
Chuck, how does a 1980-82 Thunderbird/XR-7 strut compare to a 1983-86 car?
They used the same(or similar) style of strut mounts as the others did, so the same would apply. On the 2 that I had , one got a set of my custom strut mounts and the other got a set of the KYB/Moog like above. I probably used Fox KYBs struts. (It's been forever ago, and my notes are pictures are more limited on those builds)
Longtubes would've been even more of a hassle. The 6R80 is already tight enough the in the trans tunnel .
When I left off, I was going to toss the rack into the car, so I could get the steering shaft where it needed to be. Ran into a small snag. I had to make more adjustments to my motor mounts, as the rack was running into the oil pan before I could get it into place.
Spent some time early this afternoon modifying the mounts to raise the engine up a touch (about 1/4"). That gave me the room I needed for the rack so I got it mocked up.
I found a 3" to 2-1/2" conical reducer that should do what I need. To test it, I 3D printed up a copy and dropped it all in place.
I might get more room with a regular stepped reducer, but I kind of like the flow of this one, and if I need a little "clearance" dent it shouldn't be too bad. I'll need to extend it a bit past the end of the reducer, and then I need to turn down to clear the firewall and get under the car. I'll need to add a bung for the front O2 sensor and I'll probably make a (v-band) connection before the turn down. The X-pipe is 2-1/2", so I'll just be keeping with that theme all the way to the back.
The downside of raising things up a bit is now the intake hits the hood. (Like thick paper contact). It's on one of the underhood support bits, so another clearancing dent should be sufficient.
Another thing I ran into while digging into wiring involves the fuel system. I'm wanting to stay with the stock return-less set-up and use the stock FPCM. I came across a possible issue with that involving the RCM (Restraints Control Module). Back in the late 00's, Ford did away with the intertia switch and replaced it with an "ENS" signal from the RCM to the FPCM. If the module, which is tied into crash sensors, ABS, SRS, etc) senses a problem or in a crash, it kills the FP through the FPCM. This car is from WAY before the implementation of all of that, so there's no RCM in the car. All of Ford's "control packs" just are set up to run a return-type fuel system and don't deal with it.
After finding the copy of Ford's patent for the set-up, I may have a solution for spoofing that signal, though. Picking some brains bigger than mine on it and will know more when I have more parts in hand.
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