Still working the bugs out of the '84. I took her on a nice 2 mile cruise yesterday and there's still no kick down function despite re connecting it at the trans. Before I go tearing into the trans, what are the necessary steps involve in making sure the rod is adjusted correctly. Does this look normal to you guys? If I disconnect the return spring and actuate by hand there seems to be no resistance, like it's disconnected inside the trans.
FWIW, I pulled the wheels today and much to my surprise the drums/shoes, rotors/pads are like brand new. I greased up the adjusters and caliper slide bolts. Wheel cylinders show no signs of leaks. Front hoses are getting replaced though, as they have a couple of small cracks starting. Exhaust is fixed now too. I pulled out the drivers side tail light - there was a hole busted in right near the plate light. Well it turns out all the pieces were inside the housing so they're getting super glued back in for now. :D This things come a long way in just a week. Gonna get down to business this Saturday and figure out these vacuum lines once and for all. BTW, I checked the pcv line, it's in good shape. Thanks for all the help/suggestions so far. Like I said I'm a complete noob with this ford stuff so I appreciate all the help I can get.
Well, I had one of the techs at my work scratching his head over trying to find the "T" that this broke out of. I just about give up. I did some exhaust work today, the cat on the driverside was clogged so I dropped the Y-pipe and um, "cleaned" them out-wink wink. Tomorrow the brakes/lines/hoses are getting looked over and replaced as necessary. Tie rods still have some life in them. Haven't checked the ball joints yet. Still gotta do a full tune up; cap/rotor, plugs/wires. Some sheetmetal and rivets to temporarily patch the non existent pass side lower 1/4 panel and she should be ready for winter beater duty. Still gotta get keys made too being I got no door/trunk keys! :shakehead On a side note all the factory speakers are in working condition. I'm fairly surprised. Rears are getting replaced with Pioneers though and a small 200w amp is getting added. Gotta have tunes ya know :D
where is the underhood hose diagram on your car, is it on the radiator shroud still? the hose has a red stripe on it so look for the one with the red stripe on the diagram. i cannot for the life of me remember if that one is the one that goes into a "T" on the firewall.
I don't think it's legible anymore due to being grimed up. Do you or anyone have a photo of the diagram that you could post?
Well I finally bought the 84 parts car I've been planning since March. Plans are to drive it over the winter...well 30 hours into it, now it can start and run but there's a bad stumble just off idle and I suspect a vacuum leak from where ever this goes. Trouble is I can't find the source. Pulled all the loom off, nothing. I'm going crazy.
Here she sit after sing all the loose paint off the lower section and primering. The previous owner had put duct tape over any rust spots and then put about an 1/8 inch thick coat of latex paint over the entire body below the trim!!!
Ok, thanks for the reassurance guys. I'm relatively new to this Ford stuff. Been a Chevy guy all my life. Nothing against ford, it's just what I grew up with. I thoroughly enjoy my T-bird for a year then it blew a head gasket last Oct and while it sat all winter, coolant corroded the one cylinder wall :( So I finally came across this parts car to use the engine. I went to look at it today and it's WAY rougher than I thought. There's not much salvageable other than the drive line which has a promised original 90k on it. Basically from the black trim down it is all rusted out. The roof is caved in and the once brand new tires are dry rotted beyond usability. It sat at a wholesale car lot for 2 years and got vandalized multiple times too. Once I get it I'm sure I will post what usable parts are left in the classifieds here. It has a brown interior but most of it is shot or vandalized I should have it by next month
I found an 84 parts car with a strong running 3.8 in it. My 87 has the 3.8 but is shot. Is this a doable swap or am I going to run into trouble with things hooking up? From what I've read the 82-83 were carbed, the 84-87 were CFI, and 88 got the SEFI. So this should work right?
I work for a Hyundai dealer (no I'm not a dirt ball salesman) and I can't wait to take one for a spin. :burnout: I've only been drooling over the concept pics for 6 months...
Put some decent tires on it, empty the trunk, and go to the track with 1/4 tank of gas. Also drop your tire pressure to about 22-24 PSI and see what happens.
Lol, I ran it with the tires the old man had on it. Some junky, off brand 205/70's. I did a nice little pegleg burnout in the water box; didn't really have any wheel spin that i could tell from the line. Now my Monte Carlo, that's a different story. 275/60's out back and it spins like a mother with it's stock pegleg, 2.29 gears!!! I just bought a posi rear for it completely rebuilt with richmond 3.73's, Eaton Posi, ARP wheel studs, so any upgrades for the bird are completely out of my budget. Right now I'm more interested in breaking into the 13's instead of 18's :D
Well in case u were wondering what a bone stock, used to be owned by an 80yr old man 87 LX 3.8 runs in the 1/4 here it is: R/T.... .874 (yeah i know horrible) 60'.... 2.732 1/4... 19.084 MPH... 72.40
HAHAHAHA what a slug, it's getting the cat eliminated this sunday and a y split into duals with Cherry Bomb turbo lers. I'm hoping to crack into the mid 18's :D
Oh I raced against my buddy in his bone stock 82 Malibu. The T-bird laid waste to it. Go Ford!!!Here's his times R/T... 1.033 (yeah, its his first time) 60'.... 3.404 1/4.... 22.919 MPH... 59.55
Here's my baby, my '79 Monte Carlo. We've been together for 10 years now, her looks have gone down hill but her performance keeps getting better. Started out life with a bonestock 267 v8,slipping trans, and pegleg 2.29 gears. Now has a rebuilt 350 pulled from a '74 police interceptor Caprice, TH350 w/2000rpm stall and very soon 3.73 posi. It's gone from a 20.xx to a 15.6 quarter mile despite still having the stock 2.29 gear ratio. This car has gone to hell and back again with me, and I wouldn't trade it for anything on earth