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63
Other Vehicles / Re: Added another Fox to the fleet - 1985 Marquis LTS
Last post by Chuck W -
Been taking some time in the evenings to get the engine torn down and things that need it tossed into the ultrasonic tank.





Lots of crust down low,  not much up top.

This engine never gave me an oil light, or so much as a low-oil rattle.

Pulled the oil pump cover off and it didn't look too bad, honestly. Going to toss a new Melling pump and pick-up on it though, while I'm in there.
The harmonic balancer needs to be replaced and going to toss a new timing set on it, since I have it all apart.


Pulled the ECU harness out to do the modifications for the MS swap.


I took out all of the EGR and other mostly-non-working emissions stuff. Pulled the wires out of the ECU connector and fixed up a couple of things.


The harness is now ready to go back into the car.


I'll do the final wrapping, etc. once I get things in their final spots. I need to splice in the TPS harness to replace the non-OEM connector I used to get the car running, and make the connections to the injector harness. This is just going to be batch-fired, as I can use the 2 injector triggers I have and they ran the trucks this way, so it'll work. I didn't want to run 6 new injector triggers, for pretty much no gain.
The fan control is getting slightly altered. The LO-speed is still controlled by the stock AC relay, but the HI-speed will now be triggered by the MS unit, and not the temp switch I installed originally. I'm going to retain the WOT cut-out for the compressor, and can trigger that in the MS unit as well.

Speaking of the MegaSquirt ECU. I guess I haven't talked about it in this thread (I think I did in my old, lost FEP thread)

What I'm using is a OLD MS1 V2.2 board unit. The same thing I have had in the TBird, for 20-ish years.


What I'm using to connect it to the factory harness is the almost as ancient adapter board by Scott Hall that I've had sitting on a bookshelf forever (and I almost sold it too).
I was able to find the BOM for the components and de-soldered a connector from a junk EEC-IV ECU and put it all together.


Then with a short harness, you can connect it to the MS unit and all of the needed connections are made.



Kept me from going down the rabbit-hole to a more custom install with the harness, etc. I've done it. Didn't need to do it here.

Once I get things cleaned up a bit more, parts will start going back on the engine.

I also got a bunch of stuff to get the new Y-pipe made. I may, or may not, have purchased a bunch of stuff to be able to attempt TIG welding stainless with my welder...





64
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars FOR SALE / Re: 1988 Cougar LS 5.0 For Sale
Last post by EricCoolCats -
That is a super beautiful car...outstanding. Good luck with the sale.

The HO cam requires 19 lb/hr injectors, the HO firing order (1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8), and a computer swap to at least a 1987-88 Mustang HO automatic ECU in order for it to run correctly. Just FYI.
65
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars FOR SALE / 1988 Cougar LS 5.0 For Sale
Last post by 6hayden9 -
I am selling a 1988 Cougar LS 5.0 with 65K original miles, is the Cinnabar color outside and inside with the digital dash, and has been in the family since it was bought.  I have put in almost $9K in the mechanicals about 4 years ago to include an HO cam.  The car sat for about 5 years in it's life and I went through the entire car from seals, exhaust/cats, fuel lines, gaskets, shocks, and too many other things to list when the cam was put in 4 years ago.

The only issue is that due to everything in the motor being original, the engine does not run as smooth as it should with the HO cam, and if I did it over, I would not have changed it.  I think it needs some additional engine upgrades to run better and get the most from the cam.  The car will had a rough idle, and can stall at times when shifting into reverse, or from reverse to drive.

The car is located in Williamsport, PA and am asking $6K for the car, and I have a majority of all the service records since 1988.

67
Other Vehicles / Re: Added another Fox to the fleet - 1985 Marquis LTS
Last post by Chuck W -
Lol.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen here. I have other creeping projects I need to keep a handle on.

The only creep that has been added is redoing the Y-pipe. I did a quick patch up to get the car on the road, but now I need to change the f langes to accommodate the larger outlets on the factory headers vs the manifolds. I can't cobble bigger f langes onto this and feel good about it.


I'm also going to make a new dual tip, to mimic what they came with originally, as I just did the single when I built the rest of the exhaust. No duals on this car.
68
Other Vehicles / Re: Added another Fox to the fleet - 1985 Marquis LTS
Last post by Mikey97D -
quietly in the background, "Project creep, pull the heads, project creep, roller rockers, project creep, roller lifters, project creep, project creep......."

edit: I have a nice set of heads with 1.9 intake 1.6 exhaust, with some bowl porting that would look really nice on that motor.  LOL
69
Other Vehicles / Re: Added another Fox to the fleet - 1985 Marquis LTS
Last post by Chuck W -
At least it doesn't look too terrible in there.


While I have the rocker arms pulled for the valve seal replacement, I'm going to do a leakdown test, just to get a general idea of engine fitness. It ran well enough and didn't show any signs of problems, so it's more for informational purposes.
70
Other Vehicles / Re: Added another Fox to the fleet - 1985 Marquis LTS
Last post by Chuck W -
This is honestly the first time I've had any help getting any help getting a drivetrain pulled/installed.  I was in a bind. Luckily she hadn't left to run errands yet. :p
Yeah, full time job. 2 young kids (8 and 6). Trying to get back in shape after the hip surgery, etc. She supports my mania, but I do have A LOT of projects currently cooking. This doesn't even count the house projects that I'm peppering in.

I like to keep moving, but it's getting a bit more rough as I'm closing in on 60.

The front main isn't any better, Eric. If the PS hadn't given up on me, I'd probably still be driving it around, like I was. Time to get it fixed now, though.