Yes, hook up the vacuum advancement on the holly. It will idle like crap with out it.(at least my expereince)

 

Well it may be part of my problem, but I had a hunch on my way home that my trailing ignition wasn't firing. Got home, pulled the main wire that goes from the coil to the distributor, sure enough, something isn't working. Still drives fine, but it needs to get fixed.

 

Ordered some more suspension parts for the EV. Ordered a braided hose set for the oil cooler for the SE as it is dripping.

The plan for this weekend is to replace the right front spring and shock on the SE. It should go better than the left side did since I know what to do this time and I have an impact wrench now (So I can break stuff real good!) The temps are supposed to be upper 50's or low 60's so shouldn't be an unpleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

 

still trying to figure out my ignition problem. coil is fine, so i am leaning towards a bad wire from the dist to the coil, or fouled/bad spark plugs. going to hook up the vacuum advance this weekend and drive it around for a bit to see if it makes a difference. need to fix my ignition problem first though, gas mileage has gone from bad to worse, and i'm tired of hearing a gunshot every time i shut the car off. i'd park it until i fixed it but i don't have another option for transportation...

 

Doesn't the trailing ignition only fire intermittently on SAs? Besides which, you shouldn't really be able to tell a difference if the trailing is firing or not. The leading does 95% of the work.



.

 

If your still running the stock SA ignition you may be seeing its end of life. Mine
finally bit the dust a couple of years ago and I redid it using GM HEI ignitors and
Ford TFI coils and only run the leading only. See the TLIDFIS link in my sig for details.
When I pulled the SA ignition box apart, the little PCB board in there had some
scortch marks on it and it looked like some components finally fired themselves.

Its true that the SA ignition will cutout the trailing at certain times. Its all detailed
in the FSM section on ignition.

 

Cali SAs shut down the trailing ignition during engine acceleration (except in 4th or 5th gear) from around 1000 to around 3300 rpm, & for a max time of about 20-30 seconds IIRC. It's controlled by that odd looking diaphragm switch mounted on the firewall just above the oil cooler. I think the Fed-build cars do the same, without the gear-selection check.

It takes a very practiced ear (or a calibrated butt) to tell if the trailing is firing or not when driving; the car still runs smoothly without it.

One of the most common mistakes smog techs make on SAs is they attach the RPM sense clamp to the top (trailing) plug wire, and then they freak out when their RPM signal goes away whenever they accelerate the motor, then comes back after a few seconds of constant speed.

 

She'd been sat for a few days after getting her back from the MOT. Needed some welding so I guess the rusty marks all over the car are metal dust from the grinding that has corroded in the (constant) rain. Gave her a T-Cut to polish out the stains, looks lovely!
Took her for a spin to get some alloy wheel cleaner, she only made 2 miles before cutting out, think I need a new fuel filter....
Won't idle when cold, however when the Water Temp switch operates will idle quite happily.... Strange.
Has also started to cough a little when coasting.. Must investigate.
Any ideas welcome

 

i've been looking at doing this for a while now, however i have this (possibly irrational) fear of anything to do with wiring :P

 

Amen brother.
Same reason why I haven't done the upgrade.

 

Here here... Thats why I opted to just use a ton of di electric grease, and rebuild my factory points with new comonents (leading/trailing coils and balasts). 4 000 miles without a hickup; good enough for me even if it doesn't make a SUPER AMAZZING HOT SPARK.

 

3rd amen in a row. I've talked to Jeff20B about it and he offered awesome insights but it still scares the crap outta me.

 

 

Cleaned up my trailing spark plugs, they were very black and furry, however the leading plugs were OK, and greased up the choke cable under the air filter as I couldn't pull the **** out from inside the car. Bit of Three-In-One, some lithium grease and she's sweet.....

 

I'm making them from some pieces and parts from a couple of different sets of headlights.

 

Thanks! I've been thinking about pulling some pics together and doing a write up on the fab job. I just don't want to give all of my secrets away!

 

I'm seriously considering making some molds of a couple of different designs and marketing them. The only drawback will be that the consumer will have to cut some core material out in order to make a flush-mount set of headlights like these fit.

 

On the 85 SE it was time to replace the right spring and shock. Loosened the nut at the top of the strut with an impact wrench (this is important because you cant do this reasonably later.) Jacked up the car and removed the wheel. Removed the flex hose to the brake caliper (replacing with braided stainless anyway.) Removed the caliper. Removed the rotor and inspected the outer bearing and race (they are fine). Removed the brake shield and cleaned it up. I was able to loosen one of the bolts that hold the steering arm to the strut tube but the other one refuses to break loose. I am at the point where I can see a little rounding of the corners and I don't want to ruin the bolt. Fastenall doesn't have this and McMaster Carr doesn't have one either. This is one of those places where you can't get a 17mm impact socket to go over the bolt head. I am soaking the threads with several kinds of penetrating oil and I will try heat tonight. I would have tried heat but I ran out of propane just after lighting the torch. As a last resort I think I can remove enough material from the end of the lower control arm where it isn't structural to get a socket over the bolt head.

All of this should have been easy. I did this on the left side a couple of months ago. The hard part is getting the strut tube apart so you can put in the replacement shock cylinder. The dangerous part is replacing the spring although if done properly it doesn't seem dangerous at all.

Why couldn't they have put in a dab of anti-seize compound on these parts 28 years ago? (I seem to say that a lot.)

If anyone has any pointers, please let me know.

 

Penetrating oil, let it soak overnight and then freeze the nut with freeze spray; heat makes metal expand, cold makes it shrink.

 

+1 on the heat. If you use heat don't heat up the bolt instead just hit the area that
it threads into. Its a bigger piece of metal and will take forever to heat but if while
your heating it you hear a ping noise your there, it should unbolt then. Nice touch
using the freeze spray. Just go to Staples and pick up some dust off, works great
for quick chilling stuff and its cheap.

 

Did this at lunch...



Coming back from getting food, making a left turn doing about 20, back spun right, tried to correct it, car slid to the left and bounced up onto the center divider. Didn't hit anyone luckily. Needs 2 new tires, wheels need to be replied probably, i'd imagine the front end needs work. No leaks or anything.

Yep. It's Monday alright...

Guess my **** it apon'd out, hopefully my lower control arm did not it bend.

 

technically wasn't today but yesterday .... didn't work on her ... actually took here out for a cruise with some of our SCR brothers and sisters as one of our guys was to leave this morning as he was moving to NC ...

gets cooking about one minute in ...

 

You're not supposed to do that.

 

Believe me, nothing makes you feel like an idiot like sitting on the hood of your car on the center divider waiting for the sheriffs department to come....


surveyed the damage this morning... front drivers side tire looks to be okay, will see. rear drivers side tire is definitely toast. both rims are bent pretty badly but they look like they will hold air. exhaust needs to we repaired somewhere as there's a leak at what sounds like the presilencer. almost sounds like it has a straight pipe :P rolls forward and back, runs fine, going to leave work early, put the spare on, drive it up and down the street to see if it drives fine. having the tire replaced and the wheels aligned. hopefully its driveable after that.

 

Installed a new (third for this particular part) relay to the fan. I keep grounding out on it and keep frying them. This time I wrapped it up real good with electric tape.

I also fixed the rear end leak. I had to tap the hole to fit te stock mustang breather on there.

After work I plan in pulling the fuel sensor and calibrating the gauge since 1/2 tank equals empty right now. I really wish I had a slosh tank because I can't do more than 1/4 throttle at a time unless it is a full tank but even so my 0-60 is right at 4 seconds (counting out loud).

Oh two days ago I installed LED strip lights so I can have interior lighting now. Looks real goo and hard to notice unless they are on