'79 Zephyr ES Build

[ZephyrEFI]

Had some fun showing 'er this past weekend, at the big show formerly known as Car Craft Summer Nationals. I've had her there every year I've had her except one. It's always been the show I scramble to have it ready for, and pretty much plan my whole summer around.



It also usually serves as the acid test to determine whether the car is safe and reliable enough to drive. I pretty much have to drive it there, so if it takes me there and back with no trouble all 3 days, then we're good to go! On Friday, the weather was very hot and humid. On the offramp from the highway for home, the car killed. It kind of sputtered and died. And it didn't want to restart either. The starter was cranking at full speed, so it wasn't an issue with the starting/charging system. I had a friend who knows his stuff tell me that's the behavior of a fuel pump relay that's going. I figured that would be cheap and easy to try, so I slapped one in. My pump is relatively new, so I didn't think it should have been that. No more trouble the rest of the weekend, but the weather was less oppressive than Friday, so who knows. We're goin' with it.

[wraithracing]

Glad things went well for you!

Hope the good luck continues!

Trey

[ZephyrEFI]

Thanks! When stuff like that happens, I just start going through the list in my head of all the things I haven't recently replaced. There isn't much on it, but certainly enough to cause problems!

[ZephyrEFI]

Well it seems that I may not be done with the collateral damage from the hot coolant overflow incident that melted my fan controller fuse. My fan controller itself, which was right in the line of fire is acting up now. It makes this loud buzzing noise right before turning the fan on. I'm not done diagnosing the problem, but that annoys me. I really don't want to have to worry about the car overheating. I've had enough of that for one lifetime.

On a happier front, I'm really thinking now, the car needs the LTD front end, done like this with the body color bumper:


But since it's a Mercury, of course it would need the Marquis grille and turn signals:

... done up LTS style, since the LTS was the natural successor to the ES. I'm not sure if I would go charcoal then for all my blackout trim for a correct LTS look, or stick with black. Hmmmm.....

[Mike1157]

Well it seems that I may not be done with the collateral damage from the hot coolant overflow incident that melted my fan controller fuse. My fan controller itself, which was right in the line of fire is acting up now. It makes this loud buzzing noise right before turning the fan on. I'm not done diagnosing the problem, but that annoys me. I really don't want to have to worry about the car overheating. I've had enough of that for one lifetime.

On a happier front, I'm really thinking now, the car needs the LTD front end, done like this with the body color bumper:


But since it's a Mercury, of course it would need the Marquis grille and turn signals:

... done up LTS style, since the LTS was the natural successor to the ES. I'm not sure if I would go charcoal then for all my blackout trim for a correct LTS look, or stick with black. Hmmmm.....

Are you really up for the amount of work required to completely blend that front end into your car? I always thought that it was just a sheet metal swap until I started reading that other guys thread where he details the process. Looks like you'll have upper radiator saddle, fender, and cowl modifications where cutting and welding will be required.

I agree, that the LTD front, and rear end looks really good on a F/Z, but it ain't easy, and it's far from a direct swap.

[ZephyrEFI]

Most of it doesn't look too bad. I don't have a welder, nor can I weld, so I'll be doing everything I can to avoid that, haha. Cutting, I can do though. I might skip the cowl and come back to it later or something.

The rear bumper will be easy though. At least at first, I'm going to take a rear bumper and filler panels from an LTD wagon, which has the same rear quarter as the Fairmont wagon. THAT should be a direct swap. Eventually I may try to make (or have someone make) a more blended setup like the LTD sedan though.



This won't happen this year though. My budget is blown.

[ZephyrEFI]

Damn. I ran across a guy who has EVERYTHING you need to do the LTD nose swap and then some. Including the wagon back bumper setup AND alternate Marquis parts! But... there's no money for it right now, so I had to pass! Not to mention, I have too many other things going right now with the car, and I'd have nowhere to store such large parts. I came to the conclusion in order to do this RIGHT, I would need to cut out the inner structure from the strut towers forward and weld in that from the LTD to accommodate the slope of the fenders. I'd probably have to pay someone to do that part, since I don't have a welder, and haven't even tried welding in a VERY long time. The time and money just aren't there for this right now, much as I would like them to be.

I did get my new Dakota Digital fan controller all in and set up finally though! I'm very happy with it so far! It's really a slick piece! I don't have any pictures because there's really nothing to see. I couldn't mount the controller anywhere you can SEE inside the car because that would definitely not look stock. I ended up putting the relays in the fender well by the washer fluid tank. There just wasn't anywhere else to put them on the driver's side of the engine bay!

With the controller, there's a test mode so you can make sure your fans are working, and they are, so we're good there. But, on my test drive, the car didn't rise above about 190*. The fan is set to come on at 210, so it didn't come on at all during the drive. It was a cool day yesterday, temps in the 60s, and I didn't get to go very far before it started raining, but I'm starting to suspect my thermostat is too cool of a temp. I looked up my receipt, and it's a 190* Motorcraft unit from Rockauto. It's the only temp Motorcraft thermostat they have. I did notice though, that other ones on their list from other manufacturers for 193* and 195* noted that they are "OEM Recommended Temp". Am I the only one that thinks it's odd the only Motorcraft thermostat they have is not for the OEM recommended temp?

Anyway, I'll need to drive it more to know for sure obviously, but it looks like we're swapping thermostats sometime soon. I'm hoping for a running temp somewhere near 210*. I've heard Ford did some testing and found their engines run best at that temp, and I'd like to get the best efficiency and performance I can. I feel like I've been going through a lot of gas lately, and the car has more kick than it's showing me right now.

[ZephyrEFI]

Well, I loaded up the fam and burnt some gas yesterday. We went to the Minnetonka Drive-In for its last weekend of the season.



It was a very pleasant drive. I can tell my exhaust has vibrated its way over to the frame rail again and it vibrating against it. Not sure what to do about stopping that from happening yet. I was able to find out more about my cooling system too. Something is wonky about what my temp gauge reads vs. what my controller perceives is the temp. My gauge only reads 190, but when I check the temp on the controller, it thinks the temp is 205 or more. I think I can solve that by re-calibrating the controller skewing low a little bit vs. where the gauge is. I kind of wish I had a more definite way to know what the engine temp is. Maybe the controller is right and the gauge is wrong, you know?

On the drive home, my sticking brake issue returned. I've had that happen off and on ever since I first put the car together. At first it was because the brakelight switch would get stuck on the steering column mount and my pedal would stick down. I think I have that solved, so it shouldn't be that. Then my rear brakes were sticking because there was too much tension on the parking brake cables and it would pull the Lincoln calipers crooked. I thought I had had that one solved too, but this summer on one of my longer drives, I had the left rear brake sticking again. Those stupid Lincoln/SVO calipers seem really prone to that. It makes me want to tear the whole mess out and start over.

Last night, I don't really know which brake was sticking. I felt for excessive heat at each of the wheels, and didn't find one that was much hotter than the others. The fronts were hotter than the rears, which would make me believe they were all sticking, but I really have no idea why that would be happening. I was pretty pissed about it, so I just tried to forget about it last night.

My son has decided my Zeph's name is Percy. Here he is posing with his Percy toy and "Percy".



All of our cars have a corresponding Thomas and Friends name. The Fusion is Thomas because that's the car he usually rides in, and the Focus is James because it's red. At first I didn't like the Zeph being "Percy" because, if you know anything about Thomas and Friends, he's definitely one of the whinier, wimpier engines.



But, I think it could be okay, haha. A lot of guys give their F/Zs sort of quirky misfit type names, which fits the cars well. For example, Eric the Car Guy calls his "Oliver". So, maybe "Percy" could transcend his engine character and just be a quirky misfit name.

[mustangxtreme]

Maybe it's named after Percy Jackson, Poseidon's son.

[ZephyrEFI]

Maybe it's named after Percy Jackson, Poseidon's son.

Haha, there you go. My 4-year-old IS well-versed in Greek Mythology...

[ZephyrEFI]

I just wanted to put this here so I don't have to dig for it in the future.

VIN
9 = 1979 model year
X = St. Thomas Assembly
31 = Zephyr 2-dr sedan
T = 3.3L I6 engine
604668 = 4,668th 1979 Mercury scheduled for production at St. Thomas Assembly



Buck Tag
0716 = rotations #0716
Z2DR = Zephyr 2-dr sedan
46 = Twin Cities district sales office
31
T604668 = last seven of VIN (decoded above)
WL = window louver (?)
FL2 = floor shift automatic
BG = bumper group (?)
BK = Black interior (?)
AC = manual air conditioner
M2
ES = ES model/trim level (?)
1G = Silver Metallic exterior paint color



Door Tag
Date - 09-78 = September 1978 scheduled build date
F0047 = 47 lbs front accessory reserve load
R0081 = 81 lbs rear accessory reserve load
Exterior Paint Colors - 1G = Silver Metallic
DSO - 46 = Twin Cities district sales office
Body - 66D = Zephyr 2-dr sedan
VR - [blank] = no vinyl roof
Int Trim - VA = vinyl seating, low-back front buckets (V), Black interior color (A)
A/C - A = manual air conditioner
R - [blank] = no radio
S - [blank] = no sunroof
Ax - 8 = 2.73:1 axle ratio, non-locking differential
Tr - W = C4 automatic transmission
PP = front springs
AA = rear springs

Thanks again, Foxchassis!

[4-barrel Mike]

My 78 Fairmont (red with white interior) also has BG & BK. I think perhaps they're bumper guards & Deluxe Bumper Group (which includes the guards) or one may be front plate bracket (?). Also have M2, whatever that is. I do have exterior décor group and interior accent group.

Mike

[ZephyrEFI]

My 78 Fairmont (red with white interior) also has BG & BK. I think perhaps they're bumper guards & Deluxe Bumper Group (which includes the guards) or one may be front plate bracket (?). Also have M2, whatever that is. I do have exterior décor group and interior accent group.

Mike

Cool stuff. You could be right about the bumper stuff. MN requires front plates, so "Bracket" is a good possibility. And my car does have the upgraded interior with the full door panels and stuff. So, very possible that's what M2 is.

[grabbergreen84]

I wouldn't do the LTD/Marquis nose. I'd leave that car stock appearing, and get the rear quarter fixed instead.

You're running the factory gauge? You could always temporarily install a liquid-filled one, just to get an idea.

On the sticking brakes, always inspect the rubber hoses at the caliper and rear axle, because some Fords are known for their hose retention brackets squeezing the hose, and not allowing the brakes to release. The brackets are a flat piece of metal which gets bent around the hose, so the fix is as easy as spreading them open with a flat blade screw driver and some considerable prying effort.
But yours sounds like more of a pedal or master cylinder problem, if all four brakes are being affected.

Did you use the booster and MC from your donor, or are they Fairmont/Zephyr pieces? Have you tried shortening the pushrod a bit? IIRC, they're adjustable.

Those SVO wheels look so perfect on that car! I'd maybe go for some taller tires too.

[ZephyrEFI]

I wouldn't do the LTD/Marquis nose. I'd leave that car stock appearing, and get the rear quarter fixed instead.

You're running the factory gauge? You could always temporarily install a liquid-filled one, just to get an idea.

On the sticking brakes, always inspect the rubber hoses at the caliper and rear axle, because some Fords are known for their hose retention brackets squeezing the hose, and not allowing the brakes to release. The brackets are a flat piece of metal which gets bent around the hose, so the fix is as easy as spreading them open with a flat blade screw driver and some considerable prying effort.
But yours sounds like more of a pedal or master cylinder problem, if all four brakes are being affected.

Did you use the booster and MC from your donor, or are they Fairmont/Zephyr pieces? Have you tried shortening the pushrod a bit? IIRC, they're adjustable.

Those SVO wheels look so perfect on that car! I'd maybe go for some taller tires too.

Well, I certainly have no formal timetable for the nose swap. I keep coming up with these other expensive projects that take priority. The engine rebuild, cam & tune are happening in the spring, and then A/C. I think it will end up looking more like it's supposed to be that way with the nose swap than you think. Kind of like a Mustang notchback. Now knowing how much work it is though... I don't know. I just think the "lightweight" styling of the F/Z just doesn't translate well past its own time. It looks dated to me. High bumpers, high overhangs... At least the coupes and wagons have some more visual "heft" to them. You know what I mean? The boxtops look like they're just tip-toe-ing through the tulips to me, rather than pounding the pavement! We'll see if I get the guts to do it in the future though. Who knows.

But yeah, i'll be fixing that dent. I'm not a body guy, so perhaps some sort of plunger and ratchet strap arrangement... I've already tried a big-ass mallet from the back side. I wouldn't make any changes to the rear quarters themselves anyway. The Marquis rear is very different and would require a skill level far above mine. At least with the front end, most of the grafting will be out of sight.

Yes, I have a factory '87-93 temp gauge. I've considered adding a gauge. We'll see. I'm not drilling any damn holes for a sending unit though, I'll tell you that!

Yeah, I'll have a look at the rubber lines. Mine have all been swapped to braided stainless, but who knows.

My booster and master are from a '94 Mustang V6. Adjusting the rod has come up recently. While I have the system open I may take the master off and fiddle with the rod.

The stupid brakes are no longer sticking, so I can't really do much for diagnosis. I looked up under the dash, and nothing is stopping the pedal from moving in its full range. I thought maybe the wires from the fan controller had gotten in the way somehow, but they're not really near there, so the pedal seems to be fine. So, that leaves us with what we discussed at length in this thread:

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...32-SN95-Brakes

I'm going to get NEW or rebuilt calipers. '94-98 GT front calipers, since my '99-04 ones seem to have a bit of a reputation for sticking as well as not providing as much brake-torque as the earlier design, according to Maximum Motorsports. So, that along with completely replacing my SVO/Mark VII rear brakes (I just inherited them with my 8.8 anyway, I never CHOSE them) with either SN95 Cobra or GT rears, whichever ends up working out better. Combined with my '94 V6 booster and master that would leave me with a whole system designed from the beginning to work together. I'm hoping it is reliable for me, as well as maybe solve my spongy/low pedal issue. I'm so tired of dealing with these damned brakes. I just want it fixed for good. Unfortunately, the motion to buy new brakes did not pass "the committee" for this season, so we'll be doing it next spring.

I'm not messing with the wheel/tire combination anymore, short of polishing the wheels. I really like how they look too, and the tires are actually new last year. The car rides and handles well, and nothing rubs on anything else, so the tire question is closed.

[ZephyrEFI]

Well, she's sleeping for the season. Waiting on me to pull the gas tank and do some diagnosis on the fuel system and do the brake system redo. I'm also kicking around the idea of re-doing the steering with matching parts.

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...m-I-Looking-At

Also, this happened this month, a pretty big deal for me!

[4-barrel Mike]

Nice!

Mike

[roadkill]

Way to represent! Congrats!

[jaxz7]

Congrats on getting in the mag

[ZephyrEFI]

Thanks!

[grabbergreen84]

Congrats! Didn't you try to get them to plug FEP?

[ZephyrEFI]

Congrats! Didn't you try to get them to plug FEP?

I'll definitely do that when they call to do a full feature.

A friend asked me if the first car was mine too, and I said, "do you think I would own the car I do if I could own the first car?"

[bridgener]

Just saw your car in Car Craft. Congrats, it definitely fits the bill!

[ZephyrEFI]

Just saw your car in Car Craft. Congrats, it definitely fits the bill!

Thanks! They've been talking about featuring more '80s cars projects, and I've been looking forward to that, so I thought I'd try and get in on it!

[82GTforME]

Well, she's sleeping for the season. Waiting on me to pull the gas tank and do some diagnosis on the fuel system and do the brake system redo. I'm also kicking around the idea of re-doing the steering with matching parts.

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...m-I-Looking-At

Also, this happened this month, a pretty big deal for me!

Congrats Brad! Nice to get some acknowledgemant for your hard work but that has to almost bethe ultimate!