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  1. #1101

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    Test fitting my new h-pipe. I really like having the hanger at the trans mount. I'm fairly certain my old setup was at least crooked with nothing to anchor it there. I couldn't figure out how to put the bracket in at first though. Upside down? Backwards? Trial and error. It makes sense in my head that the front pipes that run from the headers to the H should be stock length. I shouldn't have to modify those because the drivetrain didn't change length. Right? So far, things are still lining up pretty wonky. I quit for the day and went and got some new hardware to make mockup a little easier. I think I crossthreaded one of the header flange bolts last time though, so that sucks. I couldn't even use normal bolts at the rear header flange positions though because there was no room to put them in. I had to use smaller nut and bolt combos. I guess I'll have to do the same there. I could be crazy, but it almost seems to me the socket on the pipe end (as opposed to the ball on the header end) is too big to fit well on the header. I hope I'm wrong. Also, it's hard for me to tell how critical it is that that joint be straight.

    Anyway, I should have more time to mess with it today. I have to at least have it bolted up for the drive to the repair shop for my idle to get fixed.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  2. #1102

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    Been tinkering with it when I get time. My son started having panic issues in mid August, so I'm pretty exhausted a lot of the time. Plus, since my car only serves to piss me off lately, my diversion has been learning about smart home stuff. It's a lot more fun than constant failure with the car.

    I have the h-pipe bolted in, but things really didn't want to line up for whatever reason. The flanges are pretty crooked at the headers. I don't know why, but I'm done fighting with it. Moving on, I went to the catbacks where the shortening will need to happen. I cut both of them to start. I was trying to use a pipe expander so I could just slide them together, but nothing doing. I guess that Flowmaster kit uses decently strong tubing. Oh well. I guess I need to go buy some of those slide-on joints since I can't find decent band clamps to use. Oddly, it doesn't seem like I'll need to shorten them more than an inch. I don't know if my old h-pipe was way longer to begin with or not since I had to shorten it, and I haven't shortened this one at all. Whatever, I guess.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  3. #1103

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    I have the exhaust trimmed and bolted together. It's all tucked up beautifully. But I noticed after I took the car off the stands that the tailpipes don't line up at all. Not sure how that happened. I pulled both of them way forward before I put it together. The passenger side one is still sort of close to the gas tank, but at least not touching it anymore. I don't know how much it's going to move around once I start driving the car. It might be okay.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  4. #1104
    FEP Super Member NAVYCAT's Avatar
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    what mufflers did you use?
    2017 Ford Explorer Sport (DD) 1986 Capri 5.0 Silver/Red
    1969 Falcon XW GTHO coupe (SOLD) went to Australia
    Past 4 eyes-
    4th. 1981 Capri "White" Black Magic I6
    3rd. 1984 Capri RS V8 Black/grey
    2nd. 1984 Capri RS V8 White/red
    1st. 1984 SVO Grey/grey (traded it for a worn out 1970 BOSS 302)
    Both '84 Capri's vin# were 10 away from each other
    U.S. NAVY 1980-2009

  5. #1105

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    Quote Originally Posted by NAVYCAT View Post
    what mufflers did you use?
    They are the same Flowmaster 44s I've always had. I like the sound, they're just too damn loud and drone too much. I would go to 50s, but they are pricey. I still might, but I'm trying cats first to quiet them down. Then I might try resonators if that's not quiet enough.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  6. #1106
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    Dynomax and Magnaflow have a similar sound with no drone. Just a thought

    the other thing is tail pipes make all the difference. My 86GT with equal shorties and high flow catted X pipe and 40 series was quite literally nascar loud. Put tailpipes on it and it sounds a lot closer to stock than I’d like but the obscenely loud is gone
    Last edited by erratic50; 10-26-2021 at 09:23 AM.

  7. #1107
    FEP Super Member erratic50's Avatar
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    When I say nascar loud I’m referencing the fact that when I was coaching football my team could hear me coming in the city from at least 5 miles away. (Not kidding!)

  8. #1108

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    I do have tailpipes.

    I don't like breathy Magnaflows. Dynomax, maybe.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  9. #1109

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    Well, I secured the work I need done on the car. It will happen over the winter, which is fine with me. I might crawl under the car and try to see why the tailpipes still aren't lining up, but that's probably it for this year. If that all works out, I'll have it tuned in the spring, and we should be good to go for next season.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  10. #1110

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    Enjoying this thread and looking forward to updates!
    Current FEP:
    1980 M81 McLaren Carb Turbo 2.3T #003P ... IT'S ALIVE after a 22 year slumber thread!

    Past FEP:
    1986 Capri GS 5.0- very missed but in goods hands
    1985 LTD SSP- quick little fox 5.0

  11. #1111

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    Well, I put wrenches to the car for the first time this year on Memorial Day. Probably my latest start ever. The shop I got to work on the car has been way backed up with parts shortages and such, so it's just now over there. I got the tailpipes all lined up pretty nicely. Only thing is, they're still a little tilted towards the frame rails over the axle. I tried wrestling with the driver's side one, but I need to get it to turn in the muffler, and that's pretty much impossible unless you take it down off the rubber mounts and remove it from the car. Since I had just put it back up IN the car after shortening that side a little to get the ends to line up, I decided that was going to have to be a job for another day.

    My friend who's working on the car messaged me and said the Walker catalytic converters I had weren't going to fit nicely on my off-road H-pipe. I'm a bit disappointed by that because since they don't claim to be "high flow", I thought maybe they would muffle the sound a little better. Oh well, the high flow ones will go in much more easily, so we ordered some of those up. Luckily Summit had them in stock and they arrived in just a couple of days. I'll see how it is for loudness when I get it back, but I'm guessing I'm going to be muffler shopping soon.

    I'm a little anxious about what he's going to find when he goes to fix the rolling idle problem. Could get expensive. I hope it's just a vacuum leak or something, but I checked for those pretty thoroughly, or at least I thought I did. That's why it's time for someone else to have a look though.

    I was nervous to drive the car over to his shop too, I didn't really get the chance to take it on a proper test drive before I had to take it there. That's pretty typical for me though. No time for good test drives until the day I need to take it somewhere. The ol' seat of the pants method. I've been pretty lucky with that though, I have to say.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  12. #1112

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    I got it back from my friend the other day. It's now sporting shiny new Flowmaster cats. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Walker ones now. I don't know if I'd be better off trying to sell them or scrap them.

    He re-checked the valvetrain, and we're all good there. Made a few adjustments. He said the air/fuel ratio is pretty close on it during the course if his time with it. He spent quite a while trying to sort out the idle thing, but didn't quite get there. He said I should try putting a new IAC on and see if that gets me anywhere. He had the same experience as I did doing the base idle reset, where it will run great for a little while, but then the rolling comes right back. Argh! I'm not sure the last time I replaced it, but it seems like there are as many bad ones sitting on store shelves as there are good ones! I guess I could also maybe benefit from going to a bigger throttle body. I have the 65mm Explorer unit on there now. New ones can be pretty pricey considering I hadn't planned on spending any money on the car this year, past the shop work that was just finished. I'll try the IAC and see where that gets us.

    Other than that, my serp belt IS in fact making noise; that wasn't just my imagination. He diagnosed it as my water pump pulley being a bit off. I'll need to get some spacers for it. Stupid Summit doesn't show any for the small block Ford, but they have some they say are "universal". Really? How can that be? Every water pump uses the same bolt pattern?! I'm skeptical. I haven't looked at Jegs yet, but in my experience their application info is even worse. Oh and my exhaust is leaking at the header gaskets. So, I get to do that sometime. And my shifter boot doesn't want to cooperate with my Hurst style shifter. If you clip the bezel in, it pops back out when you run through the gears. I guess I should have sprung for the real leather one.

    When we picked it up, the kids said it was unacceptably dirty. So, I put them to work giving it a wash.

    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  13. #1113
    FEP Supporter
    82GTforME's Avatar
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    Awesome Brad. Hope you get a lot of driving out of it this year!

  14. #1114

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    Okay, well it turned out the pulley spacers were far from "universal". I had to grind down the outer edge and oval all the holes to make it fit. I'm not really sure which spacer I'm going to keep in there. The 1/8" one is a little too thick and the 1/16" one is a little too thin. Of course.

    Without a spacer.


    1/16" spacer


    1/8" spacer


    The 1/8" is in there now. I guess they're both an improvement since the belt isn't being pushed way up on the front slope anymore... oh and it still makes the noise. Adding a spacer and a new belt did not change the noise at all.

    I decided to space out the tensioner a little bit too. I had an extra 1/16" spacer for the water pump pulley, so I cut it to make room for the post on the tensioner. I thought doing it like this would look a little more purposeful than just putting a washer in there.



    Then I swapped out the IAC and did a base idle reset. I still have to take it out and let it learn, but honestly, I'm not expecting much.

    And hey, I discovered a pretty substantial puddle of anti-freeze that appears to have leaked out from behind the driver's side rear wheel. WTF?! I'd had some bottles of fluids in that side of the trunk, but as far as I can tell none of them is leaking. It's a total mystery. Even if it was coming from the car somehow, how would it have made its way way the hell back there?! I don't see how that could happen, but I don't have a better explanation and I'm paranoid about it.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  15. #1115
    FEP Super Member NAVYCAT's Avatar
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    Hey Brad, you could do a smoke test to see if there is a vacuum leak some where
    2017 Ford Explorer Sport (DD) 1986 Capri 5.0 Silver/Red
    1969 Falcon XW GTHO coupe (SOLD) went to Australia
    Past 4 eyes-
    4th. 1981 Capri "White" Black Magic I6
    3rd. 1984 Capri RS V8 Black/grey
    2nd. 1984 Capri RS V8 White/red
    1st. 1984 SVO Grey/grey (traded it for a worn out 1970 BOSS 302)
    Both '84 Capri's vin# were 10 away from each other
    U.S. NAVY 1980-2009

  16. #1116

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    Quote Originally Posted by NAVYCAT View Post
    Hey Brad, you could do a smoke test to see if there is a vacuum leak some where
    Yeah... I did that already. I have a BREW2L brand Mr. Fusion smoke machine.

    I finally got around to renewing the fight with the pressure tester. I finally got it to do a good test without air leaking out the radiator cap flange. I found some of the heater hose clamps were loose. I tightened them, but then I wasn't able to get it to do a pressure test after that. At least I found SOMETHING that explains the leak. I guess the next step is to drive it some and see if the leak is still there. But now there's a pile of landscaping rock behind the car, so it will have to wait.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  17. #1117

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    Quote Originally Posted by ZephyrEFI View Post
    Yeah... I did that already. I have a BREW2L brand Mr. Fusion smoke machine.

    I finally got around to renewing the fight with the pressure tester. I finally got it to do a good test without air leaking out the radiator cap flange. I found some of the heater hose clamps were loose. I tightened them, but then I wasn't able to get it to do a pressure test after that. At least I found SOMETHING that explains the leak. I guess the next step is to drive it some and see if the leak is still there. But now there's a pile of landscaping rock behind the car, so it will have to wait.
    Glad to hear you made some progress! Every little bit counts
    79 Zephyr, 4.6L 4v/4r70w swap, with team z front and rear suspension, 8.8 and upgraded brakes and coil overs. Running Holley Terminator X Max.

  18. #1118

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    Well, I guess I was a bit afraid to drive it and find something else wrong. But, I finally did yesterday. I've been busy doing some intensive cleaning on the house. The car kind of acted weird with the rpms not dropping off when I'd put the clutch in, but I'm guessing that's because of the idle reset. It's learning. Or something. Other than that, the heater hose clamps were still leaking a bit. Stupid things. With the top one, the hex head is impossible to get at when the car's hot. You have to get in there with your hand and unplug the EGR to get at it. So, I let it go at that point. I kind of want to move the clamp so that the hex head is more accessible, but then that would bring me back to square one with how tight is tight enough.

    The exhaust is rattling too. The h-pipe came with locking nuts, and i still have to get under there an put them in. Might as well wait to do that until after I replace the header gaskets. Not sure when that will be. The last time I drove it, it was making noise like the exhaust is touching the body somewhere too. I thought for sure it would be at the collector, but it's not.

    Since getting it back last month, the cam lope is really apparent when it idles. I have to say I'm enjoying that. Car's still too damn loud though.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  19. #1119

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    Went out today to tighten the clamp and then take the car to get some gas. When I went to open the garage door, I found this.



    Are you f***ing kidding me? Surprisingly I was able to think rationally not long after discovering that. Yes, I knew that the hose clamp had still been leaking when I left the car yesterday. And yes, I knew I had put the spare bottle of antifreeze back in the trunk yesterday because it hadn't leaked a drop after sitting outside the trunk for weeks. I took a look under the car. It was coming from a gap below a body plug behind the rear wheel. Where did the plug lead to? The trunk. The bottle of antifreeze is apparently specially designed to only leak when placed in a car's trunk. Deep breath. There's one mystery finally solved.



    Alright, moving on. Took the car down to the gas station and got some nice fresh gas. It behaved pretty well on the drive. The exhaust rattle is still there, obviously. And there is sort of a "turning machinery" sound when rolling at speed and the clutch pedal is down. I'm not sure what that is, but it could just be normal. I've spent so little time driving this car in the past few years, that I'm not really that familiar with its noises. It's not shaking or anything; it's surprisingly smooth at highway speed. It wasn't that happy about starting back up at the gas station. I'm sure that has to do with the alternator not getting much chance to charge the battery. Maybe I'll hit some shows with it...
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  20. #1120

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    Took it for a ride yesterday again, and all seems good except the wideband is showing an error code E8. It doesn't do it until the car is warm. I'm thinking in light of that, maybe the sensor is too close to the cats? Maybe? It did the same thing on the last drive too. The Innovate MTX-L literature says E8 is "1. Sensor over-heating or over-cooling (error condition only occurs at WOT). or 2. Sensor is damaged."
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  21. #1121
    FEP Super Member gr79's Avatar
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    When i had to carry oil for my car on board, repurposed a decent shape Igloo Playmate 7q cooler, found discarded one trash day.
    Works fine for storing items other than beer that may get tossed around and leak.

    Two gal of antifreeze fit side by side if caps are facing sideways.

    Also qts of oil, brake fluid, soiled shop rags, plastic funnel in a plastic bag.
    Bagging gives extra protection from drips.
    Regular five qt oil jug wont fit.

    Easily disguises containers of extra car fluids in the trunk, on the back seat, or in a foot well.
    I guess car care items could also be stored in one like a kit.

  22. #1122
    FEP Supporter
    qikgts's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZephyrEFI View Post
    Took it for a ride yesterday again, and all seems good except the wideband is showing an error code E8. It doesn't do it until the car is warm. I'm thinking in light of that, maybe the sensor is too close to the cats? Maybe? It did the same thing on the last drive too. The Innovate MTX-L literature says E8 is "1. Sensor over-heating or over-cooling (error condition only occurs at WOT). or 2. Sensor is damaged."
    You can try to update the firmware but it's likely the sensor is dead. If you have that WB wired to be powered up when the key is on, and you spend any amount of time with the key on and the engine not running you kill the sensor as soon you start the car. Known fact with Innovate stuff. You can't let the sensor warm up without the engine running.

    From a post over on corral by Michael Plummer... https://www.corral.net/threads/innov...#post-18686398

    In Innovate's instructions they tell you to power up the sensors with the ignition switch. Later in those same instructions, they tell you not to start a cold engine after pre-heating the sensors. People are going to leave the key on (listening to the stereo, looking at parameters on their laptop, etc.), and anytime the key is on, the sensor is heating up.....not good. How many people will remember to turn the key off and let the sensors cool before starting the engine?
    At least those Bosch sensors are pretty cheap.
    '85 GT

  23. #1123

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    Worth a try to slap a new sensor in there, i suppose. Thanks! I'd rather not have to have the stupid bung moved if i don't have to.
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  24. #1124

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    I put a new sensor in and.... E8 was back before I'd barely left the neighborhood. I think it's too close to the cat

    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
    '17 Ford Focus ST
    '14 Ford Fusion SE Manual

  25. #1125

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    You could just plug that bung and add another one further from the cat. I had an Innovate LC-1 on a different car, my bung was definitely further from the cat than that.
    79 Zephyr, 4.6L 4v/4r70w swap, with team z front and rear suspension, 8.8 and upgraded brakes and coil overs. Running Holley Terminator X Max.

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