Mike's 1986 Mustang convertible build thread

[Walking-Tall]

Progressed with my bypass-return fuel "contraption" today, lol




The right barb will be fuel from the pump in the tank. The barb inline and on the left will be to a filter and to the carburetor, and downward barb will be to the return line. If I can figure out what size the inside thread (is 1/16-NPT a thing?) is of the schrader valve from the CFI is, it will go into the steel female union, or nearer to the carburetor, otherwise a 1/8-NPT fuel pressure gauge will. This will be mounted on the passenger side strut tower, connected up with the fuel lines on the car in that area.


Internally tapped the return barb for a 3/8-NCx3/8" brass socket set screw, and drilled a 1/16" restriction in that for starters.




The return barb assembled with the restriction. The final restriction size will be determined based on the resultant fuel pressure the carburetor sees.

[Walking-Tall]

Note to self, and anyone who may sometime need to know: the Ford fuel injection Schrader valve fitting resembles and is what's commonly referred to as an, "air tank fill valve", with 1/16-27 (NPT) male thread that goes into the throttle body or the SEFI fuel rail, and with common 5/16-24 (NF) male thread (tire valve stem/cap thread size) on the outside that a fuel pressure tester/gauge connects to, with what looks like a clear nylon seal for the valve inside instead of plain rubber or whatever is used for tire valve stems or air tank fill valves.

First I ran into 1/16-NPT seeming to be not very common, then, that getting a tap to cut those threads is just as uncommon and quite expensive for a stupid little tap... and then I found that 1/8-NPT male to 1/16-NPT female adapters are the same scenario, seemingly only available from Autometer or a few nitrous oxide companies even dealing with 1/16-NPT. More common is the opposite adapter, so people can thread a common 1/8-NPT fuel pressure gauge into their 5.0L's fuel rail. Luckily, I've hoarded what would fill a couple good sized junk drawers over the years, and I happened to have a brass adapter (unused leftovers from a mechanical oil pressure gauge install, I think...) that's 1/8-NPT male to 1/16-NPT female, so I was able to drill and tap another 1/4-NPT female-female union's center-side with my commonly-available-in-most-tap-and-die-sets 1/8-NPT tap, installed the adapter and 1/4-NPTx5/16" fuel hose barbs like above. So, when the fuel lines are going together, I'll rob the Schrader valve back out of the CFI throttle body, screw that into the adapter, and be able to measure fuel pressure inline just before the fuel filter and carburetor with this additional fabricated contraption of mine.

[Walking-Tall]

The rip-tearin' has begun and now continues.
Pics later...

[Walking-Tall]

As was, '86 3.8L V6 with CFI (2-barrel) throttle body fuel injection and EEC-IV...

[Walking-Tall]

FAR too many looms and wires and vacuum lines...

[Walking-Tall]

The schrader valve I'll be re-purposing...




Gettin' better. There's actually a broad-shouldered little engine underneath all the crap. There's aluminum silver and flat black paint going to go here and there during this process. The intake and heads are coming off shortly too. The top of the bell housing's got a nice sheen on it from the rear of the intake leakage crankcase oil vapors, and I have no idea if the head gaskets have ever been changed, so I'd rather do those while things are apart instead of down the road at some point. The 3.8's got a well-deserved bad reputation for blowing head gaskets, and the real reason that happened/happens isn't about bolts or having to replace head bolts, but that there is non-existent or inadequately chamfered/counterbored cylinder head bolt tapped holes at the block decks on lots of these engines. Bean counters cutting corners screw things up, always. That will carefully be addressed when the heads are off. Been there, done that with my '83... and the ridiculous length of plastic conduit somebody installed will be removed and a length of 5/8" hose will replace it to go from the oil fill cap to inside the air filter for nice fresh filtered PCV air.

[Walking-Tall]

Black spaghetti nearly all out...

[Walking-Tall]

Black spaghetti, "brain", CFI throttle body, and TFI distributor out, REEEJECTED! (crankshaft @ #1 compression TDC)...




I swear the front of the car raised about 1/2" after removing all this $hit...

[grabbergreen84]

LOL, it'll be interesting to see how much better she'll perform after the carb conversion. She'll definitely be easier to work on and diagnose - that is, if you're aware of that HEI module, where ever it's going to be...

I can't really say much though. I've got GM parts on my '88, and they are on the outside, for everyone to see...cheap plastic Hella made-in-Mexico OEM fog lights from a GMC Envoy.

[Walking-Tall]

Ought to be better, performance and efficiency-wise, with a dialed-in timing curve, vacuum advance, and fueling

Well, at least it's not an HEI distributor. I'm no purest, but putting one of those big goofy distributors where it doesn't belong just isn't right.
LOL, the HEI module is going on the passenger side strut tower near the coil, 'cause this is a driver and it should work well.


Speaking of all this, the circuit:

[Walking-Tall]

Prior to today's wrenching, I couldn't resist a mock-up to see what's what for clearances etc., and snapped some pics...




It took some fiddling (slight rotations, like 1/8 turn at a time with a SECURELY taped together extension and socket) with the oil pump drive shaft, but the distributor dropped in nice where it needs to be in the limited space surrounded by the thermostat and bypass hoses.





So, all that's phased (10-degrees BTDC) and ready to drop in later. The Holley onto this intake is another story...




That stupid little heat riser vacuum valve is squarely in the way of the bottom of the throttle lever.




No problemo, besides the destruction it took to remove it, parts of it will be reused and the system will be closed off.

[Walking-Tall]

Heat riser vacuum valve removed, and Holley sat right down nice on the phenolic spacer, though the bores in the spacer (let's call it what it is. It's a restrictor plate, with airflow-reducing steps also partially around the already small bores in it) do need to be opened up some to clear Holley's throttle plates, and they will be

[Walking-Tall]

Popped the air cleaner on it for a look, and to check the hood clearance. All good, ~2".



(yes, the quickie job (2 white wires draped all over, lol) aftermarket temperature gauge wiring will be better done and loomed)

[Walking-Tall]

Took off the intake. Somebody broke that front left bolt at some point. It wasn't me, there's sufficient rusting at the break. Anyway, something else needing fixin', lol





Hey man, look at this, it's a single plane!



This is with the EGR... plate ... off of it, to investigate how to best block that off too, and of course those two sensors will be removed and plugs installed. That big-a$$ rear air injection valve and I got into one helluva battle... I knocked it's friggin' head off in order to adequately get at and remove the two rear passenger side intake bolts, lol, and will have to remove what's left of it and plug it.

* EDIT - it's not a single plane intake, lol, there's a cast divider right down the middle, with connecting passages front and rear.

[grabbergreen84]

If your EGR valve is good, you could always retain it. But it would look dorky on there. If you kind of want it on there, you could always devise a remote mounting system. If not, no big deal.

Are those 3.8s known for popping intake gaskets too? Only reason I can think of for a broken intake bolt is someone removed it to do a (the) head gasket(s). I used thread sealer on those end bolts when I put my heads (and the intake back) on my car, because I've had them break on 5.0s too.

[Walking-Tall]

If your EGR valve is good, you could always retain it. But it would look dorky on there. If you kind of want it on there, you could always devise a remote mounting system. If not, no big deal.

Are those 3.8s known for popping intake gaskets too? Only reason I can think of for a broken intake bolt is someone removed it to do a (the) head gasket(s). I used thread sealer on those end bolts when I put my heads (and the intake back) on my car, because I've had them break on 5.0s too.

Totally dorky, LOL! I think the EGR valve is fine, but I know that the EGR position sensor is not. I'm not interested at all in retaining EGR, and I made a block-off plate out of 3/16"x1" steel, because with the design you see above, the goofy spacer with EGR mount needs to remain though.

Not sure, the intake wasn't an issue with my '83 Cougar's 3.8, but a head gasket went with it within minutes of it's first trip up to freeway speed when first in my possession, lol. A responsible mechanic or do-it-yourself-er woulda removed and replaced that broken bolt though, lol. I'd say somebody broke it and shoved the head of it back in the hole before anybody noticed, lol... regardless, thankfully it wasn't broke off down inside the head, and I got it out with vice grips and some careful heating of the head there and some ATF. Thread sealer's a good idea if the head tap isn't blind, and goes into coolant, for sure. I don't think these do, but I'll check for sure.

[Walking-Tall]

I ended up having to also cut the tail off of Holley's throttle lever in order to clear the heat riser (blocked off) bolts anyways. Oh well, no sweat, carburetor return springs will hook onto the throttle lever's top.

Today I tackled establishing different fuel and return lines for under the hood to connect to my bypass-return pressure-controlling contraption. The originals are nylon. It's a bit of a wrestling match to get the passenger side plastic inner fender out, but that's what's necessary, because the nylon fuel lines from under the hood connect to steel lines near to the bottom of the wheel well near the uni-body. I bent up two sections of 5/16" steel line, attached them with short pieces of fuel hose and stainless steel clamps. I added sleeves of fuel hose for where they bend and go through the passage to under-hood so they don't rub together or clatter around. Too bad the snazzy red zip-ties get hidden behind the plastic inner fender, lol




The bypass-return contraption's in place alongside the passenger strut tower, ready for connection to more line to the schrader valve pressure-testing contraption, a fuel filter, and the carburetor.

[Walking-Tall]

I just wanted to briefly mention something, a testimony of sorts, about my experience recently with RockAuto. I think due to the recent looming strike that was in the air for Canada Post, recently ordered things, like head gasket set and some electrical items, got sent through... well, they'll remain unnamed... but some courier was supposedly here last week, and supposedly unable to deliver. Nobody was at the door, and nothing was left anywhere to indicate they had tried to deliver, such as to contact them, etc... and THEN somebody there decided to press the RETURN button, so things were headed back. Long story, short, RockAuto rocks, because they tracked the cluster-bleep down before it left this friggin' country again, have apologized with each contact for the inconvenience (though it's not their fault and I've told them that), have kept me fully informed and in the loop to solution (I contacted both the shipping and courier corporations and got nowhere... seriously, WTF?), and the fine folks at RockAuto have intercepted and rerouted my things to come the F*** back to me. So, sometime soon maybe I'll be able to continue with this car all apart now, lol. I recommend them highly, for their great prices, all sorts of everything available, and for their tremendous and actual customer service.

[Walking-Tall]

Took the fuel pump relay and about 4 inches of it's 4 wires out from under the driver's seat, and taped up and shoved those remaining wires back down the hole and under the carpet. Traced where 3 of those wires (yellow, red, and tan) goes behind the driver's side kick panel for reference, and disabled 'em there too just for peace of mind. I mapped out Ford's relay by it's wire colors for it's use universal-like and established my new fuel pump circuit "on paper", which will begin with a 30 amp 4 circuit junction block I'm adding (probably between the battery and starter solenoid or thereabouts, for a full running system power source for the present changes (ignition and fuel pump) and possible future relay upgrades), and an inline fuse holder for the yellow wire that will go to the fuel pump relay at it's new home out back in the trunk beside the inertia switch. Here's my circuit:

[82GTforME]

Black spaghetti and brain out...

I swear the front of the car raised about 1/2" after removing all this $hit...

That's funny!

Nice progress. It's nice to get some good momentum on a project. Last year, three of the weeks I took off over the year were to blitz things on the car!

1/16" NPT is quite odd too. As a predominantly industrial pipe/steam fitter, I've never used it. 1/8 and 1/4 NPT for sensors, indicators etc and anything piped with it to any degree is at pretty good risk of getting damaged. Glad you found a solution to your debacle.

BSP is even more odd. We came into an example where a Japanese made piece of equipment (rotary compressor) was found after the fact that it had BSP (British Standard Pipe) which is tapered, uses the same nominal pipe diameters but have ever so slightly different thread angles and pitches. You could never tell by looking and an NPT fitting really seemed to go in normally. Our engineers had to do a little more homework after that.

[Walking-Tall]

Thanks, chippin' away at it.

Yes, I had no clue of even the existence of 1/16-NPT prior to this. I suppose it no doubt had to do with cost savings, but I often ask myself why in the world did the car company (because I've seen that oddball issues such as this are not reserved to just Ford) do this or that in the way that they did? What all things like this end up being is a bit of a headache for the guy down the road doing things to fix or improvise and improve the used jalopy 30 years later, lol. Therein lies the other portion of this though, IMHO, that at a certain point (I say arguably somewhere in the early '70's, such as when rusting seemed to appear in in-explicable places and ways, such as in the center of a body panel. That's just plain old sub-standard CRAP metal use), vehicles stopped being made to last much past their warranty, either through wearing out or the PITA to keep them going. I heard the term "over-designed" when referring to older things that were built much tougher and lasted longer while in mechanical engineering school. I don't agree with or "buy" that kind of $-driven BS.

On occasion I ran across having to specify BSP in the design of (liquid-cooled) spot-weld and nut-weld equipment.

[wraithracing]

Awesome work and attention to detail.

Good luck and keep the details coming!

[Walking-Tall]

Thanks, Trey! There's lots more details comin'!

[JTurbo]

Like the progress thus far

[Walking-Tall]

Like the progress thus far

Thanks, glad you do