2014 Projects Thread!

Well, I got to install a new inner tie rod end today. So that means, literally, I've replaced EVERY part of the suspension except the other inner tie rod end. EVERYTHING else is new.

My struts showed up yesterday, and I installed them today! Couldn't drive it though because of a torrential downpour. We've got biblical flooding going on over here, haha.

gets that beast over to the alignment shop and & see if the odometer works.....you may want to try for zero camber, that will make those tires last longer and it will handle better, negative camber is great for cornering, however tire wear is accelerated. hopefully all your tire rubbing issues have been resolved.

Oh, for sure. I plan to go for Tires Plus's lifetime alignment. Unbeknownst to them though, I plan to have this car forever, so I'll be making sure it pays for itself, haha. I'm sure they make good money on people who just end up doing it once.

Yeah, I'm able to turn my front wheels lock to lock with no interference and there's tons of room under the rear fenders with these wheels. I should be golden there.

I've decided the rear end is drooped too low. I imagine since these springs are intended for Mustangs, my car probably has more weight on the rear than they're designed for. I ordered these spacers from Global West that just raise the spring perch, rather than sticking something in between the coils. Pretty slick deal. I want to be able to put the kids in the back and not worry about bottoming out.

wait till you get the rear ride height set prior to alignment.
yeah, I agree about not using the spring helpers, sometimes they "walk" or fall out, it never happens near home.

Yep, figured I should do that. Thought at least I might end up tweaking the rear axle when i put the spacers in and that wouldn't be good AFTER having an alignment done, haha.

I was a little worried about the spacers I'm getting falling out too, but i'll wait to see what the directions say. Maybe you bolt them in somehow.

no they just sit in the spring perches, the spring tension keeps them in place, as the shocks limit the travel. however I remember seeing some bolt on spring clips on older Econoline vans or F150 trucks that hold the frt springs in. you wont hurt/tweak the diff.
got an opportunity to get a beasty little 350 complete with carb & trans, I'm thinking I'd like to try to stuff it under the Fairmont hood. gotta think about this though, as I've welded in all the sn95 transmission mounts in, it took me hours to get it right.
how are you getting on with that intake situation?

Okay. I was a bit concerned because I've heard of guys having lowering springs fall out of the rear on Fox cars. My springs aren't radically lower though (although they sure seem like it compared to what I'm used to!).

No no no no. If you put a Chevy motor in your car, I will disown you. That's my biggest hot rodding pet peeve. Your Fairmont deserves better. And carb? Come on! Why go backwards? haha

Progress is slow on the intake. I've been concentrating mostly on the suspension, and doing a little corrosion repair on the wheel center caps of my Aviator, just to see what works and what doesn't. I don't have a lot of time for the car with the wife working mostly 10 hour days, and my son being almost 3, he can NOT be unsupervised for any amount of time. Anyway, once I'm happy with the corrosion situation on the intake, I'll paint it, and it'll all be downhill from there.

Spacers are in! Stance is much better now, I think.

I’m happy to hear you’ve tackled you suspension issues, and you are now an honorary spring, bushing and ball joint changer!! Now you can put some butt-time in the seat, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
I like to keep changing things around as you know, how else could I keep this Frankenstinian experiment from becoming boring? The engine and transmission package available would be for entertainment purposes only, and with the AJE k-member, it’s just as easy as swapping over the interchangeable motor mounts, so there is no real challenge, except finding the correct drive shaft, and I’m pretty lucky in that department, just find the correct shaft length, see if the u joints interchange & most do, swap the yoke & flange over and give it a blast. The only negative thing would be losing the overdrive.
I’m still looking for the 3 valve 4.6 from a 05 up mustang, which is the next step up in the process. I really like the note of the 3 valve engine revving up. I’m not keen on Chevy engines in any restoration other than a Chevy, however the old hard core hot rodders used whatever they could get-n-grab & stuff in. I still remember those days when a 312 Thunderbird engine or 327/375 were the cherries to have.
Historically, ford has always built smaller displacement engines than Chevy, Chevy engines are cheaper to build or rebuild than ford, and generally return more bang for the buck, however you look at it. I also remember having to look at the taillights of a 340 Duster throwing dust all over a 67 mustang with a 390, the thing I remember most was the 340 engine sounding like a Cox airplane engine revving up. Hardly ever see a 340 nowadays.
Yeah; we all make mistakes, some people are loaded, some are broke, but one thing I have noted, is never criticize somebody’s little hot rod, it may be the only pleasure they have. I sometimes help people out if they are part of the brotherhood/cult, because you never know….
I do see your point; the Chevy engine would look like a turd in punchbowl, even though it would be cheap entertainment.
as long as the Fairmont gives pleasure….it has a home. I have so many things I want to do to it, but time & money; now those are REAL dreams!
time moves quickly, you never know; you may wake up one day and find you 3 year old son or your daughter throwing a blower on their car at 2am, and needing you to move that coupe out of the way so they can pound pavement.
you gotta have fun.....or what's the point.

I know what you mean about dreams. There are so many other things I would love to do with mine. I think I'd better cool it on the expensive modifications for a few years after this. This year was pretty dang expensive one. We can still afford the deck on the house, but it will be missing some of the things we wanted for it.
Sorry to criticize. Everyone's going to do what works for them. I don't have to be happy about it though, haha. Your car is still sweet.
My car will be off to the alignment shop hopefully this weekend. Then I'll have to wait on the other changed I want to make this year, new seat foam and the Explorer intake. I don't dare tackle something as major as those before Car Craft Summer Nationals. Having my car in pieces when that comes along is not an option. haha

dreams are important, never stop, you can always change your mind. where are you getting the seat cushions from. i like skinning seats, most people are scared, but as long as you have a decent set of hog ring pliers you're set. i actually get my hog rings from an furniture upholstery shop, i usually get a cup full at a time, this guy has everything imaginable, it's like going thru a time warp. after seeing a guy ruin a set of seat covers using zip ties, i bought a set of straight & angled hog ring pliers from matco, they really do a good job.
after you get the alignment done, you need to load up the fam do a long road test and enjoy!
we're going to be burning some gasoline this weekend. I'd like to check my fuel mileage, there for a while i thought the gauge was on the fritz, but it actually does quite well on the highways even with the A/C on.
I've been driving mine a lot recently, for the most part I'm satisfied. my wife doesn't seem to mind taking it anymore. after putting the SN95 dash in, you have to trim the frt inner door handles a bit on the ends, well my wife doesn't have the strength in her hands any more to open the doors with the shorter handles, and she likes the idea of me opening the door for her.
have a good weekend.....

I probably should do both, but I only got a driver's side seat foam. I got it from Latemodel Restoration by TMI. My seat upholstery is TMI too. They seem to make a good product. I hope the seat frame isn't broken, since I don't weld. I have kind of a cheapie hog ring pliers, but it does the job. I can't justify getting a really nice one for one job, haha. We'll see what happens when the time comes though, that may change, haha.
Yeah, I've always wanted to take it to Fairmont, MN and take a picture with the "Welcome to Fairmont" sign. Obviously, it's not a Fairmont, but close enough, haha. It's probably a good 100 miles from here.
That is SO cool you have the A/C working. That's one of my dreams for mine. And that's awesome your wife likes riding in it now. You have a good one too.

most of the time, the cushions just wear out & can give a look of being bent/broken. I've seen some seat covers & cushions from LMR, they seem to be great fitting and look well made. the only problems occur when people leave the cushions too long and the covers stretch/deform, however sometimes they will pull themselves back into shape over time.
last night we went to Tombstone for a party and to see to see a sick friend, his tailgate wouldn't open on his F150, and his wife cant get his wheel chair in and out, so I brought loads of parts over only to find it just needed cleaning and lubing, that was lucky.
the wind came up over the mountains and then it rained pretty heavy, 1st extended test of the wiper system, all went well, however the fireworks were cancelled. it was nice to get some rain, but it felt cold!

I hope you're right, but these seats are notorious for the frames cracking and breaking at the welds.
Isn't it nice when you get lucky fixing something like that? Makes you look good too. You're done in just a few minutes haha.
Sounds like a nice time though. Too bad about the fireworks. We didn't even go. I was a little dejected about replacing the rear struts on my Lincoln not fixing my brake vibration, and the wife hasn't been sleeping well, so we didn't have a lot of ambition.

if the frame IS broken, get another one, don't even bother. I've had quite a few that had faulty recliner hinges, mostly cushion materials or bent components. I put a seat cushion in an explorer the other day, I thought the frame was twisted, but it was just the cushion, I still wonder how that cushion got destroyed, bad posture???? does your wife have a stressful job?  maybe you guys need to take a break somewhere.

Well, the problem there is, junk V8 Mustangs are not common up here. When people have those seats, they want a pretty penny for them. And then there's the problem of are they the right ones? Ford changed those seats several times, but you'd never know to look at them. 24" seatback, 26" seatback, knee support, no knee support, and so on. And I may have to wait a while before I find some. That's time without driving the car I don't want to waste. When you can't drive it all year, time you can drive it is precious.

Spent some time yesterday hacking up my brand new strut tower brace to make it fit with my caster/camber plates. I have to cut big recesses in both sides to clear them. Never heard of anyone else having this problem. (sigh)

The wife is a pharmacist in a busy Target Pharmacy. She actually takes quite a bit of vacation, but I spend a lot of it working on the car because I can't when she's working. So, she's essentially filling in for me as the stay-at-home parent. Not exactly restful. We're going to the cabin for a few days tomorrow though. That should be nice. My parents will be there for kid back-up. When I go to the cabin, I usually spend the whole time sleeping, haha.

yeah, she definitely needs to clear the mind. I finally received my high pressure service port for my a/c in the Fairmont, (which had stopped leaking) I got it on, charged d the a/c only to find the low pressure service port started to weep a bit-DAMN!!! a few taps with a pocket rocket, and it seems to have stopped leaking, it took too long for the service port to arrive, getting lost, etc, I'm wondering if I should just leave it alone.
then I found out that the bronco plans have changed, the guy wants a coyote 5.0 instead of the 5.4 liter engine. so all the work for the 5.4 wiring has gone down the pan along with the engine. I may get the engine for my car, I don't know.........
I don't know how I'm going to mate the coyote engine to the 4R70W transmission with 4x4 and be able to control it......it may sound easier swap in a newer style transmission that matches the coyote engine, but the electrics are so involved with thing s like yaw sensors, abs, roll sensor, steering wheel angle etc. maybe I could control the 4x4 separately. I gotta get MY brain programmed & serviced first.

Hey, if it still blows cold, just let it ride for a while, what the heck.

Maybe a stand-alone trans controller? If they want a Coyote, they must have unlimited funds, so go crazy!

Drove my car a pretty good hike up to a car show yesterday. She performed perfectly! Maybe someday soon i'll be able to drive it and actually NOT be paranoid something is going to break! Probably didn't help this time I had the kids in the car though...

I'm glad to hear you are finally burning some gasoline, just be careful in the parking lots. I always worry when I take mine on long trips, it doesn't matter how long or far the trip is, sometimes it ruins some of the fun. we have been lucky so far, never had anything go wrong bar a fuel pump taking a dump a few years ago, but I still take it. the engine & drivetrain only have 29k, but that doesn't seem to matter. I don't know if those thoughts will ever dissipate, however I keep using it. I think what worries me most is getting hit by another car.
yeah the funding for this project is fairly generous, and I don't want to take any advantages, what I'd like to do is get it done.....it will happen, but not for this years cars show. I'm planning on contacting Ford Racing for engine control and Bauman for transmission control; and see what they have to offer, it's got to be easier than fabricating it myself, I'll still have to fabricate the 4x4 control, I just need to know which transfer case will be used. sometimes i wish it was a Chevy, then I could just walk away.

Got all registered for Car Craft Summer Nationals today. Starts tomorrow and goes through Sunday! Always a great time! Plus this year, I'm with the local Ford fan club, so I don't have to worry about finding parking! That's always been a stressor at this show. Especially Saturdays.

Eh, my car's got so many dings and scratches, I don't even care at this point. Many of the scratches were inflicted by me too, driving in and out of the way-crowded garage. Maybe some day I'll get it cleaned up and painted, but for now, eff it. I don't worry about parking lots. Nice to hear I'm not the only one that worries though.

Get this though! I ran across a guy looking to get rid of some seats just like mine for beer! So, if I get the foam off and find the frame all busted up, I've got backups! They're red too, so if I don't end up needing them, I can give them to Stymee!

if mustang parts are that hard to find in your area, i would suggest getting those seats before they disappear, and investigating the possibility that he may have other cherished items going quick as well. there is an increasing market for fox body parts since the arrival of the new 5.0. you shouldn't have any problems getting rid of the stuff for a profit. Believe me it's nice to it's have a clean garage, but if you can increase your cash flow thru making other people dreams come true, it puts more Wonga in your pocket for repairs or mods to your car. ig, I sold a vacuum tree for an 88 mustang for $25 bones.......took the guys offer and ran with it.

Oh, I did. He had some Mark VII rear calipers too, so I grabbed those for backups.

Speaking of profit, I wish I had the time to go to the local junkyard and pull some of the GT40 Explorer stuff. They've got it up the wazoo! Intakes, heads... huge profits to be made there! Takes about half a day to do per car, I'm told though. No way I could spend that much time.

Did the Car Craft Summer Nationals this past weekend. My car overheated Friday. My stupid cooling fan motor failed. Luckily I was in a place where a new cooling fan could be had right away. I bought a new one and slapped it in. It was embarrassing in front of all those people though. Some nice folks came along and helped out though. The rest of the weekend, the car behaved really well. It still makes more creaks, clunks, and rattles than I'd like, but I guess I've learned I'm going to have to just live with them on an old car like that. It's actually pretty fun to drive now with my new suspension stuff. I figured out I've put 250 miles on it already this year!

(sigh) Still dealing with my fuel smell problem. Just ordered a buttload of new seals (AGAIN), and a new tank this time. I really don't want my car to blow up.

sucks to break down away from home, but at least you got it fixed. ford built a good little engine when they did the 5.0, it can take a lot of abuse....
have you got your seat cushion replaced yet?
fuel smells can be a pain, you have to find out if it's from the pressure system or the evap system. where is the smell coming from, does it occur with the engine on or off, is there a lot of pressure in the fuel tank when you remove the cap.

Yeah, I was remembering that guys often crack open the radiator cap when a car is overheating. I didn't do that. I thought it would be better not to lose all that coolant. Do people do that to get it to cool down faster to prevent damage to the engine or something? The engine does seem fine, but I'm just wondering in case it happens again. Not that it should... I got the fan setup all permanently installed and it has a nice, roomy stock look. I'm pretty happy with it.

The smell seems to be originating back by the tank. When I open the trunk I can even smell it. I think the filler neck box thingy is not sealed well, so I'm putting a good amount into doing that. My old filler neck was 4 bolts, and my new one is 3, and I hadn't filled in the old holes for one thing. For another, I had had the filler neck flange behind the plastic box part. Thinking about it now, I'm pretty sure that's wrong. Is it? Anyway, I got a new vent valve and grommet, a new filler neck to trunk floor seal, a new pump to filter soft line, and yet another new sending unit o-ring and locking ring. I'm treating the old filler neck (since new ones can't be had) with rust neutralizer, and giving the new gas tank a coat of paint. I'm re-using the filler neck seal, but it's only a year or two old.

I do notice the tank is pressurized when I remove the cap to fill. Do you think I have an evap problem then? My carbon canister and purge valve are probably original to the engine. I've replaced a bunch of the vapor line from the tank to the canister already.