2015 Project Thread!

I think there is a Taurus/cougar option

For a turn signal switch? Cool.

I'm excited! I ordered a Marti Report to go on my show board! It won't tell me what I really want to know, how many ESs were made between 1978 and 1980 between Fairmonts and Zephyrs, but it should help general Fairmont/Zephyr knowledge! And it will tell me how many '79 Zephyr ESs there were, anyway. I had kind of a trying day yesterday, and I thought it would feel good to spend some money, haha!

Hey, I have a question for you. When you installed SN95 front brakes on your car, did you move the hard to soft line brackets? Because, I didn't, and I'm wondering if I should.

I believe I left the brackets as OEM best I remember.
I cant find a 90 model wiring diagram, however I do have a 91, they should be the same.
I was thinking we could add some brake shoe clips that look like horse shoes to the stalk if it has clearance issues on the strg whl to offset the angle. it will be ok. I think in high beam there were no clearance issues, just on low beam with the strg whl you have, your fingers may rub the stalk.man there are so many combo's and things to remember, it boggles the mind,maybe I should take a leaf from Einstein's book and never commit to memory what you can write down.
i'm going to help a guy out with a 4 banger Nissan pick up, the guy is making a "BAHA" truck and wants to add some things, should be fun.
if you just want to spend some money.......i'm looking for a stereo ha ha..........

merry christmas

Merry Christmas to you too! My kids are starting to get to the age where Christmas is a pretty big deal, so it was pretty fun for us parents. How about you?

Yep, according to LMR, '90-93 should all be the same. I thought I remembered there was an outlier, one year only configuration, but I might be thinking of the GT seats. I was working on that at about the same time.

Nissan project sounds like fun!

We got paid out for the wife's remaining vacation for the year. I've got an itchy trigger finger looking to buy some car parts, haha. I'm thinking maybe the LMR 3G alternator kit. Hmmmm. haha

we all had a full belly, and a good day with no arguing. good luck on the 3g kit. you'll be happy. have a nice new year.

You too! New Years will probably be just another day around here.

Got a Marti Report!



What did I find out that I didn't already know? Well, my car came stock with the truck/wagon wheels I like so much, like this car has:


Also, it was originally purchased from the very same dealer I bought my '07 Milan from some 26 years later! Pretty cool! Looks like she sat on the lot a while though.

And then probably the most important one, only a paltry 1007 ES 2-door Zephyrs were built for 1979! I'm sure there were even fewer 4 doors.

wow, that's a lot of info, I like stuff like that, it tells a little story. yeah it sat for a while?????
did you get the alternator kit ordered yet.
have a great New Year.

Haha, all I can figure is they were selling the hell out of the wagons and 4-doors and no one was looking for a "sport" package 2-door. If they were, they could buy a Z-7 or a Capri! Either way, mine gets the last laugh. Most of those other cars are rotting in a yard or long ago crushed into cubes. haha

Haven't ordered the alternator yet. I've been waffling, but I will, haha.

You too!

I tried using a 20% off coupon code I got this summer on the alternator set, but it wouldn't let me, haha. I think it would probably be silly to order it without that.

wow! what a ride, hot/cold/rain/snow/sick/slammed at work/headaches/snow on the mountain/frost on windows/bills/doctors/machines at work breaking down-I need a rest to gather my thoughts and re-assess.
I would make a phone call and try to place an order, but before I get started I would state that I have a 20% coupon, and I'm a relatively new returning customer and would like to make a transaction. if I had no luck, I would ask to speak to a supervisor and if they both said no, I would also state that that I would post this info on the forums and will shop elsewhere.
this time of year, people are having buyers remorse from Christmas, and are staying home and saving their money for the tax season and just buying food and gas.

You'd think that would be the time they'd WANT to put out coupons then, haha.

I acquired a vacuum pump yesterday, so I can get my steering system squared away. Looking forward to that. I also started buying parts for my brake system redo too.

Both of the kids spent some time in the hospital in the past few weeks for minor things. No big deal, but still NOT cheap. The shortblock rebuild and cam/tune might have to wait a year or so. Disappointing, but not that surprising. I think I should still be able to swing the brakes, fuel system, alternator and A/C though. I'm also considering putting a line lock on just for fun. hahahaha!

I got my statistic report from Marti now too! Pretty cool stuff!

so your car is one of 2? wow it's been a long time since I heard of CR70R14 tires. any news on the alternator. have you figured out which flasher system to use yet.

Yeah, pretty cool! I may have been a bit more interested in seeing numbers from the radio delete option mine had, rather than heavy duty battery, but you have to let them do their jobs, I suppose, haha. Who knows, it may have been because having a radio at all was the thing that was optional, so technically having no radio was how they came and therefore standard as opposed to an option. Did that even make sense? haha.

No news on the alternator. LMR doesn't seem interested in issuing coupon codes for this month. They're just pushing certain items. I'm really looking forward to doing that though. I think it will be fun. Checking one more thing off the list of factory parts you can get that are the best out there that still fit a Fox body.

I haven't done much research into the flasher thing lately. That guy with his "box" never came through with the diagrams and such. I think I'm committed though to going to a column mounted hazard switch though. I had been trying to fit a round switch to operate the dome light into my former mirror cable control opening in the sail panel trim, but now I'm just looking for a flat trim piece from a power mirror car that could go there. No luck finding one yet, but I have to imagine there were some '83-86 LTDs out there that had power mirrors that would have a piece that would work for me. Anyway, that's a long winded way of saying I'm going to adapt the instrument cluster bezel switch for the hazards to instead operate the dome light, haha.

LMR carries multifunction switches for '94 and up cars, but i'm going to have to take a look at a diagram and see if they have the brake light signal going through them or not. I would have to imagine they do. Hey, you have that very wiring in your car! Do you happen to know?

yes the brake light wiring must go thru the m/funct sw to operate the brake/turn lamps unless the turn lamps are dedicated turn only
what I did on mine was to remove both flasher cans and used 2x homemade shorting wires to complete the circuit for power to the replacement m/funct sw.
true, some cars did not have radios installed until after the purchase, back in the 90's not all cars hada radio, Toyota BMW etc, you had to request the option on the base models and some other models.
back in your day, I think the radio's were AM only, AM/FM, AM/FM 8 track & AM/FM cassette, so maybe it was an option choice thing, my first Fairmont had an AM/FM/cassette.
I did a wiring diagram for a guy and put it on powerpoint for him, all went well with the "all ground switching" as requested. now he finds out the reverse lights may be power switched.....so now I may have to change the whole diagram to allow for a single relay to operate the whole system, it's no problem, it's just aggravating, maybe I should have done 2 diagrams, I'd just hate using more than one relay for this system; it's a John thing.
I hate to use power point as i'm not very good at using it, but it is a very good program, and you can store the diagrams for future use, the power point program is good, just me the user is crap.
I like the guy, but his wiring scares me, he's good at other things, and you never know when you may need some help. I showed him some cool tricks, but it was like bouncing a racquet ball off the wall, no matter how hard you hit it, it just bounces back.

Funny. Some people just find wiring too overwhelming. I cut my teeth on stereos though, so it doesn't bother me a bit. If he's getting himself so deep into it though, he should probably find himself an EVTM. I use mine constantly.

I'm sorry, I asked you how you wired your taillights already, didn't I? I'm sure I can figure my own deal out.

I've started working on the wife, trying to convince her she needs her own project car, haha. A bunch of guys have done it on FEP. I really have a hankering for a '70-71 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler. And see, this way, i still get to keep my Zeph, haha. I might even be off the whole '69 Mach 1 thing. Of course I still love them, but they're just too far out of reach, I think. People that have them know what they have, and they want to cash in. But I'll bet you I can find a nice '70-71 2-door Montego driver it wouldn't take much to make look like a Spoiler. There's a nice red Montego for sale locally. They want 10gs for it, but it does seem to be an extraordinarily nice example. Plus it's not some ugly puke green or something like so many of them were. It has a white vinyl roof I'd rip off post haste though. I just HATE those. Hopefully it's actually painted underneath. So then all it would really need is the Cyclone hidden headlight gunsight grille, maybe the 6-taillight blackout rear panel, a spoiler, and the side stripes! Instant Spoiler! It's powered by a 2-barrel 351C automatic. Nice to buy, better to upgrade! Slap a 4 barrel on there, and maybe even a T-5 for the overdrive. You'd have yourself one sweet genuine muscle car!

Everyone has to make decisions, remember me and the cougars...if you really want the Mach 1 mustang, go for it. I thought the red-headed stepchild would fill the gap till a cougar rolled by, but not really, don't get me wrong I like the Fairmont and it has given pleasure over the years; there’s just something missing, plus tons of time spent.
Then you have to also consider the wife, they tend to think differently, I spent years just being able to keep mine, then to do all the swaps, and then to start all over again, remember the second Fairmont fiasco, that went down like a lead brick, and finally this latest swap didn’t go down well at all, I got the why why why treatment, so I think it either has to go, or I’m stuck with it as it is.
How is you wife going to react? Is she going to let you keep both cars, or does the Zeph have to go, I’m sure you had more than one conversation when this “has to be done”. And now all the work is done, you’re not happy……you want another car!!!! That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
sounds like you need to go to college and take up psychology and diplomacy before you bring the Montego home, it’s the wrong time of year to go camping in the back yard in your area.
If all else fails, you could say it would be her car……..good luck.
you may want to put some blankets in the trunk of the Zeph.........

Oh, I only mention that specific Montego as an example scenario. And then maybe I got a little carried away with the dreaming, haha. No way we're buying that car unless it's still for sale SEVERAL years down the road. I would never do something so impulsive as go drop 10K on a car we really have nowhere to put. No, my sin is more $50 here, $50 there in car parts, haha.

But see, the genius of this idea is it's HER car. She drives it whenever she wants to, and she has veto power over any decisions to make changes. That one car was an auto though, and she prefers manuals (I got myself a good one!), so that would probably be one I could bank on, haha. And you know how it is with Fairmont/Zephyrs. Wives may not understand why we like them, but a bright red muscle car? No doubting the appeal there!

She did say that she doesn't have time to work on a car, but I offered to do that for her. And if she doesn't want to lose the vinyl roof? I won't like it, but hey, less work for me, haha. And if we get one that's pretty nice and complete, it really won't need "work" per se, like the Zeph seems to, to infinity. I mean, I have specific goals for the Zeph. It has to reach a certain level of comfort, performance, and reliability, and it's not there yet.

No, none of this will happen very soon. I'll have to soften the defenses, probably for years. I'll keep an eye on what's available out there though. And my Zeph is far from done to my satisfaction.

Well, you may not get away with doing another full swap, but you've got what you need to do some mod motor upgrades though, if you want!

yeah, i'm glad you didn't shoot yourself in the foot, I used to just buy them and bring them home or store them, it never goes down well....even with the best of intentions.

I was "on my own" longer than she was before we got married. I learned a lot about managing money during that time. $10,000 would be a pretty big "oops", haha. Plus I absolutely abhor selling cars. So, I do look before I leap.

That would be so cool though, I love those Cyclones. Gotta dream about something, and my next several Zeph projects are pretty well planned out at this point.

YEAH there were so many real cool Fords & Mercury's out there, it's a true shame you don't see them in the mags. my cousin had a blue Torino that was a real looker and ran like a scaled cat.
my age group certainly had a better time than the younger guys, although at the time we didn't have a clue, muscle cars meant brute force and ignorance.

Well, the ignorance part continues today, anyway.

It's so strange to hear stories about guys that bought some Shelby that would go for hundreds of thousands today for peanuts and proceeded to beat the hell out of it in the '70s when no one wanted them.

I guess there was some 20th Anniversary '84 Mustang that went for $65,000 at the last one of those circus car auction greed-fests. So now all the morons that have been sitting on bone stock boring-ass early Fox bodies are all licking their chops. "Finally our time has come too!". I just have to sigh and shake my head.