Update on this year's projects!

having 69 ohms on this wire would not be unusual if the instrument cluster is still connected to the wiring loom, however if the cluster was disconnected, this reading would be abnormal.
so far as the black wire, the closer to zero ohms the better off you are. remember with resistance values; more is less, meaning the more resistance you have the less continuity you have.
good job!!!!

Yeah, the cluster was hooked up. Today's the day I try and put it all together without wrecking it again. Wish me luck!

Well, I broke the float arm. I thought I would try bending it so the float would face the other way. I didn't have high hopes for it not breaking, but I was so sick of dealing with the arm getting stuck on the baffle. The way I tried bending it this time just made things worse.

I bought some 12 gauge fence wire I'm going to use to make a new arm. I was thinking about scrapping the whole mess and starting over with the resistance-strip swap method, but that would be wicked expensive buying all new parts. What you do is, buy a new LTD sender hanger, take the sender apart, buy a sending unit for a '90s Taurus or Explorer, take the resistance strips out and swap them. That way you don't have to try and graft the whole Mustang sending unit onto the hanger, you just keep the existing sender and float arm that faces the right way and change out the strips.

So, I missed the car show I wanted to go to today, but it happens, I guess.

Well I got it all back together. The cars runs and everything, and the gauge seems to be working. We'll see when I put gas in it I guess. Anyway, it's raining now, so no test drive.

I may have a couple of senders hanging about, ill have a look Monday.
why don't you go to local filling station, fill the tank, and just to verify the tank is full keep squeezing the nozzle till fuel comes up to the top of the filler neck, this way you will have complete confidence and visual confirmation the tank is full.
then run down to radio shack, get a 15 ohm resistor, twist the wires from the sender onto it, and insulate and weatherproof this unique modification well by wrapping it in tin foil, it doesn't have to be new tin foil, or the non stick type and shove it up where nobody can see it. this will ensure the gauge will always read M/T. and you'll have to stay home.
or
next step is bit more challenging.
you will need to research and find you favorite photograph and apply it to the l/s of the cluster.
or
even more challenging.
you could cover or substitute the complete cluster lense with a wrap of a beach scene, or whatever, that would be way cool. I would suggest using a dishwashing soap/water solution to get it laid down properly.
once one of these mods have been completed (or all) the car is ready to pound pavement, and should be used for it's intended purpose.
I know all about obsessions and addictions, my main obsession is that I like to have all the ding-dongs working, now only a ding dong would obsess over a ding dong. (I don't even like the Hostess ding dongs!!)
when it comes to addictions, I am addicted to changing things around on this car.
I'm certain I would have a happier life and enjoy the extra time I would have, if it would just go away.
maybe I should just take a week off and finish this thing.
my fuel gauge would read full now if it was connected to the wiring as there is no sender to hook it up to.
which is worse a gauge that reads full when it is M/T or.................

It's funny to talk to someone who's not into cars about stuff like this. Their first question is always, "why would you change something on your car that might make the ding-dongs NOT work?". Hahaha. Just like climbing a mountain, the answer is simple. Because it's there.

honestly, I hate the damned ding-dong things, but I can remember a few times I locked my keys in the car , or walked away with the lights on.

some of the remarks I made at last years car show were meant to get attention, (attention to detail was what I was aiming at) when somebody has done a lot of mods to there car without making it look too obvious, that is great, a trailer queen gives me bowel spasms. I hate to ask if it runs, or have you ever driven it????
I'm not interested in in bolt-together cars that arrive at your house in a box. but to each person their car is their baby, and I would never say anything to insult these people, however I have heard some not so nice comments made before. not everybody has a shit load of money to put in their cars, or buy a car that someone else has built.
you should hear mike; (fox 81) at the car show back in 2010, going on about some peoples arrogant attitudes and trailer queens, but he was 100% right.
when you go to a car show, there are all sorts of car guys & girls, some are obviously home-made, some are butt-ugly like mine, some real race cars, some lead sleds etc, it is about the fun.
I wish you could bring your car the Douglas Arizona Memorial Day car show, it's a very cool car show, very low drag, good food, great cars, real craftsmen, it's on the United States side of the Mexican border, so there are some really cool cars and motorbikes. you Fairmont would really stand-out, because most of the people there are genuine gasoholics and would know what you have done.
I sold some mustang stuff to one of the guys from Douglas who usually does the 40's,50's & 60's cars, man what a network of car guys/gals, really friendly.
as you get older you seem to remember the guys who you used to go to the car shows with, Eddie is in heaven running low 7's with his Vega, Allan is in the torch department cutting up & making another "Evil" truck, now gets his gas and tires free, I wonder if he's knocking down trees???
there comes a time when you have to be content with your car, and accept it for what it is, "a machine". they do break down, they do give problems, but when a resolution arises and just about the time you begin to rejoice, another concern arises!!!
that's all part of the fun!!!
a fuel gauge is as important to me as a oil press gauge or temp gauge, you need it, it's unlikely the engine will over heat, or lose oil pressure, but it will need fuel fairly often.

Yeah, sounds cool, but I don't expect to drive my car quite that far anytime soon, haha. I do plan to take some trips with it though, maybe next year. I want to take it to Fairmont, Minnesota and take some pictures. That would be funny.

I put some gas in it today, and the gauge does show a difference. So, success there. I didn't fill it up because I don't expect to drive it too much more this year. Some, but not much. My alignment is way messed up and my left front tire is really bad. Anyway, the stupid thing still spits gas back out at you when you're trying to fill it. I guess I need to go back over my vapor line and make sure there are no kinks. Past that, I don't know why it would be doing that. It's really annoying after all I've had to do with my damned fuel system.

don't forget that the tank vents from the filler hose/pipe.
what style fuel filler pipe do you have? is it the original Fairmont style with the single diameter round
pipe that has a flat bit soldered in at the top, or do you have Ranger the style that uses a rubber hose.
the round pipe with the flat piece will vent thru the flat piece, make sure this is not blocked, or it will not vent.
sorry im not familiar the LTD tanks or the placement of the pump, is it inline with the filler hose.it could be that the fuel is plashing back onto the fuel filler pipe, preventing  the  pipe from venting. do you have the LTD filler pipe to compare to the Zephyr filler pipe.
I had the same issue, so I chose to use a Ranger style that uses a hose, problem solved.
why are you going to put the car in mothballs?
Fairmont Mn sounds like the place to go!!!  isn't there a place in in Mn called ZephyrEFIville? or was it ZephyrEFI5spdville?

Mothballs? haha. We have this thing up here called WINTER. Most of the car shows are done. There's not much season left for cruising/showing. Plus, we'll be welcoming our second child on Wednesday, so I'll be pretty busy with that. haha.

I know it vents through the pipe too... but you may have something with that splashing back thing. I'm using the metal tube type filler neck, but it's from an '82 Futura, which had a rectangular tank, unlike mine which is odd shaped to fit around the spare. The filler neck is pretty much the same shape as the original Zeph one, but it's smaller diameter (which is why I couldn't use my original one), and considerably LONGER, as in it protrudes into the tank much farther than the original did. I had to cut it shorter so it would go all the way in and not hit the spare tire cutout. I did leave it a little longer than my original, but maybe that was a mistake. Maybe I should cut it the same length. Gas could be splashing back from the odd shaped area on the left side of the tank.

The LTD tank is identical to the early Fairmont/Zephyr tank, except the pump/sender hole is situated on top of the tank considerably forward of the filler pipe. So, if it's splashing back from anything, it's probably the side of the tank.

But nope, no ZephyrEFIville, haha.

congratulations on the arrival of another child!!! hope all goes well for mother & baby.

you could try shortening the pipe some more, you may consider marking the filler pipe with a sharpie so you know how far it actually goes in, then you can use a coat hanger to measure the actual position of the pipe using a flashlight..
it might be a good idea to turn the pipe upside down and run some tap water down the vent tube, it should come thru the filler neck holes.
if push comes to shove and the fuel filler pipe length is correct, you may want to drill a couple of 1/4 inch holes into the top of the filler pipe where the vent channel is located so the pressure can escape.
seems like I'm always drillin....cutting ETC.
I got another idea today, I'm thinking of going cop (coil on plug) with the 97 motor, typical, I haven't got it nowhere near running, with loads of ideas, on the flip-side I will probly forget it by 2-marro, and when I think of it again, it's like a whole new day!
if you like, you can keep you Zephyr here for the winter, I'll give you a weekly report. who knows you may even see it on TV....
good luck with the pipe, and most of all Best Wishes for the mother & baby.

Thanks!

Yeah, I'll try playing with the stupid filler neck when I get around to it. Probably not high on the priority list now.

Umm, how about I keep it here. haha

pulled the tank & pipes today, tried to change the pumps out only to find that the 5.0 pump has a 5/16 line fitting and the 4.6 pump has a 3/8 outlet fitting, gotta get another pump assy, so I moved on to the power flap opener to find the flaps are the same size, however the mounts are way different, no problem, I moved on to the capless filler, it wont work in it's present configuration due to size & venting, so basically, I can fix the pump issue, but find it a bit depressing having to drop the power fuel filler flap and capless filler for now, I should have done the vacuuming and cooked supper, I'd be a lot happier.

Bummer. I wonder how different an SN95 tank is than a Fox tank. Might not be! Still have your parts car?

I'd think it would be more fun to have a power trunk release than a filler flap release. Have you tried that? From what I've noticed, I would have to use a Mustang latch, and the latch on a Mustang is on the body, rather than on the trunk lid like an F/Z. Not sure if that's a problem or not...

My "new" console doesn't even have the hole for the filler flap release button.

The tanks are still the same up to 98 I believe, I think in 99 they went to the fuel pump module, pump & sender all in one, due to the addition of the emissions compliance devices when the 4.6 received the PI (performance improved) cyl heads. I'm thinking that they also went to returnless fuel system with the fuel tank modules.
I've had a power trunk latch for years, dead easy to install, bolts straight-up, mine came off of a coupe or convertible, you can even use your stock Zephyr trunk striker. I'm uncertain if the hatch back used the same power trunk latch, it may be the same latch, just mounted differently. I’ll have to look tomorrow if I remember. . You are welcome to it when I scrap the car, but for now I’m using it to store a few things in. I even have the same latch hooked up to my stock 97 ford alarm and anti theft system, so now I can open the trunk with the fob
I will work on the filler flap later; it’s not a big deal right now, just a bump in the road; however the capless filler is non-negotiable, it’s just going to take a lower priority.
What I need to do is focus on the brakes right now, because I don’t have any, other that the parking brake, and my driveway is slanted, so I have some old scissor jacks under the car to add a bit of stability and safety.
funny I cant find a wiring diagram for the filler flap, nor have I seen one before!!

I have an '87 EVTM w/that diagram. It's pretty much a straight line down, starting with fuse #8, then a LG/Y wire to the switch, then a W/PK wire to the release solenoid, then a black wire to ground 301.

Brakes are nice to have!

Baby and mom are doing well! She's a week old now. Gave us a bit of a scare when her blood sugars dropped on day 2, but she came right out of that!

glad to hear mother & baby are doing fine, don't blink, one day you'll be working on the Fairmont and she'll need you to move your car out of the way as she's starting the 3rd semester final year of a masters degree.
nobody I've spoke to has seen a power fuel filler flap on a mustang, I believe it is just a gimmick as you can easily open the flap normally, I'm only wanting it because it seems a little rare.
anyway best wishes for the child.

Thanks

my '89 LX had it, I think.

Been driving the car as much as I can lately. It's not much, since I don't go many places by myself, but the car has been a real joy since fixing my idle problem. It just runs so much nicer than before. launches and shifting are so much easier now. I still have to fix the gas spitting back problem, but that might have to wait until next year. The suspension is still really rough, but there's a light at the end of that tunnel too next year.

I cut a good 6 inches off the filler pipe today. Haven't tried filling up yet though. I was surprised how much longer the newer filler neck was than my original one. I still have the original to compare with.

Put a little bit of gas in it yesterday. The pump still clicked off, but I didn't get doused in it like I did last time. I didn't get to do a real test because I didn't want to put too much gas in since I don't know how much more I'll use it this year. Plus, I parked too far away from the gas pump, so the hose was already kitty wampus. I'll take it as progress, I guess!

looks like a bit of progress being made on the filler pipe/splash back, progress is progress, however you look at it.

Yep! I have a feeling if there's still a problem with it, I can live with it.

hate to say it, but have you tried another filling station since you have seen a massive progress. I found mine works best at circle k and Chevron, they both give a complete fill, I don't always get the same result at another local station, it may be due to the filler nozzle splash/vapor shield, or maybe even the shape of the nozzle head.
it is possible that the angle of the filler nozzle causes a splash back condition in the filler tube.
it's worth a try.

Yep, worth a shot. I've noticed problems with my capless filler cars at different stations too.

Probably have to wait until next year though. I'm putting my wheels up for sale, and I don't have tires for my new wheels.

Wheels are sold. No more Bullitts....

Coilovers are probably out. Our money situation has changed a lot, and I just don't think I can justify how expensive they are. Looking for '93-95 (5.0L years) Cobra springs.

I'm trying to learn about the GT40 stuff. V8 Explorers are SO common in junkyards, it might be an easy, cheap upgrade for me. Questions I have are, what's the difference between GT40 (early 5.0L Explorer) and GT40P (later 5.0L Explorer). I've heard there are issues with making the EGR work with the regular 5.0L HO stuff. Don't know anything about it though, really. Would it benefit me to grab the Explorer ECM? Is the distributorless ignition a solid setup?

I'm actually giving serious thought to eventually going to a GT40 EFI 5.8L just for something different. That would be fun, but from what I've seen, the GT40 5.8L lower intakes are dang pricey.