Good Luck
Zephyr Build
Well, we're back for another season. I didn't roll the car off a cliff or blow it up or anything over the winter.
The first few steps of this season will be to finish the dash clock/dome light switch shenanigans from last fall. Last I knew, the dome light circuit was popping fuses, but I think I know why. Then we move on to trying to move the engine back so my Mark VIII fan will fit. I really think the engine is sitting unnaturally far forward, so I should be able to shift it back enough just by loosening things and sliding them back. But if not, my QA1 K-member has 1 inch rearward mounting holes I can use.
Other than that, I bought some shiney new things to jump start my motivation!
![Electronic device]()
That's a new console piece sold by LMR that solves the Fox body cupholder problem! SO cool, I had to have one. I also grabbed some locking bolts for my valve covers so those don't back out and leak, a driveshaft safety loop and a 60-pin extension harness so I can finally move my ECM out of the footwell and under the seat.
Should be fun! I think winter's finally had its last gasp here, so maybe I'll even start this weekend! This year I kind of vowed not to start anything new so that I don't spend so much time trying to put the car back together to make shows. I have my few new things, some left-over projects from last year to finish up, and that will hopefully be it. I don't think i'm going to be able to get away with not doing real diagnosis on my fuel leak. I hope I don't need a new fuel rail because those pretty much can't be had unless you risk used parts. And performance rails and new injectors are expensive.
I also may get a pretty major infusion of cash this year. If I do, I will bring the car to a shop and have them sort out the bottom end of my engine. It's the only part of the (parts) car I haven't re-done in some way. We're talking new bearings all around, rings, maybe balance the pistons... and that custom cam I've been talking about. And then a dyno tune with a piggyback chip thingy for my ECM.
The first few steps of this season will be to finish the dash clock/dome light switch shenanigans from last fall. Last I knew, the dome light circuit was popping fuses, but I think I know why. Then we move on to trying to move the engine back so my Mark VIII fan will fit. I really think the engine is sitting unnaturally far forward, so I should be able to shift it back enough just by loosening things and sliding them back. But if not, my QA1 K-member has 1 inch rearward mounting holes I can use.
Other than that, I bought some shiney new things to jump start my motivation!
That's a new console piece sold by LMR that solves the Fox body cupholder problem! SO cool, I had to have one. I also grabbed some locking bolts for my valve covers so those don't back out and leak, a driveshaft safety loop and a 60-pin extension harness so I can finally move my ECM out of the footwell and under the seat.
Should be fun! I think winter's finally had its last gasp here, so maybe I'll even start this weekend! This year I kind of vowed not to start anything new so that I don't spend so much time trying to put the car back together to make shows. I have my few new things, some left-over projects from last year to finish up, and that will hopefully be it. I don't think i'm going to be able to get away with not doing real diagnosis on my fuel leak. I hope I don't need a new fuel rail because those pretty much can't be had unless you risk used parts. And performance rails and new injectors are expensive.
I also may get a pretty major infusion of cash this year. If I do, I will bring the car to a shop and have them sort out the bottom end of my engine. It's the only part of the (parts) car I haven't re-done in some way. We're talking new bearings all around, rings, maybe balance the pistons... and that custom cam I've been talking about. And then a dyno tune with a piggyback chip thingy for my ECM.
1101 - 1120 of 1150 Posts
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.
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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.
4
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.
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1/16" spacer
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1/8" spacer
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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.
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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.
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.
2
So, I did a pressure test on the cooling system. Or... tried to, anyway. I have this stupid universal pressure tester, and couple that with my aftermarket radiator, they just don't get along. I finally got a good enough seal and was able to do a test. I found a leak at one of the heater hose clamps. I tightened those, and then wasn't able to get a seal again to do another test. So, I gave up on that. I drove it, checked again, and it still needed tightening. I had to leave it at that point because the heater hose clamp I need to tighten is inaccessible while the car is hot. You have to get in there with your hand and pull out the EGR sensor plug, and then you can get at it. Came out the next day, tightened the clamp some more, and then found this.
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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 on the garage floor 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. There's one mystery finally solved.
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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...
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 on the garage floor 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. 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...
5
Well, on to the next surprise problem. The air/fuel gauge is giving me an error. I think what the problem is, is that it's too close to the cat. It shows a ratio until the car gets hot and then shows the error.
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I tried swapping the sensor for a new one, since after buying this gauge, I've heard they kill sensors easily. New sensor didn't fix it. I've since tried updating the firmware on the gauge, but wasn't able to determine anything because the battery was dead. Forgot to take your advice, haha. I bought an O2 sensor plug just in case I do end up needing to move it elsewhere.
While I've been thinking about the car more, I decided to grab a few more new parts for it. One is a new Hurst shifter bezel to address the fact that the old (brand new from LMR) likes to pop up when I shift the car. I've had my eye on this bezel for a while, but anywhere you find it new, it's a kit that comes with a shifter and a bunch of other stuff I don't need. I happened to look on ebay and there was the bezel and boot by itself. Sold!
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I'm sure it's partly because the boot isn't intended to work with my long UPR shifter. The other problem is, the clips that came with the LMR kit are REALLY weak and it really doesn't take much to get them to let go. Anyway, here was the result of spending that time....
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The Hurst kit has you use your original clips instead of giving you new one. Ugh. So, I guess I'm on the hunt for some better clips now. It's a nice clean look though compared to before. I still just need the damn thing to stay down.
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I also got myself a new 75mm throttle body and EGR spacer. My friend had been telling me the engine could be happier with some more air, given the changes vs. stock Cobra. I got them from American Muscle since they have a good deal on a kit that includes both. They are really nice-looking pieces. But, I soon discovered there as a problem.
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Yep, the accidentally sent me a 70mm EGR spacer. SIGH.
I tried swapping the sensor for a new one, since after buying this gauge, I've heard they kill sensors easily. New sensor didn't fix it. I've since tried updating the firmware on the gauge, but wasn't able to determine anything because the battery was dead. Forgot to take your advice, haha. I bought an O2 sensor plug just in case I do end up needing to move it elsewhere.
While I've been thinking about the car more, I decided to grab a few more new parts for it. One is a new Hurst shifter bezel to address the fact that the old (brand new from LMR) likes to pop up when I shift the car. I've had my eye on this bezel for a while, but anywhere you find it new, it's a kit that comes with a shifter and a bunch of other stuff I don't need. I happened to look on ebay and there was the bezel and boot by itself. Sold!
I'm sure it's partly because the boot isn't intended to work with my long UPR shifter. The other problem is, the clips that came with the LMR kit are REALLY weak and it really doesn't take much to get them to let go. Anyway, here was the result of spending that time....
The Hurst kit has you use your original clips instead of giving you new one. Ugh. So, I guess I'm on the hunt for some better clips now. It's a nice clean look though compared to before. I still just need the damn thing to stay down.
I also got myself a new 75mm throttle body and EGR spacer. My friend had been telling me the engine could be happier with some more air, given the changes vs. stock Cobra. I got them from American Muscle since they have a good deal on a kit that includes both. They are really nice-looking pieces. But, I soon discovered there as a problem.
Yep, the accidentally sent me a 70mm EGR spacer. SIGH.
Yeah, you can get at it. The shifter is in the same place as it would be on a Mustang. In the two top pictures it's in third. I'm sure it will help when that boot gets broken in, but for now, I needs moar power to hold that bezel down! I bought some clips off ebay today that look like roughly the right thing. They seem a ton better than the LMR ones. We'll see.
1101 - 1120 of 1150 Posts
