Yeah in the Grand Marquis it's even worse, from what I've seen the entire dash has to come out. Definitely not something I want to screw with in my driveway, with not even a carport or a good shade tree. lol Closest thing I got is some gigantic butterfly bush my mom planted a long time ago lol

 

Glad to hear you are doing well and healing up Bob. Enjoy the buzz.


Now that's a scary thought.

Hope you get your ride fixed. I had a plug blow out on our old ford van. The typical 5.4 liter issue. Steel block, aluminium heads and loose plug. I got it heli-coiled and found it a new zip code.

 

Yeah, the 4.6 engines have the same issue. HeliCoil kit is apparently not just a fix but more of an epgrade. I think I will plan to keep the necessary pieces in the car in case of a future blow out.

 

I am going to cut my bumper to clear the new 37s and get it sanded and ready to paint.

Also gonna get the new cruise servo installed.

 

it is... even the mustangs have the same issue... mostly whats deemed the New Edge models (99-04)... prior to that they were steel heads.. but the base GT's still had steel even in the newer ones.. normally where the blow out problem happened was in the Bullitt's, Mach1's and Cobras... where the heads were either completely aluminum or steel with a aluminum threaded insert. Sad thing is ford doesnt really blame the heads.. theyre blaming bad installs of the plugs saying they werent tight enough when they were installed at factory..

down side the helicoil repair doesnt stop it from happening again.. quite a few of my friends had it happen again after having it fixed.. same cyls too..

 

Right, I have been reading another thread on FTE about the issue, and it seems the general consensus is Ford has no clue how tight the plugs should be anyway, and there are some reporting excellent results with 25-30ft lb on the plugs, even with the helicoil kit installed. I have little doubt it will happen again, as it seems to be more design flaw than anything at this point. However, being able to fix it for a few bucks a time (after i get the initial investment of the kit anyway) is a lot better than having the car down for a week while the heads are ripped off and drilled out and all that jazz, not to mention the money that entails.

 

exactly.. i dont even bother with torquing them myself... every time i have tried i just end up snapping the plugs in half... so i just crank them down till their snug tight.. seems to work..

 

Yeah that's kinda my motto, especially since I don't have a torque wrench lol.

 

i have 3.... i just which ill use on various things depending what it is that needs torquing.. got one for 3/8" drive 1/2"and 3/4"

 

Nice dude. I just have the most basic of hand tools at the moment, only time I've ever used a torque wrench was in auto tech classes. Me and my dad replaced many a plug and bolt never worrying with the specific torque, so old habits die hard lol

 

i use to be a mechanic.. so some of the tools are from back then.. others are ones ive collected over time.. the 3/4 tq wrench came from a needing to set a wheel bearing nut.. ones on the mustang are spec'd to be tqed to 256lbs... so figured thats an important bearing lets keep it on the car lol...only other ones i worry about are when im messing with drive train stuff, installing pullies or re-assembling the engines.. outside of that i couldnt care...

 

I have a Snap-on digital torque angle wrench. Does torque up to 250lbs and does angles for head bolts too. Very nice tool from when I was a dealership wrench.

 

Got bumper done. Thread here

 

Very nice man. You got a leveling kit or anything on it for those big tires coming up?

 

No, plenty of guys run em on 350s with just a trimmed bumper. If I don't like the way it looks I will either do an add-a-leaf or maybe a 2" RSK.

I like the big tire with minimum lift look. I never liked huge lifts.