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Question on the seat when you get it done.
I see the old one has the "weave inserts" when redone I take it it will be done in a color to match the inside color but will it also be the weave?
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The cloth fabric I selected will be colored "Light Charcoal". It is darker than the carpet. The upholsterer says he will replicate the individual panels of the original seat. The solid blue vinyl panals will be the solid Light Charcoal color. The woven panels will also be the same Light Charcoal but have a regular pattern of small, black checks for contrast.
I looked at some videos and see that the upholsterer will probably disect the original cover and use it as a pattern. All the J-hook border will probably be salvaged and reused. The upholsterer said exactly replicating the factory panels was the least expensive option.
One spring on the seat back right behind the driver is broken and will need repair. The foam could use a few repairs too. I plan to gather the materials needed for the repairs and do it in the week before I take the seat in.
Thanks for that information.
The rip in my seat is just starting to get a little larger and I should do something before I lose the padding.
When it gets a little cooler and I have time during the week, everything is closed on weekends here and that is the only time I have off (mostly) till winter.
Dave ----
The rip in my seat is just starting to get a little larger and I should do something before I lose the padding. ----
I kind of thought my seat's foam was okay. But at the same time seemed a bit off. After watching the foam repair videos, I knew where to look for issues. Where you slide into the truck (where my seat's upholstery is torn) the foam is draped over the seat frame. The frame tends to cut through the foam over time. Both my seat and seat back have had the foam cut into by the seat frame. Not all the way through yet but into the foam an inch or so. I need to get the foam jacked back up to the original position.
I could sub that work out to the upholsterer but I feel like I can do a good job.
While waiting for my date with the upholsterer, I have been looking at my AC again. If I was just any ordinary customer that got AC service, I would probably be very happy with it. But I'm me.
As I have mentioned before, the AC does get cold, very cold. On MAX, low (quiet) fan, it was not too bad. Didn't freeze me out. But I think that was also unsustainable. The reason I think that is that I had my clutch cycling switch set at 21psi. Recommend setting from some. The clutch would kick off when I hit this pressure. Stay off for ten seconds or so then kick back on as the system started to equalize and hit 41psi (low side) It would do this up to twice per minute. At first, I thought this was perfect. Then I realized the evaporator was icing over on MAX, low fan. The clutch off intervals were not sufficient to completely de-ice the evaporator. At these settings the evaporator would eventually completely ice over and AC would be lost. I also hear that a frozen evaporator compromises oil circulation. That's bad.
The problem got really bad at highway speed. At 1400rpm, the evaporator would ice over (assumed) and the refrigerant hoses/lines would be frozen from the orifice tube all the way to and including the compressor suction manifold. That's not okay. I was getting around the freezing by running in NORM. At highway speed in NORM I was still comfortable with 60° vent air. But I want it to run properly in MAX, the owner's manual recommend setting.
I know from the R134a temp/pressure chart that 21psi is well below freezing. So it seemed logical to just jack up the pressure switch to a pressure closer to freezing, 25psi, just below. But that opened a new can of worms. Now it would cycle constantly.
When the clutch cycles off, the low side pressure, of course, begins to rise at a good clip. The high side drops just as fast. As soon as the clutch kicks back in, the pressures reverse rapidly. The low side nose diving back to the cut out point. The high side races higher, only stopping when the pressure switch opens again.
That's where I am now. What next? I am second guessing the use of the smaller, red orifice tube. My logic, which I claim is worth at least 2¢, leads me to believe that the larger blue tube might solve the issue. The system might not run in the upper thirties but who's does. The only thing I think I might be giving up is the super rapid cool down when getting into a sun heated truck.
Had some seat activity yesterday. I was supposed to have the seat at the upholsterer's shop on October 6. I didn't make it. Instead, I left for a motorcycle riding trip in the Alps. Just got home Sunday. The plan had been to have the seat disassembled and some seat frame repairs made and then drop off the pieces.
I had trouble contacting the upholsterer's shop because he never answers the phone. His voicemail box full. I did speak with someone there the day I left for Germany. This person seemed uninclined to write a note telling the owner I would miss my date the following week. I would have to rely on a verbal message. I put the odds at 50:50 on the message being delivered.
So, before I showed up at the shop to find out if I still had some date for service, I needed to have my work done.
I pulled out the seat and removed the covers and foam. This is the broken spring right in the middle of the driver's back.
Fabbed a piece of sheet steel.
Riveted with some steel pop rivets.
The foam is not terrible. The wires have cut into the foam under the driver's butt. Some small tears. I think this can all be repaired with adhesive and fabric. I was going to ask if the upholsterer would like to fix it rather than let me have a go at it. My reasoning, he can probably do a better job and I would have $30 in it just for a can of the proper adhesive. I see that as a$30 discount for whatever he may quote.
I went to the shop this morning. It didn't look very busy. It wasn't. Sign on the door said closed until October 18th. Maybe the owner went for a motorcycle ride.
Also it's hard to believe it's been a year since I changed out the engine break in oil. 1800 miles in the first year. Ready for another six quarts of Pennz 10w30. I have vowed to never again let an oil change be put off due to lack of mileage.
There's been some chatter here on the site about distributors. One was about the quest to eliminate a low grade miss. My truck also had this "miss". I had bought a new Motorcraft module last winter but had not yet installed it. Also, was looking at a Echlin brand pickup at NAPA priced about $45. Both parts required pulling out the distributor, the pickup requires disassembly. For $95 from Summit, today UPS left a new Cardone distributor at my door. I ordered for the 1986 Mustang GT to get a steel gear.
I set the engine on TDC and pulled out the original distributor. To make timing easy, I transferred the original distributor's index mark to the new distributor using a punch. New part dropped right in. I aligned the mark and snugged the hold down nut. Unplugged the PIP connector and fired it up. No adjustment necessary as it was already perfect at 10° BTDC. EDIT: Issue became apparent with the install when I checked end play. See a few posts down.
Does it still have the miss? I'll have to be patient. My seat is languishing at the upholsterer's shop. Won't be able to test drive until I get it back.
Id hang on to that oem icm, its not made in china junk like the new motorcrafts and the rest you buy now days are.
Also make sure to use thermal paste, not dielectric grease like many sets of instructions say. The paste transfers heat, The grease resists it.
I went thru several icms on my 89 until i was able to locate a nos motorcraft unit.
Id hang on to that oem icm, its not made in china junk like the new motorcrafts and the rest you buy now days are.
Also make sure to use thermal paste, not dielectric grease like many sets of instructions say. The paste transfers heat, The grease resists it.
I went thru several icms on my 89 until i was able to locate a nos motorcraft unit.
Thought about pulling the module off the new unit to see what Cardone uses. I didn't. I suspect they use dielectric grease. Baseless opinion though.
FWIW: The distributor with the module already mounted cost like $5 more than without. For $5 can they really afford to give you a module AND thermal paste?
I have three spare modules now. Two original Motorcraft and one new in box Motorcraft that who knows where it came from. Local NAPA has the paste. Everyone else suggests grease. I really should get that paste.
I found the same thing with a weak hall effect sensor on my 89, so I bought the complete dizzy with the mystery junk icm too!!
Now ive got two spare icms and one distributor with weak hall effect sensor on board.
It was comical during my icm adventure how many came off the shelf from various parts stores that either did not work at all or did not work correctly. I finally showed someone at orielys after much convincing that they could in fact test ford ICM's on their alternator/starter machine and we tested like 4 off the shelf and 2 were bad.
this is the paste i used, have not had an issue since..I tried and could not find it locally. apparently they carry it at large electronic stores but i do not have any near me.
Anyone who looks at the link can see why people try to get by with dielectric grease. Cost. While dielectric grease is not cheap, we all already have some.
My original module pictured above is mounted on a 1988 Crown Vic's distributor ( steel gear for roller cam) I used dielectric grease because that's what I had.
A friend who is a life long Ford dealership mechanic loaned me his old Ford Rotunda ICM tester. It detected no faults with the original module. That's why I never replaced it. I have wondered for awhile if a new pickup might help. We'll see.
Don't know what my wife paid for it. She got it from Amazon. I saw the packaging. Birthday present. She always wants to get me something I want but am too cheap to buy.
08-29-2021, 09:13 AM
