We've been using the old thread for 9 days!

Looks like a lot going on this coming Saturday; Mac's show in Clayton, and then Doug's cruise-in at Jordana's.

 

I just saw the thread date and thought it was me?
Well guess kind of as I did not start a new one on the first of April.
I added something to the post for your doors.

I see that about Saturday. I figured we would hit up Mac's show and if not burnt out could do Jordana's

Then Sunday is South Land's Club Cruise In at Old North State Food Hall.

Weather is going to be really nice ​​​​​​​for a busy weekend.
Is there a plan yet to meet up before heading out for Mac's show?

I got to do some cleaning on the pick up as I have not washed it in months and its been driven in the rain a few times.
Dave ----

 

Oh Kurt had and issue when he went to drop in the motor to his truck the right mount angle was way off with the new mounts.
He used an old mount that was on the 95 motor when he got it and it worked.
So the new rubber mounts were made wrong.
Got to love today's new parts
Dave ----

 

Are the 80's era mounts the same design as the 90's era mounts? Makes you wonder if it was designed wrong, made wrong, or labeled wrong.

I have heard of using that peel & stick stuff to quieten things down, in fact many years ago I remember buying several 12x12 pieces off ebay (this was when Dynamat was all the all the rage, and very expensive, but the same non-brand stuff was $1 per sheet for the 12x12 sizes). I can't remember what vehicle I used it in, maybe it's on the floorboard on my 66 Mustang. But I figured those foam baffles do a better job to seal off the backside.

I did the 4th and final sound system upgrade yesterday; a powered subwoofer behind the seat. Nothing too big, just a 6x8 sub box made small enough to mount underseat in most cases - for me I thought a better fit was behind the seat.

Found some scrap 1/8 aluminum and cut a piece & bent a 90 degree angle on the end.


Cut a hole in the flooring & screwed it in place.


Tada! Ready to rock!

No plans yet for where to meet for Mac's show. I'm sure those of us who live in this area will meet up together somewhere. Me you Andre Tony Wayne maybe Dick, the ones closer to Clayton like maybe Paul, Mike V, Mike W. and Dave A. meet up along the way. I had forgotten we have a Sunday event going on this weekend, good thing you reminded me so I didn't make any other plans.

 

It's been an eventful weekend so far. When I got in my 66 Mustang, it barely cranked over enough to start the car. Last time I drove it (which was only a week ago) I had to jump it off with the booster pack thingy. So looking at the battery I saw the date was March 2019, that means 5 years old so I cannot complain about how long it lasted, but definitely time for a new one. So I had to quickly go by Autozone and of course I got sticker shock as even the mid grade 2 year battery is $200 bucks.

Then after attending the car show at Bethesda church with my 66 Mustang, I thought I would get my 85 out and take it to Jordana's to meet up with everyone. I stopped at Marathon On The Hill on 242 and good thing I did, because when I opened the fuel cell the only gas remaining was down in bottom part - maybe 16 ounces were left! So I put in 8 gallons worth and started heading to Benson, was still on 242 when I heard a loud "bang" like a metal bolt smacking the bottom of the car or something (and noticed something in my rear view mirror pinging off the road & going off towards the ditch). I thought what the hell was that, and very soon after the temp started climbing, so I was at the end of the road already, I turned right and just went to the car wash which I had planned to stop at anyway.


My fuel gauge.


Radiator hose blew off!

So I put the hose back on and tightened down (without putting on the anodized aluminum thingy which is just for looks) and then added 2 gallons of water. No more problems after that, running cool again. Then after having supper and heading home, was less than a mile away and noticed she was smoking a bit. Last time I drove her (I can't remember if it was 1 month ago or 2 months ago) the same thing happened, but again, only after about 15 minutes of driving. So as soon as I got in the carport, while it was still smoking I jumped down and started looking everywhere and this time it was obvious. Transmission line had fluid dripping off. It had thrown me off before because it smelled kind of like burning plastic, not like oil burning. All I can guess is maybe it has some sort of synthetic race fluid that doesn't smell the same way I expected. So I texted Andre and said let me come over and put it on your lift one day next week when you aren't too busy, so he is ok with that hopefully it is just a fitting or something easy like that.

While I had both in the carport I grabbed my camera because I don't think I have any pics of them together.


I had a fire extinguisher I have been wanting to put in, all my old vehicles have one except the drag car which is probably the one that needs it most. I just hadn't had the car out to work on it in a while so I took this chance to go ahead and install it. I put it on the roll-bar by the back seat where it is a really easy reach for someone in the drivers seat.


This 85 has an embarrassing habit of belt squeal. It only has one belt, a 6 rib serpentine alternator belt which feels nice and tight. The pulley diameter is only 2-1/4 and I think maybe it's just not gripping well enough if the alternator is under a load. I made myself a note to look online for a larger diameter pulley and when I got on Summit Racing website I see that particular size is braggingly listed as an "overdrive pulley". I guess I missed a memo because back in my day, you bragged about having an "underdrive pulley". but then I got to thinking that I have a box of pulleys for all different designs and sizes. I went out and poked around, I found a 2-3/4 diameter alternator pulley and I think I will try putting that on to see if it takes care of the intermittent squealing. Plus it saves $40-$50 which is how much they appear to be getting for a pulley nowadays!

 

You did have a lot go on yesterday.
On the battery or any parts you know we get a discount at O'Rielly's auto parts with our new club ID's
I used it for something I needed not long ago. Dont know how much it saved me but every little bit helps right.

Race cars used for street also are fun with all the work needed LOL
I like the fuel gauge. Did you make it or it came with the car?

Ob the fire extinguisher is that one of them small size but has a normal charge in it?
Think it was Gary on the other Ford truck site posted a small fire extinguisher that had the same size charge of the larger ones that I was thinking of buying but were not cheap. Then again fire is never cheap either.
I do have one in the pickup behind the seat. Not as easy to get to as I would like but better than nothing.

On the ALT belt I think a lot of it has to do with it being a flat belt and not a V belt.
There is nothing on that flat belt to "grab" the pulleys. It is the V that is forced into the V of the pulley that grips.
If a flat belt is going to be used it needs to be a toothed type belt like a blower.

At the hospital I had some fun units that used a flat toothed belt. They grab so good when we first installed them we kept tripping breakers.
The V belts slipped that much it would never over amp the motors. We had to change the pulley sizes to keep from tripping the breakers but still put out the needed CFM of air flow.

So what Mustang are you going to bring to Selma?
Dave ----

 

That fuel gauge there was my own personal design; a paint stir-stick which at first I used a red magic marker but of course the gasoline affects that and to starts to wash away. So I got the wood burning kit out to create the masterpiece you see now

As for the fire extinguisher, I don't know the answer to any of those questions! I will look at the box because I haven't tossed it yet. I just knew I wanted to put one in the 85 so when I was at Lowes I looked through and found one that said "automotive use" and chose it. Was not expensive, they were all around $30 (automotive, general purpose, and kitchen) except for the larger ones which were around $100.

You know my experience with v-belt vs serpentine is the opposite. All the more modern vehicles I have owned have serpentine style belts and never have any slippage problems (assuming also that a belt tensioner keeps the right amount of pressure on it), but on the v-belt every time I have added a more power alternator (the 3G upgrade which I have done a couple of times) I encounter belt squeal. It seems like 60 amps or less no problem turning it with a v-belt under load, but 130 amp that belt will slip and squeal. I did buy a larger diameter v-pulley to install on my F100 but it's on the shelf waiting still.

I have seen cogged pulleys on blowers but I don't think I have seen that on an alternator before. I went googling and found this setup! It is for a 289/302 and costs $99. Since I have electric water pump I would not use the entire kit and would need a shorter belt, but that is definitely something that would keep it under control!

 

I have seen posts about the 3G ALT's having belt squeal more so just after start up.
They say with the 3G you really need 2 V belts to get a good grip but most cant run 2 V belts.

The other thing is a soft start voltage regulator in place of the normal regulator.
What it dose is after the motor starts the soft start regulator brings the ALT on line vary slowly so the belt will not squeal.
Dave ----

 

Since 3G is internally regulated I am not sure how or where a soft start regulator would go. But I did solve the belt squeal in Andre's Mazda by using a larger diameter pulley. I still can't believe he traded it for that junked out Chevy rollback. Wayne told me the block is cracked and something gooey is seeping through the crack, as if the previous owner filled it full of stop leak and traded it off to get rid of it. One problem after another, after he told me "Johnny I'd never get rid of this truck, I love this thing.."

My son in law called me on the way home from the car show yesterday, he was at my house changing oil in my daughters vehicle. He said "how do you remove a stripped oil pan bolt?". Turned out he mean the head was rounded off. It was really in there tight, I said whoever changed oil last time but have put the bolt on using an ooga dooga! He rounded it off trying vice grips, so I escalated a notch and used a pipe wrench, and that still slipped off and made it worse. I toyed with the idea of welding a socket onto it, but I was really worried if I did that would it cause the oil inside the pan to catch fire. I asked for suggestions and Tony said he had an extractor set that he felt like would do the trick. That reminded me that I had a set out in the shop, I think this was the first time I ever used it. Hammered it on and used a cheater bar, and it gripped hard and the bolt finally moved. That was a huge relief!


Gnarly bolt head there. Autozone had a replacement that only cost 3 bucks.

 

On the 3G yes the regulator is part of the ALT and think it just bolts on.
The soft start replaces the normal start one.

On the pulley change does it speed up or slow the ALT Down?
I would worry if it slows it down that you now are not using everything that the 3G can put out.

Good to hear you got the drain plug out.
Dose the plug use a Allen wrench? If so I bet someone used a SAE and not Metric.

Welding a nut I dont think would cause a fire but that looks like and ALUM oil pan?
That pan is what I would worry about and welding.
Dave ----

 

Yes steel drain plug bolt in an aluminum pan. I was worried the threads might be seized or galled but it was just tight, once we got it to turn it came right out. It's a regular hex head, yes maybe someone (like my son-in-law?) used a SAE socket on it initially and started it rounding off. I was not there to make sure he got a 14mm instead of 9/16

I think with a 3G even if you slowed it down a little, it's still putting out more amps at idle than a 2G would at cruising speed. I did the math, I think going from a 2-1/4 diameter pulley to a 2-3/4 diameter pulley would mean approx 20% slower alternator speed. But that's also 20% more surface area for the belt to grip. Won't cost anything to try since I already have a pulley!

 

@Cracker289,

We like that "fuel gauge". It reminds us of old racecar stuff when there wasn't a fuel gauge. You used a wood dowel rod and marked it per 5 gallons. Now they make fuel cells with dipsticks to make that easier. But hey, if the paint stick deal works for you, go for it!

 

I guess mine are marked every 4 gallons, since it's a 16 gallon fuel cell.Those Summit Fuel-Cell-Dipsticks are pretty slick but why pay 50-150 if you can just use a paint stir stick for free lol

 

@Cracker289,

We understand 100%. We dig the ingenuity of the paint-stick fuel level gauge

 

Well I got the full fuel line changed out on the Javelin.
The line ran behind the front suspension bump stop and the rubber fell off the bracket so I will have to find one some where

Once the old metal line was out I wanted to bend the ALUM line like it so how do you do that
I started at 1 end and used a few hose clamps to hold the new to the old as I bent it.
Got to a point that Iran out of clamps so my son helped and we used wire ties and the gun to make them tight, worked great.
Got it all bent like the metal line, moved the holding clips from old to new, lost one in the grass

The new ALUM line fit pretty good and being easy to bend I could where it needed a little tweaking.
I also had to replace the rubber hose at the tank as it had cracks on the outside.
This was replaced maybe 15+ years ago when I had the tank lined, car was never on the road only started to move around when needed.

I did not start the motor to see if the 2nd new pump puts out to much PSI but if it dose I have a fuel pressure regulator I bought I just need to figure where I want to mount it if I have to use it.
Dave ----