Diary of a Restore (Thread)

Right, except the hurricane count is up to two. Fiona chased us north at 35 MPH when we were making 21 - almost top speed. But we ducked in and hid behind an island so we’re spared much in the way of wind or waves. However we lost two ports of call.

Today we were to fly from Montreal to Charlotte, but Ian was there first. So we are now flying to DFW. But the plane is late and our time to clear customs is going to be tight. 😳

I hope Cory and his community are ok.  
Fiona seemed to hammer CBI & PEI.

Good luck with your connection.

Thanks. Cory said they didn’t have much damage in the storm.

OK, here is an update.  Prepare for a harrowing story.

So the last 2 weeks I endeavored to change out all the freeze plugs as a preventive measure since I already had one rust through.  I decided that since I was going to do that, why not change the oil pan gasket.  It leaked.  BAD.

While I was at it, why not change the dipstick tube and get a new dipstick—the other one was mangled a bit.  And, while there, why not overhaul the clutch linkage?  

I started the job 2 weeks ago on a friday, and got all the stuff disconnected and ready for jacking up the engine.  Since the mounts are at an angle, the mounts need to be completely removed.  This was where the trouble began.  There was no way I could get to ALL 3 bolts on the engine side mount.  The single motor mount bolt in the bracket merely rides up the oval hole and stops the engine from raising, hence, the mounts need to come out.

This means, there would be no way to block the engine up to remove the pan.  That means I would need a hoist instead.  Realizing this, I lowered the engine, and, defeated, called it quits for the night.

The next day, I resigned to my defeat, and thought, well, one plug I can get to on the D side—the other 4 are behind the motor mounts!—and changed that out.  There was some sediment/rust, but not much.  I cleaned it out and installed the brass plug.  So, I have 4 plugs left to go without really a way in my current situation to change them.

Incidentally, I think to get the three motor bolts off, the exhaust manifolds have to come off as well to reach the one bolt that is atop the triangle of bolts that fasten the mount to the engine—again, with the hoist holding the engine up. Access to the bolt would then be easy to get at through the frame without the manifold blocking the path.

Since I conceded defeat on the plugs—none are leaking…yet—I knew I had to tackle the pan.  The brackets prohibit blocking the engine up because the angle is suck that the engine does not separate from the bracket to wedge in a piece of wood.  This is true on both sides.

Sit tight folks—and Gary you will likely want to hear this story:

Against better judgement, and against Gary’s sound advice, I left the engine seated and….dropped the pan!  The front I had maybe ½” clearance.  The rear could drop 6” or so.

The next part took patience, and TIME.

There are two issues I knew I would face—1) the old gasket falling into the pan, and 2) the clearance removing and replacing the gasket.

I drained the oil—I have driven less than 100 miles on the truck, and I had lost a quart and half already.  The gasket needed changed.

When I dropped the pan, the old gasket I peeled slipping my finger inside, and peeling it to the outside.  To my shock, the P side came out in one piece easy.  Look at the pic below, and you can see the Bush job that was done.  SOMEONE did not align the cork gasket and punched holes through it elongating the original holes.  I….am…speechless.  Unless i am wrong about all this, that’s some real awful work.  The pic tells the story, and also shows how degraded the gasket was.  It is less than 3 years old supposedly.

The D side gasket was less cooperative.  I had to be real careful because the gasket could break easily.  The gasket was caught around the D side motor mount preventing my finger from getting in there.  I felt defeat coming on.  I had a flash of calling a tow truck for my mechanic I trust to finish the job.  I had a revelation though.  If I could get a long piece of something under the gasket and gently move it along, I could free it.  Apparently, on this side, the holes were slightly coated with RTV only around the holes…ahem…WHY?!


So I made a gasket persuader. Short end was the handle, long end gently traced the pan.  IT WORKED…I could pull the gasket out as a whole piece.  I then cleaned up the surfaces with a lot of neck straining and helpful mirror, brake cleaned the surfaces.

Next I removed the gaskets around the front and rear bearings.  Easy.  As you can see, one of those was not aligned!  The pan created a crease in one of them as it was installed incorrectly.  Ugh. To be clear, the pan leaked all the way around and seemingly at every point.

Now comes the tough part—installing.  I have a Milodon for replacement.  They suggest spec to go on dry except for the corners around the bearing rubber.  This was difficult, and took patience, because the side rail gaskets go UNDER the rubber at the 4 corners.  Getting the rubber to stay put under the rubber was a chore.

Here, RTV helped to act as a “glue” while I got all corners in place.  Then, pan went up…finger tight.  Done for the night.

Next day, I prepared to install the new dipstick tube…I pulled the spark plug wire off #5—it literally broke.  UGH.  Ordered new wires, and waited a few days for that to arrive.  I order a custom, blue, Accel wire set and replaced them ALL.  

I congratulate you - both for getting it done in such difficult conditions as well as doing so w/o getting hurt.  

Man, that had to have been a pain!  But well done - especially since I didn't think it could be done that way.  

So, what's left to do?  When do you get to start it up?

Hi Gary,

By started up you mean the next project?  Or……

Next up LATER in the year is this:

1) Reupholster the 87+ seat that’s in it.  I will likely farm that out.  If it was a traditional bench seat, I might get a kit.  But this seat has a lot of curves, etc.  

2) fix the cracked dash—I will tackle this myself and paint it with SEM.  I still need a solution to the grill on the dash.

3) The entire heating system/vacuum control is shot.  Oh I can get heat, but only through the vents.

4) At some point I am going to change out the tires.  305s on it now, and that’s too wide for my needs.  Might as well inspect the drums while I do that.  Floating axle pull to do that has me a little concerned as I have never done that before.

5) relining the headliner back to stock.

6) finding someone who can english wheel the wheel arches/tubs inside the bed—cut, weld in new pieces, repaint.

That’s it for the immediate!

That's quite a list.  But I was asking if you've started the engine after changing out the pan gasket, and if that stopped the leak.

Gary, yes.  Day three of starting it and driving 10 miles or more.  NO LEAKS!

I have to say I feel lucky.  We shall see how long it holds up, but right now, I am a big fan of the Milodon uncrushable gaskets.

Excellent!!!  

Thank you Gary…


I am going to tackle the vacuum control/heater sooner rather than later…like if I can find the part—YH-361, E0TZ-19B888-B—I will order monday—IF I can find it.  Done some searching already for it.  The reason is I want at the very least defrost, which I do NOT have at the moment—only vents.  Nothing else works.

I remember tackling this a bit because FuzzFace mentioned somewhere along my way months ago.  I went to the pick, and could not find the exact module—found a ton of 1983+ modules tho.  Of course, they do not work unless I swap controls, but then there’s that cable problem as they are different.

I looked under the dash today and moved the control—the entire bottom half of the vacuum module (the black round part) MOVES—like it has lost its pivot inside the module.  This might explain why I hear air sucking when I move it.  Hey, at least I got monster vacuum through the lines!  Might as well check the 2 control valve assemblies while I am at it.  

But this needs be done before winter sets in.

At least my wife has her half of the garage back for her car—so peace reigns in this household, and it is a beautiful thing.

BTW,

I forgot to mention—it looks like I deleted a piece on the oil pan story:

When I went to tighten it, I proceeded from the middle OUT.  So the middle bolts both sides, then the next outer on each side, until I got to the corners.  

 I went by the torque recs from Light.  BUT, I went up in steps—30in lbs, 60, 90, etc.  I went slow just in case the gasket started to peak out the sides.  

That seems to have worked….maybe I was being too cautious.

I will say in only a couple of place can I see just a hint of the gasket outside the pan.  The rest of the pan, I cannot see it at all.

I think your approach is a good one.  Inside out and going up in steps is the right way to do it.

Good luck on the HVAC system.  I hope you can find the parts and quickly fix it.

Did some searches last night.  You can find the YH part in only two or so places—unsure of stock amount.  Called Green Sales, they have 2—well now 1—of 19B888B.  Not cheap, but beggars cannot be choosers.

LMC used to sell this part.  Does anyone know what happened that they do not now?

Glad you found one.

As for LMC, I can only assume that their source ran out of them.  But I really don't know.

Tore into the HVAC controls today.  Easy to remove if you take the ashtray assembly out.  Makes for easy access.  

Here is the pic of what was left of my unit—no wonder I heard nothing but air suckage.  The lever completey snapped.  The spring was on top of the tray assembly.  

The unit ID (not the part ID) is EOTH-19b919 (bb).  E0TZ-19b888b arrives tomorrow from Green Sales.  While I got it apart, I am going to go ahead and change the blower switch too—it is stiff.  Found FoMoCo part cheaper than any knock off—go figure.  It will be here this weekend.

I managed to find spare parts for all the plenum vacuum motors too inside and out, as well as the entire interior hoses and parts at the pick this weekend.  Thank you to a 1982 F150 for the donation.  So, just in case I have anything else that went bad, I am covered.  See pics of my pieces, and then how it should look.

Last pic is something I found just looking around.  This is a replica down to the connectors and the vacuum ports.  It fits mid to late 1970s Ford cars.  WHY would not this work also?  Could it be a swap part? Anyone know?

Yes, that would certainly explain the vacuum leak.  And I'm glad you were able to find a new replacement, as well as all the parts from the salvage.

As for the D8 part, there is something different in it from the E0 part or Ford wouldn't have given it a new part number.  I'll admit it looks like it'll fit, but that doesn't mean it'll work.  Some place there is a table that shows the vacuum routing in each position of the lever for the Bullnose trucks.  That's determined by the ridges on the black piece in your pic, and it is possible that it is different for the D8 part than the E0 part.

Gary Lewis wrote

Yes, that would certainly explain the vacuum leak.  And I'm glad you were able to find a new replacement, as well as all the parts from the salvage.

As for the D8 part, there is something different in it from the E0 part or Ford wouldn't have given it a new part number.  I'll admit it looks like it'll fit, but that doesn't mean it'll work.  Some place there is a table that shows the vacuum routing in each position of the lever for the Bullnose trucks.  That's determined by the ridges on the black piece in your pic, and it is possible that it is different for the D8 part than the E0 part.

OK, so, it would probably work, but the position on the control would not match up I assume?  For example, it might say A/C on the control but you would actually be blowing heat vent?

Do you know where those schematics are for each?  I could compare and report back.  The reason I am interested in this is because the 19B888B is soon not to be found--this is readily available--I found it at Dennis Carpenter for $70.  Sure would be nice if it COULD be an option for folks when our part is no longer to be found.

Any way, direct me in the right direction and I will sleuth for ya'll.  

This is from the '85 EVTM and does show the flow.  But IIRC there's a table somewhere that shows each position on the lever and which ports get vacuum, and I've not found that yet.  I'll keep looking...  

Here's the table I was looking for, and it was discussed in this post:

Gary Lewis wrote

Here's the table I was looking for, and it was discussed in this post:

Wow, this is excellent Gary.  Now I do remember seeing this post of your some time ago.  


So, now I need to find the diagram for the 1975-79 Ford Cars for this....however, the bay auction states that this works for 75-79 LTDs, Marquis, T-birds, cougar, etc.  

My question is IF this can be fab'd to work.