Big Blue's Transformation

[86 12 Brutus]

You are probably right about the trim panels for a while, we drove around in the crown vic with no front door panels, those cars are notorious for breaking door panels because the door hinge pin bushings break and the doors drop and become hard to close. lots of wind noise and air leakage. i bought some grand marquis panels and it quietend down back to a nice quiet vic. I'm kind of thinking once you put the new panels, big blue shoud quieten down. I'm guessing whoever put those 6x9's in that crazy location also pulled the insulation off the door panel.

Gary, by the way. i did check to see if the 87 pockets can be reversed. yes they can be, but the screw holes wont line up. I got to thinking though, i dont think i'm going to do anything else to the doors. I really like the way the stereo sounds and to be quite honest. It really dosent get played that much. we mostly tool around town and mostly listen to the radio when in fact it is turned on. It seams the older i get the more loud music distracts me.

[Gary Lewis]

You are probably right about the trim panels for a while, we drove around in the crown vic with no front door panels, those cars are notorious for breaking door panels because the door hinge pin bushings break and the doors drop and become hard to close. lots of wind noise and air leakage. i bought some grand marquis panels and it quietend down back to a nice quiet vic. I'm kind of thinking once you put the new panels, big blue shoud quieten down. I'm guessing whoever put those 6x9's in that crazy location also pulled the insulation off the door panel.

First, I forgot to mention yesterday the results of the mirror brace - excellent! The passenger's side mirror is rock steady. I mean ROCK steady. As if you are sitting still. And the driver's mirror is very steady, but has a slight quiver to it - possibly due to the wind we were having. But it was slight. All in all, I recommend the brace.

And, I filled Big Blue up today and discovered that I'd been running on the 19 gallon rear tank rather than the 16 gallon front tank. Which explained why the gauge was showing 1/4 tank with 160 miles on it. Anyway, we got 10.6 MPG yesterday and I wasn't even thinking of economy, with several bursts at full throttle and lots of 70+ MPH driving. Plus a serious wind which we were bucking or cutting across most of the day.

So, it is getting a bit better. However, the carb needs tuned if I hope to get better MPG. In fact, it needed tuned for better throttle response as the AFR was running up to a bit over 16 as we climbed hills and before the metering rods popped up and the mix dropped into the 13's and the engine found new life.

I didn't know what jetting is in the carb, but today I pulled the metering rods and found that they are stamped 7547, which Edelbrock says are their #1459's and have a .075" main diameter and a .047" tip. However, I measured them at .063" x .037". And having measured several other rods of varying sizes it looks to me like the rods measure .012" smaller on the main section and .010" smaller on the tip than they are rated.

EDIT: I discovered that my dial calipers LIE! I got to wondering if that might be the case so pulled a 1" micrometer out today. Yep, the metering rods are exactly what they say, not what my calipers said. IOW, I took .075 x .047" rods out and put .073 x .042 rods in. So I enrichened the cruise and the power jetting slightly.

Anyway, I installed 7342 rods, which I measure to be .061" x .032". So I made both the cruise and power setting slightly richer. And I took it for a drive and that certainly helped the cruise mode. Now the AFR will climb up to about 16 before the rods pop up, and the engine has a bit more pep. But, it is also a bit richer on power.

So, I'm faced with a dilemma - do I spend the time to dial in the Edelbrock? That would require pulling the top off to find out what jets are in it, and then spending a day or so dialing it in - if I have the right jets and rods. Or do I put the Street Demon on and see how its AFR is? That would require some minor inlet plumbing changes and probably work on the throttle cable bracket. Or do I live with it for a while as I do other things on the truck and hope I can get the EFI on before going to CO in the summer?

Thoughts?

[86 12 Brutus]

First, I forgot to mention yesterday the results of the mirror brace - excellent! The passenger's side mirror is rock steady. I mean ROCK steady. As if you are sitting still. And the driver's mirror is very steady, but has a slight quiver to it - possibly due to the wind we were having. But it was slight. All in all, I recommend the brace.

And, I filled Big Blue up today and discovered that I'd been running on the 19 gallon rear tank rather than the 16 gallon front tank. Which explained why the gauge was showing 1/4 tank with 160 miles on it. Anyway, we got 10.6 MPG yesterday and I wasn't even thinking of economy, with several bursts at full throttle and lots of 70+ MPH driving. Plus a serious wind which we were bucking or cutting across most of the day.

So, it is getting a bit better. However, the carb needs tuned if I hope to get better MPG. In fact, it needed tuned for better throttle response as the AFR was running up to a bit over 16 as we climbed hills and before the metering rods popped up and the mix dropped into the 13's and the engine found new life.

I didn't know what jetting is in the carb, but today I pulled the metering rods and found that they are stamped 7547, which Edelbrock says are their #1459's and have a .075" main diameter and a .047" tip. However, I measured them at .063" x .037". And having measured several other rods of varying sizes it looks to me like the rods measure .012" smaller on the main section and .010" smaller on the tip than they are rated.

EDIT: I discovered that my dial calipers LIE! I got to wondering if that might be the case so pulled a 1" micrometer out today. Yep, the metering rods are exactly what they say, not what my calipers said. IOW, I took .075 x .047" rods out and put .073 x .042 rods in. So I enrichened the cruise and the power jetting slightly.

Anyway, I installed 7342 rods, which I measure to be .061" x .032". So I made both the cruise and power setting slightly richer. And I took it for a drive and that certainly helped the cruise mode. Now the AFR will climb up to about 16 before the rods pop up, and the engine has a bit more pep. But, it is also a bit richer on power.

So, I'm faced with a dilemma - do I spend the time to dial in the Edelbrock? That would require pulling the top off to find out what jets are in it, and then spending a day or so dialing it in - if I have the right jets and rods. Or do I put the Street Demon on and see how its AFR is? That would require some minor inlet plumbing changes and probably work on the throttle cable bracket. Or do I live with it for a while as I do other things on the truck and hope I can get the EFI on before going to CO in the summer?

Thoughts?

Gary. it wasnt until i actually listen to the video did i hear wind noise too and we were just going around the neighborhood.

[ArdWrknTrk]

First, I forgot to mention yesterday the results of the mirror brace - excellent! The passenger's side mirror is rock steady. I mean ROCK steady. As if you are sitting still. And the driver's mirror is very steady, but has a slight quiver to it - possibly due to the wind we were having. But it was slight. All in all, I recommend the brace.

And, I filled Big Blue up today and discovered that I'd been running on the 19 gallon rear tank rather than the 16 gallon front tank. Which explained why the gauge was showing 1/4 tank with 160 miles on it. Anyway, we got 10.6 MPG yesterday and I wasn't even thinking of economy, with several bursts at full throttle and lots of 70+ MPH driving. Plus a serious wind which we were bucking or cutting across most of the day.

So, it is getting a bit better. However, the carb needs tuned if I hope to get better MPG. In fact, it needed tuned for better throttle response as the AFR was running up to a bit over 16 as we climbed hills and before the metering rods popped up and the mix dropped into the 13's and the engine found new life.

I didn't know what jetting is in the carb, but today I pulled the metering rods and found that they are stamped 7547, which Edelbrock says are their #1459's and have a .075" main diameter and a .047" tip. However, I measured them at .063" x .037". And having measured several other rods of varying sizes it looks to me like the rods measure .012" smaller on the main section and .010" smaller on the tip than they are rated.

EDIT: I discovered that my dial calipers LIE! I got to wondering if that might be the case so pulled a 1" micrometer out today. Yep, the metering rods are exactly what they say, not what my calipers said. IOW, I took .075 x .047" rods out and put .073 x .042 rods in. So I enrichened the cruise and the power jetting slightly.

Anyway, I installed 7342 rods, which I measure to be .061" x .032". So I made both the cruise and power setting slightly richer. And I took it for a drive and that certainly helped the cruise mode. Now the AFR will climb up to about 16 before the rods pop up, and the engine has a bit more pep. But, it is also a bit richer on power.

So, I'm faced with a dilemma - do I spend the time to dial in the Edelbrock? That would require pulling the top off to find out what jets are in it, and then spending a day or so dialing it in - if I have the right jets and rods. Or do I put the Street Demon on and see how its AFR is? That would require some minor inlet plumbing changes and probably work on the throttle cable bracket. Or do I live with it for a while as I do other things on the truck and hope I can get the EFI on before going to CO in the summer?

Thoughts?

EFI will certainly help with change in altitude next summer.

If you find the truck under performing then dive right in.

You aren't doing the engine any favors if the mixture isn't right.

[Nothing Special]

EFI will certainly help with change in altitude next summer.

If you find the truck under performing then dive right in.

You aren't doing the engine any favors if the mixture isn't right.

I bought a carb off a 302 from an on-line junk yard, threw a rebuild kit in it and have been running it ever since. Including over 13,000 ft elevation. So my recommendation would be that it sounds like it's doing OK with the Edelbrock now. Not as good as it could be, but OK. So I'd leave it as-is until I finally got around to doing the EFI. Which for me might be never.

I don't really think you're going to follow my advice. But that's OK too.

[Sac79]

I went to grab the "brace/bracket that protects the wiring underneath the carpet behind the seat"(wish I knew what to call it)

Good question! Also, I've wondered what determined whether the truck got it or not. Does your truck have any wiring there besides the seat belt?

Gary - Crazy how some tires definitely 'sing' more than others. More incentive to drive the wheels off it . With the wind noise can you narrow down where it's coming from? Does it sound like it's coming into the cab or just general exterior 'pushing a wall down the road' sound? Your door panels are still off, right? I know you mentioned insulating them and picked up new retainers but couldn't recall if you temporarily installed them or not. Even with the exterior soundproofing, having the interior panels on will make a difference. It gives you another insulating air pocket plus I could see those drains at the bottom causing some whistling under the right conditions.

 

I went to grab the "brace/bracket that protects the wiring underneath the carpet behind the seat"(wish I knew what to call it)

Good question! Also, I've wondered what determined whether the truck got it or not. Does your truck have any wiring there besides the seat belt?

No wiring behind my seat. My truck did not have carpet and now it does. I believe that bracket was on all trucks with full carpet as the carpet is molded to go over that bracket, it fits poorly without it.

Gary, sorry to hear you were on the rear tank. Still an improvement as you say.

[Gary Lewis]

 

I went to grab the "brace/bracket that protects the wiring underneath the carpet behind the seat"(wish I knew what to call it)

Good question! Also, I've wondered what determined whether the truck got it or not. Does your truck have any wiring there besides the seat belt?

No wiring behind my seat. My truck did not have carpet and now it does. I believe that bracket was on all trucks with full carpet as the carpet is molded to go over that bracket, it fits poorly without it.

Gary, sorry to hear you were on the rear tank. Still an improvement as you say.

Just talked to my brother and we are in agreement - EFI would be nice to have, but isn't critical.

So, my plan is to drive it a bit more with the different rods to get a better handle on what it wants/likes in the way of AFR, then at some point swap the Street Demon on and see how it does. But I have no experience rejetting that carb, nor even any extra jets, so if it isn't "right" I'll probably put the Eddy back on.

Then I'll turn to the things that I really want to have done before the trip, inc:

• Power steering system leak-proofed

• Interior panels painted, insulated/sound-deadened, and installed

• Highliner installed

• Behind-the-seat storage unit installed

• Inverter installed

• Compressor installed

• Switches installed in radio bezel for OX locker, compressor, inverter, etc

• Speedo re-geared and the cable problem sorted so the speed control works - it is a long way to CO

• LRC regulator installed in the 3G to stop the belt squeal on startup

• Air conditioning system working

I don't know if I'll get to install a GMRS radio. Nor what other problems may come up along the way. But if I get all of those things done then I'll consider the EFI.

[1986F150Six]

However, Janey and I agree that the wind noise was at the window level, not lower door as they seemed very quiet. And the air wasn't coming in. It was just that we were pushing a square brick through the air at 70 MPH at the same time Mother Nature was pushing the air north at 20 - 30 MPH. And that made for a lot of noise.

Gary, here is an old trick taught to me years ago by a man who tried to teach a younger man to appreciate classic automobiles. Take painters masking tape [easily removed] and go one area at a time so as to be able to determine where the noise originates: tape around the hood where it is next to the fenders, grill and windshield cowl. Tape around the headlight doors. Tape all around the passenger door and if desired, ask Janey to "tape you in" by sealing the driver's door. Tape around the windshield trim [next to the windshield and next to the body]. Take both mirrors and collapse next to the door and drive carefully.

The older gentle man had a Corvette which was equipped with only the driver's side rearview mirror. He added the optional passenger side rearview mirror and noticed an increase in wind noise.

[Gary Lewis]

However, Janey and I agree that the wind noise was at the window level, not lower door as they seemed very quiet. And the air wasn't coming in. It was just that we were pushing a square brick through the air at 70 MPH at the same time Mother Nature was pushing the air north at 20 - 30 MPH. And that made for a lot of noise.

Gary, here is an old trick taught to me years ago by a man who tried to teach a younger man to appreciate classic automobiles. Take painters masking tape [easily removed] and go one area at a time so as to be able to determine where the noise originates: tape around the hood where it is next to the fenders, grill and windshield cowl. Tape around the headlight doors. Tape all around the passenger door and if desired, ask Janey to "tape you in" by sealing the driver's door. Tape around the windshield trim [next to the windshield and next to the body]. Take both mirrors and collapse next to the door and drive carefully.

The older gentle man had a Corvette which was equipped with only the driver's side rearview mirror. He added the optional passenger side rearview mirror and noticed an increase in wind noise.

That's a lot of work to figure out that it is something that can't easily be fixed. But, you did mention something I'd forgotten - windshield trim. I don't have all of it on. I wonder....

Also, when I went out briefly yesterday I noted that the sound was more from the front, like the windshield wipers. And they are odd looking. Hmmmm....

[1986F150Six]

Also, when I went out briefly yesterday I noted that the sound was more from the front, like the windshield wipers. And they are odd looking. Hmmmm....

Take them off and go for a test drive!