EXCELLENT find. One terrific DD/Beater that you can easily nurse forever.
Haven't seen one that cheap around here ever...
Haven't seen one that cheap around here ever...
Mah new beater.
- Thread starter Colt45ws
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OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
With that sticker, I think you and Nick need to get together and have a party!
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
With that sticker, I think you and Nick need to get together and have a party!
Ha! Didn't know that Nick was into my little pony??!?
With that sticker, I think you and Nick need to get together and have a party!
Ha! Didn't know that Nick was into my little pony??!?
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
With that sticker, I think you and Nick need to get together and have a party!
Ha! Didn't know that Nick was into my little pony??!?
You don't hang out in the computer section enough, LOL! These guys are both cartoon crazy!
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
With that sticker, I think you and Nick need to get together and have a party!
Ha! Didn't know that Nick was into my little pony??!?
You don't hang out in the computer section enough, LOL! These guys are both cartoon crazy!
Well...Im gonna try to get over there for Bronycon next year, but I have my doubts Ill be able to do it. We will see.
Originally Posted By: addyguy
No offense, that is going to become one expensive $1K beater, with one problem after another showing up. New p/s rack is HOW much???
157k on a cop car, I'll pass. They beat on those things just for fun.
Enjoy your money pit!
Bahahaha. Okay, whatever, Cpt. Buzzkill. Ive said before if it gets too expensive, Ill part it and scrap it. It not like I dont have another car to drive.
btw, Panthers didnt get racks until MY03. This has the old school recirculating ball steering box.
btw^2, Im enjoying the [censored] out of it, Thank you!
No offense, that is going to become one expensive $1K beater, with one problem after another showing up. New p/s rack is HOW much???
157k on a cop car, I'll pass. They beat on those things just for fun.
Enjoy your money pit!
Bahahaha. Okay, whatever, Cpt. Buzzkill. Ive said before if it gets too expensive, Ill part it and scrap it. It not like I dont have another car to drive.
btw, Panthers didnt get racks until MY03. This has the old school recirculating ball steering box.
btw^2, Im enjoying the [censored] out of it, Thank you!
Yeah, those junky Panthers. Known to be a short lived car!
That must be why taxi services buy them with the intent of running 400k miles on them!
That must be why taxi services buy them with the intent of running 400k miles on them!
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Originally Posted By: addyguy
No offense, that is going to become one expensive $1K beater, with one problem after another showing up. New p/s rack is HOW much???
157k on a cop car, I'll pass. They beat on those things just for fun.
Enjoy your money pit!
Bahahaha. Okay, whatever, Cpt. Buzzkill. Ive said before if it gets too expensive, Ill part it and scrap it. It not like I dont have another car to drive.
btw, Panthers didnt get racks until MY03. This has the old school recirculating ball steering box.
btw^2, Im enjoying the [censored] out of it, Thank you!
I'm sorry, Colt. Was having a bad morning when I wrote that...project vehicle are very cool, so if you bought it with that in mind, well, have at 'er!
Just thought you were after a totally problem free DD while you're other car is off the road...so if this one breaks...
Anyway, I do love project cars, so keep us updated!
Cheers!
Originally Posted By: addyguy
No offense, that is going to become one expensive $1K beater, with one problem after another showing up. New p/s rack is HOW much???
157k on a cop car, I'll pass. They beat on those things just for fun.
Enjoy your money pit!
Bahahaha. Okay, whatever, Cpt. Buzzkill. Ive said before if it gets too expensive, Ill part it and scrap it. It not like I dont have another car to drive.
btw, Panthers didnt get racks until MY03. This has the old school recirculating ball steering box.
btw^2, Im enjoying the [censored] out of it, Thank you!
I'm sorry, Colt. Was having a bad morning when I wrote that...project vehicle are very cool, so if you bought it with that in mind, well, have at 'er!
Just thought you were after a totally problem free DD while you're other car is off the road...so if this one breaks...
Anyway, I do love project cars, so keep us updated!
Cheers!
Ive done a lot to this car, so I thought I would make a post to show what Ive been busy with when Im not at work.
Semi-in-order:
So thats where its at now. Still have to figure out why it wont take gas at more than a trickle. Ive looked a the issue a couple of times and have some up empty with why it isnt allowing me to fill. Mainly, Im just not feeling trying to figure it out at the moment. Just kinda back burner'd it.
Would like to do rear shocks. Well, I guess I dont really want to, because its a giant PITA, but I know it will help keep control of dat butt so eventually I will do them.
Have a front wheel bearing thats on its way out. Haven't really look at which one.
Both upper ball joints have torn boots. Ill probably just keep throwing grease into them every 500 miles or so, but eventually its going to become a problem that will have to be dealt with.
Semi-in-order:
- Changed the power steering fluid. While doing that I found the screen on the bottom of the reservoir was pretty dirty. So I disconnected it and removed it. Sprayed it out with brake cleaner, then compressed air to dry the brake cleaner out. Once reinstalled I used a large syringe to suck fluid out of the reservoir several times. Running it lock to lock between each fill. I used political signs (that plastic "cardboard") between the tires and concrete to prevent the tires scrubbing. Ran 3 quarts through it. Now, if you hold a flash light to the reservoir it glows red inside.
- Drained and filled the radiator with 50/50 G-05
- Flushed the master cylinder through the bleeder on it. Tried to do the calipers, but was unable to break them loose (feared breaking them off).
- Removed a little trans fluid to bring it down to proper level.
- Disabled "Dark Mode". Factory they have a single-pin plug under the glove box that is connected together. What it does is ground a pin on the LCM which tells it not to turn on the interior lights when a door is ajar. I disconnected the plug and reset the LCM, still no dome light. Did some research and found some departments pull the door panel and disconnect the wire from the door lock mechanism that actually tells it the door is ajar. They do this to get rid of the door ajar chime. I already knew they were in the door because they moved the trunk button from the "police" location on the center of the dash, to the standard location on the door. Pulled the door panel and fixed it.
- Changed the differential fluid. Used Valvoline Synpower 75W90. Discovered someone was lazy. They were doing the 'glue a gasket to the cover with RTV' trick so they wouldnt have to scrape the differential of RTV. Well, the last time it looked like they didnt even clean off the last setup; they RTV'd over the first one and stuck another gasket on it. So it was about 1/4" of material stacked on that cover. I was too lazy to clean it off too; I just pulled one from my parts pile that was already pretty clean.
- Pulled the EVAP system apart trying to find out why the tank is not filling properly. I found some dirt in the vent hose. I cleaned it all out and checked everything else trying to find any other clogs. Came up empty so I put it back together thinking it was good. -Didn't fix.-
- They had left the wig-wag module in the car, but pulled the switch out. The reason being they had hacked the wiring for the high-beams going to the headlights apart so they could fit it in the circuit. So it was essentially acting as a headlight relay for highs only. One day while I was at work someone asked me if I had the "White Interceptor". They told me the headlights were flashing. I snuck outside to discover it was flashing the driver headlight only. I quickly popped the hood and ripped the wiring out of it. But...then I had no high beams.
- Put a pair of General Altimax HP in 225/60R16 98V on the rear axle. Trashed the snow tire that was the spare and the blown Pirelli. Moved one Pirelli to spare status and the other two got new valve stems and a balance before being placed on the front.
- Installed the factory CD/Cassette radio from the LX into it. It shouldnt fit. -02 all the radios have the 1.5 DIN face, but a couple inches in it drops back down to single DIN. Can look up some pics of factory Ford radios to see what I mean. The reason is the defrost vent duct comes into that space so its impossible to install a full 1.5 DIN deck. 2003+ Panthers, they changed the design of said duct to allow for full 1.5 DIN all the way back. Its possible to switch them out (direct swap) but that requires pulling the dash out. This car has the updated part. I thought that maybe they had pulled the dash sometime and they put it back together with the newer revision part, but Ive looked at all the bolts for the dash and I cant see evidence of the dash being pulled. Its definitely the 2003 part; 3W7Z-18D453-AA indicates a 2003 revision part. The world may never know. I did have to change the connector to the newer ford upmodel radio plug, but that was fairly simple and cheap.
- Bought new dash trim, but its for older cars that have the defrost button on the short trim between the driver door and steering wheel. They moved it 01+ next to the climate controls. Im trying to get ahold of the correct connector to move the wiring so until then I kinda just have no trim on one side with the defrost button hanging off the wiring. This picture also shows the new plastic cover I put on the gauge cluster.
- Changed the oil. Used Mobil 5000 5W20 and Motorcraft FL820S. Also installed new oil cooler hoses as the original ones were leaking pretty bad.
- Discovered excessive axle shaft endplay; over 1/16". Reason was the Trac-Lok clutches were worn out. Due to it being c-clip type axle the clutch packs set up axle shaft endplay. I pulled the axle apart to make sure that was all that was needed. Axle shafts were in good condition, as were the bearings and seals, so I ordered the Ford Racing rebuild kit. Sucked to throw out 500 mile Synpower gear oil, but now I know what to look for with Trac-lok equipped axles.
- Once I got the parts and supplies, I successfully rebuilt the Trac-lok carrier in-housing. Final endplay: .012 and .009. Acceptable range is .030-.008.
- Looked at the EVAP issue again. Didnt find anything.
- Got the caliper bleeders open without breaking any. Successfully flushed the brake system. Just used Supertech DOT 3. Better than what was in there by about 12 years, probably.
- Replaced the wiper motor. This fixed the "Failing to Park wipers" Problem. Also, installed new Michelin blades. The standard ones, not the overpriced fancy ones.
- Built headlight harness. I just did as they did and cut the factory wiring. So its hardwired in. Used 16 gauge for most of it. Breaker feed is 12. Relay power and ground are 18. V-drop is now .5 maximum to driver high.
- Installed new front shocks. Used OE Motorcraft for CVPI. They work perfectly. The KYB's it had were leaking and now I can tell that the back ones need changed, too.
- Installed power port on to the cupholder. They had drilled holes in it for equipment so I drilled right to that. For power I went to the factory police aux fuse box in the passenger foot well. Has two sides, 30A switched off a relay (ON/ACC) and 50A continuous. I hooked it to one of the switched slots, fused for 15A.
- Investigated alternator whine issue. Probable cause is primary engine ground. From passenger foot well ground bolts to body ground location next to the battery I get a couple of Ohm. From passenger foot well to engine I get 10 Ohm with radio on in ACC. Sensitive to load. More load=More Ohm. Due to the difficulty of accessing the factory engine ground, I added a second engine->body ground with some 10 gauge I had laying around. Not optimal, but it reduced the noise in the radio to below where it annoys me.
- Finally pulled the passenger door to hook back up the door ajar switch on that side, as I had done to the driver door. Also installed a new speaker since the other one was flapping sometimes. The originals I pulled out of my LX dropped right in, so thats what it got.
- Replaced PCV valve and Fuel Filter.
- Installed Magnefine on the power steering return.
- Drained and filled the radiator 3 more times in total, each time with just water. Right now its also got RMI-25 in it. Next time Ill fill with straight coolant and that should be enough to bring it back to proper concentration.
- Installed a Remote keyless entry system. Just a cheapie off Ebay. Seems to work good. I used my own relays to switch the power locks and just use it to trip the relays. Its rated 15A, but the relay it has looks kinda flimsy. Took me about twice as long to install since the Ford wiring diagram for the locks was wrong. Had the wrong wire colors. Finally ended up pulling the switch panel up off the door and finding out what did what.
- Installed new cover over the gauge cluster. The one it had I couldnt get the stickers off they had put on for the oil and transmission change due mileage. It probably worked okay for them, but its been out of service for a couple years now and they were baked on. Pulled one off a newer spare cluster I had. I was surprised at how much better that made it look.
So thats where its at now. Still have to figure out why it wont take gas at more than a trickle. Ive looked a the issue a couple of times and have some up empty with why it isnt allowing me to fill. Mainly, Im just not feeling trying to figure it out at the moment. Just kinda back burner'd it.
Would like to do rear shocks. Well, I guess I dont really want to, because its a giant PITA, but I know it will help keep control of dat butt so eventually I will do them.
Have a front wheel bearing thats on its way out. Haven't really look at which one.
Both upper ball joints have torn boots. Ill probably just keep throwing grease into them every 500 miles or so, but eventually its going to become a problem that will have to be dealt with.
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Wow, you have been busy! Probably feels good fixing it up yourself, save a ton of money that way. Strange issue with filling it up with gas. I had that once on a '70 F-100, ended up being a kinked hose but I doubt it's that simple here.
Originally Posted By: panthermike
Wow, you have been busy! Probably feels good fixing it up yourself, save a ton of money that way. Strange issue with filling it up with gas. I had that once on a '70 F-100, ended up being a kinked hose but I doubt it's that simple here.
Yeah, due to Evaporative emissions, the tank can't vent directly to atmosphere. It has to go through a charcoal canister, which soaks up the fumes. When the car is running, it will close the vent valve and suck the fumes into the engine. I dont get any codes, which just means the system is sealed, as far as it can tell. Its definitely the tank not venting; if I go wide open on the nozzle until it clicks (very rapidly) and immediately go back into it it will click again before I get it all the way open. But, if I wait a couple seconds, I get the same amount of time as the first go around. Basically its pressurizing the tank. Waiting allows it to vent out.
Sometimes with these cars, if you top them off enough, the fuel will backflow into the charcoal canister and fill it. Then the next time you try to fill, this exact thing happens. That was my initial thought when I discovered the issue.
Wow, you have been busy! Probably feels good fixing it up yourself, save a ton of money that way. Strange issue with filling it up with gas. I had that once on a '70 F-100, ended up being a kinked hose but I doubt it's that simple here.
Yeah, due to Evaporative emissions, the tank can't vent directly to atmosphere. It has to go through a charcoal canister, which soaks up the fumes. When the car is running, it will close the vent valve and suck the fumes into the engine. I dont get any codes, which just means the system is sealed, as far as it can tell. Its definitely the tank not venting; if I go wide open on the nozzle until it clicks (very rapidly) and immediately go back into it it will click again before I get it all the way open. But, if I wait a couple seconds, I get the same amount of time as the first go around. Basically its pressurizing the tank. Waiting allows it to vent out.
Sometimes with these cars, if you top them off enough, the fuel will backflow into the charcoal canister and fill it. Then the next time you try to fill, this exact thing happens. That was my initial thought when I discovered the issue.
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Only a minor update this weekend.
Drained and filled the cooling system again. 5th and final time. This time it got 100% in it to bring it back to 50/50.
I also replaced the thermostat, seal, and pressure tank cap (for the second time).
I had made a goof and forgot to buy one from RA when I placed an order for this thing a few months ago. Got the Motorcraft thermostat, but didnt get one of those. When I realized my goof, I bought a parts store one. Well, those ones dont click when tightened enough and I blew the threads out on it during all my messing around with it.
So, I got a Motorcraft one.
Stained the color of the old coolant. It didnt seem to carry as much onto the aluminium surfaces I could see within the engine.
Later flush results compared to earlier. Believe it or not, the nasty green stuff is somewhat diluted. The first couple times I drained and filled, I didnt have any spare storage capacity other than the drain pan I was using. So I used it until it filled up.
Speaking of which, this pan was clean when I started.
Drained and filled the cooling system again. 5th and final time. This time it got 100% in it to bring it back to 50/50.
I also replaced the thermostat, seal, and pressure tank cap (for the second time).
I had made a goof and forgot to buy one from RA when I placed an order for this thing a few months ago. Got the Motorcraft thermostat, but didnt get one of those. When I realized my goof, I bought a parts store one. Well, those ones dont click when tightened enough and I blew the threads out on it during all my messing around with it.
So, I got a Motorcraft one.
Stained the color of the old coolant. It didnt seem to carry as much onto the aluminium surfaces I could see within the engine.
Later flush results compared to earlier. Believe it or not, the nasty green stuff is somewhat diluted. The first couple times I drained and filled, I didnt have any spare storage capacity other than the drain pan I was using. So I used it until it filled up.
Speaking of which, this pan was clean when I started.
Kinda looks like it had some stop leak added to it at some time.
It looked like mostly rust scale and casting sand. Kind of looks like a couple of rocks, too.
So, last weekend I had finally gotten all the parts and supplies together to do the "JMod" to the transmission. So called the JMod for Jerry Mod as the instructions and specs were posted by Jerry Wroblewski, a retired Ford Transmission engineer.
I was supposed to have all the stuff a long time ago, but I had thrown in the gaskets I needed from Ford in a internet order along with parts for another project. Well, one of the parts I ordered came up Obsolete/Not available so the dealer cancelled my whole order instead of sending what they could get. Then to top it off, didnt bother to contact me. Here I am a month later, "Where are my parts?"
Anyway, I re-ordered all my stuff from a different dealer and they just canceled the one piece they couldnt get.
Last weekend I had 3 days off, so I put her up on ramps, did the cooler line trick to drain the fluid out of the pan and then dropped the pan.
Then I dropped the valve body.
(I had gotten ATF on my phone's lens so it made this pic soft/not sharp)
I took the separator plate off and drilled the specified holes to the specified size, then I used a razor blade to trim the shavings off the plate.
Got it back together, and added a magnefine to trans cooler return line.
Refilled with 9.5qts of Kendall Mercon V.
Excitedly took it out and it was....
Not great.
What happened was the 1-2 was nice and firm, but the 2-3 was doing a weird bump-slide-bump. All other shifts were unaffected. 4-3 was even fine. 3rd held fine once engaged, even at WOT.
Confused, I put her to the side and did some asking around.
Someone suggested putting the accumulator springs back in, drilling some of the holes out larger and changing the main pressure regulator out with a Sonnax w/Increased pressure spring.
I ordered the needed parts and went back into it today.
I recovered 3.5qts out of the cooler line which I did put back in.
Once I got it back apart I studied it pretty good to try to find why the 2-3 was acting up.
Bingo:
Put that ball back where it belongs and installed the Sonnax parts. Put the accumulator springs back in and bolted it all back together.
Like I noted above it got 3.5qts I recovered out of it, then 2.5qts of Kendall Mercon V, and then 3.5qts of Castrol Transmax Mercon V.
Its perfect. I love the way it shifts. Since the accumulator springs are still present it softens it. At part throttle the shifts can be felt due to the larger feed holes and boosted regulator, but are not overly harsh. It kicks nice at WOT though.
I was supposed to have all the stuff a long time ago, but I had thrown in the gaskets I needed from Ford in a internet order along with parts for another project. Well, one of the parts I ordered came up Obsolete/Not available so the dealer cancelled my whole order instead of sending what they could get. Then to top it off, didnt bother to contact me. Here I am a month later, "Where are my parts?"
Anyway, I re-ordered all my stuff from a different dealer and they just canceled the one piece they couldnt get.
Last weekend I had 3 days off, so I put her up on ramps, did the cooler line trick to drain the fluid out of the pan and then dropped the pan.
Then I dropped the valve body.
(I had gotten ATF on my phone's lens so it made this pic soft/not sharp)
I took the separator plate off and drilled the specified holes to the specified size, then I used a razor blade to trim the shavings off the plate.
Got it back together, and added a magnefine to trans cooler return line.
Refilled with 9.5qts of Kendall Mercon V.
Excitedly took it out and it was....
Not great.
What happened was the 1-2 was nice and firm, but the 2-3 was doing a weird bump-slide-bump. All other shifts were unaffected. 4-3 was even fine. 3rd held fine once engaged, even at WOT.
Confused, I put her to the side and did some asking around.
Someone suggested putting the accumulator springs back in, drilling some of the holes out larger and changing the main pressure regulator out with a Sonnax w/Increased pressure spring.
I ordered the needed parts and went back into it today.
I recovered 3.5qts out of the cooler line which I did put back in.
Once I got it back apart I studied it pretty good to try to find why the 2-3 was acting up.
Bingo:
Put that ball back where it belongs and installed the Sonnax parts. Put the accumulator springs back in and bolted it all back together.
Like I noted above it got 3.5qts I recovered out of it, then 2.5qts of Kendall Mercon V, and then 3.5qts of Castrol Transmax Mercon V.
Its perfect. I love the way it shifts. Since the accumulator springs are still present it softens it. At part throttle the shifts can be felt due to the larger feed holes and boosted regulator, but are not overly harsh. It kicks nice at WOT though.
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