Just receiving its' fair due... Its FORD spelled kinda backwards. Ive had a few Fords over the years (Shhh!) and they aint the end of the world... Everyday I keep reminding myself this T-bird aint a dodge, it aint a dodge, it aint a dodge... Strictly gonna be a flip job on this. ws
I'm not allergic to Fords. The Model T is almost the most fun car I've ever owned. Three Lincoln Town Cars, all were good. A '67 Fairlane was nice too. The '55 Vic was beautiful, but one of the worst POS I've ever owned; I repowered it with a Buick in self-defense. The '53 Merc was great. I hate to say it, but our '72 Cutlass was the worst car (in terms of build quality) that I've ever owned. GM owes me one free car, and I will never buy a new GM until I get it. I'm not holding my breath...
So Ive tried several methods of restoring the raunchy looking HL buckets. On a scale of 1 to 100 is as follows: Colgate toothpaste: 85 NOVUS plastic polish: 94 Simichrome: by hand 95 and with a pad on a cordless drill:95.5 DEEP WOODS OFF: (97 ?) sprayed it on and it got really sticky. This was on the daytime driving light lens. Made one swipe with a paper towel and the residue looked like acetone renderings, but the lens was pretty clear. Hmm... At least clear enough to see the water droplets on the inside! Gonna hold off on this due to rain tomorrow. Pulled the wiper arms off today. Super simple versus the GM method. Just a snap ring on the base; lift up and off. The PO mustve had them off as they were clocked on the splines to be raised about 1/8 of a swipe up in the park position. Really hillbillyesque. Also got it jacked up to prep for the tank job. Oiled everything several times. Hope its as easy as it looks! ws John... if you ever pull that T fuel tank out, REMOVE the switch panel first, AND disconnect the battery. Just sayin'..
Sorry the Simichrome didn't work for you 100%. But, you will find other uses for it. I've never tried the Deep Woods to compare. I do know my 99 'stang has drains for the headlights. There are like small hoses on the bottom if I remember right. Sometimes spiders or bugs go in and plug, or partially plug them. The stang lights always have similar problems, cloudiness and sometimes condensation because they glue the lens to the housing. Fortunately, the 'stang lights are cheap and plentiful in repro. I forget what I paid, but I just ditched the stock lights and never looked back. Unfortunately, you have to play with the cards you were dealt!
Yeah... Ive looked at the ebay jobs too... polished and cleared (in the close ups!). I think the simichrome or OFF will work with some work LOL, and drains are in the offing as well. Cant tell if the buckets were chrome plated (95% gone) or painted white, or is that white ABS plastic? The halogen bulbs are nice and bright so maybe a pearl white? Thats what it looks like now. Hmmm. I saw these lights the first time and thought its a no brainer for $100 to replace them with new ones. The tailights need some polishing too... they just seem "dim"... NOVUS on the dash for sure! ws
I have had the tank out three times. Despite the original service manual omitting the steps that you mention, you are absolutely correct that you must do this. The steering column has to come out too. I have heard reports that on certain body styles the column can stay, but not on a touring car. Not all "improved car" cowls are created equal.
Ive never had to pull the column, but you do need to press down (or loosen) the brake (band) to clear the tank. On a few others Ive had to loosen the dash panel to gain a lousy 1/4". On my 26 coupe, I installed a new cowl lacing for the hood and rather than rivet in place as per OEM, I used #10 X 3/8 or 1/2" long sheet metal screws and actually punctured the tank. Its close up in that corner for sure! Did you reinstall the 1/2" filler base overflow pipe from behind the shut off? ws
Greetings Buick lovers, dorf tolerators, and dodge dis-likers... Beginning to get even with ol' Hank Ford and stepping on Chief Thunderbird's toes. Got all my stuff from rockhead auto and it appeared well. New tank, fuel pump, filter and belts, Their STOOPID on-line catalog makes no mention whatsoever about a fuel level sender. The pump description mention paldium coated silver contacts for accurate fuel level registering, blah blah blah... As tho its a GM pump with a unitized pump and sender. Not so simple on a dorf LOL. It takes a separate unit which I confirmed today after finally getting that GD tank out What are the odds that the fuel rail held enough pressure for 10 years to start and run. The leak as found today was an absolute, bottom of the tank hole. I had put 4 gallons of fresh gas in it and got 4 back out. I fugured pulling the connections off the tank with the LUKE TOOL wouldnt necessitate draining the rail, but as soon as that bugger popped, BAMMM! A face full of gas. The return line had a chewed up keeper (clip) from the PO's handicaft. Once those were off, I pulled one of the 2 inch long strap bolts then got the jack underneath for the other. The jack made it easier but I couldve handle it by hand (totally empty). So the new tank has four holes in it; pump, sender, fume vent, and filler pipe hole. It all came apart after a good PB dooshing and looked clean as a whistle inside. After originally adding 4 gallons of gas, the gage didnt register, and the low fuel and check engine lights were on. Hmmm... Bad sender?? Checked it on the bench and it shows 81 ohms empty and 9.5 ohms full with a smooth swing betwixt the two points. The phenolic float was dry as well. I am considering it Proven OK. Opinions expected please! Also hit a garage sale this morning, and picked up a 3 volume set of shop manuals for a 1955 V8 Pontiac. Anyone interested in these? Slight to very medium wear, and a nice set of wood boring spade bits and a few wrenches, cheap. Its 1600hrs and nap time before dinner haha... ws
So the OHM readings are shown below. What the consensus on these? The tank pic shows 2 patches (one failed) and popped right off with my knife. The failed one had a small crack like leak point and I merely touched it with the knife point and it went right through; no signs of rust on either side. Hmmm. ws
I'm no ohm expert, and I'm not familiar with Dorf ohms. But that seems about right compared to GM sender ohms. 4 gallons isn't much, if you have the rear jacked up, that may not be enough to register on the gauge. I would agree about RA's online catalog, it's brutal to find some stuff using that.
Thanks Frank! Im still waiting for the T-bird book; that oughta give me some numbers. Theres always the possibility that the arm got tweeked going in or out. The unit just barely fit through the hole. We'll see how the install goes tomorrow. It was pretty chilly by the lake here today... BTW (LOL) no build sheet under the tank ws
Don't know if anybody has mentioned it yet... It is generally easier to re-align the fuel tank to the fill connector with the fill connector loosened from the gas cap mount area. You can remove the tank easy enough, but getting it back is a PITA! The gasket on the tank fill often leaks. Also the access code for the door is on the mechanism controller inside the door panel (Go to 2:00 for illustration.) . Granted, this is for a newer full-size, but all are the same... Go ahead and take the trim off the driver's seat operator and vacuum it out, and spray silicone on the mechanism. Also, I've seen QUITE a few of these cars have the two plastic pieces that go from the power window track operator to the glass itself come off! With regards to the headlights, I've used Meguiars kit, 3M kit, 2000 grit and finer wet-or-dry sandpaper, All with about the same end results... None last a long time, but for a flip... Check out "ChisFix" on youtube. He has a lot of 'everymam' fixes and repairs. [Warning: check ANY of his vids dated April 1st... Lots of humor in those.]
BTW, I know you were just kidding about the build sheet, but I'm pretty sure you can get a Marti report and build sheet or window sticker for that car easily. The dorf fanboys (like Luke) can probably fill you in.
Thanks for the Humor Pat... I saw that a while ago and really had me wondering WTF??? All those tricks seemed so plausible, but WHY??? YIKES! Thanks for that VID Steve...Right now its a low priority after the 3 hours it took to get that damn panel back together the other day LOL. That door also needs a lock solenoid so we'll see if it even gets that far. All that stuff was pop riveted in; how simplistic is that? Im going to try that after the "FIREBALL XL5" is inside for the winter! Combo door locks just seem like another "FAIL SAFE" point. Dorfs sure dont need any help NOT getting inside! On the gas filler; the donut on mine has a split in the lip and also a fail safe (!) point all around the grommet groove. I searched yesterday and EVERYWHERE was a N/A item. Back to R/A (rockhead auto) they have one and its like $27.00 plus the envelope for another $12. The catalog was kind enough to provide a DORMAN number tho. Called crackauto with that number and it'll be here at 0900 today for $25.00, no shipping. I am onto them now. Still pissed they dont list a level indicator. Damn beginners. That seal ring does two things, (R/A was also good enough to include a service bulletin from FOMOCO!) That ring keeps the water and debris out and ALSO keeps a vacuum on the tank for the ECU engine management computer... "check engine" light is common due to cracking. My pipe is clean so a little more cleaning and a film of lubriplate she oughta slip right in. The pipe is unscrewed from the body at the filler door, so that'll go in last. Today we pull the boat for the season at 0830hrs. While its getting a bottom wash and getting blocked, we'll put the BAD LAD to bed in a storage locker along with the shovelhead, lawn mowers and Pats scooter. Then its back home for a load of scaffolding for the boat, coffee, and a nap! Ya think this is worth a Marti report Frank? Im glad YOU saw the humor in the build sheet LOL... This is gonna be purely a flipper. Gonna hafta wash everything down when its gone to dis-infect haha. Next GM project is/has been on the radar! Howz about a 1965 4-4-2 or a 1972 ragtop 4-4-2, but gotta have four speeds or at the least, a clutch pedal. ws
The electric door module will unlock just the driver's door initially, then all the doors and the trunk (if optioned with power lock) with additional standard codes. (Search youtube for Correct on the pop rivets holding the solenoids. However they are side specific! (at least the mounts/ brackets are side specific. And attaching the electrical connector for it makes installing the gas tank look like child's play ;And connecting the mechanism to the lock. (10 pounds into a 5 pound bag) Do it before mounting the solenoid (Learn from MY mistake!!!) . I hope you have small agile hands with long fingers. I have no idea how it was done at Ford;l probably an application specific tool or device.
