Chronicles of a newbie mechanic and his restoration of a 1972 Ford LTD Brougham.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Not a lot of work done on the car so update will be short.
I did get a chance to really drive the beast around a lot this weekend. Before I could though, I had to repair my driver's side front tire as it seemed to roll off the bead a bit and went flat before the weekend started. (Thanks Auto-X)
Good news is that Tires Plus put it back on with zero problem for like 18 bucks.
For those curious what kind of rats nest I'm supporting in the engine bay, here it is.
Relay is powered by the battery, switched on my ignition wire. It powers a block which powers the coil, carb choke and the Fuel Pump's micro controller.
In other news, I think I will attempt to sell the old 429 block. I haven't done any research on that yet but I'm assuming I can get some money out of it. It is even numbers matching for the people that actually care about that kind of thing.
Even has the original engine tag.
Beast Mode
So yeah, I got to drive the beast around a lot this weekend, in 95 degree weather. It was a ton of fun. Here are things I noticed:
Driving while hung over in a hot, 1972 car in 90 degree weather without any kind of working air is brutal.
After some good heat soak and driving around - she has a really hard time starting.
Even more so Sunday than I've noticed any where else.
The choke needs calibrating. While it turns over in the cold, it takes extra work from my foot to get it to stay idling. I also noticed that if I put a bit of gas in it from a complete stop, she'll bog a bit until I put more pedal in it. This seems to only happen while the choke is engaged.
I really hate carburetors. I will start saving up for an 'easy-efi' solution now.
I tightened my exhaust to close to the frame - it bangs and rattles when idling - it really drives home that "you know what you're driving" feeling. I need to fix that soon.
Maybe this weekend I will tackle a few of the above items.
So a few things happened that I needed to troubleshoot:
The Beast is IMPOSSIBLE to start. Seriously, I'm going to melt my alternator wires at this rate by putting such a heavy load on the system. It is like a 10-15 minute ordeal of dumping fuel into the carb.
The micro-controller for the fuel pump got its fused popped once.
When it is really hot out and after a bit of driving; the car won't idle without "double-pedal" action.
Let's address #2 on this list first.
(Author note: Me at the time of writing this - "I'm going to need my Windows laptop, I need MS Paint and the mouse)
Pump up the Jam
I have several theories that contributed to the micro-controller rage quitting on me the other day.
I mounted the controller on the engine side of the fire wall. I baked it like a pie. As heat rises, resistance goes up, which causes the controller and/or the pump to draw more to get the needed volts. Like a clogged malt shake straw.
I recently discovered I forgot to put a nut on the alternator's battery connection post. Soooo the terminal ring...kind of, sort of came off. Oh, but its will to live was so strong; it still made a connection through the air....but the connection obviously wasn't strong enough. Leading to the last half of theory #1. (Remember how I said that I was suddenly reading 11v?)
The Beast found out I was cheating on her with my wife and the SHO I bought a couple winters ago. *shrugs*
But there are SOLUTIONS to these problems!
First, secure the damned alternator nut, dummy. Man. That is like the first question in tech support; IS IT PLUGGED IN SIR? SIR??
Second, Mount the controller on the inside of the car so I don't fry the thing from engine heat.
Third, let's be a bit more cautious with our wiring setup. Credit to Jacob on this - let's go into detail here.
Currently, here is how the fuel pump is wired:
MS PAINT!
So when I turn the key to the 'on' position, the relay will get the signal. That relay actually powers a few things but let's focus on the pump. Once it gets the signal, it will tell the controller, "Hey, go ahead and suck some power from the Battery 12v line and feed the rest to the Fuel Pump."
So the controller is responsible for not only powering itself off of the battery line but also delivering the fuel pump its power too.
PROBLEM: What if the fuel pump became a bit overzealous and wanted to draw more than what the microcontroller can handle? All that current has to go through the microcontroller....and if it is too much? Pop goes its fuse. Now I'm not saying that is what happened, but it is and was a possibility. So let's avoid that all together.
SOLUTION:
Holy hell my ms painting sucks. Guys, go look up how a relay works because my diagram does not demonstrate this...it kind of requires you to know how it works to make any sense. But let's add another relay to this equation...
Love the wire colors - yellow is ground.
So there is a stick figure guy there. He is loading bearing - if I deleted him, this whole diagram would collapse.
This looks way more complicated than it is.
Key turns 'on'
Relay tells micro controller that it can power on.
Micro controller just takes its power from the relay source.
Micro controller tells another relay, hey, I'm on - so you turn on too.
'Another relay' says HEY FUEL PUMP, here is your very own battery 12v line. Go hog wild.
End result: Microcontroller and Fuel Pump has there own wiring for 12v source. Also, each line has its own fuse as well.
Moral of the story: The microcontroller is most likely extremely sensitive to heat. So don't put that in the engine bay.
With that solved; let's tackle #1 and hopefully #3 on the list.
She's cold blooded
She never used to be, but with a new heart, maybe something changed? Starting her is literally a 10 minute process of spraying the carb with starter fluid, manually closing the choke on the carb and then attempting to start the Beast.
It was getting to a point where the alternator wire would smoke. I'm going to start a fire if I don't fix this.
Thoughts:
Jacob was thinking it could be the accelerator plunger; it was messed up in a way were it was not successfully getting the engine enough gas on start up (and would explain why I couldn't just step on the pedal without killing it as well)
Also, the electric choke is a bit ore complicated than I made it out to be - I can't just take the electric cap off it and expect things to work normally.
So....time to rebuild the carb!
So fortunately, I am armed with a Carter/Edelbrock rebuild book. So this should be fairly easy.
First step - pull carb off the engine and prepare a work space. (also, close off the giant gapping hole in your intake before you drop a nut or something down there...)
Protip: get some trays or something to organize all the parts you take off. I took pictures not just for the blog but more so I can put it back together again too.
Strip everything down.
The left and right bowls have gunk in them. So that is a sign that this was a good idea.
Here is the main problem - the accelerator plunger...
Oh holy crap - yeah that is toast. Kind of hard to plunge stuff if it can't create a seal.
Idle Mixture screws - bit of carbon on the ends there.
The bottom cylindrical part is where the accelerator plunger goes; notice more pieces of that plunger sitting at the bottom there.
The primary (bottom) and secondary (top) jets. Those round brass thingies - that is where the fuel goes to feed the engine. With everything taken apart - I clean everything out using some acetone.
Kay. Ready to do some calibration and put everything back together - let me just check the instructions....
Bah - what the heck is this?
Me:
"Not reading all of this." (says the people about this post too haha)
Fresh new gaskets, springs and other important doodads.
So here is an important part: the floats. They have to be a precise measurement from the top and have to hang down a very specific height as well. This is responsible for actually letting gas into your carb and will stop the fuel feed if the carb gets too full.
Last time I did this, I must have had my eyes closed while being drunk because both floats were crazy out of alignment.
I hate this part so much. I'm not a really precise type of dude. I'm more of a dynamite fishing type of guy. Measure - bend some more, measure, bend some more - repeat.
That is a filter that is full of gunk. I'm sure this didn't help at all.
Put it all back together. Make sure I'm not missing parts....
Almost all back together. You know what it is missing still? That stupid electric choke.
Well look at that. The air cleaner housing fits over the carb even with the electric choke attached! Amazing what a ball ping hammer will do to make things....fit. Tada!
So guess what? The Beast starts RIGHT up now. Wooo!
So the next test is to drive the car around for a day and attempt to replicate the "I can't idle when I'm hot" thing. Hopefully, it's gone completely but we shall see.
Spoiler Alert: I made it to a Hot August Nights event. I also ran into more problems.
(Come on now, that isn't a surprise...)
Vapor Lock issues
Going back to the mechanical pump was a huge mistake. After about 30 minutes of solid driving, I notice the fuel pressure gauge start to drop. It gets so bad after a bit that it literally reads 0 PSI on the gauge. It is at this point that I may or may not die at an intersection. If not that, I'll definitely die or bog if I put any pedal into it.
Why?
What is happening here is that the fuel at the inlet of the pump is basically turning into vapor from the extreme heat. There are many factors at work here but basically those pumps do a much better job at sucking liquid gas than vaporized gas. And with the fuel vaporizing like that, it is actually starting to create more of a 'vacuum' so to speak on the wrong side of the pump.
SOLUTION: Fair enough, time to hook up the electric pump instead.
DIFFICULTY: It has to be done by the next morning; we want to AUTO-CROSS OUR BOATS.
Yep! What better way to test the engine than to drive the boat through cones and surf some asphalt?
Jake was onboard with assisting since he installed the same pump and fuel controller in his car and he is a super cool dude.
The controller is neat because it will shut off your pump if the engine dies and when you turn your key on, it will prime the pump for about 3 seconds and shut off. Sweet!
So If I flip my car, the electric pump won't keep pumping death all over me....wait, if I flip my car...let's not think about that.
Of course I didn't get any pictures, because I suck. I've been in such a hurried panic/stress over getting this done in time, it really slipped my mind.
"AAAAH WIRE EVERYTHING TOGETHER!!!"
So basically, we found a nice spot for the pump under the car, right behind the back seat. I reroute the fuel line to come from the tank, into a fuel filter, then into the pump and finally back into the hard line that goes towards the front of the car.
Then, I removed that stupid mechanical fuel pump (with relative ease this time around) and chucked that dumb piece of metal into a box. Cleaned everything up, slapped some gasket maker on the block off plate and put that back on. Attached some more rubber hose from the hard line at the car to the hardline I made on the engine and boom, all hooked up.
For wiring, I ran wire all the way to the back of the car (under the carpet next to speaker wiring) and through a grommet and connected to the pump itself. The pump itself is currently powered by the controller, which acts as a relay to give the pump direct battery power when it receives a signal from a switched 12v source. That source being the relay I have on the back firewall I installed awhile ago.
I mount the controller in the back of the engine bay next to the switched power block. The controller gets its RPM info from the MSD box which conveniently has a tach out already wired up and ready to hook up. Jacob made quick work of wiring some of that up and I wrapped up powering the controller and pump.
Boom! All set up.
I turned the key and heard the beautiful sound of that electric fuel pump giving life-blood to my engine.
ENTRY TO THE EVENT
Before I leave, I take EVERYTHING out of my trunk. The rules are you have to have all loose stuff out of the car. Guess what I carry in my trunk? A small mechanic's shop. Two tubs with every fluid I would ever need, several sizes of every rubber hose I would need, all gauges of wiring I would ever need, an extra coil, a tool box and then some.
And a spare tire. The kitchen sink would fit as well but I think everyone gets the picture by now.
Anyway, time to go. Jim, Jacob and I take the highway to the Event's Center for some Auto-Crossin' fun, each in our own beast of a car. My Beast handles beautifully and is very responsive. So far, so good!
[Imagine being at the top of a roller coaster and it is slowly starting to crest...]
Yep, something has to go wrong. As I am taking the offramp, I notice my volt readout is below 12 volts.
"Hmm...this isn't good, I should be pulling a strong 13-14 volts..." Well, I was still running fine so I just kept an eye on it.
We pull up to the Auto-X entrance and was greeted by a guy looking like he was about to kick people out of first class and into coach/economy class.
Jim was leading the convoy so he approached him and the conversation went something like this:
"Sorry, this is the Auto Cross entrance, you guys are going to have to go around to park"
"I know, that's where we are heading"
After an eye brow raised look, "Really?"
"Yep"
"In this big thing?" He says as he eyes Jim's lowered, full sized classic Caddy.
"Yep, and that 73 Cougar as well as the big 72 LTD back there as well."
"All right, if you say so"
PROBLEMS
So we pull into the parking lot and right as I'm coming to a stop, I see my fuel pressure tank straight to zero and the car dies in its resting spot, as if the parking spot was made specifically for the Beast.
Turn the key over and nothing. First things that go through my head; controller took a shit or the fuel pump just got fried.
After some minor panic moments, I cut the power wire from the controller to the pump and give it juice straight from the battery. Jim listened for the pump to make any sort of heartbeat.
It did. The pump was working fine - the controller's internal fuse must have flipped. Which means it was overdrawing for some reason....either way, I can't hook the controller back up now until I get back to the shop. I also can't hook the pump straight to the battery without some sort of inline fuse either.
IF ONLY I HAD A TRUNK FULL OF EVERYTHING I WOULD EVER NEED IN THIS SITUATION.
So now what? Well, my bad luck is always overshadowed by some sort of awesome luck. Guess what the auto-cross is next too? A goddamned swapmeet. A place where someone, somewhere is selling something I will need for a classic automobile.
Armed with 20 bucks in cash I borrowed from Jim, I run off into the gypsy land of auto parts.
Tables and tables of this kind of thing. The Swap Meet is a magical place where a person brings their junk in exchange for other people's junk and/or money.
After running from table to table, I acquired the following:
Small package for wire butt connectors: $1.00
Worn pair of wire cutter/crimpers: $9.00 (ripoff)
An inline fuse holder (without the fuse) $2.00
A small box of fuses: $1.00
I run back to the Beast with new found tools and parts in hand.
Find spare wire that I keep in my engine harness. (Yep, it is my "jump" wire. I keep it there just in case I want to power something straight from the battery instead of going from switched, relay, etc) - usually for resting or diagnostic purposes.
Splice in the inline fuse holder into that wire and connect it to a battery source.
Then connect the fuel pump power directly to this wire.
Jim popped in a 7.5 or 10amp fuse in the fuse holder.
Turn key - pump is a go!
Start car.
After several seconds.....it rumbles to life!!!
FRONTIER CAR MEDICINE FOR LIFE
Jim hops in the Beast and we go drive into the queue. Jim just finished navigating the course in his boat so he could help navigate me through it with hopefully not a lot of cone destruction.
Here are videos of one of my runs. [Warning, large cumbersome boat video ahead]
It was so much fun and I want to do it again. This was the first time I've ever done anything like this let alone drive the LTD like a 70's movie. I would do it again in a heart beat!! Next time, I would like to actually go a bit faster and push harder. I'll try again this weekend.
As for the hot-wire job; I'll re-wire all that stuff properly this weekend when I get all my tools back.
Until then, here are some mediocre pictures I took of just the swap meet.
All aluminum car! Pretty cool.
Lincoln Continental, baby.
71 Galaxie! Awesome!
NEXT UP:
I find multiple causes for the controller to fail - and attempt to fix it!
