Nice Looking 1985 on LACL - $3,600
02-10-2010, 01:03 AM
#62
Nordschleife Master
Nice one James, that car looks great. The engine bay's a little dirty, but looking at metalwork in there like the fuel dampner, its been well stored and in really good condition and will scrub up well.
Guards red polishes up very nicely too, so looks like you scored a bargain there!
Guards red polishes up very nicely too, so looks like you scored a bargain there!
02-10-2010, 01:44 AM
#63
Nordschleife Master
Hilton, thanks much! I agree with you... It has been krinked in the back a bit that MIGHT be fixable by a PDR (Paintless Dent Repair) and there is a gouge in the hood up close to the windshield that will actually need paint according to Dr. Bob, and it looks like the paint has rubbed off the corners of the front bumper cover and it needs a spoiler...the interior other than the missing tool tray and the rip in the drivers seat bolster is AWESOME.
Dr. Bob reports that it is VERY FLAT on power...likely due to all the tweaking they were doing to TRY and get the damn thing to pass emissions in CA...I won't have to worry about that here and this bad boy will be restored to its FULL EURO S potential, sans Cats!
Can't wait to get started bring it back to full health again! ANOTHER SAVE FOR AUSTIN, TX!
Dr. Bob reports that it is VERY FLAT on power...likely due to all the tweaking they were doing to TRY and get the damn thing to pass emissions in CA...I won't have to worry about that here and this bad boy will be restored to its FULL EURO S potential, sans Cats!
Can't wait to get started bring it back to full health again! ANOTHER SAVE FOR AUSTIN, TX!
02-10-2010, 01:45 AM
#64
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We have guests coming this weekemd so it may not be the best time for a thorough initial cleaning. Next week will be warmer, more comfortable for the wet work I suspect. If I can wangle part of Thursday this week, there will be a little casual 'gallon of this' then a 'gallon of that' with Orange degreaser, some Purple degreaser, and some Green detergent. And a pressure washer with hot water. It will be just one mess to manage, and make it at least a little civilized to get to work on this gem. The engine bay and mechanical underpinnings have obviously not been cleaned since new. Good News is that this is a Cali car and relatively corrosion-free. I'm sure a lot more will be revealed with the cleaning. Then start on the ignition and injection clean-up to get it running strong again. Wheels will be off for cleaning and brake inspection too, a good time to get the serious do-list going.
Today was a serious SoCal winter day here. Serious rain and a high of barely 50ºF is the same for us as two feet of snow in DC. We have snow down to 2000' on the hills just north, and more due overnight down even lower.
I picked a bad day to give up sniffing paint thinner...
Today was a serious SoCal winter day here. Serious rain and a high of barely 50ºF is the same for us as two feet of snow in DC. We have snow down to 2000' on the hills just north, and more due overnight down even lower.
I picked a bad day to give up sniffing paint thinner...
02-10-2010, 01:52 AM
#65
Nordschleife Master
LOL! Very good! Dr. Bob is THE MAN! Guys if you are looking at a car in So. Cal BE SURE to get this man to look at it for you! His report was nearly 3 pages long! I LOVE THAT! Best report I have ever seen on a car I was considering and I have bought, 6 of my 8 sight unseen other than pics!!! I know you should NEVER, EVER do that... of course I have other enthusiasts put eyes on for me, but I PERSONALLY only see them in pics before I buy them!
Thanks again Dr. Bob! Hey, do you want me to have Roger send that S spoiler to you? If you are just playing around you are welcome to put it on...doubtless it will be easier for you to do than me...someone would have to dump me out of my wheelchair and I'd have to figure out some way to crawl around on my back to fix it... If not, don't worry about it, but you might go ahead and take the broken ends off since the center section is not there!
Be cool!
Thanks again Dr. Bob! Hey, do you want me to have Roger send that S spoiler to you? If you are just playing around you are welcome to put it on...doubtless it will be easier for you to do than me...someone would have to dump me out of my wheelchair and I'd have to figure out some way to crawl around on my back to fix it... If not, don't worry about it, but you might go ahead and take the broken ends off since the center section is not there!
Be cool!
02-10-2010, 02:12 AM
#66
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We are chasing each other in the two threads.
Let me get a parts list for ignition pieces and share that. Then Roger can ship it all at once. I'll get plugs locally. Will have a condition report on caps and rotors and wires after I get the cleaning done. I just don't like working on dirty motors and stuff. It's a disease...
Let me get a parts list for ignition pieces and share that. Then Roger can ship it all at once. I'll get plugs locally. Will have a condition report on caps and rotors and wires after I get the cleaning done. I just don't like working on dirty motors and stuff. It's a disease...
02-10-2010, 02:15 AM
#68
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Hey-- go to bed! It's late enough here and two hours later where you are.
02-10-2010, 02:17 AM
#69
Nordschleife Master
Heck it is only a bit after midnight man...the evening is just getting started! LOL! You are right, I actually have a meeting at church in the AM...but only 9AM...had an 8:30 conference call this AM... gonna do some contract work for a company that does micro testing for doctors offices using a very novel molecular genetics approach that gets results back the next day! NICE! Hope it pays off, but should be fun regardless. Probably start that next week!
02-10-2010, 01:12 PM
#71
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If there is any possibilty that the car is going to be hauled.....do not install the front spoiler !!! Everyone will be much happier that way.....no point in getting it knocked off before you ever see the car.
02-10-2010, 01:48 PM
#72
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Nice save James!
Comparing your model years to mine, I have 3 years you are missing, so maybe between us we can cover them all soon.
I have followed Sterling cross country before, I am sure your car will get here quickly, and have most of the old carbon blown out.
Comparing your model years to mine, I have 3 years you are missing, so maybe between us we can cover them all soon.
I have followed Sterling cross country before, I am sure your car will get here quickly, and have most of the old carbon blown out.
02-10-2010, 03:35 PM
#73
Nordschleife Master
^^^^^^
LOL to that last part! If we drive it in Jim has offered to do the honors... that only gets us to Lubbock though! Might get Sterling and some of the D/FW clan to bring it to Sean from there and have Sean do any remaining work on it and then I can get it somehow from D/FW... just thinking out loud here. Dr. Bob is going to play with it for awhile, then we will get it moving this way.
Agree Jim, that the front spoiler is a possible casualty in transport, but generally the guys I have used have systems that are so low that they can nearly get Indy race cars on and off and talk about LOW! I have not had any front spoiler problems...that said, better safe than sorry for sure!
Tim, I like your thinking and you are absolutely right! Between us we are doing pretty good! I think we will certainly cover most all years when all the Austin group is taken in to account!
LOL to that last part! If we drive it in Jim has offered to do the honors... that only gets us to Lubbock though! Might get Sterling and some of the D/FW clan to bring it to Sean from there and have Sean do any remaining work on it and then I can get it somehow from D/FW... just thinking out loud here. Dr. Bob is going to play with it for awhile, then we will get it moving this way.
Agree Jim, that the front spoiler is a possible casualty in transport, but generally the guys I have used have systems that are so low that they can nearly get Indy race cars on and off and talk about LOW! I have not had any front spoiler problems...that said, better safe than sorry for sure!
Tim, I like your thinking and you are absolutely right! Between us we are doing pretty good! I think we will certainly cover most all years when all the Austin group is taken in to account!
02-24-2010, 12:39 AM
#75
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Just an update on James' car--
I ended up working on a family member's car on Saturday. Slightly newer, mom's '89 Taurus now being driven by the youngest brother. The Good News is that they spent a bit of time looking at the '85. Taurus is gone but so was my play day.
Took some time today to get the hood up again, endured the verbal lashing about "more inportant projects" and the like. I was looking for vacuum hose routing issues, plug condition, and distributor condition to see if I could find a single cause for the soggy performance. Was kind of hoping it would be as easy as a broken distributor belt but not that lucky.
-- On the pass side of the motor, there's a plugged vacuum connection that, per the WSM diagrams, should go to the airpump valve. Actually attached to the airpump valve is another hose, connected to manifold vacuum via what looks like a thermo switch of some kind in the block V by the number 1 cylinder. The WSM diagram I have shows no such device. I know this is really worth less without pictures. Can anybody confirm that the airpump valve gets vacuum direct from manifold as the digarm shows, or is there a thermo switch installed in between on another '85 ROW car? Bueller?
-- The plugs look good, a little splotchy but color is generally good and the edges are sharp. Plugs are WR8DS, and my lookup shows that they should be WR7DC. Anybody have an opinion on what should really be in there? I went plug shopping at the POLAPS, where they don't stock or even show availability for the WR7DC or the current number equivalent. Should I shop more for the WR7DC or change the search to include the WR8DS? I want to do an injector cleaning on the car, and would like to have new plugs to install after that little project.
--------------
Other stuff:
- Pulled the timing belt covers for a peek, and found that the belt is OK just based on appearance. The gears look very good, and except for the oil that's flowed into the cover it's free of belt shavings in there.
- The TB tension is fine, using the Kempf tool. Right at the tight end of the window.
- Caps and rotors look good too.
- Wires are originals, with the cute little plastic engagement rings on each one telling which cylinder it's sparking.
- Fuel pressure is perfect, and the test of connections for the flush unit is leak-free so we are good to go with that effort when I get some plugs.
- My 30yo Sun timing light has gone on to Timing Light Heaven. I get to go shopping tomorrow.
There's still PLENTY of cleaning to do in the engine bay. In spite of the improvement shown in the pictures in the engine cleaning thread, I went through several pairs of nitrile gloves today just doing the easy stuff mentioned. I can see the shape of the front of the oil sump down there under the fan, still slimed in pretty good. I may break down and shoot it with engine cleaner over a catch pan, instead of depending completely on the citrus degreaser. Reports on that will show up in the engine cleaning thread.
That's all I've got for now!
I ended up working on a family member's car on Saturday. Slightly newer, mom's '89 Taurus now being driven by the youngest brother. The Good News is that they spent a bit of time looking at the '85. Taurus is gone but so was my play day.
Took some time today to get the hood up again, endured the verbal lashing about "more inportant projects" and the like. I was looking for vacuum hose routing issues, plug condition, and distributor condition to see if I could find a single cause for the soggy performance. Was kind of hoping it would be as easy as a broken distributor belt but not that lucky.
-- On the pass side of the motor, there's a plugged vacuum connection that, per the WSM diagrams, should go to the airpump valve. Actually attached to the airpump valve is another hose, connected to manifold vacuum via what looks like a thermo switch of some kind in the block V by the number 1 cylinder. The WSM diagram I have shows no such device. I know this is really worth less without pictures. Can anybody confirm that the airpump valve gets vacuum direct from manifold as the digarm shows, or is there a thermo switch installed in between on another '85 ROW car? Bueller?
-- The plugs look good, a little splotchy but color is generally good and the edges are sharp. Plugs are WR8DS, and my lookup shows that they should be WR7DC. Anybody have an opinion on what should really be in there? I went plug shopping at the POLAPS, where they don't stock or even show availability for the WR7DC or the current number equivalent. Should I shop more for the WR7DC or change the search to include the WR8DS? I want to do an injector cleaning on the car, and would like to have new plugs to install after that little project.
--------------
Other stuff:
- Pulled the timing belt covers for a peek, and found that the belt is OK just based on appearance. The gears look very good, and except for the oil that's flowed into the cover it's free of belt shavings in there.
- The TB tension is fine, using the Kempf tool. Right at the tight end of the window.
- Caps and rotors look good too.
- Wires are originals, with the cute little plastic engagement rings on each one telling which cylinder it's sparking.
- Fuel pressure is perfect, and the test of connections for the flush unit is leak-free so we are good to go with that effort when I get some plugs.
- My 30yo Sun timing light has gone on to Timing Light Heaven. I get to go shopping tomorrow.
There's still PLENTY of cleaning to do in the engine bay. In spite of the improvement shown in the pictures in the engine cleaning thread, I went through several pairs of nitrile gloves today just doing the easy stuff mentioned. I can see the shape of the front of the oil sump down there under the fan, still slimed in pretty good. I may break down and shoot it with engine cleaner over a catch pan, instead of depending completely on the citrus degreaser. Reports on that will show up in the engine cleaning thread.
That's all I've got for now!