Joe's '94GT money pit

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joemomma

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So while I was doing the terminals, I remembered that I hadn't upgraded the power wire from the alternator to the fuse block. The stock wire looks to be on the smallish side, no? Is 1/0 overkill for it? I think I have a fuse block I could use, but I think it's only like 100A - would this be sufficient?

EDIT: drove the car in this morning, and still have noise.
 
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Had a few goodies show up yesterday:
j8dYcKV.jpg


First item was to replace the license plate lamps, they were shot:
xdHV9l2.jpg

PR7wrAo.jpg

0h3OFGy.jpg


Used the kit from LMR, which included new housings and DD LED lamps.
6vUcwCe.jpg



I was doubtful that they would even work, considering how bad the sockets were. So I hit them with some throttle body cleaner and some isopropyl, and a quick scrub with a small screwdriver and sandpaper. To my surprise,
JZgdQOC.jpg

They worked, once I got both lamps oriented in the correct polarity.
bD44GTd.jpg

ptJKYEm.jpg

Kind of hard to tell how bright they are in the daytime, but I think they turned out good.

And then, I swear this car taunts me every chance it gets. I ordered a replacement Hurst shift knob as the one in the car is broken. Turns out, it's either a really old handle with different threads or some other make of handle. The new shift knob doesn't fit. It's not the stock threads, as the stock knob doesn't fit either. Thankfully, the threads are larger than the new knob, so I should be able to turn it down.

So, today I'll be getting a tap/die set and re-threading the handle. A new handle is about the same price as a tap/die set from China Freight, so I'll just do that. I need one anyway.

The Christmas tree pins are just a couple that I needed to replace in the kick panels. The one in the passenger side shredded the last time I was in there. The other box is a replacement speed sensor. I'll replace that this weekend along with a new speedometer gear.
 
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So I got to work on the shift knob last night. Confirmed that the shifter and handle are indeed Hurst, but it was 1/2-20 threads rather than 3/8-16. Not sure when that changed, but it did. I stopped by China Freight on the way home and picked up 2 "carbon steel" tap/die sets (SAE/Metric). Dad didn't think much of them until later...more to come on that.

Here you can clearly see the H on the handle, and the threads after some quick work by the bench grinder.
sNMCq0C.jpg


So, dad pulls out his ancient but hardly used tap/die set. We get to work on the handle, and can't get it to start even with a nice taper on the end of the handle. He suggests we try my new set and wouldn't you know, after some initial fiddling, I finally get it to start. New threads complete, ball and nut mount up perfect. I have to say, I've not had any bad luck with the HF Pittsburg branded tools. Heck, even the 1/4" ratchet I got to replace my Craftsman junked one is nice. A heck of a lot nicer than the Craftsman it replaced.

Back at my house, I set in on replacing the handle. I ended up spending another hour or hour and a half dicking around with the shifter. I adjusted the stops on the base, and had to re-glue the foam/rubber gasket around the lower shift boot to the frame, as it was coming off. Then, one of the clips that hold the bolts broke, and fell out under the car. Of course, it was the last one and I had the other three already in and snug. I had to retrieve that, I just taped it together enough for it to hold on long enough to get the bolt started. I didn't get a pic of the new assembly, it's just a black Hurst ball that we've all seen. I might get one at lunch if I swap out for the car. I was going to drive it this morning but the weather is yucky - it was supposed to be nice today. It might be nice later.
 

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Yeah, those HF Tap and Die sets are pretty good. They are some of the better HF tools recommended by a few youtubers. their speed bits are great as well.
 
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Yeah it was solid from what I could tell...there were a couple of burrs still in the threads, but they cleaned right out as soon as I started using it.
 
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Made some progress on the car this weekend. Got the new speed sensor and gear installed, below you can see why the speedo only worked sometimes.
It was chewed up pretty good.
Wn6cspB.jpg

I was a bit surprised, as there was no speedo cable. I was expecting a cable, but there wasn't one. I also broke the retaining clip off the plug when I removed it, hopefully it stays on but if not I'll get a new plug ordered. They are only about $10-12, but it would be a huge PITA to try and get it replaced on jackstands.

I also took another stab at the vinyl on the back, and had some pretty good success finally. I watched a few more videos on YT, and discovered the trick is to lay the vinyl at an angle, making sure to cover the entire area. This allows you to lay the vinyl "flat", instead of trying to get it to lay flat across the curve if that makes sense. Luckily, the vinyl I bought was pretty wide (12" I think) so I had enough to cover the whole dox matrix area. I've got a few bubbles in it still and my cut on the passenger side top isn't very clean, but it came out pretty good. I think I can improve on it once I see how this holds up. That, and I need a better squeegie. I was just using an old ID card.

km2ZNPK.jpg
MFhVwu5.jpg

I'm not sure how well I like it yet, but I think it will grow on me. It certainly looks better from inside, there's no daylight showing at the top of the glass. The wife didn't care for it.

And, here's a side shot from last week just because:
Lc4yoBs.jpg
 

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not bad on the vinyl. If you did a gloss black it would not have been so much of a drastic change from the glass to the vinyl. When the gloss is done right on a tinted window you will hardly notice.
 
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not bad on the vinyl. If you did a gloss black it would not have been so much of a drastic change from the glass to the vinyl. When the gloss is done right on a tinted window you will hardly notice.

Yeah I didn't even think about doing a gloss, it would certainly look closer. I may see about picking up some gloss - it's not terribly expensive.

At lunch it greeted me with a Low Oil light. I checked it when I got home, nothing registered on the dip stick. So, I parked it and will have to investigate that issue when I have the time. I had probably 1/3 of a quart of oil and added that. When I moved it to park it, the light was off. I need to get some oil and a filter and do a change, haven't done that since I got it last fall. It doesn't have any miles to speak of, but I'm not sure how long it has been since the PO changed it. Plus, that will give me an idea of how much oil is actually in it.
 
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Did an oil change this weekend. Picked up a filter and some Pennzoil 10w30 from Amazon. I couldn't find "regular" Pennzoil around here (at least not at Wal-Mart or online at AZone or O'reilly). I went with that because that's what the PO had used apparently, as it is written in Sharpie on the underside of the hood. Who does that? Anyway....It was nasty, glad I did the change. And, I'm sure it was from a quick lube place, but it had some no-name oil filter on it. T1 or someshit. It was a complete different shape (thinner and longer) than the Motorcraft I replaced it with. Plus, the asshole that put it on must have used some sort of impact on it lol. My filter wrench didn't fit it, and it was all I could do to get it off by hand, and I consider myself "above average" in the strength department. Anyway, that's done.
 
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So the new speedo gear is already acting up. I've literally driven it to work twice. Is the only way to really fix it to pull the tail shaft and replace the gear inside there with a 6-tooth?
 
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I think they are 3.73 - I've not pulled the cover off to verify. PO wasn't sure. That's a 23-tooth gear from LMR, with stock shaft gear.
 

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The 23 tooth gears are known to destroy themselves but that seems a little too fast. Is there any atf on either one? Maybe they’re not getting lubricated enough.


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The 23 tooth gears are known to destroy themselves but that seems a little too fast. Is there any atf on either one? Maybe they’re not getting lubricated enough.
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There was ATF fluid on the old one when I pulled it out, you can just barely make it out in the picture possibly.

Watched a couple videos on replacing the shaft gear, it doesn't look bad honestly, except for the part where you need to pull the transmission from the car lol. Apparently it is only a handful of bolts though. Problem is, I don't have a lift and working on jack stands isn't my idea of fun. Plus, we are about to list our house, and having a car with the transmission out of it would not be good....it's my luck that I'd F something up in the process and it wouldn't be drivable.
 

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Lol story of my life. I’m thinking it’s just the crappy 23 tooth gears then. I read others suggested a speedcal on s197, I’m not familiar with 94-95’s but couldnt you use a speedcal with them?


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I'll look into the SpeedCal - I'm not sure if they would work for '94-95 or not. These don't have a cable, just the speed sensor and a wiring pigtail.
 
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So update on the noise issue: noise persists even with stereo OFF. Not alternator whine per se, but a general buzzing/humming with accessory load. Blower motor, headlights, etc all make it worse. Stumped.
 
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Submitted an offer for a lower Exploder intake (non-EGR) on eBay, we will see if it gets accepted. The lowers are getting harder to find for some reason, lots of uppers available though.
 

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Good luck it seems like sellers think they have gold and don’t want to haggle.

If you can’t get it for a deal and are on a budget you could try a Speedmaster intake. From my research they are an Edelbrock clone and are halfway decent for the money. I’ve been considering one for my 87 Grand Marquis.


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Good luck it seems like sellers think they have gold and don’t want to haggle.

If you can’t get it for a deal and are on a budget you could try a Speedmaster intake. From my research they are an Edelbrock clone and are halfway decent for the money. I’ve been considering one for my 87 Grand Marquis.


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Definitely on a budget lol. I haven't heard back yet on the offer. We will see how it goes. I'm sure he's waiting on any replies from other buyers. He sent an offer for $15 off, I came back $15 cheaper lol. Honestly, I'd pay his deal price at this point. Just the "haggler" in me - I need to feel like I'm getting a deal.
 

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