My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[Lutrova]

So we have no working solution for a broken vacuum release? Just cap the line and be done with it?

[Kodachrome Wolf]

If you can find a replacement vacuum switch for the column you could swap the faulty one out. Mine never worked in the '87, so I pulled the line and capped it at the vacuum tree.

[gadget73]

the switches can be had, its just an SOB to put them in. I spent an houir under the dash changing one only to have one of the screws strip, allowing the valve to move out of position so the finger on the shift lever lost contact with the fork on the valve, and when i shifted it back the other way it tried to over-travel the valve and broke the fork off. Thats when I abandoned the idea of fixing that system.

for a device with only 2 screws you wouldn't think its that bad of a job, its just in a very awkward spot that I'm to fat to fit into and it requires a fair bit of blind work besides. I could get my hand in there, or see what I was doing, but not both at once.

[Arquemann]

Found dad's lost infrared thermometer.
I fired up the car, let it run on high idle for about a minute and jabbed the throttle so it idled down. I let it run and warm up for a little under 10 minutes, checking out the temps of the manifolds as they warmed up.
Cylinders 3, 4 & 8 were slower to warm up than the others.
The temps started plateauing around 160-170°C, except for cylinders 5 & 6, which got up to about 200-210°C

From one thing to another:
My rear speakers started making awful noises last summer and have done it recently too. I yanked out the offending one (left) and inspected it for damage or deterioration. None to be seen. Played some music through it while it was on the spare tire shelf. No unwanted noise. Put it back in and still no noise. Win?
Where's the radio ground location?

Oh yeah and I found a wingnut for the spare tire hold down. Now I can more easily access the space saver that's probably original and flat.

[Arquemann]

Inspection day:
- Sway bar end links are kinda shot
- Leaks oil (no shit)
- Rear left wheelbearing has play in it
- Rear brakes are a bit weak and poor balance

+ Emissions were good (first time with the carb setup)

So she passed Not a single thing mentioned on the sheet, the guy was definitely understanding of a classic car. If my car was a normal POS, no chance of passing.

Oh yeah and on the way home (i think) something happened and now there's a vacuum leak behind the carb. Went lean but I was able to baby her home.

[jaywish]

I you park on a slope leaning to the left you could use too much oil pretty quick. Then you need all new gears etc.

[gadget73]

fix that wheel bearing soon. If its got enough play to be detectable the axle is most likely trash too. The bearing rides directly on the axle too so once the hard shell on the axle grinds through it will fail rapidly. Having been in one of these cars when the axle failed, I can tell you it would have been a lot less fun if it still had drum brakes on it.

[Arquemann]

fix that wheel bearing soon.

I figured as much, and of course its the 8.8 with the stupid c-clips...
Might aswell do bearings and seals on both sides since I've got to open the rear end. I'll pull the drums before ordering bearings so I can see if I need any brake parts.

[friskyfrankie]

I figured as much, and of course its the 8.8 with the stupid c-clips...
Might aswell do bearings and seals on both sides since I've got to open the rear end. I'll pull the drums before ordering bearings so I can see if I need any brake parts.

Agreed. I'd fix anything I could since you are already into it to avoid the "domino effect".

[jaywish]

Also it is not a bad time to swap in a posi carrier or disk brakes if the items can be had.

[Arquemann]

Also it is not a bad time to swap in a posi carrier or disk brakes if the items can be had.

Those fall more into the "wants" and not "needs". Also no, I don't have that stuff laying around... I have no clue where I'd find suitable disc brakes, probably because I don't even know what are suitable disc brakes. Finding a used lsd for an 8.8 here in Finland is really-fucking-hard. One guy is selling a 3.73 lsd exploder rear end, for a grand.

[jaywish]

IIRC any panther disk setup will work, I had put an 11 setup on my old 89. Yes finding a carrier could be tough.

[Arquemann]

I removed the rear drums today and checked out the play on the wheel bearings. There's probably a millimeter of up-down play, on both sides. I've browsed forums and stuff trying to find a spec for the bearing play, but can't find anything conclusive. Some say there shouldn't be any play, and that kinda baffles me. I'm no engineer (no wait, shit I am...), but no play in the this type of bearing setup makes no sense to me, since it's not a press fit on both sides nor is it a conical bearing.

Wheel seals, brakes and hardware all looks good, dirty but no obvious leaks from the seals or wheel cylinders. Adjusted the shoes out a bit, as much as I could and still slide the drum on. There's barely any lip on the drums, and I dont have a good tool to adjust the shoes from tiny hole on the backside. Who makes red-painted brake shoes? S/N looked almost ford-ish but couldn't make out the numbers.

[Tiggie]

At one time, Raybestos sold red painted brake shoes.

[Arquemann]

Browsing the internet high and low, asking peeps around... Some say 1mm of play on the bearings is totally normal and others say there should be absolutely none. So which one fucking is it?

Changing the bearings is a shit job and I'd rather not spend the ~hundo plus the effort for fuck all.
Sorry Im pissed off, but I'm already tense and now there's people telling me it's fine and others telling me it's fucked.