1987cp's new '81 LTD 2-door

[Pirate]

Who are you, again?

[1987cp]

Absolutely no one, and it would appear from some of my recent posts that I don't work on cars, either!

[79lincolnlover]

Cavalier?

[1987cp]

Cavalier?

Our Cavalier was broken on and off for about three weeks. Drove me very nearly batty. Details are sprinkled throughout the past few pages of WAYWO.

[1987cp]

Managed to get out to the garage a couple of days ago. I had just enough time to dig up a bolt for the engine ground cable, figure out that I wasn't going to successfully run the starter cable under the motor mount without undue hassle, run a tap through the bolt holes on the water pump flange, and fit the heater hoses, before wandering inside and discovering I was needed. Then tonight my mom calls me all worried and insists I get cranking on the thing. And this at the same time my mother-in-law is again suggesting I apply for jobs, still without me having a clear idea of how the kid will be looked after if I were to take a job. I can't do everything all at once!

[1987cp]

Bought parts for the tudor

So I got a box in the mail today from Speedway Motors.

First off, the two main doodads that accounted for about $75 of my purchase ...


Metering block:




Residual pressure valve:




So yes, the purchase consisted of not-very-exciting valves for the brake system. According to TheBrakeMan.com, a front-disc/rear-drum system should have a metering or holdoff valve on the front, which delays actuation until line pressure reaches about 100psi (to compensate for the drums out back being slower to respond), and a 10psi residual pressure valve for the rear, which helps the rear brakes overcome their retractor springs so they can respond more quickly. Any proportioning valve is then placed inline with the residual pressure valve to provide whatever decrease is necessary in rear line pressure to avoid premature rear lockup. The lack of these extra valves would probably be why my brake system on the white wagon, which had a proportioning valve and nothing else, tended to be just a bit touchy and tended toward premature front lockup in poor weather.


Since these fancypants valves arrived today, and I didn't have a whole lot better to do and this didn't seem like something likely to restrain my middle-back muscles, I went ahead and installed them. As anticipated, the worst parts were wrestling with adapters that had been installed a the factory (since I wanted to substitute something different), and of course scaring up my inverted-flare tools and a tubing cutter.

Since the proportioning and metering valves are equipped with matching mounting holes, I went ahead and stuck a piece of allthread through them to keep things neat, with the idea that I can later create a bracket to locate the valves positively with respect to the master cylinder mounting studs.

I had a brief worried moment when I noticed that the metering valve's instructions showed a "typical installation" as having a 2psi residual valve for the front, but another visit to TheBrakeMan.com refreshed my memory that a residual valve for disk brakes is usually only necessary when the master cylinder is mounted below the level of the calipers. It said that normally, 1-2psi of residual pressure is already present due to gravity, rendering the use of the extra valve unnecessary. So with this arrangement, the brake system should be good to go!

[P72Ford]

Looks good, Michael. I've always liked your resourcefulness.

I've bought some stuff from Speedway; they have a ton of stuff available.

[packman]

Very nice! I wonder how much of an improvement there is now?



Packman

[1987cp]

Looks good, Michael. I've always liked your resourcefulness.

Thanks!!!!

I now have my grubby paws on a Speedway "Street" print catalog. I like how it starts with all the brake parts no one else seems to sell! (like my metering valve and the male-inlet residual valve)

Very nice! I wonder how much of an improvement there is now?



Packman

It's been over two years since I was able to drive this car, and at the time I was pretty distracted by the disappointing power levels that ranged from probably 63hp when running down to zero when it decided to quit and never restart, so I doubt I'll be able to tell. The advantages of this arrangement are admittedly more practical than performance-oriented, because of (in my experience) the stock multipurpose block's tendency to leave you with no rear brakes, combined with its inaccessible location, lousy port orientation, and annoying 7/16-IFF port threading that requires you either save the original line nuts (sometimes impossible) or add extra adapters (yuck). So on this car, since it was to be sitting for quite some time and needed new brake lines anyway, I decided to yank the problematic multifunction block before it had a chance to give me grief.

The total cost of parts to do it this way is around $110 not counting lines, adapters, and shipping, which is pricey for my taste but not really all that bad, and it's adjustable, way tidier than stock, and you can service the components individually. As mentioned in WAYWO, I noticed Speedway also has a nifty compact adjustable proportioning valve, which I'm thinking about getting for the P72 whenever I get around to redoing the hackjob Band-Aid it currently has for rear brakes.

[1987cp]

Finally bought a non-busted HEI cap to replace the one I managed to break in two ways (cracked housing, busted hold-down) before ever even using the thing. Black is good, and $13 is better, and I doubt at this car's power level the aluminium terminals are going to be holding it back much. The red coil dustcover is still a little obnoxious, but very little else about this engine bay is all that pretty either.

Pic 3 shows my "innovation" with an old starter relay. Planning to get either a nice power stud or maybe even a real underhood fuse box to make this neater. I dread the prospect of falling for the temptation to wire yet another ignition system with no fuse protection.

I noticed on car-part.com that our local self-serve yard appears to be offering '94 V6 Mustang 3G alternators for just $20. Thinking it might be the perfect excuse to swear off 2Gs altogether.

Electric fan has been tempting for this car, as it is for the four-door, but I'm guesstimating that the way I'm thinking of doing it (using a new '02 Sentra fan from RockAuto, 4 still remaining at about $90 shipped), the install will cost me about $150, versus reinstalling a clutch fan for maybe the cost of a couple of bolts.


I'm thinking getting the spark plug leads anything like neat is going to be a virtual nightmare. I have enough trouble with a normal TFI/Duraspark cap where you can run wires across the center!

[Bowman85merc]

Wow, you still have this thing??? lol jk



That sucks that you got two bad HEI dists'. That happend to my cuzin too, he got one for his bronco, I think the shaft is bent because it actually wobbles, but it still works. I just got really lucky with mine I suppose lol


Keep up the good work

[1987cp]

What bad distributors? I only bought one, and I broke the cap myself. :shrugs:

[Bowman85merc]

What bad distributors? I only bought one, and I broke the cap myself. :shrugs:

Whoops

Thats what I get for getting on this site and posting as soon as I wake up lol

I thought you said you broke two different caps, or something, I dont know, sorry for the inconvenience lol

[1987cp]

Meh, I've typed one or two stupid or irrelevant things either too early in the morning or too late at night - or while excessively bored - or whatever. :banana:

[1987cp]

Currently trying to start the thing. Having fuel delivery problems, and now a flat battery.

I could grab a different battery, but it's time for a break anyhow.