kishy's 1985 Country Squire

[DerekTheGreat]

I knew a guy once who put priority in the sound system of the mechanicals. "Dude, your car isn't running so why bother with the stereo?" "-So I can hang out in my car & listen to it."

I think those radios can be taken apart and the contacts of the potentiometer can be cleaned up & away your noise will go. I've never tried it but that's what all the old guys used to tell me about that exact issue with old stereos.

[gadget73]

Its easy to clean the pots. The cover comes off and you can get into the pot enough to give it a hoot of cleaner. I can't abide crackly controls, so that got done before I even put the old 4 button in the Conti. CRC QD electronics cleaner works perfectly fine, its not stupid pricey, and you can get it at most auto parts stores or hardware stores. They have an electronics lube that isn't a bad idea as a follow-up, but thats not as available. I think Home Depot carries it. Use the lube sparingly, the absolute minimum amount you can get in there is about right.

[Stocker]

Small unimportant progress:
Tried to fix the chime again (re: the original 85 chime did not respond well to the same foam I used on a later 80s example). Used plumbing teflon tape. Sounds like murdering small animals. Back to the drawing board there.

If it's the same as my '85's, a rubber O-ring where the foam used to be should do the trick perfectly. I can't recall the size I used (I can open up my spare one I fixed and check if you need) but it just came out of the O-ring drawer at the hardware store, nothing special.

[kishy]

If it's the same as my '85's, a rubber O-ring where the foam used to be should do the trick perfectly. I can't recall the size I used (I can open up my spare one I fixed and check if you need) but it just came out of the O-ring drawer at the hardware store, nothing special.

Did you find the resulting chime quieter than they normally are?

I believe part of it being able to work effectively (that is, obnoxiously loud like they were when new) is the material (foam, o-ring, whatever) being fairly soft allowing vibration of the metal disc. I would think sandwiching an O-ring in there would mount it too firmly...

Easy enough to take the chime to various places and look for a solution, I guess.

[kishy]

Swapped the small bezel/bracket for the tailgate window and antenna switches for one from a sedan that only had an antenna switch, so I could use it for the tailgate switch alone in the wagon (2 switch bezel down to 1).

Before and after:





Tonight, fixed the sound. Had to do some wire re-joining where PO hacked it up to bypass the amp (curiously, only for the front speakers) and had to put Ford pigtails back on.



Does not sound great, but it'll do...

[Stocker]

Did you find the resulting chime quieter than they normally are?

I'm not sure how loud the '80s chime is supposed to be. It's noticeably quieter than the chime in my F-150, but that's fine with me since I find the F-150's chime obnoxious.

I would've thought that the metal disc should be firmly mounted around the perimeter so the electromagnet can put sufficient tension on it, but I suppose if that were the case they would've had something similar from the factory rather than foam.

[gadget73]

2 channel premium sound was a thing. Both of my cars had it. I converted one to 4 channel premium, the other is aftermarket now. The power antennas are also kinda crap. They fail internally so you get no radio reception or the mast breaks. How many people actually use them anyway? No thanks on the telescoping either, they break like the power ones do. The solid whip just works.

[DerekTheGreat]

I like my power antenna, thank you very much! Swank on a Lincoln.

Is that the radio which came from my stash? Looks mint.

[kishy]

I'm not sure how loud the '80s chime is supposed to be. It's noticeably quieter than the chime in my F-150, but that's fine with me since I find the F-150's chime obnoxious.

I would've thought that the metal disc should be firmly mounted around the perimeter so the electromagnet can put sufficient tension on it, but I suppose if that were the case they would've had something similar from the factory rather than foam.

Based on my Lincoln, which is admittedly an entirely different chime made by a different company than the ones in Fords/Mercs, the 80s ones are just as loud as the 90s ones. The 80s ones are bigger, with a wider diameter disc to match, and the ding is longer and slower, but volume-wise they're comparable.

I tested this theory accidentally by crushing the foam in another, previously good chime, so the disc was firmly glued down instead of having the soft foam mount, and the chime became very quiet. It seems like it being a soft, flexible mount is critical to the disc being able to do what it needs to do.

2 channel premium sound was a thing. Both of my cars had it. I converted one to 4 channel premium, the other is aftermarket now. The power antennas are also kinda crap. They fail internally so you get no radio reception or the mast breaks. How many people actually use them anyway? No thanks on the telescoping either, they break like the power ones do. The solid whip just works.

I like power antennas but agree they're a pain. The one in my Town Car is beginning to act up, but it's standard "old motor" stuff. Acts like it might have worn or dirty brushes. Sometimes I need to power cycle the radio a couple times to make it extend (can't hear the motor running until this is done). Note 84 does not have an antenna switch, it's auto-up with the radio power.

I would like to eventually "OE+" upgrade all my stuff...whether that be better premium sound options from newer years, or the JBL stuff, or whatever...I'm not a super big fan of aftermarket radios unless they're old 90s ones. I have some Pioneer compromises in my Ranger and the two Mercurys because at least the backlighting works with the stock cluster lighting.

I like my power antenna, thank you very much! Swank on a Lincoln.

Is that the radio which came from my stash? Looks mint.

Yep..."Electronic" instead of "Premium" so that's your old one.

It's got a fair bit of electronic noise going on, but one thing at a time...I just need something marginally operational installed because driving in silence is for communists.

[DerekTheGreat]

LMBO, that's pretty funny. I forgot what I pulled that thing from, if I was smart, I would have written on it what the donor was.

You should take a look at my set-up in the Town Car. It was still possible several years ago to get a radio that looks ok. This one even changes from white to green when you turn the headlights on. Speaking of, I've got crackly crackly to figure out in my TC. I hope it's loose connections at the amp, don't feel like pulling the radio as then I might as well pull the cluster and see why the clock doesn't work and why the oil light comes on when it feels like it.

[gadget73]

Power antennas in a Lincoln aren't awful just because access is cake. It sucks changing them in the front fender of the Fords though. Extra fun when its the kind that doesn't have an antenna cable that unplugs and you have to fish it from behind the radio all the way out.

[kishy]

Yanked the AC compressor (system was empty), fuel pressure line, and evap line. Return line will go soon as well. Also planning to remove remaining scraps of factory brake lines, which were not removed when new lines were done in the past. I may not be able to make the car pretty underneath but at least I can make it look like not a total hackjob.

Observation: the fuel supply output off the pump hanger is 3/8". The other end of the flexible line on the tank where it meets the frame rail is 5/16". Makes one wonder if the car was originally being engineered to use a 3/8" supply line and some bean counter asked why, to which there was no good response. Either that or it was a simple way of making sure nobody ever reverse-plumbed a fuel system on the assembly line.

Removing those line mounting clamps was not intended to be done with the body installed. There's one that can't be accessed, no matter what you do, just in front of the rear wheel above and behind the fuel filter. I snapped the lines off there and got them out that way. Important tip: do not use a non-reversible ratcheting wrench for the one right behind the front wheel. There is not enough clearance from the body to the frame to get the wrench off the bolt, or bolt out of the hole. I had to get creative with a jack and a prying implement to get this to come out once I made this mistake.

Replacing the lines is the right choice, these are crumbling with basic handling and had a very limited remaining service life.















Made this little mock-up of the stock arrangement:

[87gtVIC]

The ratcheting wrench dilemma is a fun one. Encountered this a couple times doing various jobs. Always makes you think in the future while using them.

[gadget73]

Done that while replacing a thermostat before. Had to turn the bolt back in with needle nose pliers, and it was not easy.

[kishy]

Received a few items for this car...

NOS turn signals for the header panel:


Reman brake booster, axle repair bearing, and cheap NOS TPS of both varieties used on CFI (84 uses the EEC-III connector, 85 uses the EEC-IV one, but all CFI ones must have the hole in the middle)
The axle repair bearing is "used, like new" courtesy of Amazon Warehouse Deals. I found a review saying they returned it because they were unhappy with the brand received, and between that and it being impossible to install/remove one of these without destroying it, I took the reasonable gamble that I'd get a new bearing, and I sure did.



A second bearing is in transit still.