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My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

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    #76
    Update on many things:

    AC: I couldn't pop off the belt, I understood that the tensioner on the AC bracket is one of those spring-loaded ones, I can't get it to budge at all with a 3/4" breaker bar in the slot on the tensioner.
    I've called pretty much every respectable shop advertising AC repair and charging, no one wants to / can deal with an R12 based system. I've got one choice left nearby, it's the same shop the car was in last summer.

    Trunk still leaks from the corner/body seam. Very little water has pooled in the taillights, not good, but better I guess.
    I'll probably clean up the inside of the body seam and sikaflex the shit out of it from the inside. The parcel shelf / C-pillar seam was a suspect too, but that is dry and clean.
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    I adjusted the driver door a bit more, it's pretty close height-wise, today I pulled the rear-bottom corner a bit outwards.
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    The wind noise is still an issue and I'm starting to believe it's the weatherstripping rather than misalignment any more.
    Dew wipe is rock-hard and split. Window channel is crappy, split in a couple spots and starting to get brittle. I'm guessing the wind noise is a combination of the window channel and body to door seal.
    Mostly the wind noise is coming from the back edge and top-rear corner of the door. At 75 MPH it feels almost like a breeze, even though nothing is wrong visibly.

    As you can see, the door squishes the seal quite evenly, but the seal is harder in the top-rear corner. Lower from there I push the seal with my finger and see daylight. Not sure if it's the corner or down from there.
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    Here's how the front corner looks like:
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    How useful is this flat piece of weatherstripping above the body seal in the front? 'Cause it's hard and loose too.
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    To note:
    - the driver window has come a bit loose from the mechanism it goes up and down on, most likely the damage in the top front corner has come from the glass smushing the seal the wrong way since it doesn't really want to follow the window channel.
    - driver door panel is a bit loose on the top edge, that, plus the rock hard dew wipes, when the glass is down, it clunks side to side.
    - if I move the driver door striker any more inwards, the door becomes really hard to shut properly, currently it's at a sweetspot where it closes almost half as nice as the passenger front door. Rear doors rqeuire some effort to close and they still clunk against the strikers when pressed while they're closed. Front door don't do it.

    I'm guessing I need new dew wipes, window channels and body to door seals. Both fronts and at least the dew wipes for the rears. I know it's a hunt for you, how about getting that stuff over the pond to Finland?
    Gotta say, after the adjustment for the first time, I could hear the wind noise from the passenger side of the car aswell.
    If all these things were mint, I wouldn't even consider getting a whale Vic. I just want quiet! And from what I've understood these cars did it pretty damn well when new.
    1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
    1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

    Comment


      #77
      It is not a spring tensioner. No wonder you couldn’t get it to budge. It’s a nut and bolt as well as a pivot on one of the lower ac compressor bolts.

      My seal along the top of the door is hard as well. No idea how useful it is. I don’t find any I’ll effects from it being stiff.

      I don’t know of a source for door weather stripping. Only the dew wipes and window channels can be sourced.

      Some are not happy with the window channel option but I find it to be damn good
      considering nothing else is available. I’ve waisted so much money on NOS weatherstripping only to have them be dry or dry out within months. Not worth it.
      Last edited by 87gtVIC; 05-13-2020, 12:23 PM.
      ~David~

      My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
      My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

      Originally posted by ootdega
      My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

      Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
      But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

      Originally posted by gadget73
      my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




      Comment


        #78
        This may be relevant to your wind noise. Do your strikers on the door jams have the plastic rollers still attached? When mine was missing it was hard to adjust the striker to catch without having wind noise since the door was sloppy. WagonMan
        89 Colony Park
        90 Colony Park
        70 HEMI Daytona Convertible

        Comment


          #79
          Originally posted by WagonMan View Post
          This may be relevant to your wind noise. Do your strikers on the door jams have the plastic rollers still attached? When mine was missing it was hard to adjust the striker to catch without having wind noise since the door was sloppy. WagonMan
          I don't think there's any plastic on those. Obviously they don't last getting hammered by the latch all the time.
          The driver's door doesn't clunk, it is probably squished so hard against the weatherstripping. But it still makes a lot of noise

          Any recommendations on that? A brass bushing with a slot cut to slip it over?
          1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
          1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

          Comment


            #80
            People have used plastic pipe. Probably 3/8 or 1/2" PEX. Not sure what you have there for sizes but I bet somewhere that sells plumbing stuff will have a thing on the shelf that will work. I don't think it wants to be metal for wear and noise reasons. Some of the strikers allow the screw to pull out of the washer, others do not. If you don't have to slot the thing, don't.

            The window channels leaking make more noise than you'd believe. They're not hard to replace, just have to be careful when you make the corners otherwise it forms a gap.
            86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
            5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

            91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

            1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

            Originally posted by phayzer5
            I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

            Comment


              #81
              All box body door gaskets are double thick at the top corner. Normal. Some people stuff some rope into the gaskets to make them "poofy". Window channel rubber is definitely critical to road noise, agreed with gadget. Door striker bushings are needed with proper door adjustment. start from the back of the car, and move to the front.

              The seal on the outer edge of chrome is more for keeping water from coming into the door jamb so you don't get wet when opening the door. Less so for sound.

              You do know how to loosen the pulley from the backside of the bracket right? need a SAE wrench to loosen it up, then it'll get floppy.
              -Nick M.
              Columbia, SC

              66 Squire, 89 Colony Park, 90 TC, 03 TC, 06 TC, 07 TC (2x)
              03 BMW 540iT, 07 Toyota Tundra SR5 Dbl Cab/5.7 2WD

              Comment


                #82
                I'll have to look into the window channels and dew wipes, body to door seals are in okay condition. Dunno about the striker bushings yet, got to figure out something I guess.
                My power locks got a bit stiff after sitting for the winter. These springs and summers ain't exactly dry over here in Scandinavia.

                Taking the car to the US-shop on tuesday, they've got dye and can refill the system with the old type valves.
                I'll clean the trunk corner in a day or two and spread the sealer generously inside there.
                1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
                1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

                Comment


                  #83
                  If it wasnt mentioned you can buy the entire striker with bushing new. I did it. works perfectly.

                  https://lmr.com/item/LRS-22008B/83-9...r-Reproduction


                  bushings

                  https://lmr.com/item/LRS-BP241PR/197...riker-Bushings

                  older cars may be different?!

                  https://lmr.com/item/LRS-22008A/79-8...-Latch-Striker

                  And baller status:

                  https://lmr.com/item/LRS-22008F/83-9...-Ford-Original
                  ~David~

                  My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
                  My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

                  Originally posted by ootdega
                  My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

                  Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
                  But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

                  Originally posted by gadget73
                  my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




                  Comment


                    #84
                    My 86 were post-only. Later ones are the hooky kind. There might be 2 different thread sizes but I won't swear to that. Something is tickling my memories and saying I tried using a striker from something on something else and the threaded bit didn't match up. Couldn't tell you any more than that.
                    86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                    5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                    91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                    1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                    Originally posted by phayzer5
                    I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                    Comment


                      #85
                      The strikers on mine are those post only types. I've got a couple washers behind the striker on the drivers door, haven't checked the others.
                      Apparently my dad might have something stored away somewhere.
                      Also LMR doesn't ship internationally, which is a royal pain in the arse.
                      1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
                      1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

                      Comment


                        #86
                        Originally posted by Arquemann View Post
                        The strikers on mine are those post only types. I've got a couple washers behind the striker on the drivers door, haven't checked the others.
                        Apparently my dad might have something stored away somewhere.
                        Also LMR doesn't ship internationally, which is a royal pain in the arse.
                        I figured as such. At the very least it gives you an idea of what is available out there.
                        ~David~

                        My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
                        My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

                        Originally posted by ootdega
                        My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

                        Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
                        But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

                        Originally posted by gadget73
                        my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




                        Comment


                          #87
                          Took the car to the shop, AC still had quite a bit of pressure left.
                          new stuff in, dye as well.
                          The compressor won't kick on. It seems that the clutch has gone bad, it does get signal.
                          The refrigerant might've not leaked out during the winter anyways.

                          What should I do about it? Smack it with something? Replace clutch? Replace compressor?


                          Oh yeah, the trunk leaks still, more silicone coming soon™

                          Also bought new windshield wipers, which work excellent, except now the drivers side smacks the A-pillar pretty often. Not all the time, sometime pretty hard, sometimes just barely, here and there it won't smack it at all. When the wipers are turned off, their resting position is a bit high, tips slightly above the hood edge. That happened with the old wiper blades as well.
                          What is loose? Is there some kind of minor adjustment for the travel of the wipers?
                          1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
                          1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

                          Comment


                            #88
                            You can open the hood. Lift up the wiper arm and locate a pull tab near the base of the wiper arm. Pull it out (most likely will be stiff) once pulled out fully (does not get removed as it has a stop so don’t worry about losing it) the wiper arm will rest hovering above the glass with no downwards pressure. Proceed to lift up on it. You will find a little arm attached to a stud. That lifts off as well. Readjust the wiper arm making sure to get that arm back on the peg. Pull tab while lifting up on arm and let arm back into glass.
                            ~David~

                            My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
                            My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

                            Originally posted by ootdega
                            My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

                            Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
                            But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

                            Originally posted by gadget73
                            my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




                            Comment


                              #89
                              Uhh...
                              Is it this the pull tab you're referring to?
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                              The tiny metal thing on the arm before the pivot?

                              If that is it, man this is gonna be hard with the hood on. I can barely lift the wiper arms when the hood is open.
                              Lifting and getting something there to yank the pull tab is going to be interesting to say the least.
                              1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
                              1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

                              Comment


                                #90
                                The arms really don’t go that high anyways when lifted. It has a hard stop. Pull up to that hard stop and then that little black tab has to slide up and then you can release the arm and it will hold in an lifted position.
                                ~David~

                                My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
                                My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

                                Originally posted by ootdega
                                My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

                                Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
                                But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

                                Originally posted by gadget73
                                my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




                                Comment

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