My Rides

[DerekTheGreat]

Hmm. If it were mine I'd swap the grilles then. I like your updated sig by the way, groovy.

[kishy]

Some updates...

83: 1G-to-3G upgrade complete, minus upgraded ground cable, which is needed on all 3 of the Boxes now. Technically optional but I'd prefer the "weakest link" to always be the fuse, not a length of wire.

This was functionally the same as the 84, but I did a couple things differently this time:

• Added a fuse to the stator wire going to the choke cap. I don't know what the effects of ground-shorting the stator wire are but I suspect it's not ideal, so it's peace of mind.
• Incorporated the noise capacitor which is originally mounted beside the external voltage regulator. I moved it to the ignition coil bracket and fused the feed to it, which "Tees" into the 12V sensing wire from the charging stud to the internal regulator connector. Please forgive terminology misuses here...

I am going to write up a thread that specifically explains the 3G swap for a carb/CFI car with a 1G. Most info I've found online recommends a plug-n-play type arrangement but the wiring alterations are simple enough not to justify spending more than a few bucks on this project.















84/83: swapped rear springs between these two. 83 had CC817 cargo coils. This is related to another thread, Box Town Car Spring Options.

84: I collected a variety of PCM and ABS diodes from the junkyard and found some that have both blades facing the same direction, in the size format of a typical ATC/ATO fuse. I'm expecting, based on their application (vehicle electronics...) that their ratings are acceptable to use as diodes for my headlamp door solenoid. Once I complete this final piece of the puzzle I'm going to relay-mod the headlamps on this car, and write up a thread that specifically addresses a Mark VI header panel retrofit.

The vacuum leaks seem to have cured themselves, somehow, as the doors stay closed as much as 25 hours. At that point I pulled on them manually with my hand and found a little "flex" as if the vacuum was dissipating, but some is to be expected.

[87gtVIC]

A wirte up would be greatly appreciated. My dads 1985 Mustang GT (with carb) could use this upgrade one day and your write up should help as I too have seen all sorts of info on how to do this.

[kishy]

A wirte up would be greatly appreciated. My dads 1985 Mustang GT (with carb) could use this upgrade one day and your write up should help as I too have seen all sorts of info on how to do this.

Absolutely. When I did my 91 I actually left the 2G wiring in place disconnected because I couldn't find any clear explanations of how to fish the wiring out, what to take and what to leave, etc. I still have to clean that mess up. I'll be setting aside a day, not anytime soon though, to pull it all apart and extract the 2G charge wires, as well as improve grounding and some other accessory wiring I added hastily in the past. That car has 8 horns counting the stock low and high. All fused and relayed, but it's a rats' nest of wiring.

My Ranger is also going to get a 3G, although I'm not quite sure what approach to take with that. The 2.0 is a very weak engine and I'm not sure how much more (if any) power a 3G robs vs a 1G. That said, even if I put a giant underdrive pulley on the alternator going in that, it would probably still output more at idle than the 40A(!) 1G it has. I eyed 95A 3G units in Tempos in the junkyard...180 degree ears like I need, but the lower ear is different and would not fit.

[knucklehead0202]

God i'd give a testicle to have a garage... Nice work mang, and I can't help but respect your patience. I hate wiring passionately but given the time and proper workspace, I could probably summon the patience to power through it, maybe.

[kishy]

God i'd give a testicle to have a garage... Nice work mang, and I can't help but respect your patience. I hate wiring passionately but given the time and proper workspace, I could probably summon the patience to power through it, maybe.

lol. The irony is, even with my garage, it's just full of random car junk all over the place like a weirdly mismatched Panther blew up in there. So I've been doing everything in the driveway using the parts 97 as a workbench.

Even before I moved out (Dec 2014, went straight from "mom's basement" to "home ownership") I did stuff like soldering together the sequential turn signal harnesses for both the Mercs on top of a chest freezer.

[DerekTheGreat]

lol. The irony is, even with my garage, it's just full of random car junk all over the place like a weirdly mismatched Panther blew up in there. So I've been doing everything in the driveway using the parts 97 as a workbench...

Same deal here. Trash cans, the Mark VII, our trucks, those are work benches and the garage just well, garages stuff.

[kishy]

Updates? Updates!

Townie did great on my vacation. Not a long trip, but a car ferry ride is involved and it's a little remote so dependability is important. I made a last-minute and long-procrastinated wiring harness repair to a trigger wire for the fuel pump relay (not the high-amp side of the relay, which is why it's odd the insulation overheated...but the damage occurred when the harness was in the donor car still).



I also figured out the high beam situation, kind of. Headlights are relay-modded now in a sort of half-a55ed way, as are the front parking lights (front and rear function as two circuits). This will be lumped in with the write-up about the Mark VI retrofit.

Write-up about carb/CFI 3G is coming shortly.

I also fixed my trunk pull-down motor. In my case, the housing was intact and motor worked, but the gear was broken. I found a junkyard Aero Town Car with a good gear but broken housing, and took the gear out. Good as new now.

Oh, and I may be getting another car. Because I'm an idiot. It'll replace the Ranger if it works out. '85 Country Squire, physically located near me in Canada, but it's an American car and therefore is CFI.

[DerekTheGreat]

You love your CFI or is this new addition one of those "it just so happens" type of cases?

[kishy]

You love your CFI or is this new addition one of those "it just so happens" type of cases?

It's a "bigger picture" sort of deal.

I told myself I would buy one of: Panther wagon, Fox wagon, or pickup truck, in that order of preference. The Ranger came along and it was (and still is) impossible to come across Fox or Panther wagons near me, so I jumped on it.

The last few years, however, I've been eyeing this Ohio-plated Country Squire which has been stationary for...let's call it a long while. Its American owners have never been around when I've been in the vicinity of the car, but I was finally able to connect with them.

The car is free, they are signing a bill of sale and the Ohio title for nothing in exchange. They just want it gone. Body is largely OK but it'll need a hood, windshield, and front bumper. Interior is trashed due to a window having been down a couple inches for 5 years. Front brakes are seized and he mentioned an electrical issue that prevents it from running, but said in terms of its drivetrain it's mechanically good, just not electrically. Well, as it happens, I've learned a good bit about the EEC-IV CFI harness and I'm not afraid to take this on. I circled the car checking out the frame and floors with a mirror and I'm pretty confident it's solid. 45 or 145k, South Carolina car until 2005 supposedly.

So, with paperwork straightened out, I'll import the car to Canada (border services says it's free and easy since it's over a particular age), take ownership of it, haul it home on a flatbed (Uhaul pickup plus trailer, to which I will temporarily attach a winch), drop it in my driveway, and decide what to do with it. I can just about break even if it goes straight to scrap from my driveway, so no real loss except time and effort. If it looks worth saving once I've studied it more closely, I'll sell the Ranger and fix up the wagon.

Not sure if Ford did the GM thing and had a rear-facing bench, but this example has the flat cargo floor with sideways seats under the floor, which is why I consider it an adequate replacement for a truck.

But we'll see. Lots to do to get to the point of knowing the fate of that decision yet.

[Tiggie]

Another wagon potentially saved! Turbines too.

[DerekTheGreat]

I like the patina on that. Big project but at least it was free. I gotta find those opportunities..

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Oooh, another Carolina wagon!

Shame you're so far away. I plan on swapping front bumpers on my '87 to the type without the rub strips and would have no need for the spare one. I'd be more than happy to give it to you otherwise.

Definitely inspect the rear tailgate seal. Usually they're pretty toast at this point, but you can get lucky and get them to still seals well enough to keep water out (assuming it's not cracked all the way through), save for direct high pressure sprays. If the rear seal is leaking, water may just simply go onto the rear floor, or worse into the pop up seat area where it'll cause mold in the carpet and seats. If the water just runs down the glass, it'll go into the tailgate door. My door looked okay until it got hit, and then it was very evident water had been doing some damage for a while and there's some tiny rust holes that got torn open. You could always POR15 the inside of it if it isn't filled with holes just to help prevent future issues.

With regards to the rear seats, they were side facing only. Base model wagons didn't always get those ordered, so that area would just be a underfloor cargo area on some.

Best of luck to you on this undertaking.

[kishy]

I appreciate it. Obviously as it sits, being a home for hornets and snakes, I didn't poke around extensively. I do know it's complete enough that I'm willing to take a chance on it.

The spare tire well is pinholed through, but it's the only spot of the floor pan overall that I'm aware of significant rust. The tailgate seal does not seal at all, I already knew this was a trouble spot on these cars and I wasn't surprised it is on this example. I'm expecting there is a meaningful amount of rust inside the car that hasn't gone through yet. The car had large patches of unrusted metal that I'm not used to seeing around here (metal itself is a rare sight, usually you see undercoating with patches of rust where the undercoat is not there anymore).

Bumpers are 40-something USD in Detroit and the cars are common, so I'm not stressing about that. Hood won't be hard to find either. Paint match will be the tough point of course. That said, it's not like it's cosmetically perfect in any one spot and I therefore don't care very much. Probably hit the vinyl wood with clearcoat exactly as it is and keep it like that forever.

I do know the brake lines are toast. One was replaced a couple years ago, but only one, and another has gone through in that time as the pedal goes to the floor. One or both front brakes are seized. It'll be an adventure.

And yes, turbines.

Y axle (3.08 open), no rear sway bar, accordingly I don't expect it to have 11" drums. A shame, since I have a set of shoes for those that I'll never use. It does have a hitch and was used a lot for getting a boat in and out of the lake. Wouldn't be surprised if that has something to do with the spare tire area rust.

A saving grace: it currently lives, and has for most of the time since 2005, in an area where no road salt is used.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I thought all the wagons got the 11" drums. I've never bothered to measure mine since I haven't needed to replace the shoes.

If it was being used for boat launching, I'd definitely inspect that rear axle to see if they were changing the gear oil.