Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.

[CarMichael Angelo]

I've always been under the impression that o-rings are a must with a copper hg.

This particular HG had a fire ring built-into the gasket. looking at the imprint left on the head, you can see where the ring didn't compress evenly.

Again, piece of JUNK.

I'm still confused as to how the head seal was compromised, but the compression force and leak down managed to be decent.

I'll take an uneducated guess based on the way the gasket is advertised to work:

There's a fire ring sandwiched between the layers of a solid copper HG. (They somehow made a slit to stick that wire in) .
Under compression, the pressures generated, force the ring to seal by spreading the layers open
(much like blowing into an envelope to get it to open.) So a poorly sealed HG would seal better under compression, and be more susceptible on the suction side of the stroke to draw water/oil back in.

End of uneducated guess.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Maybe it's lean as f***?

I hope your sensor(s) are still good.

Nope, it was always the opposite. The AFR's for the first to mins. of running were in the 11.5 range.

After that, I managed to get it up to 13.5-14.0, but it never exceeded that.

I think the WB O2 is ok, it still calibrated, and displayed info that looked believable. and as stated, it only ran about 5 minutes. For whatever reason, the oil has no water in it. The water was going straight into the chambers.

 

[jetmech807]

This particular HG had a fire ring built-into the gasket. looking at the imprint left on the head, you can see where the ring didn't compress evenly.

Again, piece of JUNK.

I'm still confused as to how the head seal was compromised, but the compression force and leak down managed to be decent.

I'll take an uneducated guess based on the way the gasket is advertised to work:

There's a fire ring sandwiched between the layers of a solid copper HG. (They somehow made a slit to stick that wire in) .
Under compression, the pressures generated, force the ring to seal by spreading the layers open
(much like blowing into an envelope to get it to open.) So a poorly sealed HG would seal better under compression, and be more susceptible on the suction side of the stroke to draw water/oil back in.

End of uneducated guess.

Makes perfect sense actually.

 

[Noobz347]

Nope, it was always the opposite. The AFR's for the first to mins. of running were in the 11.5 range.

After that, I managed to get it up to 13.5-14.0, but it never exceeded that.

I think the WB O2 is ok, it still calibrated, and displayed info that looked believable. and as stated, it only ran about 5 minutes. For whatever reason, the oil has no water in it. The water was going straight into the chambers.

So you got it to richen up more the longer it ran. Now if water is being "sucked" into the combustion chambers and no other changes were made then it WOULD show a richer indication as the water increased.... Unspent fuel increases across the sensor.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

So you got it to richen up more the longer it ran. Now if water is being "sucked" into the combustion chambers and no other changes were made then it WOULD show a richer indication as the water increased.... Unspent fuel increases across the sensor.

Again,......submit it for your reference. Watch the end of the vid. Having experienced it, It smelled rich to me, but there was water vapor coming out of that tail pipe. The number 1 cylinder was so wet, it had to be putting out the fire. The #6 was so fat that everything was black. So......it looks to me like if no water is in the equation, my AFR settings are gonna be way to fat when I start this thing again.

Who knows,...when all 6 cylinders are firing properly,maybe that'll lean the engine out instead.

 

[Noobz347]

Again,......submit it for your reference. Watch the end of the vid. Having experienced it, It smelled rich to me, but there was water vapor coming out of that tail pipe. The number 1 cylinder was so wet, it had to be putting out the fire. The #6 was so fat that everything was black. So......it looks to me like if no water is in the equation, my AFR settings are gonna be way to fat when I start this thing again.

Who knows,...when all 6 cylinders are firing properly,maybe that'll lean the engine out instead.

That's actually a pretty good place to start so long as it is not as far out as RaceEoholic's was.

 

[RacEoHolic330]

Too soon, noobz. Too soon.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Too soon, noobz. Too soon.

You know, as much as I aspire to have a car as nice as yours, I'd just as soon not copy everything about the build.

I mean I don't need to be washing down the rings anytime soon.

 

[jrichker]

@madmike1157
While the head is off I would recommend that you drill and tap that problem water passage that you plugged up with epoxy. Do both cylinder head and block if possible. Doing so will surely save you time and trouble later on.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

@madmike1157
While the head is off I would recommend that you drill and tap that problem water passage that you plugged up with epoxy. Do both cylinder head and block if possible. Doing so will surely save you time and trouble later on.

That's the plan.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Ok,
Looks like I'm waiting till next weekend to get a new HG from Cometic, and the powder coater had no incentive to do anything since I told him I'd be out of country till the 12th. So no engine stuff is gonna happen this week.

That leaves me w/ how to deal w/ the obsolete tail light panel.


Sheet metal work.

I honestly can say that I've never had the patience to build a buck before. I always considered it a additional waste of time and resources.

That changed today.

Not having a clue as to how to go about making a rear tail light fascia I did like I always do:

I just started doing it. But not w/o cutting away the old attempt #1 first.

I also cut away a portion of the trunk lid that I always found odd.

Why the Boneheads at Ford decided to angle the trunk lid there instead of just making a straight line is beyond me, but now all is right in the world. I cut that off clean on the Sharpie line.

From there I went to Home Depot and bought the necessary materials to do it. One sheet of 1/2 " MDF and brought it home. Followed by me dragging out the jigsaw, my table saw, and the router that was attached to that table saw. I dicked around w/ a few designs for the tail light panel by trying to from them out of wire, but quickly gave up on that idea, and just started cutting and forming the necessary spars that make up the buck.

This piece was the original, hand cut and formed spar that all of the others were made from.

I labeled it "O.G."

Once cut where I was satisfied w/ the shape, I used it as a template, I cut the other 9 pieces out w/ the jig saw, and one by one screwed each one of those bitches to the O.G. and cloned them over w/ the router. After that, I went about the task of modifying the stand off of each one so they would follow the curvature of the trunk lid lip. The center is fully 3/4" deeper than the two outside edges are, so only two of the spars could be cut the same.

And there are ten spars.

I don't quite know how I'm gonna transition the quarters into that rear bumper yet, so there is still alot left to the imagination.

The silhouette that looks like the cross section of the stock bumper is in fact the actual cross section of the rear bumper. I wanted it to look like there is a bumper despite the fact that it will end up looking like it is all blended into the quarters when it's done.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Im gonna reserve voicing an opinion until you get further along, because Im struggling to picture it. One thing you certainly have right is not adding a flippin body kit to the car though.

 

[RaggedGT]

Are you gonna fill in the marker light?

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Im gonna reserve voicing an opinion until you get further along, because Im struggling to picture it. One thing you certainly have right is not adding a flippin body kit to the car though.

Well look at it this way. It will end up the way I want it one way, or the other.

When I started the dash, and there was only a single tube in the pic I'd expect you'd stand by and hold because the entire concept looked like a WTF up until the 11th hour.

It's just like every other crazy assed thing I do,......it may take me 3-4 times to get it right, but the only way I can see it is to do it.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Are you gonna fill in the marker light?

No,...They will remain.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Im gonna reserve voicing an opinion until you get further along, because Im struggling to picture it. One thing you certainly have right is not adding a flippin body kit to the car though.

And for reference:........this is the stock, low assed bumper, sticking out a mile behind the car.

So, compare the two profiles,....they're basically the same 'cept the new version is flush w/ the sides as opposed to the stock leg grabber.

 

[7991LXnSHO]

Are you gonna fill in the marker light?

Marker lights make it easier for deer and bad drivers at Wal-Mart to aim at the side of your car. Save the front end and leave them.

 

[95BlueStallion]

That pic with the bumper on helps. Cant remember a bagillion pages back, but did you end up with a pair of cougar tails?

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

That pic with the bumper on helps. Cant remember a bagillion pages back, but did you end up with a pair of cougar tails?

You don't know how much better I feel, knowing that the last pic made you more at ease w/ my decisions...............

Here,.....this is what I find ironic

How much worse can I do when compared to the "design excellence" that came from the gold chain wearing, Ford factory designer elite that were responsible for that gap between the bumper and the tail lights? And while it is barely noticeable in this pic, the additional gap at the top of the tail light corners under the plastic quarter extensions where the solution was to stuff a piece of foam in between to fill it?

Since it was about a million pages back I don't expect that you'd remember,.. the Cougar tails are in deed hanging on my peg board in the garage (where they'll remain). I couldn't make them work.

The new rear fascia is only a temporary surface. The tails will be recessed as will the license plate frame, so I'll end up cutting out three rectangular openings in the new flat surface once I have one to work with.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Marker lights make it easier for deer and bad drivers at Wal-Mart to aim at the side of your car. Save the front end and leave them.

I'm not eliminating the side marker lights. They add a nice accent at night when I purposely drive in front of strip mall store windows to look at the reflected moving image of the car.

It's kind of a car selfie, and I'm not joking,......I've always done it.

Maybe I'm just weird?

Naaahhh.