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

[a91what]

Damn straight. I mean, I run....OWN the grill. So I allow her to cook some of the sides but I craft some form of animal protein to a yummy doneness with a flame!

Mike, I like your thought on a pain killer before bed. That's always the worst time for pain...makes it hard to sleep.

I also would consider the gear change. The torque curve that thing has to have would help a lot. I think with some careful tuning you can get some of the lugging out. It just takes lots of logging and lugging the engine in parts of the fuel and timing maps you don't normally get in. I think that's the key, there's normal floor it, burnout take offs, WOT romps down the interstate, but you have to work the car into 'abnormal' areas of the map to really build the tune out. Going up steep hills (easy for you, not any hills here) or even use the brake or e-brake to load the engine can help.

I like this way of thinking. I had to add timing in gross amounts to strange areas of my tune to avoid lugging with my cam, the car will tell you what kind of fuel it wants in these areas. Usually leaner than 14.8 and richer than 13.3 produce a lugging scenario with my car under 2200rpm. I now have it down to 1300 or so before I'm forced to shift.

Query Mike, what do you consider lugging? Does the car buck at all?

 

[droopie85gt]

By the time frankenknees can get back out to it, he will have a full encyclopedia Britannica of ideas, suggestions and to-do lists for the Monster. He will then curse all who have suggested such things, break down and sit in his fancy chair staring out the window mumbling to himself..."One Minute to Wopner" all day long. I hope it doesn't come to that!

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

By the time frankenknees can get back out to it, he will have a full encyclopedia Britannica of ideas, suggestions and to-do lists for the Monster. He will then curse all who have suggested such things, break down and sit in his fancy chair staring out the window mumbling to himself..."One Minute to Wopner" all day long. I hope it doesn't come to that!

Naaah...

What typically happens when I have too much time on my hands before I actually start doing the work is, I wrestle with the little red dude and the little white dude that sit on my shoulders.

The little red dude wants to say fck it, and just do everything over. New cell, new pump, different trunk floor config.
The justification he uses is that the current OEM tank is compromised as a result of multiple modifications to it.

He says "Best to just start over and do it right the first time".

But,........The down side to red dudes thinking is that there will be a lot of fab work involved, and the existing fuel filler neck will have to be re-configured. When the trunk is opened, you'd either see that re-configured filler neck angling over to the 45* adapter on top of the fuel cell, or you'd have to open the trunk to fill the tank if I didn't use the stupid adapter.

Meanwhile, the little white dude, ( my true alter ego) now wants me to consider a complete re-vamp of the current tank. Instead of adding another patch to the tank, he thinks I should completely cut away the " old work" and make a new, larger hole, and a plate that covers the hole. Build a perimeter out of 1/8" plate that will weld to the tank. Drill, and tap that perimeter so that a cover plate made out of 1/8" aluminum could be sealed, and bolted back down. Then remove the cover, cut the hole(s) necessary for the pump and sender, mount that junk, and seal the tank with a gasket , or some kind of gasoline resistant RTV.

Da-done da.

The dash happened this way,.....I was riding in the car with the wife while traveling to some "relaxing vacation" ( that I hate) and as we drive along, I'm drawing the dash bars in the air with my finger.

Give me too much time, and I'm gonna find a way to make it right where I'll have the stock junk back in place, and the 388 dollars the the gears cost back in my pocket.

 

[droopie85gt]

Come on, Mike. With this much downtown that little red guy has probably been talking like auctioneer on crack. Surely the gas tank situation, nor the gears are the only things on his mind. Is it just like an evil stream of gear head consciousness in your ear? I imagine the red dude sounding like John Force, but John Force who never has to take a breath when talking.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Come on, Mike. With this much downtown that little red guy has probably been talking like auctioneer on crack. Surely the gas tank situation, nor the gears are the only things on his mind. Is it just like an evil stream of gear head consciousness in your ear? I imagine the red dude sounding like John Force, but John Force who never has to take a breath when talking.

Nope, as mentioned earlier the only issue between now and the next time I drive this car is the fuel pump, and getting it reliable to that end. The red dude lost this time,...

I've already made plans once it's full on winter to remove the dash, and deal with the rattle, insulate the engine noise, and finding and fixing my AC leak ( three other annoyances)

Only then,...after all of that, will I consider listening to him while he tries to convince me to change the cam over to hydraulic roller, gauges over to analog, and whether to move the suspension over to adjustable konis up front, and 3 link /Torque arm rear.

( So you see,....he has been talking his ass off,....I'm just not listening)

 

[Davedacarpainter]

All of that without @RaggedGT ? What's he doing? He should be here for this.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

All of that without @RaggedGT ? What's he doing? He should be here for this.

Iowa nick as well

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Iowa nick as well

True, not a peep from them. No hurricane in the middle of the country, I wonder what's keeping them.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

True, not a peep from them. No hurricane in the middle of the country, I wonder what's keeping them.

And,...now that you mention it....no update on his build thread...

Could it be one "mod too many" for the wife to tolerate?

Is Iowa Nick buried in some corn field,..planted there by his fed up wife?
Did Iowa Nick have both of his knees replaced too?
Did raggedy finally get his big break, sell the 98 off, and is now on his way with his truck and trailer to Miami to see a guy about a 93 GT instead?

Stay tuned when the answers to These questions and more will be revealed on the next episode of........
As the Wheel Turns..l

 

[95BlueStallion]

Iowa nick as well

And,...now that you mention it....no update on his build thread...

Could it be one "mod too many" for the wife to tolerate?

Is Iowa Nick buried in some corn field,..planted there by his fed up wife?
Did Iowa Nick have both of his knees replaced too?
Did raggedy finally get his big break, sell the 98 off, and is now on his way with his truck and trailer to Miami to see a guy about a 93 GT instead?

Stay tuned when the answers to These questions and more will be revealed on the next episode of........
As the Wheel Turns..l

Howdy boys. Its summer time, which means my wife has us out and about every free second we have until the sun goes down each evening. Then its dinner time, baths, and I decided to binge watch all 7 seasons of Sons of Anarchy between 9PM and 11PM each night for last couple weeks.

Also, with my wife's maturnity leave coming to an end in June, the cost of three kids in full time daycare has pretty much haulted my parts buying. There are a lot of little things to replace when swapping in a fresh engine, and Im outta dough for them.

Now Mikey, getting back to your situation... My brain says do your fuel tank right with a fresh start. However, given your medical situation, I would say alterating your current set up is easier and less physically demanding. Just dont blow yourself up cutting your tank thats had fresh fuel in it, along with that red bladder sponge that probably wont want to let go of all said fuel.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Howdy boys. Its summer time, which means my wife has us out and about every free second we have until the sun goes down each evening. Then its dinner time, baths, and I decided to binge watch all 7 seasons of Sons of Anarchy between 9PM and 11PM each night for last couple weeks.

Also, with my wife's maturnity leave coming to an end in June, the cost of three kids in full time daycare has pretty much haulted my parts buying. There are a lot of little things to replace when swapping in a fresh engine, and Im outta dough for them.

Now Mikey, getting back to your situation... My brain says do your fuel tank right with a fresh start. However, given your medical situation, I would say alterating your current set up is easier and less physically demanding. Just dont blow yourself up cutting your tank thats had fresh fuel in it, along with that red bladder sponge that probably wont want to let go of all said fuel.

The red bladder was removed months ago,...and when it comes to welding on the tank,...it'll be full of water instead when I get to that.
Right now, I just gotta be able to get to some degree of normalcy, minus the pain that I'm dealing with. Once that happens in a couple more weeks, I'll get at it.

 

[RaggedGT]

All of that without @RaggedGT ? What's he doing? He should be here for this.

Sorry Dave-been battling with AT&T about my non functiong home wifi and cellphone data for the last few weeks

Did raggedy finally get his big break, sell the 98 off, and is now on his way with his truck and trailer to Miami to see a guy about a 93 GT instead?

Stay tuned when the answers to These questions and more will be revealed on the next episode of........
As the Wheel Turns..l

It's a '94
And it's still rotting in the garage
I'd chime in-but your current plan for the fuel tank sounds good to me.
I agree with leaving the gears in it-but, dosent the trac-Lok need rebuilt?
Now when the dash comes apart,I may mention the idea of throwing the digital gauges in a fed ex box to Iowa while you shop for some replacements

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Sorry Dave-been battling with AT&T about my non functiong home wifi and cellphone data for the last few weeks


It's a '94
And it's still rotting in the garage
I'd chime in-but your current plan for the fuel tank sounds good to me.
I agree with leaving the gears in it-but, dosent the trac-Lok need rebuilt?
Now when the dash comes apart,I may mention the idea of throwing the digital gauges in a fed ex box to Iowa while you shop for some replacements

Yeah, the t-loc is suspect.

Ironically, when I bought the gears from summit, I bought the gears, a bearing kit, and a t-loc rebuild kit. When I went online to get the return set up, the rebuild kit was flagged as containing hazardous material, and therefore could not be returned. I contacted summit and asked them how then could I get credit for this 73.00 kit, considering that it was only a couple of months old, unopened, and was sitting in the same over-box that they had shipped it in when they sent it to me in July?
They told me to keep it, and that they would not risk the fines for authorizing shipment of that kit from UPS/USPS, and they would issue a credit for that amount when the rest of the items hit their warehouse....So,...looks like I'll be able to deal with that rebuild at some point in the future with the free t-loc rebuild kit that I now own.

I'm wondering how they managed to ship it in the first place?

 

[95BlueStallion]

Sorry Dave-been battling with AT&T about my non functiong home wifi and cellphone data for the last few weeks


It's a '94
And it's still rotting in the garage
I'd chime in-but your current plan for the fuel tank sounds good to me.
I agree with leaving the gears in it-but, dosent the trac-Lok need rebuilt?
Now when the dash comes apart,I may mention the idea of throwing the digital gauges in a fed ex box to Iowa while you shop for some replacements

Yeah, send me those digital gauges and I'll update my thread with taking a hammer to them, with my car on jackstands in the background.

 

[95BlueStallion]

@madmike1157 , lucky score on the T-loc rebuild kit. Maybe by the time you get around to working on your car, I will have found an engine hoist I dont have to buy for one time use, and can hoist my engine out of the car. I will use your recovery time frame as a measure of me getting my act together by the same time.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

@madmike1157 , lucky score on the T-loc rebuild kit. Maybe by the time you get around to working on your car, I will have found an engine hoist I dont have to buy for one time use, and can hoist my engine out of the car. I will use your recovery time frame as a measure of me getting my act together by the same time.

Funny how these things work...too bad there's so much space between you and me. I was just telling the wife that "the big orange thing" that takes up so much space in the lower corner of our basement storage room was for the rare occasion that I need to pull an engine.
I would surely let you borrow ( and keep it till I need it).

But you'd have to move to Birmingham,......no way in hell in will I ever live in Iowa again.

 

[95BlueStallion]

But Iowa is so great, its already in the 40s at night!

 

[droopie85gt]

It almost was in the 40's here in Memphis the other night. It was 53 when I left for work. I was like, did I black out in a coma for 6 weeks? What happened to 95 during the day and 77 for a low until the first of October. It's not natural! I had a fire in the fire pit a couple of weeks ago. I tell you it's not natural!!! Like Mike's knees....unnatural!

I'm wondering how they managed to ship it in the first place?

The new guy did what he had already done a couple of times....put it in a box with no warning and shipped it. And they got caught. So, your gain! On the plus side, it's just another reason why Summit is so easy to deal with. They are like the Amazon of hot rod parts.

 

[RaggedGT]

How's the recovery going mike?

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

How's the recovery going mike?

In Rocky III, Clubber Lang gets asked if he'd like to make a prediction for the upcoming fight.......He gives the reporter one word.............PAIN!

I can walk w/o the aid of a cane, but it's treacherous. I can rage around when I use a walker, but,....it's a walker. All the time I'm standing I'm hurting, there is no comfortable position except with my knees elevated, covered in an ice bag. My knees bend past 110 degrees,...but I still can't put on a pair of socks, or shoes.

The biggest surprise to date is that It hurts to stand for longer than 5 minutes....( might have something to do with the fact that they sawed the ends of both my thigh bone, and my shin bone completely off before beating a metal socket back into the newly hacked off bones.)

I'm coming along better than can be expected, but I ain't running a marathon anytime soon. I asked the therapist when I'll have a breakthrough moment, and it'll just stop hurting,...to which he replied 4-6 weeks more or less.
That is at least 2 weeks away from today,...two weeks post surgery.