Hello all; the TMH Chicago Cat project

Cougar Community The Project Forum
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Here’s an okay video on how disc brakes work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5MbOFzgS9o

They don’t explain how the square cut seal works. As the brakes are applied and the piston is pushed out, the square cut seal leans toward the brake rotor. When you take your foot off the brakes, the distorted square cut seal acts as a return spring and pulls the piston back in a little as it relaxes.

If the square cut seal is worn out, the slide pins are sticking or the piston is sticking, the pads will drag on the rotor. Brake hoses absorb brake fluid over time and swell. If they swell enough, they can act light one way check valves and will not let fluid return to the master cylinder.

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A few more pics…

Driver’s lower ball joint:




Passenger upper ball joint:

Passenger lower ball joint:




Passenger coil:

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That LCA ball joint was way over filled and that doesn’t look like moly fortified grease to me.

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BTW, this seems an awful lot like a project thread. Do you think it should be moved/renamed?

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Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahaha!!!

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Yeah I wish I woulda done a better job and had my “hi” thread and my project thread be different things. And there are a bunch of other one-off threads I’ve started for various things as they popped up since October-- then just recently I remembered I had made this thread and came back here to centralize everything, which is obviously goofy cause this is a hello thread… Ugh! And then when I suggested moving the thread several posts back, Bill suggested I make a thread or was it threads for the tasks I had ahead of me. So basically I have no idea where to post what at this point. Lol.

I’m about as organized with my projects as I am with my threads, bits and pieces here and there. I’ve made a lot of progress with the wheels though (separate thread of course, ha!) and should have that done in the coming days. So I’m getting the cosmetic work done before the important stuff, which is the exact opposite of what I said I’d do.

Gimmie 6 months, I’ll have most of it done by then. Famous last words.

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One more thing to add to what Mark has said. You could take some of the brake fluid out of the master cylinder before compressing the pistons back in the calipers. This will stop any over flow from the master cylinder. Brake fluid is corrosive and if there is any spilled on your paint or other parts under the hood, get it washed off with brake cleaner or soap and water when you are done.
The piston in the caliper floats back and forth with pressing on the brakes and releasing. If there is rust, dirt, or pitting in the cylinder the piston travels, wether the damage is on the piston it’s self or the cylinder, I must be cleaned up before this job is compete. If you are putting in a kit of new seals in the calipers, then make sure the caliper is worthy of being rebuilt. You can check out youtube for many examples of how to rebuild the calipers.

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Got some work done today over at dude’s awesome garage.

Tried to install his fan shroud. No dice. It’s a 20" shroud, stock from his '70 Mach I. The shroud would fit fine, the holes all like up. But the neck up at the top is in the wrong spot. My neck is 4.5" on center, in from the edge of the radiator, his radiator and shroud have it at 3" in from the edge. Can anybody confirm what is correct for a 68 20" radiator? Since he believes his to be stock, and mine is missing the shroud that sorta suggests mine is a not exactly correct aftermarket 20" radiator.

Then we moved on to the valve cover replacement. Took forever to scrape all that gasket crap off the heads. Ugh. The cork gaskets came off easy, just that gasket sealer sucked. Eventually got it all off and put the new valve covers on, used the rubber gaskets, used no sealant of any sort, just got em on and lined up and bolted down. No signs of leaking, and they look great. And for the first time since I’ve owned this car there is a hose from the oil filler cap to the air cleaner.

Didn’t end up using the new PCV valve I bought, the guys both felt that it was garbage and I was better off keeping the existing one, nice heavy duty Autolite one that works. So stuck with what I had there. Replaced the hose though, with some heater hose, as the hose that was on there didn’t really fit well with the new, shorter valve covers.

Then we replaced my points with the Ignitor II that dude had. That went easily enough. Checked the timing. Way off. When I had last checked it, just a few weeks ago, it was at 6*. After putting in the Ignitor II it was at 20*. We moved it back to 6* and it was running great. Then the idle…

Last year I had bought a digital timing light/tach and set my idle by kinda balancing the readings from that with the readings from my factory tach, which were wildly off from each other. I ended up leaning toward the factory tach since that made for a smoother idle. Well since then that tach died, and both guys agreed that she sounded like she was idling too fast. So we brought it down from around 1050 to 700, according to that digital tach anyway. I’m gonna check it with mine and see if they agree.

Then the last thing we tackled was running the vac line through the firewall to my vac gauge that I mounted in place of the clock. After about 6 months of that console pad piece sitting in the back seat with the gauge mounted to it, it’s finally in place and working like a champ.

Around 18.5 at idle and cruising at 25 mph, around 15 on the highway, around 22-23 when decelerating. And around 0 when I floor it. :wink:

In the process of running that like, we pillaged a hole that was being used for a wire… Turns out that switch under the dash that didn’t seem to do anything except light up (the switch) when in one position? Was wired to the light on the underside of the hood. The light that never worked, even though the bulb was fine. D’oh!!! So we snipped that wire, brought it under the dash, and used that hole/grommet for my vac line. Success!!

Other than the fan shroud, everything turned out pretty great. Oh and both of them suggested I take the car to a mechanic they use for jobs they can’t or don’t wanna tackle themselves. After rotating the tires when I painted em, one that came from the front to the back just a week or two ago already has the same fluid wetness/drip lines that both rear wheels had before. The axle seals definitely are still leaking. And that can’t be good news for the rear end. So I’m gonna just go ahead and have their guy take care of that, should be quick, reasonably priced, and properly executed. Fingers crossed.

So that will leave the power steering and front suspension rebuilds yet to come, gotta pick up some parts for both still, and also the tank and lines which I’ll try and tackle as soon as I can. Maybe this week.

Is there an actual light at the end of the tunnel? So weird. Well, there’s always new tires too. Lining up the PRNDL which is off by about half a position (Bill??). Installing my new (Christmas) stereo if I ever get Cougar replacement pieces for the Mustang ones it came with (Don???). Fixing the horns. Cleaning the carb. Headlight motors.

Yeah who’m I kidding. :slight_smile:

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Always nice to see so much come together with good results! One thing, the factory setting for timing at 6*, I would move that to 10*. This is safe and you will find just a little more snap in performance.

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Wow 10*, that much? This is a stock 302 4V, so supposedly 10.5:1 compression. I run 93 octane. Can I get away with that much advance? Better performance but what about mpg?

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It should be fine, but if you find it spark knocks, back it off some. As for MPG, it should actually be better, as long as you keep your foot out of it.

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I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that last part. :wink:

I will easily be able to tell the difference between knock/pinging/detonation problems, and the sound of the valve lifters tapping? I should have taken pics when we had the valve covers off, but the engine has hydraulic lifters (if I said that right) and they do make some tapping sounds. That’s not a big deal, right? Some amount of tapping sound is normal?

I remember someone (and I think it was Bill) saying they like to go for maximum advance without knock. Is 10* gonna be pushing that limit? I am a noob, I must remind you, so I just wanna make sure if I go for 10* I will be able to 1) identify if it’s knocking and 2) not screw up my engine. :slight_smile:

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Are you hearing tapping from the valve train when under load? if so you should do a valve adjustment.

Was there a lot of crud under the valve covers? if not I would run an engine cleaner though it to help get rid of some shellac build up and free up the lifters.

You should not have a problem hearing knock/detonation when accelerating, it will be different then any other tapping you may be hearing now. Some people set up there engines (depending on use) much higher than the 10* with a full advance of around 32-34*, this is vacuum and mechanical advance in the mix.
when setting your timing, remember to disconnect your vacuum to the distributor.
Advancing the timing is not going to heart you motor, as long as it is not detonating. Once you hear it, just make some adjustments and try again.

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I know to disconnect and plug the vac advance feed before setting initial timing. I just checked my numbers from when I set the timing last year, and with it set to 6* at idle, it was around 20* with mechanical and 30* with mechanical and vac, using the test described in the shop manual ( I think it was running the engine at 2000 rpm or somewhere around there if I remember right).

It didn’t look dirty to me, at all. In fact other than a little oil pooled in a few spots, it looked super clean, to me anyway. I really don’t know what I was thinking, not taking pics while I had the covers off.

I love the sound of running some cleaner. Anything specific I need to know there as far as what to use or not use, and how to use it or not use it?

I’m already looking forward to winter coming around cause I really wanna remove and clean up my carb (which both of the guys this weekend said looked like it was pretty much brand new). But before that the tank and lines, for sure. That’s a priority for me right now, cause I’m sure that is a really weak link.

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Oh and I don’t know if it’s tapping under load, I really only hear it at idle whether in park or drive. Under a real load, like accelerating, I just hear the roar of the engine which sounds like music to my ears. :slight_smile:

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There are some products on the market that would work well to clean up any shellac build up in lifters and other parts. I have used Wynn’s product that you pour in the crank case with the oil before you do your oil change and it say’s to use 5% but I use the whole bottle. You would run the engine for around 10 top 20 minutes with no revving of the engine, then dump the oil. Some say that if your oil is dirty enough already, change the oil filter before doing this, to catch as much crap as possible once the Wynn’s starts to work. They also have a valve train product that will help the lifters as well.
Another product is SeaFoam, I have not used it but have only heard good things about it. Here is a video on it and Im sure there is more on this product on Youtube.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6187290865726229173&q=seafoam&hl=en

Another product I have use also is Restore.

As for the valves, after doing an engine flush and running a product for the valve train in the oil, you find still does not work, then it is time to do a valve adjustment.

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Have not run any cleaner through though I will soon.

Help! My Cougar is sick! :frowning:

Over the past couple weeks I’ve just started getting hesitation when I accelerate from a stop. I give a reasonable amount of gas, the car accelerates for a fraction of a second, then gets bogged down, then accelerates normally. I don’t notice any ill effects once I’m already rolling, if I give it some gas once I’m already moving.

I assumed this is a fuel flow issue, something that maybe replacing the tank and lines might resolve. But last week two guys told me its not, one said it means it’s getting flooded and the other said it means it’s running too lean. The idle mix is reasonable, Edelbrock 1406 with the screws backed out just a bit from all the way in, getting around 19" of manifold vac at idle.

Well here’s the new thing. First off, the day after I installed the new valve covers, the first time I fired her up after coming back home, the engine idled fine for I dunno 30 seconds maybe, and then started sputtering and died. I found two problems, one was that a couple of the valve cover bolts had loosened a bit from the drive home and their settling in, not enough to leak oil or anything.

But the second was that with the addition of a nut to hold the pertronix connector on the coil connection where the ignition wire is, that push-on connector didn’t have enough screw to hold onto, it wasn’t making a good connection. So I cut the connector off the wiring harness, stripped and tinned the wire and bent it to form a loop that fit right around the screw, and used the nut to hold both the wires in place. Worked fine after that. BUT, when the car initially sputtered and died, a little fuel leaked out of the carb and onto the intake, it appeared to be coming from where the carb sits on the riser. Never seen that before, or since, but it seems possibly relevant and probably not ok.

So here’s the newer new thing, maybe related. I just went and put some gas in the tank cause I hoped to go to one of them cruise things tonight. Came home and parked in the garage, and after I turned the car off I heard a weird noise coming from the carb. Engine off.

It sounded like a gurgly sort of breathing, and I could see fuel sitting in the bottom of the bowls that would then bubble in time with the breathing. I grabbed my phone and shot video to try and capture it, you can sorta hear it but by the time I was shooting it had almost stopped. It did this for a total of maybe a minute give or take.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/toomanyhelicopters/car/e7aaf90a.mp4

A friend had suggested that the fuel leaking out of the carb several days ago suggests that maybe my floats aren’t adjusted right. I have the Edelbrock manual and the section about float adjustment seems straightforward enough. Is this the first place to check?

I’m wondering if maybe its time to clean the carb, and replace the tank and lines as I had already planned to.

Any input would be very much appreciated. I don’t like when my cat is sick!

Scott

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I found this link that covers much of what you are going through. The individual has the same carb and did not fix the problem, but it was a GM car. there are a lot of different things to consider with the carburetor percolating like it is.

  1. what elevation are you at?
  2. do you have a spacer under the carb and if so what kind?
  3. What do you have for a fuel pump and what psi is it putting out?
  4. Is this an Edelbrock intake and if so, what gaskets do you have?
  5. Is the cross over for the exhaust blocked to keep the intake cooler?

Here is the link,
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/carb-percolating-help-213949.html

Basically you are boiling your fuel, or possibly too much fuel pressure, you may have to put a fuel psi gauge in line and mount it some how so you can see it when you are driving.
Hope this helps

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  1. 600’ above sea level, give or take, is where Chicago sits, I believe.
  2. yes the carb is sitting on a riser that’s about 1" tall, I don’t know any specifics about it
  3. modern replacement stock mechanical fuel pump, which according to the specs for the fuel pump creates higher pressure than the Edelbrock wants. I brought that up last year when I first noticed the spec conflict, when I bought a fuel pressure regulator, but never installed it because folks told me its not necessary and Edelbrock 1406’s run with stock fuel pumps no problem.
  4. no its the stock intake
  5. what’s a crossover? Is that like an H pipe or Y pipe or something? Or do you mean the snorkel that pulls hot air to the air cleaner from the exhaust manifold? If so, there is no snorkel.

Ok, I’m off to read the link. Thank you!

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  1. Being 600’ above sea should be fine.
  2. try using heat isolating gaskets, Not sure of the true name for them.
  3. This is interesting that a stock pump has too much pressure for the Edelbrock carb. Try the regulator.
    4-5) The stock manifold will have a passage way through it that connects to the exhaust port in the head and allows heat to travel through the under side of the intake manifold to help in cold weather driving. The port for the cross flow can be blocked with a type of after market gasket according to the link I posted . I have seen where others have fabricated up a valve in the manifold to block the cross flow of hot air through the manifold in the summer and in cooler weather, turn it to open it back up.