Ownership Verified: Detroit Steel: The CraigB/Dr_Grip 1972 Ford Country Sedan adventure thread

I already had her at 120 mph. Was no fun though, hope it'll feel better with the steering upgrades.
 
nicjasno;n3544383 said:
Maybe the worn bushings were the reason you heard a clunk at hard acceleration.
The new strut rod bushings definitly provide more clearance between the front axle and the steering linkage, so that should be fixed, yeah.
 
Just got off the phone with Dan. Lucille's got an alignment and sounds very chavvy, says Dan.

ToDo for tomorrow, thus:
-Finish building exhaust (right now we end with the mufflers, the over-axle pipes are missing)
-This includes relocating the fuel pump and the HiJacker valve
-Re-center steering wheel
-Change oil
-Test drive, pick up E30 for nicjasno

If time allows:
-Install 2nd electric fan
-Fix dash clock (again)
-Try to reduce deep bass drone from speakers
 
Building th exhaust was a shitload of work in the end. Making the universal X-Pipe kit fit Lucille was relatively easy, but the over-axle pipes have an... interesting... geometry and needed a lot of fabriacting.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/pic.armedcats.net\/d\/dr\/dr_grip\/2018\/01\/21\/IMG_20180120_123318.jpg"}[/IMG2]

In the end, we ended with these two beauties:
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/pic.armedcats.net\/d\/dr\/dr_grip\/2018\/01\/21\/IMG_20180120_193818.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/pic.armedcats.net\/d\/dr\/dr_grip\/2018\/01\/21\/IMG_20180120_193827.jpg"}[/IMG2]

And thus, we could fit the full exhaust:
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/pic.armedcats.net\/d\/dr\/dr_grip\/2018\/01\/21\/IMG_20180120_200107.jpg"}[/IMG2]
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/pic.armedcats.net\/d\/dr\/dr_grip\/2018\/01\/21\/IMG_20180120_200047.jpg"}[/IMG2]

The passenger side over axle pipe still is not a 100% fit, but as I need to order two more 90? bends to re-create her stock side exhausts, we'll get back to that after Finnmeet.

All other tasks are finished, though. Dan will give her a fresh layer of underbody hard wax coating to protect her against road salt tomorrow and then we are good to go!
 
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Wicked! :D
 
BerserkerCatSplat;n3544707 said:
What's the box with the RockAuto magnet attached to your fuel tank strap?

I'm guessing it's a fuel pump.
 
ScarFace88;n3544730 said:
I'm guessing it's a fuel pump.

Yep, in it is a Bosch 044 pump. The box is just sheetmetal to protect it from stonechips and water. You are supposed to place external fuel pumps lower than the bottom of the tank, which left this as the only mounting option.
 
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Dr_Grip;n3544731 said:
Yep, in it is a Bosch 044 pump. The box is just sheetmetal to protect it from stonechips and water. You are supposed to place external fuel pumps lower than the bottom of the tank, which left this as the only mounting option.

Huh, why is that?
 
MXM;n3544758 said:
Huh, why is that?

because due to the nature of their design, electric fuel pumps are bad at sucking air. With the pump above the bottom of the tank, then as soon as fuel level drops below the level of the pump, fuel will drain out of the pump when parked.

Also, an electric pump will almost always live much longer if it's pushing fuel, not pulling it.
 
Dr_Grip;n3544731 said:
Yep, in it is a Bosch 044 pump. The box is just sheetmetal to protect it from stonechips and water. You are supposed to place external fuel pumps lower than the bottom of the tank, which left this as the only mounting option.

Gotcha. So the fuel pump & box are only mounted via that bent sheetemetal under the tank strap? Seems a hair sketchy.
 
BerserkerCatSplat;n3544767 said:
Gotcha. So the fuel pump & box are only mounted via that bent sheetemetal under the tank strap? Seems a hair sketchy.

The sheetmetal's strong. It's solid :)
 
It’s the official TÜV approved way.
 
Shower thought: If I had a time machine, one of the first things I would do is travel back to 1971 and tell the chief engineer of the 1972 Ford full-size sedan/wagon program that one of his products, one day in the not so distant future, will go around one of Europe's most challenging and famous race tracks.
 
"What's Europe?" :p

EDIT: "And how the hell did you get in my office!?"
 
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