So far this 93 Imp trans has outlasted 2 fulltime D/R trans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope I didnt jinx myself 

Spent some time rewiring a few things Sunday.   I was triggering too many things from accessory power so  I had to run a relay.  Had a relay die that was running my engine fan.. I know I should have just bought and used a factory fan switch and I will. Just not till after the show.  Ran some fresh wire and a line out converter so I can run a small amp. After testing and setting the gains I think I need a crossover to stop a bit of lower freq's out of the 4.5" front speakers.  Cleaned up the interior of the car and put it all back together.  I added some USMB swag to the back window..Pics will have to wait till there is daylight.  

 

Mike

Started it up, jumped in it, ran down the road, turned around, pulled out, straightened it up, floored it and dumped the clutch. Made some boost and then nothing.... stalled. Had to restart it. I thought I had figured out, but apparently I am pushing way more boost than I thought.... Back to the drawing board...

Replaced wheel bearings, ball joints, brake pads, and tie rod ends today. It ended up being a much bigger job than I anticipated. I got the hubs off, and packed and hammered in the new bearings in about an hour, and was feeling really good about myself untill i tried to remove the ball joints. They were spectacularly seized, ended up having to use a pickle fork and a sledgehammer. Then came the tie rod Ends, which were even worse. Ended up having to use a Map gas torch, a pipe wrench, and a 4-foot cheater bar to get the damn things unscrewed from the tie rod. It was quite the workout, but the front end noise is gone and the alignment is almost perfect still. Might bring it by a shop and have the pros line it up a bit better, but it feels good at highway speed.

Edited September 5, 201312 yr by The Dude Abides

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200309550448817

Just did the d/s wheel bearing and ball joint (and learned the hard way that when a hydraulic press doesn't want to move.... don't move it! I bent the knuckle but thanks to another board member I'm up and running again. )

 

Also partly rebuilt the carb to fix a leaky accelerator pump.

 

And....

 

finally got the badges back on the tailgate along with the USMB decal :)

 

Edited September 15, 201312 yr by belacane

Put on my new Borla Y pipe, and got my 84 through emissions! Passed the dyno run, then they failed me on the stupid fuel cap. A couple days later went back with a new cap, and it passed on the dyno again (even though the guy always shifted too early, and even stalled it once...dumbass).

I even washed it, vacuumed it, blew it all out with air and wiped it all down inside. Ya never see how grungy its getting until you go to clean it!

Did a compression test on the PandaWagon to find out why it has a wonky idle:

 

 

That might be why.

 

 

Well, I guess Wedge is going to the RallyX.

I recently cut the rust out from behind the rear wheel into the cargo boxes and turned them into toolboxes

Photos, Please!

 

 

 

 

Did a compression test on the PandaWagon to find out why it has a wonky idle:

 

 

 

That might be why. 

 

 

Well, I guess Wedge is going to the RallyX.

 

 

What could have caused that loss of compression?

 

Broken Rings? ... Loose Valve?

 

I Hope that you'l fix it soon.

 

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200309550448817

 

Can't access that content, I believe it is a Private content for Friends only.

 

Kind Regards.

Edited September 21, 201312 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo

1. Lately, the temp. gauge on the 87 Brat was rising more than typical - typical being touching the middle point, but a tad above.  Especially at stop lights with the Brat idling.  I use an OEM (~192 deg. thermostat).    The two fans would eventually come on with the A/C, but not without the A/C - or I had no patience waiting for the fans to come on without the A/C.  I thought the thermo switch was faulty.  Drained the radiator last week-end and tried to undo the thermo switch.  The entire fitting on the radiator fatigued and came out with the thermo switch.  Ordered a B&A thermo switch from Rock Auto (much cheaper than buying local).  Ordered a new radiator from Advance (Lifetime warranty), so it was free.  Yesterday replaced the radiator with the new thermo switch.  Everything works as normal now.  The two fans come on without the A/C on, with the engine hot, and cycle on-off typically.  The Brat is happy again.

Received a pair of the following Hella driving lamps from Amazon last week; http://www.amazon.com/HELLA-005860031-Series-Halogen-Driving/dp/B000VUALVW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1379854625&sr=8-5&keywords=Hella+450.  Each was a set and included the bulb, mounting hardware, stone guard and instructions.  These will replace the pitted Bosch lamps on the Brat soon.  Mounting will be identical, and the existing wires will work.  I had ordered Hella 550's a few weeks ago, but that order did not work out.

 

 

What could have caused that loss of compression?

 

Broken Rings? ... Loose Valve?

 

I Hope that you'l fix it soon.

 

 

 

 

Kind Regards.

 

 

I'm not sure. Thankfully, the PandaWagon made it all the way home on it's own. Power was not that much lower but mileage was dropping slowly. I did check the oil and coolant and there's no contamination between the two.

Since I returned from WCSS, Wedge got mad at me for not taking him to WCSS and blew a CV boot. My truck got lonely while I was gone and burned up the bearing in the belt tensioner. So, I've been trying to get those two happy again so I can continue diagnostics on the PandaWagon.

Poor PandaWagon, sitting in the corner with a dead cylinder looking all forlorn. No worries, PandaWagon, I'll get ya back on the road as soon as I can!

 

... Since I returned from WCSS, Wedge got mad at me for not taking him to WCSS and blew a CV boot. My truck got lonely while I was gone and burned up the bearing in the belt tensioner. So, I've been trying to get those two happy again so I can continue diagnostics on the PandaWagon...

 

 

I thought that such kind of things only happened to me...

 

Good Luck! ... Kind Regards.

Yeah. I expect Wedge to do that. He's a Subaru. They're born jealous. But, my truck? It's a Ford, it's supposed to just work. The other three Fords do. Why does mine have to be different? I have two theories: 1) I think my truck has learned the way of the Subaru and has become jealous that it's the only vehicle of my three that has not been on a road trip yet. Or 2) Wedge has been saying BAAADDDD things about me to the truck behind my back.

Replaced D-side front axle, D-side lower ball joint r&r -Don't like the way the new axle sounds, -still hunting for some clunks I hear at certain angles, but everything seems good and solid, so I'm gonna abuse it for awhile and see if anything surfaces. Might just go ahead and change tie rod ends... Also, painted the pillars, replaced interior lights, wipers, repainted/installed rear deflector, gas door, door speaker swapped, my radio's tuner is crap, but the tape deck works, so I rigged up a cassette adapter to run an mp3 player thingy, doctored up the parking lamps,  put good headlights in -what a difference!Oh yeah, ashtray light (tricky), -Next it's 15" wheels & new tires to complete the lift...pics to come soon as I get those on!

Yeah. I expect Wedge to do that. He's a Subaru. They're born jealous. But, my truck? It's a Ford, it's supposed to just work. The other three Fords do. Why does mine have to be different? I have two theories: 1) I think my truck has learned the way of the Subaru and has become jealous that it's the only vehicle of my three that has not been on a road trip yet. Or 2) Wedge has been saying BAAADDDD things about me to the truck behind my back.

 

I know the BRAT has been talking to the XT.

Well, more or less yelling across the driveway considering their respective parking locations, and I imagine kinda in the same way a crotchety old veteran yells at a youngster

The XT may only be one year younger than the BRAT, but its seen a lot less, I know this for a fact

And I'm keeping it that way, no matter what the BRAT tells it...

 

On topic, I'm becoming suspicious of my coolant temp sensor. My temp gauge seems to be a little odd and there is a little hesitation between fully warm and cold.

 

Twitch

Fixed the axle with the blown CV boot on Wedge. No more axle grease flinging everywhere!

I finally installed a ham radio in my car, I kept putting it off since I've owned the car mainly because I didn't want to drill holes in the dash, but after a couple of years, I really didn't see any other place I could have put it.

 

I still need to clean up the wiring and coax a little bit, but other then that ... it's done, and looking kinda stylish under the 13 dollar Garmin GPS I snagged off ebay 

Was able to pick the lock on the Yakima rack on my '84 wagon. Now I can get the cores out and finally get a key made!!

http--,,--//

Was able to pick the lock on the Yakima rack on my '84 wagon. Now I can get the cores out and finally get a key made!!

http--,,--//

 

That bra is sexy. So very Sexy.

 

Twitch

That bra is sexy. So very Sexy.

 

Twitch

The whole package is!

New water pump. Still leaking. Found out it's the Oring on the pipe going in to the water pump leaking..finally got it fixed. Parking lights keep blowing fuses. Having a headache weekend. Oh and developed a serious intermittent miss at cruising speed on the highway. Good fun!

 

1. Lately, the temp. gauge on the 87 Brat was rising more than typical - typical being touching the middle point, but a tad above.  Especially at stop lights with the Brat idling.  I use an OEM (~192 deg. thermostat).    The two fans would eventually come on with the A/C, but not without the A/C - or I had no patience waiting for the fans to come on without the A/C.  I thought the thermo switch was faulty.  Drained the radiator last week-end and tried to undo the thermo switch.  The entire fitting on the radiator fatigued and came out with the thermo switch.  Ordered a B&A thermo switch from Rock Auto (much cheaper than buying local).  Ordered a new radiator from Advance (Lifetime warranty), so it was free.  Yesterday replaced the radiator with the new thermo switch.  Everything works as normal now.  The two fans come on without the A/C on, with the engine hot, and cycle on-off typically.  The Brat is happy again.
2. Received a pair of the following Hella driving lamps from Amazon last week; http://www.amazon.com/HELLA-005860031-Series-Halogen-Driving/dp/B000VUALVW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1379854625&sr=8-5&keywords=Hella+450.  Each was a set and included the bulb, mounting hardware, stone guard and instructions.  These will replace the pitted Bosch lamps on the Brat soon.  Mounting will be identical, and the existing wires will work.  I had ordered Hella 550's a few weeks ago, but that order did not work out.

Fixed a coolant leak due to a wimpy o-ring on the thermo switch, using a Ford aluminum drain plug washer with a rubber center; replaced the rear differential fluid; installed Hella Comet 450 driving lamps.  Went for a drive last night and several drivers flashed at me signifying the lamps were not adjusted optimally.  Came back and adjusted them again and went for another drive - much better.  However, the driving lamps are super quality and light up the road very well.  Taking the Brat on a 400 mile trip today.

Edited September 29, 201312 yr by aba4430