My Mom's 1986 Ford Crown Victoria
- Thread starter XLTbeater
- Start date
So my Grand Marquis exhaust project is taking a lot longer than intended. The exhaust studs are mostly frozen on the 4.6L. I had the passenger side broken free and am now working on the driver side. For whatever reason, the driver side studs are in worse shape than the passenger side. And the studs that I thought would be the easy ones; are the most stubborn. I rounded off 2 nuts on the driver studs and had to call it quits until I got the special sockets for removing rounded nuts. Also got a 300psi impact ratchet; as my 145psi impact ratchet wasn't hitting that hard.
I might take a hiatus from this until Labor Day; and start focusing on the Crown Vic. I still need to reinstall the repaired ECM and siphon out as much fuel as I can from the tank before I make another 1st fire attempt.
I might take a hiatus from this until Labor Day; and start focusing on the Crown Vic. I still need to reinstall the repaired ECM and siphon out as much fuel as I can from the tank before I make another 1st fire attempt.
I wouldn't sweat the gas too much if it's just a year old.
Yah, I was told that by a couple of my friends. Just pour a bottle of fuel stabilizer and run it. I might siphon it out, mix stabilizer with the remaining gas, and top it off with fresh 93. I will run the year old gas in my Grand Marquis because it doesn't seem to care anyways.
Whilst working from home yesterday, I got the 30A circuit breaker that I had been meaning to install in the Crown Vic; and glued a divider between the 2 poles. I probably could have left it undivided; but the factory circuit breaker had a divider; so I am doing likewise. This will be one of those items to be replaced whenever the weather breaks.
Got nothing done to any of the vehicles; just little things. A couple weeks ago, we finally took delivery of our washing machine after 2.5 months of waiting. The people who were sent to take the old machine out and install the new one consisted of a guy with a hernia and his teenage son; who was (described to me) all of maybe 120lbs. They got the old machine out; but left the new machine in the middle of the floor. The guy was in pain when he got there and after taking out the old washer and bringing in the new machine, he didn't want to deal with old plumbing; so he left and said to get a plumber to install. So I spent that weekend installing the washing machine.
This past weekend, I did some cooking for a friend's son's graduation party. Since he had COVID at graduation; this was his rain date. Came back from that and started messing with the plumbing for the washing machine. That part of the basement has ancient plumbing that my Dad never got to replumb. So I am going to brace that all up; and start replacing all the valves leading up the washing machine; and also replace the hoses for that machine. Hopefully that will stop the dripping from the joints.
On a car-related note; during that process, I found a piece of the OE battery-to-engine ground cable for the Crown Vic. It was among some other bits in a box that I saved for whatever reasons. Thinking that it's 6AWG. Probably good brand new. When I cut it out; I decided that I needed to go with a much larger 1/0AWG cable with the new setup.
This past weekend, I did some cooking for a friend's son's graduation party. Since he had COVID at graduation; this was his rain date. Came back from that and started messing with the plumbing for the washing machine. That part of the basement has ancient plumbing that my Dad never got to replumb. So I am going to brace that all up; and start replacing all the valves leading up the washing machine; and also replace the hoses for that machine. Hopefully that will stop the dripping from the joints.
On a car-related note; during that process, I found a piece of the OE battery-to-engine ground cable for the Crown Vic. It was among some other bits in a box that I saved for whatever reasons. Thinking that it's 6AWG. Probably good brand new. When I cut it out; I decided that I needed to go with a much larger 1/0AWG cable with the new setup.
I managed to do a couple things for the Crown Vic over the weekend. I installed the circuit breaker for the power accessories (that rusty box on the starter solenoid) and reinstalled the Quarterhorse back into the ECU. Not much, but something. I still need to siphon out the old gas, reinstall the ECU, and lube the cylinders before I attempt another 1st start. That might be a few weeks from now; as I want to focus on installing the exhaust on my Merc.
Other than that, I spent the rest of the weekend replacing some of the plumbing in the basement; and bracing some of the old plumbing that's left so I can take it apart. Fun stuff!
Other than that, I spent the rest of the weekend replacing some of the plumbing in the basement; and bracing some of the old plumbing that's left so I can take it apart. Fun stuff!
You seriously have the patience of Job!
I know this is not the Crown Vic; but it is kind of the same thing; just a bit younger. Today I managed to remove 9 of the 16 exhaust manifold studs (actually 4 of the nuts backed off) on my '05 Grand Marquis; and loosened another 2 underneath the passenger side exhaust manifold. I will move the a/c compressor out of the way to get at the other 2 studs. I ran back into the problem that I had the last time I attempted to remove the exhaust studs; the 2 that I rounded off. I will come back at them tomorrow with the rounded nut remover socket. I hope that works as I am almost done removing the exhaust manifolds. I am trying to figure why my 200psi compressor will only go to 150psi. Not too much of a problem; but for those 3 stubborn studs, I would like to hit them a little harder. Otherwise, 145psi - 150psi was doing the trick with the other studs.
The Grand Marquis exhaust project is dead in the water. I got 15 of the 16 studs and nuts loosened. One of the rounded nuts reamed itself out when I used the rounded-nut remover socket on it. At this point, I will have to get a nut welded onto the end of that stud and remove the stud itself. I smeared Never-Seize on all of the studs and bolts that were removed before buttoning it all back up. I will confirm with the mechanic in the next town over if he wants to take a stab at removing that one stud. So, it's back to working on the Crown Vic and the house. Bright side of this is I didn't break any studs and I can still drive the car until I can have it worked on.
Those things look really painful to remove! 15 of 16 sounds like a pretty decent success rate, though I know that last one was crucial.
Those were the studs on the top of the manifolds. I didn't get pics of the bottom studs. Those were nastier. 14 of those studs came out; just took a little time with the air ratchet. The other stud with the rounded-nut had to be removed with my electric impact. I was able to get a 1/2" swivel extension in there and get that one out. The stud next to it with the nut that reamed itself out; was only accessible with the air ratchet. If I could have gotten the electric impact gun in there; I might have gotten that out before it reamed itself.
I believe my success is partly due to soaking everything repeatedly for a year. Moving forward; When I remove an exhaust manifold stud/bolt; I will smear Never-Seize on it and torque it back in; then move to the next stud/bolt. I'm thinking that as I loosened all of the studs; the exhaust manifold moved out a little and put more pressure on the remaining studs. Maybe that contributed to the difficulty on that 1 stud. Lesson learned - the hard way.
I believe my success is partly due to soaking everything repeatedly for a year. Moving forward; When I remove an exhaust manifold stud/bolt; I will smear Never-Seize on it and torque it back in; then move to the next stud/bolt. I'm thinking that as I loosened all of the studs; the exhaust manifold moved out a little and put more pressure on the remaining studs. Maybe that contributed to the difficulty on that 1 stud. Lesson learned - the hard way.
So, two weeks ago I sent my Merc to the mechanic to have him remove the obliterated studs. He removed them and replaced them with stainless studs. Last weekend I attempted the exhaust install, but was thwarted by very stubborn collector studs. Only 1 of the 4 nuts loosened with the impact. The others wouldn't budge. I put the breaker on them and they still wouldn't budge. They must have some sort of interference fit because they look to be in really good shape (I can still see a dab of green paint on the tips of the studs). I realized that if I get the factory cat'd downpipes off; I will likely not be able to get them back on. So next week when I make what I hope is my final attempt at this; I will be committed to finishing the full exhaust install. Good thing about spending the entire summer getting to this point is that I won't need any air tools to get the exhaust manifolds off; as everything has been loosened or replaced. I also cleaned all of the bolt holes with a tap.
Most of the factory exhaust fasteners are "prevailing torque". I've been replacing most of the standard nuts on my aftermarket exhaust systems with prevailing torque nuts. Easier to deal with a flanged prevailing torque fastener than a washer, lock washer, and nut.
Trade off is that I can't spin them on with my fingers.
Trade off is that I can't spin them on with my fingers.
Got the collectors apart with a bit of effort on Friday night. It was well after dark when I did that. I got a late start on Saturday, but was able to get the exhaust down and out from under the Merc. And that's where the progress came to a screeching halt. I discovered 2 problems. 1) Driver side header won't go in unless I remove the oil dipstick tube. Since this is a 17 year old car, I tried dropping the header in from the top, but the bellhousing thwarts me every time. So I will have to endeavor to remove the dipstick tube; which is not budging. I will try a heat gun to the base of the tube at the oil pan; and have a fire extinguisher at hand (precaution). When I get the headers installed, the next problem will be the mid-pipes. The Stainless Works mid-pipes have a slight bend at the flange. Not sure if that is there to straighten the exhaust; or it's SW effort to ensure I purchase their exhaust. If that's the case; I will make my own mid-pipes; which I might do anyway because I like to flange sections of my exhaust systems. That way when components kick the bucket, I can pull it apart easier.
I am still stuck with this project. In fact, I went a little backwards. Last week, I bought a scraper/prybar from Home Depot and cut a notch into the ends to fit around the oil dipstick tube. I then beveled it a bit so I could wedge it under the oil tube shoulder/flange. It must have been too sharp because yesterday it ended up biting into the shoulder/flange and when I tried prying the oil tube up; it severed the tube instead. I was told that this was highly probable and that I should have broken the tube a week ago and extracted what's left. That's where I am at now. I ordered a Promaxx Ford oil tube extractor kit; should be waiting for me when I get back home. I hope it works as good as the YouTube testimonials claim.
I spent the rest of the yesterday afternoon to fit the driver side header. I wanted to see what I will have when I reach this step. Discovered a few things in the process:
1) One of the studs is too close to the primary tube. I will have to put the header in place and screw the corner nuts and bolts a couple threads. While the header is away from the block, I should be able to thread that one nut onto the stud.
2) While the header is away from the cylinder head, I will try to install the oil dipstick tube. If I install the header before the oil dipstick; it will not fit, as it hits the primaries and/or the engine mount. With the header loose, I should have some wiggle room; hopefully.
3) Two of my allen bolts are blocked by the middle primary tubes. I have 2 options; buy another 6mm allen key and cut it down to fit in the small space; or use the header bolts that came with the headers. I may use the header bolts and in the meanwhile, go get me a 6mm allen key and cut it down.
I went on the other side and found a few of the bolts and studs loosened. I tightened them down; but I had already applied copper gasket sealer and reused the stock Ford gaskets. The gasket sealer has been dried for a week, so I hope by my tightening those bolts/studs late; I still have a seal. We'll see when I eventually get around to starting this car up.
So, I spent the rest of yesterday going over the passenger side header again to make sure it's all cinched up. I then went about reinstalling the a/c compressor and accessory belt. At least that will be out of the way when the time comes; hopefully next weekend if that oil dipstick tube comes out.
I spent the rest of the yesterday afternoon to fit the driver side header. I wanted to see what I will have when I reach this step. Discovered a few things in the process:
1) One of the studs is too close to the primary tube. I will have to put the header in place and screw the corner nuts and bolts a couple threads. While the header is away from the block, I should be able to thread that one nut onto the stud.
2) While the header is away from the cylinder head, I will try to install the oil dipstick tube. If I install the header before the oil dipstick; it will not fit, as it hits the primaries and/or the engine mount. With the header loose, I should have some wiggle room; hopefully.
3) Two of my allen bolts are blocked by the middle primary tubes. I have 2 options; buy another 6mm allen key and cut it down to fit in the small space; or use the header bolts that came with the headers. I may use the header bolts and in the meanwhile, go get me a 6mm allen key and cut it down.
I went on the other side and found a few of the bolts and studs loosened. I tightened them down; but I had already applied copper gasket sealer and reused the stock Ford gaskets. The gasket sealer has been dried for a week, so I hope by my tightening those bolts/studs late; I still have a seal. We'll see when I eventually get around to starting this car up.
So, I spent the rest of yesterday going over the passenger side header again to make sure it's all cinched up. I then went about reinstalling the a/c compressor and accessory belt. At least that will be out of the way when the time comes; hopefully next weekend if that oil dipstick tube comes out.
Oh man I can't imagine using allen heads for the header bolts... That seems like leveling up the challenge to me!!