Project Road Trip

[Prafeston]

There is a wagon for sale around me Rohn that is posted as $550. It says parts car or could be fixed to run. Sounds like it just needs some carb work and a valve cover. It's only 45 minutes from me. I'm thinking about checking it out. Has power everything and a center gauge cluster...and a tach!! I figured I could take the carb that came of TQ and get it running...though it did look like it was missing a battery judging by the pics they posted....the rear end looks saggy too, but the car only has like 77k miles on it.

[rohnk]

Go for it! Yet another save for you. To think it was less than a year ago you bought TQ and have had two others since then. There just coming out of the woodwork by you.

I've got to clear some bills and pay off a bit of debt before I can "invest" in another Eagle.... unfortunately. Probably won't be till next year that I can seriously look for one unless I get a cash windfall from somewhere. Lottery isn't coming through!

[Baskinator]

Rafe- careful with that wagon if you expect to try getting it on the road. Not a bad deal for a parts car with those features in good shape, but "77k miles" could be "177k miles", could be "277k miles", etc... 

When you do tear down the interior Rohn, you would probably be fine with just cleaning all the trim instead of painting it. Unless they have some kind of stains, it should look decent with some good vinyl/plastic polish or compound.

Teardown from my experience:

-You can start with removing every trim piece from the hatch area to the dash (don't bother trying to remove the dash if it isn't completely necessary, it's a REAL pain).
-Make sure to leave all the screws in their places after you remove each piece, it can be tough to remember where they go if you don't.
-Once that's finished, you can take off the seat covers, remove the rear seatbacks, then the rear seats.
-The hatch carpet should then come out easily as a single piece.
-The front seat frames might be harder to get off, as the bolts might be a combination of factory rust coating and globs of rust lol. Definitely strip that stuff off before you try removing them, and make certain you have the correct size sockets.
-After the front seat frames are out, the front carpet should come off with a bit of pulling and peeling.
-Inspect every inch for rust, and do what you need to get it fixed.
-Apply a good seam sealer over the factory seams or any new weld seams, because this is often where the rust creeps up.
-Paint over the seams, and anywhere else you feel necessary, with a good rust paint. I've had an EXCELLENT experience with Rust Bullet auto paint, because it brushes on like a dream, requires little preparation, and sinks into the rust (which it CAN be used to paint over, as long as it's not loose). However, it is probably one of the most expensive paints you would buy, at $160/gal. For me, 1pt($35) laid two thick coats over my entire rear hatch floor and some sections of my frame. Very satisfied, but any good rust paint should work fine for your needs.
-Polish and clean everything while it is out of the car. It will be a lot easier than doing it in the car.

It's really cool once you see everything coming together and you can start putting the fresh new interior back in. I can't wait to have my humpty dumpty back together again! 

[rohnk]

Thanks for the tips. I plan to install a black interior and I have picked up most of the pieces. I'll paint my other ones black otherwise. I was also thinking about covering the trim pieces with a really thin vinyl which might look pretty sharp. Of course there wouldn't be any texture to it that way but I think it would look good.

[rohnk]

Pulled more vac lines off last night so I probably broke something somewhere. I am trying to figure out where these all go so I can make sense of it. Tonight I hope to hook up the lines to the carb and try starting it. Still confused on what goes where but capping the EGR should make this a little easier.

[eaglefreek]

Pulled more vac lines off . I am trying to figure out where these all go .

They go here:

[Prafeston]

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[rohnk]

And most of them will!

I think I figured it out finally so tonight after work I should be ready to crank it over and see if it starts. I probably need to do the ECM Test before I try to start it though.

[Prafeston]

And most of them will!

I think I figured it out finally so tonight after work I should be ready to crank it over and see if it starts. I probably need to do the ECM Test before I try to start it though.

I drove my car for a couple weeks without doing the ECM Test Bypass.

[rohnk]

Oh, so I don't have to do the ECM Test right away? Cool. I will definately try cranking it tonight then.

[rohnk]

Well I tried and it didn't start. It wasn't running very good before the swap so I guess I'm not surprised. I tried it until the battery died, charged it, cranked until it died again, quick charged, cranked till dead. Nothing.

I'm not smelling fuel either so I don't know if the fuel pump is working. Probaby not. I even tried spraying starting fluid down the throat and it did not fire.

Guess I'll wait till the battery is charged and try again. I still need to do the ECM Test which I will do after the battery is done charging and I've tried it again. I think the battery is shot as I only get about 40 seconds of crank time before it quits.

[GRONK]

The Motorcraft fuel bowl will take a good 30 seconds of cranking to fill the bowl the 1st time.  After that, should be nothing to it.

Make sure your PCV is connected and you don't have any open vacuum ports.

[rohnk]

Did all of that and still no go. I also pulled the fuel line apart and found I'm not getting gas to the carb. I also found that the distributor connects directly to the ICM on my car. Not a splice, a direct connection.

[Prafeston]

You need to make a quick video for us. Show us what you've done and maybe that will help. Of course not getting gas to the carb could be a problem! 

[rohnk]

You read my mind. The video is currently uploading from my Ipod. It's taking a bit of time.

I show that my distribitor wires go directly from the dizzy to the plug you show in your video. Yours ran up the wire harness and you cut them. When the video loads, look at my setup and tell me what you think. It looks factory, no splices or anything.