Author Topic: Operation: Busted Knuckles (Read 18269 times)

brentsydlik · « **on:** June 18, 2011, 08:21:36 PM »

Well i decided that since im working on this car that it should be posted in the correct location. This is my 87 limited wagon from the "My current obsession" post.

this is what i started with

no keys(door or ign.)
no starter(m.i.a.)
only one wiper on the front
three broken door handles
one mans word that it ran

bought it and brought it home which was an ordeal all its own. that night i had a battery and a starter in it and tried a coffee can full of keys... none worked. my buddy brought his keyring of over 200 more keys on it and got 2 door keys but no ignition keys.since i couldnt find a key i just decided to pop the key cylinder out. got her to fire up and run. next morning i drove down the road where i almost immediatly blew out a rusty brakeline. So my victory was shortlived but a victory none the less.

fast forward a few more setbacks later and i have removed te roof rack and patched the holes forevermore. as well as the hole by the opera window
i went to the junk yard today and found an old blazer just outside the office door that had keys in the ignition so i pulled the switch out and installed it in the eagle when i got home so i now can start it with out pliars.

anything else on this project will be posted here.

n9xvt · « **Reply #1 on:** June 18, 2011, 09:09:29 PM »

looks like my kinda save! good job there!

brentsydlik · « **Reply #2 on:** June 18, 2011, 10:32:57 PM »

thanks.

thereverendbill · « **Reply #3 on:** June 18, 2011, 10:51:44 PM »

I love before shots

this was what my wagon looked like when I rolled it off the trailer a year and some change ago

brentsydlik · « **Reply #4 on:** June 19, 2011, 07:52:53 PM »

i got a lot dunn(done for the non rednecktified) today... a whole lotta nothin! Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #5 on:** June 22, 2011, 11:27:54 PM »

went out for a hole like 5 min today and started poking around the drivers side opera window where the rust hole was and picked at it till i made it worse... next thing i know i got the whole window out and im like " darn it, its gonna rain, why did i do this?" so now there is a trash bag taped over the window. the bag smells good though. its scented like sugar cookies...

jamesdel · « **Reply #6 on:** June 24, 2011, 10:15:53 AM »

smells good is always a plus

Mine still smell very mousy

Getting kinda used to it now ! Good save

brentsydlik · « **Reply #7 on:** June 27, 2011, 02:08:09 PM »

i need a windshield washer knob. mine looks fine but is cracked internaly and when i try to use it it just spreads open. also in need of two drivers side door handles and one pass.side door handle. if any one has any of these please let me know. thanks guys.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #8 on:** July 21, 2011, 11:06:56 PM »

hey... its been a while. i now have possession of "the horse" as well as my original bird. after much deliberation i have decided to part out the horse. for now at least. as of right now my eagle has a full set of operational door handles as well as many other dodadds yet to be scavenged. i also started filling and sanding again. now i need to remove all the old window gunk from the drivers side opera window so that i can replace it with new window gunk and put the window back in. from there i need to finish up the tear down of the top end of the motor to replace a head gasket and the intake/exhaust gaskets, and a new valve cover gasket and the valve cover borrowed from the horse. then if that all goes well i got a whole list of stuff to keep me busy.

philotomy · « **Reply #9 on:** July 22, 2011, 10:14:01 AM »

I'm in the same boat,I got a parts car recently as well;it's nice to have a parts car makes it a lot easier to find those strange little parts

brentsydlik · « **Reply #10 on:** July 24, 2011, 08:21:20 AM »

oh i know... door handles and knobs and switches... heck even bolts for that matter!

doneagle · « **Reply #11 on:** July 30, 2011, 12:14:06 AM »

HI How much hay dies that Horse eat in a days time LOL good job

Don

brentsydlik · « **Reply #12 on:** July 30, 2011, 01:03:08 AM »

not sure how much its eating. but it sure its turning the grass under it brown...

doneagle · « **Reply #13 on:** July 30, 2011, 10:41:32 AM »

HI I have never seen an Eagle the color of Horse .What would you call that color......Don

brentsydlik · « **Reply #14 on:** July 30, 2011, 02:40:54 PM »

copper or horse crap... lol. i think i have to agree though. i dont recall any in that scheme. but then i am not very observant of color...

brentsydlik · « **Reply #15 on:** August 01, 2011, 05:19:40 PM »

well i finaly got the intake and exhaust manifolds off this past weekend. took them both into work with me today and cleand them up real nice. got rid of some unwanted junk off of each. now when i feel like braving the heat again i will go put it all together. What are all the sensors on the intake for an 87. the two in the water ports more precisely. one at th front and one at the back. I assume one is the temp sending unit for the temp gauge and one is the sending unit for an temp idiot light?

brentsydlik · « **Reply #16 on:** August 11, 2011, 10:06:00 AM »

Well its slow progress but progress none the less. Got the intake and exhaust manifolds back on but the muffler shop lost the front pipe section that i gave them to copy a new one. so its open manifold for today. put the non feed back carb on from the other bird. removed the ac pump and other components. Never been a big fan of ac in a car. got to use the alternator bracket and belt from the other eagle to make it all work w/o the ac pump. i didnt like the bondo patch i made for the opera window so i pulled all that out and i will do some real body work to fix it instead. I removed all unwanted vacumes(again) but i have two vac lines that run to some vac/elect. switches or sensors or something on the inner fender that run wires to the control module. dont know what they do... suggestions? the other car does not have these.

philotomy · « **Reply #17 on:** August 12, 2011, 09:01:05 AM »

Iv'e wondered if there is a chance I could take off the ac compressor and just run a belt around to the crankshaft pulley,but I think there's a bolt that needs to be removed,not sure so my ac is going to remain on the motor.The Eaglepedia should have the vacuum diagrams your'e looking for,they changed a bit over the years and with different equipment too I imagine,I have a few on mine though its been changed to injection.The 88 I own has a ton of vacuum lines all over it so I'm not messing with anything (some are controlled by temp then open up like on your air cleaner).

brentsydlik · « **Reply #18 on:** August 13, 2011, 09:48:46 AM »

mine is the 87 so im sure its just like yours. lots of lines running lots of crap that i dont need. Pretty sure i got everything but the ones the got to the control mod. but i wasnt thinking of those when i went apes#!t removing lines.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #19 on:** September 03, 2011, 05:05:03 PM »

hey guys... long time since ive posted anything. ive been really busy. and yet nothing has been done to either eagle in a month. Well hopefully i can get back to it. Ive spent most of my time this past month getting everything ready for my largest project to date. MARRIAGE. Yeah i know. another one bites the dust. But thats ok. Ive lived with my captor for the past 3 years so i know what im doing. And go figure... she knows im building an eagle and she still said "I do" so thats gotta count for something huh.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #20 on:** September 18, 2011, 11:06:49 PM »

well... went kinda nuts this weekend. started out with just pulling the good wheels and tires off of the brown car and putting them on the tan car. removal of the wheels revealed new drums which then revealed brand new shoes and hardware and wheel cyls. I wasnt looking forward to the extra effort of swapping everything but i figured itd be a good idea.

So Saturday i finished the brakes up and bled them out. Had to change some lines too but thats ok. I cut out and replaced the rust hole behind the opera window. Put the window back in and finished tieing up some loose ends under the hood. I replaced the entire cowl section where the rusted out wiper arm hole was. Just painted it black and pop rivited it. (Race inspired, looks cool) pics later.

Sunday i washed the car and cleaned it out. Finished installing the temp gage and the amp gage, i still need to get the oil pressure sending unit out so i can put the fitting in for the o/p gage. Stole the exhaust pipe from the brown car and installed it on the 87. Long story less long, the car is running and driving. Wont seem to go over 160 degrees. The timing is off and i still have some cosmetic stuff to tend to but shes realy coming along.

jim · « **Reply #21 on:** September 19, 2011, 01:31:54 PM »

"well... went kinda nuts this weekend"
The next time you feel a "nuts" spell coming on drop by my place. I can
offer some therapy in the form 2 Eagles for you to work on.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #22 on:** September 19, 2011, 11:06:31 PM »

i hear ya...

doneagle · « **Reply #23 on:** September 21, 2011, 05:10:04 PM »

HI Brent sounds like you really went nuts I am glad you had all those new parts to put on your car
I am glad you have her going .now the fun starts ....if you get a chance stop by ...later Don

brentsydlik · « **Reply #24 on:** September 28, 2011, 11:34:45 PM »

hey don, as soon as i can get my charging problem figured out, ill swing out with the knuckle buster. Ive tried both of the alternators from both cars and its still not charging. I did yank the vacume wires that go to the module box... doubt that has anything to do with it.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #25 on:** October 02, 2011, 12:01:21 AM »

hey don...might swing out your way tomorrow afternoon. if thats alright with ya.

doneagle · « **Reply #26 on:** October 03, 2011, 05:49:12 AM »

HI Brent thanks for stopping by your lady bird is looking good and sounds good she perrrrrrrs .....
when i get better i will come down and see you ......later Don

brentsydlik · « **Reply #27 on:** October 20, 2011, 07:15:39 PM »

well... pretty much done. for now anyway. these things are never done. but its finally pretty reliable.

eaglefreek · « **Reply #28 on:** October 20, 2011, 08:08:52 PM »

Good to hear.

doneagle · « **Reply #29 on:** October 21, 2011, 09:52:48 PM »

That is good to hear....HI Eaglefreek ........later Don

Horse · « **Reply #30 on:** November 12, 2011, 05:23:58 AM »

I'm glad the ol' boy still carries his weight. I do believe, if I read these posts correctly, that my old carb, tires and possibly alternator swapped over to your bird to make her run like she do. I've been off the map working on my stock, metllaic gray '87 but I'm glad to see the legacy of the Horse live on past Kalamazoo.

And yes, the factory calls that color "copper"

Horse · « **Reply #31 on:** November 12, 2011, 05:30:16 AM »

Oh, and by the way... Congragulations. Good to see that some of us get to go home to somebody after we close the hood.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #32 on:** November 14, 2011, 05:14:19 PM »

yes sir... its officially an eagle/horse hybrid. and thanks everyone.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #33 on:** December 06, 2011, 05:33:18 PM »

HELP!!! Hey guys and gals... busted knuckles went on strike two nites ago and i cant figure out whats wrong. Turns over good but wont start. i got power to the coil but wont start. I dont know what to check i swapped the coil for the one off the horse and it still dont help.

mudkicker715 · « **Reply #34 on:** December 06, 2011, 05:56:30 PM »

Plugs, wires, rotor, cap

brentsydlik · « **Reply #35 on:** December 07, 2011, 07:01:04 AM »

cap and rotor are brand new, maybe only 3 months old. it ran great sunday morning and wouldnt start monday morning. could it be the module on the inner fender? i know nothing about ford style ignition. ive been wrenching on gm junk all my life.

AMCKen · « **Reply #36 on:** December 07, 2011, 02:35:28 PM »

Could be the pickup coil in the distributor also. Between the violet and orange wires should be 400-800 ohms.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #37 on:** December 07, 2011, 07:36:19 PM »

i checked tonight and i dont have any spark from the coil. at least thats what my screwdriver in the coil wire said. so its a problem before the distributor. im really thinkin the brain/ecm/computer/complicated doomaflaggie. will that interchange from an 81 to an 87?

brentsydlik · « **Reply #38 on:** December 09, 2011, 07:12:51 AM »

im just gonna uncomplicate this whole situation. found a brand new hei distributor ready to drop in and run with just a hot wire. 65 bucks well spent. unless im an idiot and im not thinkin this through all the way.

GRONK · « **Reply #39 on:** December 09, 2011, 11:13:03 AM »

Make sure you wire the HEI straight off the starter solenoid AND use a 12V regulator. This way you will get the required/constant 12V the HEI needs and you will have a line of protection built in. The ceramic resistors will get HOT!!!

brentsydlik · « **Reply #40 on:** December 10, 2011, 09:39:32 AM »

just as a curious question, for the six years that i raced stock cars i never heard of anyone running resistors and regulators or anything... we all just ran a hot wire from a toggle switch so whats the purpose behind all this? I dont want to set my car ablaze or nothing.

AMCKen · « **Reply #41 on:** December 12, 2011, 01:07:28 AM »

AFAIK when cars were 6 volt they didn't need a resistor. When they moved to 12 volts they found the points burned up too quickly and the coil got hot so they added a resister/wire to knock it back to 6-8 volts. For racing I expect the time involved wasn't long enough to cook a set of points.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #42 on:** December 13, 2011, 10:04:19 PM »

ah gotcha. makes sense.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #43 on:** December 16, 2011, 08:30:36 PM »

ok... got the distributor in and new plugs and wires. i can make it run really good with out the vacuum advance but when i put it in gear it wants to stall. if i hook up the vac advance it advances to much and stalls. Ideas?

mudkicker715 · « **Reply #44 on:** December 16, 2011, 10:06:40 PM »

Sounds like your using manifold vac instead of ported

brentsydlik · « **Reply #45 on:** December 16, 2011, 10:16:52 PM »

ive tried all the small vacuum ports on the carb... never had any prob before with the stock dist.

GRONK · « **Reply #46 on:** December 17, 2011, 09:27:11 AM »

Small port from carb could be manifold vac, could be ported vac. Your HEI will also have a 10-19deg swing. Might neeed to adjust the advance curve. My guess is impropper vac source to dist and possible incorrect timing.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #47 on:** December 17, 2011, 03:35:30 PM »

timed at 8degrees, when i hook up the vac that only applies as throttle is applied it goes to about 15 dgrees at 1500 rpms or so and then skips time and dies.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #48 on:** December 18, 2011, 02:12:21 PM »

totally disregarding the timing advance issue... what would cause it to run great in park and miss under load...

mudkicker715 · « **Reply #49 on:** December 18, 2011, 04:04:16 PM »

What's the plug gap at.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #50 on:** December 18, 2011, 11:13:31 PM »

45 thousanths but i think i may have figured it out... the 4 screws that hold the coil in the cap were over tightened and cracked through the bottom exposing them to the rotor... all 4 have burn markings on them so i will have to prucure another cap tomorrow.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #51 on:** December 20, 2011, 07:01:03 AM »

bought a new cap and installed it. Smoothed out alot. i can actually drive it now. But #3 and #4 both have an intermittant miss. i have no idea why. Just using the timing light on the each of the wires and pointing it at the ground i can watch the 3rd and 4th cylinders just lose fire and miss. all the rest of them fire nice and steady.

68AMXGOPAC · « **Reply #52 on:** December 20, 2011, 07:52:14 AM »

Good trick with the timeing light, I have used that before.

AMCKen · « **Reply #53 on:** December 20, 2011, 04:36:37 PM »

Partially remove the wire from the bad plug and hold it a short distance away from the plug so the spark has to jump a gap to reach the plug. I had 2 plugs on my J20 that were bad and the extra resistance of jumping the gap helped them fire. Fresh plugs fixed them.

brentsydlik · « **Reply #54 on:** December 22, 2011, 06:42:06 PM »

tried that... no use

Author Topic: Operation: Busted Knuckles (Read 18269 times)

68AMXGOPAC