Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Sometimes you just have to do the work. Part Two

What would I have done if I couldn't find the rebuild kit? 

There are usually industrial supply houses in most cities. They sell the parts that most service people need to keep their machines and equipment up and running. There are stores that sell fasteners; nuts and bolts, electrical and electronic supplies, welding supplies, brass fittings, belting and chain, raw metal, and even bearings and o rings. McMaster-Carr has a very interesting webite worth browsing, but sometimes you need to pick up a part or item. I used to go to a store called King Bearing. I found many things that I needed for my Harley Davidson. Wheel bearings, oil and grease seals, drive chain and even o-rings. Most of these items have regular industrial id numbers and are cross referenced with dimensions. So I could buy the identical fitting item usually for less.

I would have taken the cleaned up parts as well as the old o rings with me. The countermen is usually familiar with the products. He will measure the grooves that the o ring sits in with a caliper and the diameter to find an equivalent. He knows the different composition of the materials and can find one suited to the task. I would hesitate to use general duty o rings as found in those "o ring storehouse" sets sold by Harbor Freight, primarily because they might not last that long, and this job is such a pain in the neck to redo.

The o ring kit arrived four days after I ordered it. It had a clear diagram plus instructions. There were several sizes of o rings used. I had found a pretty good video that described how to disassemble the cooler and I watched that a couple of times. 

The disassembly was the hard part, it took more force that I expected. As it came apart I could see why. There was a deposit of corrosion on the bottom of the housing, but more concerning, there was corrosion evident on the edges of the sealing surfaces. Of course this motor is a quarter of a Century old, with almost a quarter of a million miles on the clock! The recesses for the o rings were a bit crusty looking. This was where potential leaks could occur.

I scraped the scale that had been deposited on the wall of the housing very carefully. I used a wire brush, and a small screwdriver to clean the o ring grooves, finishing up with a sharp pick. All the time being very careful not to gouge or scratch up any surface. I cleaned the internal fins with the screwdriver and pick, then a small toothbrush and wiped it down with Castrol Super clean. I used a wad of fine steel wool wet with the Castrol to clean the corroded areas of the edges. It worked pretty well, I was fairly certain that I would avoid any leaks. Now I can see why Ford treated this as a wear item, but hopefully this repair would last another 200,000 miles.

Once all the components were cleaned up I applied silicon grease to the o rings then assembled the unit. Installation was not too bad, as I had cleaned up the area beforehand. I removed the left front wheel which allowed direct access to the oil filter area so that I could use a torque wrench to tighten the mounting bolt.

Cleaning this area took quite a bit of effort, but was worth the hassle. The oil will damage the rubber components of the steering rack. It is also hard to be proud of your machine when it was so filthy. I read some accounts on the Mustang forum where the poster said that he was adding a quart a day to the motor! In one of the videos the driveway could be seen in the background, and it was an oil soaked mess. I'm pretty happy on how it turned out.

Clean!

Likewise!

Then I installed the radiator hose, and installed a new oil filter. I added fresh oil and coolant. The moment of truth was rapidly approaching. Whenever you complete a big repair you always wonder if it will turn out right. Now it was time to lower the car and fire it up. 

I backed the car out of the garage and let it warm up in the driveway. I knew that I would have to recheck fluid levels and top up the oil and the coolant. As it was warming up I knelt down to look underneath for possible leaks. None seen! I took the car for a ten mile test drive and rechecked for leaks. Again I found the area was clean. 

Once the motor cooled off I found that the coolant level had dropped quite a bit as all the air pockets had to bleed themselves. 

I will monitor the coolant level for the next few days to be sure that it is still topped up. It does feel good to spend some time and effort to keep my Mustang in good shape.