Tedly's Sable

[nesabo]

Aftermarket has steel end links with grease fittings.

[tedly]

I've seen adjustable ones, but not metal ones specific to it, yet. Still digging and looking though.

[CTX-SLPR]

Check your rear springs, apparently they had a bad rash of them that rust, break, then impale your tire. See if you can find a wagon for rear discs and the Lincoln LS and most 2003+ Jag's had 5x108mm wheels if that gets you anywhere for rotors or wheels. I have no idea if it's possible but the FWD X-type and the RWD 2000-2002 LS and S-type had DAMB heads with no VVT. Might be a setup up power wise though all of them were tuned for 91+.

[fast Ed]

Wait, so you elongate the mounting bracket holes???

Nope, drill another pair in each bracket in the new location ... plenty of material to do that.


cheers
Ed

[fast Ed]

SHO Source is going to be getting most of my budget apparently. $775 is a big chunk of my budget, might be worth it though. I'll have to plan it out a bit more. Meantime I'll look into how much it will run me to piece together the 11.6 and PBR calipers. Never thought of re-drilling hubs from a Crown Vic. That should work with the TBird too...

Not the hubs, the rotors ... the Crown Vic rotors are very similar to the SN95 Cobra rotors, just 1" smaller in diameter. Hat offset is slightly different, but some hardened washers on the caliper anchors to reposition them does the trick. Worked that out with some of the guys on the Corner-Carvers forum years ago.

[tedly]

Nope, drill another pair in each bracket in the new location ... plenty of material to do that.


cheers
Ed

Huh, I thought you only altered the location by 7 tenths of an inch? I didn't realize there would be enough room to put a new hole.

[tedly]

Not the hubs, the rotors ... the Crown Vic rotors are very similar to the SN95 Cobra rotors, just 1" smaller in diameter. Hat offset is slightly different, but some hardened washers on the caliper anchors to reposition them does the trick. Worked that out with some of the guys on the Corner-Carvers forum years ago.

Oops on my part. I meant the center of the rotor. Yup, I'm a dork.

[tedly]

Check your rear springs, apparently they had a bad rash of them that rust, break, then impale your tire. See if you can find a wagon for rear discs and the Lincoln LS and most 2003+ Jag's had 5x108mm wheels if that gets you anywhere for rotors or wheels. I have no idea if it's possible but the FWD X-type and the RWD 2000-2002 LS and S-type had DAMB heads with no VVT. Might be a setup up power wise though all of them were tuned for 91+.

The broken or worn out springs are known as SAS - Saggy Ass Syndrome.

Wagon rear discs are different from sedans, different suspension set ups on them apparently. They won't work on sedans.

There's a list of cars that that take the same bolt pattern here: http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/116-...t-pattern.html
I started at the bottom and I'm working my way up looking for 17 inch and larger wheels. The trick is finding ones with the right back spacing and center hub opening, that information is a lot harder to come by. There's even a set of 16's that I really like, but even if they are the right backspacing, I wouldn't be able to run the 13" brakes, so it doesn't make much sense. I think it would look really cool though!



Some of the 17's and larger that have caught my eye so far:






Still looking for the centerbore and backspacing info on them though, so no idea if they would even work.

From what I can gather, the parts form the Jag motors are INSANELY expensive. So much so that no one even bothers with them. I'm going to be looking into them more, but not too hopeful.

[CTX-SLPR]

Tedly,

Wagons had rear discs, no idea if they bolt to the knuckles the same way but they at least are Taurus platform cars. The springs are just an item to check, not to swap from a wagon. Not sure what is expensive about the Jag stuff other than the name. I see 00-02 LS' for stupid cheap all the time. Most of the time they have overheating problems so be warned there but I've seen whole cars for less than $1000. I found the info on the Volvo and DEW98 wheels online before and they are different. Best memory, Volvo wheels are lower offset and probably more likely to match the Taurus platform.

5x108 is on:
Thunderbirds (Mk VIII and Cougar too)
Taurus
DEW98 (LS, Thunderbird, S-type)
Most Jags after ~1998 (I think XK still had 5x4.75 till ~2003)
Volvos
Ferrari's
Ford Focus

[hauen]

The overheating problem is usually caused by a bad degas bottle, it's a relatively cheap fix.

[tedly]

I actually don't remember if the rear discs for the wagons are different, but as soon as I can I'm going to get the rear discs from the second gen SHO at my local junkyard. Unless they have a different one with the vented rear discs - the SHO probably has solid discs. I might grab the sway bars from it, too, but there is no real pattern to the sway bar thickness after a certain year. The first gen SHO's are the ones I really want, but if the ones on this second gen are big ines, I might be content with them.

No idea why the Jag stuff is so insane, but one of the guys on the TCCA that I was talking with was saying $100 a piece for the coil on plugs. As soon as I heard that, I stopped even asking about them. I'll probably dig into the research on them again soon, but I got other things I can focus on first.

[tedly]

The old girl threw a fit the other day and didn't want to start. This happened on the coldest day so far, and it was snowing. Of course.

Tested the fuel pressure at the rail, and it sprayed close to 3 feet high when I pushed in the valve. Fuel pressure seems to be ok.

Nothing blocking the air flow.

Barring a sensor or something crapping out on me, must be the spark. Pull the plugs on the front bank, see what's happening. The plugs are some weird variations of the platinums that have the electrode encased in ceramic. Weird. Never seen that before. Anyway, the ceramic reeks of gas. Let's try new ones and see what happens.



$36 later I have new stock style iridiums to go back in it. There's just the minor inconvenience of getting at the rear bank.




No way around it, the upper intake is going to have to come off. Well, at least I'll be able to take a better look at things and get familiar with this engine. No biggie, just a little bit of time. IAC looks new, but lets take a peek inside, see if it's getting gummed up or not. Clean as new inside, so all is well! A little oil around the gasket, though. Hmmm... Well I'll clean it off and check it later. Back of the throttle body had some fresh oil on it, too.



'Pop off the upper intake, everything looks good, except there's a fair amount of oil in the rear bank of runners.




The gaskets are in good condition, no cracks or breaks, not oil saturated, still plenty flexible.



I know the PCV hose was collapsing a while back, no idea if the oil is something to do with that or what, but it's been replaced for awhile now. Something to chase down I guess, but she's running fine in the meantime.

Anyway, she fired right up and has not had a hiccup since. I think replacing the belt, hoses, and gaskets on the intake has just moved up my priority list though.

[TheSilverBuick]

I was never a fan of those bosch platinum plugs. I didn't like selling them when I worked at autozone but they are the cheapest platinum plug on the market and people flocked to them.

I may have missed it, but did you replace the PCV valve when you changed the hose?

[tedly]

It was done before I got the car, but I think it was changed. I'm going to replace it soon no matter what.

[Huskinhano]

That's always fun with a new old car, going through the stuff PO's either screwed up or neglected. I have a 00 Escort ZX2 that I've been doing as well. I was chasing a driveablity problem. It was the Bosch plugs.