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Got nothing done to any of the vehicles last weekend. 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 didn't want to deal with old plumbing; so he left and said to get a plumber to install. So I spent last weekend installing the washing machine.
In the 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 cut out and 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 much larger with the new setup.
Thicker wire has less resistance to current flow. If you are comparing with the same material.
So you can have six gauge jumper cables that are 10 ft long and 4 cage jumper cables that are 15 ft and both will still work because the voltage drop across the cables are still low enough. But if you try to use a 10 gauge jumper cable that is 20 ft long, God save the Queen. Too much resistance and too much voltage drop across the cable.
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!
Back to my daily Grand Marquis. I got home early from work today; so I used the time to figure out why I rounded off a few of the exhaust stud nuts. I discovered that my 1/2" deep socket was hitting the manifold; which caused the socket to engage the nut at an angle. I went out to Harbor Freight and got a short 3/8" impact socket set and a set of 3/8" impact extensions which remedied the problem. The short socket fully engages the stud nut and the extension is skinny enough to not hit the exhaust manifold. I also realized that I will need to remove the steering shaft in order to get to the top-rear stud; and the bottom-foremost studs. Otherwise, I have access to all of the studs. I have some PTO later this month; so I am hoping that I will have some good weather to attempt (successfully) the full exhaust on this car.
I am going to mess with this a little more; but I may devote a little time to the Crown Vic this weekend. Perhaps I will start removing gas from that car; and move from there.
Last edited by Chickenbone; Sep 9, 2022 at 06:09 PM.
This past weekend was a "no go" with the exhaust. I got home early from work on Friday in an attempt to try to get a head start on this and I spent that time and a good portion of Saturday afternoon figuring out what tools will fit the passenger side studs. I discovered that I will need a swivel socket extension to get at a couple of the studs. So I went to Harbor Freight and bought 3 of them. One for each of the problem studs. I am assuming that I will shatter the swivel extensions with the impact ratchet. I hope they survive to remove the 3 studs that are an issue. Beyond that, I should hopefully be able to install the headers.
As a professional mechanic I have to ask are you prepared to replace all the broken exhaust manifold studs? In my opinion your use of universal joints and an air ratchet is a painful decision. Those are known as knuckle busters under ideal conditions.
The last resort is bringing the car to the mechanic in the next town and have him weld nuts on the broken studs for removal. I hope it doesn't come down to that. The air ratchet is only rated at 145psi; my 32 year old Craftsman hits harder than that. With that said; these are only 8mm bolts; so I am hoping that all the soaking and heat cycles will prevent breakage. I learned the hard way a while back to not chase old bolts and studs with a breaker bar; even with more robust bolts like suspension hardware.
There is no way I'd use an impact on those studs. I agree with Andy and think you're just creating more problems and work. After they've soaked so long, I'd take a 3/8 drive ratchet on a six point socket and try to TIGHTEN them just a hair. If they move, then try loosening them. I'd repeat this process on them until they start backing out. BUT, it's your car, time and money. You do as you see fit.
