88 XR Build Thread - Rose

[cmouta]

Upgraded my fuel pump to a walbro and thought I'd post a few things I found helpful. I drove my car down to the point that the gas light came on(tricky if you don't have your anti slosh circuit) and that was lightweight enough for me to handle the tank myself. After screwing around quite a bit to both lower and raise the fuel tank, I think the most flexibility came from using some lashing straps hooked into the rear tow hook spot and across to the frame opening where the oem tank strap bolts in. This allows you some wiggle room to work the fill pipe in/out without worrying about it falling off a stationary object like a jackstand or a floor jack with a long board duct taped to the saddle. once the pipe is free you can then use the floorjack/board/duct tape combo to support and lower the tank. I the used the lashing straps to tighten the tank to the board for stability.

When I finally saw the pump cover/locking I thought there was absolutely no way it was coming out. It looked rusted solid. soaked it with quite a bit of pb blaster and ended up using a small screw driver and hammer to scrape away between the locking tabs and the ring. I also used an O-ring pick to pry up any rocks and shmutz. finally, I used my cheapo air compressor to blow everything off clean and dry and was able to tap it open using a large bolt as a punch and a small deadblow hammer.




pump assembled on new bracket, sans sock filter. The sock filter does not go on easy in my experience so If you want to get it right, I'd scribe a mark on the pump assembly cover before initial removal, pointing to the rear of the tank, maybe also on the tank so you'll have a perfect alignment on reinstallation:


I had the perfect size grommet for two wires from a harbor freight kit but and my largest drill bit was 1/4" which was enough for the smallest grommet in the kit so I ended up drilling two holes. I used Seal All for both the ID and OD of the grommet and alternating QD connectors for the power wiring. I followed mc2's instructions on rerouting/extending the oem external tank's wiring and cut the internal pump oem +12V wire in the hatch area as I thought that'd be cleaner if I ever need to reconnect, which I absolutely will not.


reinstalled the tank, key'd on and off a few times to prime the lines, car fired right up.

[cmouta]

Here's a novel!

Finally some light at the end of an annoying tunnel for me. After 3 years of what I thought was "trouble boosting over 10psi in 1st and 2nd gear", I now realize was "misfire/hestitation above ~3500RPM that is greatly exaggerated by boost over 10psi and I just wasn't revving that high in 3rd"

I don't mind doing things in the name of preventative maintenance, but after professionally cleaned injectors, Walbro Fuel pump(USE NEW FUEL LINE CLIPS OR YOU'll BLOW THE LINE ON A MAIN ROAD AND BE COVERED IN FUEL TRYING TO FIX IT AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS TO COME AND POLICE WILL TELL YOU 'HEY YOU CAN'T BE STOPPED HERE' WHILE YOU'RE ON THE PHONE WITH TRIPLE A, AS IF IT WERE A CHOICE, THEN HE SAYS 'TELL THEM TO HURRY UP' AS IF THAT MATTERS TO THEM),new (motorcraft everything) FPR, Fuel Filter, ECT, Ignition Coil, Wires, cap, rotor, autolite Plugs gapped down to .028, timing triple checked, cam timing checked, TPS triple checked, Idle triple checked I got nowhere which was a total bummer.

Resolderered my Tach for the 3rd time(Pro tip, don't use your crappy radioshack low heat soldering iron like I initially did, get a good hot one like I eventually had to do that melts the solder on the slightest contact.) I was finally able to see that I could hold boost under 3500RPM and see it transition to a little stumble closer to 4k, which to me eliminated any ideas of vacuum/boost leaks. With pretty much all ignition and fuel related items replaced,I went back to the idea that the ECU is freaking out, during both open and closed loop. Primarily it looks at ECT, TPS, and VAF and VAT. One of those changes with RPM/air flow demand!

Running out of things to replace, I compared resistance sweep to another Large VAM and both reacted pretty crappy IMO but that made me think it was normal. Decided to mess with my Vam anyway and cleaned the track with rubbing alcohol and a few q tips, cleaned all the contact areas I could, and with the pinch bolt loosened and the front connector/giant copper arm out of the way, carefully bent the wiper arm down and reseated the assembly so that the two contact nubs were off the worn track. Popped it in the car and "wa-la", no more bucking! In hindsight, I could have done alot more testing before replacing parts but its a 30 year old car that originally cost me 1500 bucks so why not. At least there is that much less to worry about.

The Blue electronics safe Gasket Maker was something I used last time I opened it up. I did such a good job that I basically destroyed a corner of the cap removing it this time.



I was also finally able to install my rotated intake this winter. I didn't want to try and remove my EGR pipe and finding a cap for the correct thread on the tube was difficult(I think it was some unusual thread size) so I just made a plate for the valve temporarily and deleted all the vacuum tubing.

The currently available motorcraft ECT sensor is a DY-1145 which uses a different connector that needs to be spliced into the harness.

Has anyone ever shortened the throttle cable somehow when doing a rotated intake? I don't love the hard "U" it has to make.

Also, after many attempts to jam a handheld photo-tach down into the engine bay to read a piece of reflective tape on the crank pulley which totally blows, I measured the the waterpump and crank pulley circumferences to calculate the ratio between the two and find out what RPM the waterpump pulley is at a 1000RPM crank.Now I can use the WP as my reference for setting idle. Much easier that way



Also overhauled my rear end this winter. the rear beam and control arms were painted in POR15(read the part about doing this in a well ventilated area BEFORE painting in your basement .

NEW CV Halfshafts from rockauto, trakmotive PN's VW8045 and VW8063. Looks like they are made for a VW Bus, hopefully they hold up to more than 40HP. They came "pregreased" on the inside but that was not enough IMO. They just tossed a dollop in there. Pulled the ends and greased them properly. They come with their own Allen Head hardware which is a nice touch.
New control arm and beam mount bushings, wheel bearings from MC2Racing.
2012 Focus Calipers, EBC Redstuff pads, SVT Focus rear rotors, adapters and stainless hoses from timxr8
Earplugs made a good diff breather hole plug




Added some rubber hosing to prevent any rubbing on suspension parts. The hoses are routed in a way that won't go into the springs. Being able to use factory brake hose retaining clips at the body fittings is awesome!


New oem style braided stainless front hoses also from timxr8 that fit my SVT Focus calipers nicely:



Back to driving this POS!

[cmouta]

Bummer, seems like I'm getting uneven pressure on my new rear pads/rotors, I sure am sick of bleeding brakes!

[morlynon]

Nice project. I'm curious about the performance of your brake system.

[cmouta]

The performance has been good but I think I still have a little more bedding to do with my rear brakes. It's difficult to gauge because the system is so vastly different in actuation than my Abarth. You really have to stomp on the XR's brakes to get it to stop where as the Abarth will start to bite early on with less effort. I'm sure that's the case with most new cars having EBD and all that other jazz. I just did a Track Night in America at Limerock Park and I think I could have asked way more of my brakes but I was afraid to lock them up going 100->40mph at turn 1. Also, I realized mid event that although my car is running great, I'm spewing oil out of my dipstick tube at 18psi, and now that I think about it, i'm pretty sure it was doing that a few years ago too before I turned it down to 10psi. Picked up a new motorcraft EV127A PCV valve and it allows a small amount of air through if I try hard enough, just like the one on the car. VC Breather was sprayed with tons of carb cleaner before the event so time for a catch can/pcv delete!

[cmouta]

Had a chance to swap over my front hubs to extended ARP studs yesterday. Man I hate removing the old studs. I used a harbor freight ball joint separator and its like a Jack in the box gunshot when the old stud decides to fire out. Used a few blocks of wood behind it to catch.

Decided to test fit my beater E0 SVT Contour rims(16x6.5 et49.5) on the front with new firestone firehawk indy 500 in 205/45/16 as my track day rain tire:

without spacers:


with 10mm spacers:

[John Brennan]

Looks like you could run without 'em. 205/45 16 worked very well with my old '85.

Really enjoying the pix and this thread, BTW.

[cmouta]

Looks like you could run without 'em. 205/45 16 worked very well with my old '85.

Really enjoying the pix and this thread, BTW.

thanks! It's actually helpful to myself as a referenceable diary. I keep a separate text based maintenance/mod log but its helpful to look back at things I've tried with visual documentation that may have not made it into my log. Even though these forums seem to be a bit less active than the facebook group, I prefer to do all my posting and questions here unless I'm in a pinch. Everyone else's builds have been so helpful to me, I feel obligated to share my efforts, even if they seem mundane, just incase it might help someone else out down the line.

[cmouta]

Made it out to another Track Night In America. Blew a radiator port cap on the way. Definitely had a 3/4" cap on a 5/8" port so the clamp eventually cracked the cap and it spewed coolant everywhere. Not sure how long it had been leaking but reservoir was empty when I stopped, temp needle never moved but I turned the radiator fans on just incase when I saw the coolant level light. Tried to patch it with self fusing silicone tape, no dice. Napa delivered me a new cap and I was on my way to the track! Thought it was going to rain so I ran brand new firestone firehawk indy 500's in 205/45/16 on 16x6.5 contour wheels with 10mm spacers. It never rained and they of course did not handle like my Kumho Ecsta XS 215/45/16's on 16x7.5 wheels. It certainly made me more cautious and aware of what I was doing which maybe is good for improving driving. The kumhos always held it together no matter how bad of a turn I took where as the firestones would let the tail slide out. Maybe they need to be worn in a little more(only had 100 miles on them before hitting the track).

Desperately need to improve my heel toe to manage the 100mph->30mph transition into a turn. Any time i left the brake pedal to updshift/rev match I'd find I hadn't slowed down enough and blow the turn. If I didn't rev match, I'd chirp the tires and upset the balance of the car and blow the turn. Brakes are bled pretty good but I'm wondering if the smaller SVT focus caliper piston is what is causing me to have to stomp on the pedal. I think I'm gonna switch to the jaguar X-Type calipers when my current pads wear out.

I think I should stop buying parts and take an instructional track day course.

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

I hope you were able to blow past that RSX easily and make that Vette work a little to get past you.

[cmouta]

I hope you were able to blow past that RSX easily and make that Vette work a little to get past you.

I did pass that RSX(I don't think it was an rsx-s) but I did not make that vette work to pass me. If someone pops up behind me out of nowhere, they are getting through so I don't have to feel like I'm holding anyone up. Being one of the older cars at the track gives me great appreciation of just how good new cars really are, even the boring ones!

[cmouta]

A few recent updates:
In an attempt to reinstall AC, I needed run a stock intake and to put my 3g alternator back to stock position. that becomes difficult with the 2wd intercooler and serpentine tensioner pulley so I had a local shop cut the driver side port down just enough to allow a clamp and Tig weld a bead on it. Well worth the 40 bucks! This got me enough access to run short 90 deg coupler. Of course you cant use the XR upper alt bracket, ordered a new one but it's pretty solidly mounted like this. Bulbs seem to flicker much less now with proper belt wrap.




I spent alot of time grinding down the wrong parts of my 92 mustang ps bracket, I suggest fitting it up first before going off of memory of some forum post. The interference is closest to the pivot side btw


Also decided to fix my "low operating temp when car is on the highway" issue with a new thermostat housing since I already replaced the thermostat with a motorcraft unit not that long ago. I found a post saying the mustang thermostat housing would work. Bypass pipe alignment seemed off and required a new piece of hose. Recess for thermostat tabs was also deeper than stock. Also the XR gasket doesn't line up properly. I have this suspicion the felpro thick gasket is keeping the small thermostat tabs from being pushed into place by the engine block but the material is thick enough that it should still be doing that. Stock housing passed the blow test so ended up not swapping the housing but reinstalled ac condensor which seems to help a bit. I've read somewhere that the bypass line is too big and choking it down helps but I'm hesitant to mess with that.

[cmouta]

Despite trying to sell my car, I continue to work on it unnecessarily because I'm a sicko. Finally got my SVO valve cover and ranger gasket installed. Looks awesome and was drilled out for the larger breather with a nice new snug grommet. I had to buy a new Stant quarter turn oil cap which fit terribly. The openings were way too small for the thickness of the VC metal. Had to trim it with a boxcutter just to be able to twist it on but all good now!

Installed a full size front engine cover to replace the "trimmed" version that was on there. One of the screws rubbed the serpentine belt so that had to be removed. Definitely needs the timing cover plug to look "finished".

Also bought a 92 mustang upper alternator bracket that only showed me I needed to trim the ps bracket more so I pulled it. That 3G isn't going anywhere.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Keep working on it - you'll feel like you need to get more for it and then never sell it!

I'm only just now noticing your very first post that shows the Cub Cadet tractor? Early 70's? We had a ~'66 102 that my Dad bought new. He offered it to me circa 2002 and I just let him trade it in. Bummed I did that.

[cmouta]

Keep working on it - you'll feel like you need to get more for it and then never sell it!

I'm only just now noticing your very first post that shows the Cub Cadet tractor? Early 70's? We had a ~'66 102 that my Dad bought new. He offered it to me circa 2002 and I just let him trade it in. Bummed I did that.

I can definitely understand that feeling! I'm at a standstill with the AC trying to decide if I should do r12 or retrofit R134A. Of course today is perfect weather and I'm already thinking "ok so it's just one very warm July to get through...I don't really need AC do I?"

I think it was a 68 hydrostatic Cub Cadet 105 with a 10hp Kohler motor. I installed a transistorized points saver module and that thing ran like a top. Using the snow thrower was miserable, using the plow blade was a ton of fun. Moving to southern CT with way less snow and being able to use a ryobi battery powered lawnmower was even better. Selling my house and moving into an apartment complex in phoenix will be best and complete my minimalism early mid life crisis. The XR is the last thing I own that requires attention and I'm bittersweetly looking forward to getting that number down to 0! (There is a good rallyx scene in Tuscon though....hmmm)