Very busy with work lately, I've postponned to update and today after been asked why there was no update, I realise I've been lazy.
Sorry for that!! :O
Soooooo, here some highlights of my past weekends! Not perse in chronologic order...
On the 73 front, totally annoyed at that hot start prob being back (despite having a new strong batt, high torque starter) , which left me stranded in middle of nowhere for 2.5 hours till it cooled off after I had the great idea to go enjoy a big mac menu far from civilisation. So basically redid all the wires and replaced all the old gauge 4 with gauge 2 and 1 ( 50mm2) wires and I finally have a car that does start again. Did salvage and renew the original bracket and other details for a safe and clean install of the new thicker lines.
Now very near of doing that FMX/AOD swap, I did a premiere for me which is to use proper tools (and reading glasses to actually see the tiny holes into the tools) to end up with my first waterproof connector ever. In this case, its the light switch on the trans side that will need be connected with the original one... Ok, I did F..up one pin and needed redo it!
and did lay quite a few enjoyable miles with that baby till the Dutch weather decided it was enough and I should stay in the garage to work on the 71 instead!
Brake calipers, you order: you install and you're done. Wrong!! Turns out, and not just the callipers, that NONE of the new parts I got were delivered with descent protection. In fact some were already rusting into their boxes!!! So each part, from pressure plate to little hardware has been plated, painted etc...
Some parts, like the "pads tensionners", whatever these little brackets supposed to hold the pads on their position, were simply not of the right shape, so needed to modify them. Then found out not both sides were having same parts, worse, driver side was not even having all the necessary parts. So needed order extra to finally be able to install them, now all nicely bling bling in their matching metallic grays.
Question before I forget: I have also started install stainless brake lines. But classic tube does not provide holders. I did re-plate for now the old rusty ones: anyone know where I could buy stainless ones or at least know their name to ease the search?
The once rusty strut rods, now totally sexy are in place, not even close to their final adjustemnt, but just enough so all the bushings parts are all falling to their place.
The sway bar too. You think you order and install... of course not. After finally have the car back on her refreshed cragars, the problem to install them wasn't the angle, it was simply that the provided rod were at least 1/2 inch too short, and that was enough to not be able to engage at least a bit the locking nuts. So went to my fav special stuffs shop and found 2 of same dimensions except they were at the right length and install became a breeze. 10 buxx gone again, simply because I didn't get the right hardware...
Soon forgot all this as my eyes told me they were very pleased with what they saw once I was done with the gym session to secure the sway bar bolts!
Bling bling is nice, but you value the shine only because there are parts that are lacking of it! Meet my next patient: The brake booster.
This fine 50 years old piece of equipment known to be fine before the car was parked about 25 ago, was found to be soaked with brake fluids a few years back when I've removed it. Ordering one of these babies is no longer as before where you'd pay an extra 50buxx for the core if you did not send it back. Instead, nowdays, you pretty much have to send the unit, let it be repaired, and once back to your place after a zillions of weeks waiting, you found out that import fees, transport and the unit repair itself is an expensive thingy.
For that reason, 2 years ago, I bought a Leeds, bits smaller one, thinking it'd be ok for the 71. Thx to very weird brake probs on my 73, I ended up install it on it (to find out the booster wasn't part of the prob) and because it's quite some gym to replace it, it will stay on it for a while.
Time past and saw a post from David where he said he had located a kit to repair his. Long story short. I have a kit provided by David for this Bendix unit in house and because the planets were aligned the right way 2 weeks ago, I decided to repair that 71 booster...
Before to be able to do anything usefull on and in it, you need first to open it. The two parts casing is hold together by tabs. The rubber squeezed in between ensures all stays sealed. Because of the push rod and shape on the other side, you need some fixture to hold everything. Lucky me, my work bench has the deluxe option that was making this a breeze. A huge wooden vice with plenty space for the 4 bolts, enough depth for the rod to have the front on top, totally secured.
Note that if you plan to do this too, that its now a very good idea to mark both sides so you can realign them back exactaly how they were..
That's also when I decided to wrap the "hamburger" and keep it under pressure before slam the tabs open and have a way to prevent UFO's, as I knew there was a spring inside, but not much more.. Turns out not to be that wild!
Once open, you discover it's not that of a puzzle. all you see is a piston with the rubber diaphragm, a spring and the rod that you saw going into the master cyl.
And good news, as said above, the spring isn't that strong.
In my case, as expected, even if I had removed loads, there was still plenty brake fluid. and while its not relly obvious on the pict, the corrosition where that matters the most (where the rubber seals), big chunks of rust had started to even ent rthe rubber. In this case, I was right on time, it will need some serious massage to ensure proper contact, but nothing really hard, also easy to reached.
The fun continues! Time to remove the old paint( s) and inspect where the metal is really pitted and prep the guys for an acid bath...
Once more my new German friend paint remover did that painlessly and ended end up the raw steel and rust.
Spread over a few days, it's been about bathing in acid, remove the most of the pits, polish parts...
At some point found out that kit isn't the right one
Most parts like the valves rubbers are, but the diaphragm is different. Some reaserch online showed me there are 71 bendix models and 71-73 bendix models.
As David aka
@Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs told me it did fine for his 73, I guess I was having the 71 only model which isn't having the same piston shape. (as you can see above the profile is different)
But good news is that the original rubber, in the nowadays very expensive PPPP rubber quality, was as new after a good clean. I only needed to give it extra love at the contact locations where the rust tried to push itself into it. Carefully massaging it with cloth with solvant gave me a clean smooth contact surface there. So I wasn't too disappointed the new ones were not fitting.
I did not manage to free the valve from the rod, locked by a mechanism similar to engine valves and some weird pin. Too afraid to break the bakelite as it's really not ment for maintenance. Especially after a good inspection and clean up with brushes and alcohol where all looked fine, not even sure the rubber valve of the kit was the right one either, I saw no reason to risk ruining the party.
If someone knows the procedure to open it, please come forward as I have a 73 to do as well!
sssssh, bublubblebubble, zzzzziiiiii, pssshii, zzzz, weeeeee.... lots of bubbles, friction and spray noises further, the love I gave to it started to be visible...
Then it was time to put it all back. Knowing exactly where it was supposed to go helped greatly and once all the freshly plated and rubbery folk was sandwiched back and secured again on my bench, the tabs needed be pushed back. David warned me I might break one or 2, but none did. I even hammered them extra to even increase the pressure and in matter of minutes I ended up with a reassembled booster.
Basic pressure test told me I should be good, but I will as soon as weather permit will connect it on my 73 and let the engine run a bit to see if it really works.
If it passes, it will receive as soon as the weather permits it, a good spray. Together with other few details that need to be done in same colour. For now, under a zinc jacket, it can wait.
New stuffs really need be handled, top left you see that new tie rod end (that I forgot to order with the others that came last week) was already starting to rust. So after derust it also received primer, paint and coat. Each rod also got its threads plated and ended up with tie rod assembly that was looking as they should have.
Found out that the idler arm bracket from Moog's, wasn't machined completely to match the long bolts going thru the frame, so carefully drilled and filed to match using the old one and been able to install the idler arm as well without damaging the paint.
Another empty box could leave the garage yeeah!
After some gym session, loads of elbow oil, I finally could see all these goodies assembled together. Only lightly tighten as I have a few more to connect on the other side. Really pleased with the results so far!
I did more stuffs that I have skipped for this already way too long update, but here's a glympse of my next patient and what you might see next time...
To be continued...
