I guess I am developing a Ford, fetish? 
See I have a good Zetec, 2 really, but a spare. I had a chance to sell it and didn't.
Then I see this ad and wonder, will it fit? I havent looked yet but will soon. not that I have $1400 at moment. (a bit high too)
As for Gerti, she's snug in the shop, avoided the hail and rain today, just got a new wiper arm to go with the new wipers. I have a window motor coming for the passenger side front door.
No pics, I mean a wiper arm? Not real exciting.
OOOh...early fiesta makes me salivate
(but on your behalf)
My grandfather ( born in 1902) had many ford trucks through the years. Said he bought one Chevy - brand new 49 - and had so much trouble with it, it was his last. While I was growing up he had a 63 Galaxy and my Grandmother had a striped 64 Falcon she bought new. In the late 70's gas wars, she bought a 78(?) Fiesta. Gave new definition for a stripped down, entry level car!
in the early 90's, I bought one from a friend before she let the junk yard haul it off. For $50. Bought a battery, a bit of manual repair (don't remember what, but nickle and dime) and sold to a co-worker for $200. He was still driving it 3 years later!
BTW, Grandma's was lime green!
We cleaned most of the car when we got it.
Here is why you need to clean a car THOROUGHLY! Read to the end. Really.
Pyro rode in it for the first time since its been here, we went around the block, Pyro opened the ashtray which was disgusting.
It had some things you expect... Finger nail clippers, wire nuts, dirt.
An FM transmitter. (cleaned up)
And some things you don't expect, like this..... Both scrubbed and cleaned.
Its 10K gold and as far as I can test (I worked at a jewelers once) all the diamonds are real. Inclusions and all, a grinding disc doesn't touch them like it would a cubic zirconia. I guess we will get it appraised.
And here it is on Pyros finger....
Maybe Gerti was worth the $800 we paid for her after all.
All the sudden I feel the need to clean a certain '69 Chevy truck thoroughly ;)
You really ARE finding rocks everywhere.
(Sorry. I'll see myself out.)
In reply to Stealthtercel :
I had to laugh, good one.
Ok so we found where it came from, or one close to it. It doesn't have the channel set Baguette diamonds, which would be more, but close.
So if its worth $800 ish, (or we can sell it for that) and I pull some parts like the Mustang wheels ($200) wheel adapters (~$125) and new headlights ($135) off Gerti I might be able to squeak in under $2000....
I was at 2380 ish last night but I haven't found all the receipts yet and we don't have an appraisal. But if it works I get a set of sticky tires put on the original rims, tape a $5 flashlight to the hood for drags and ta da, Gerti goes to the Challenge!
Note, I asked Pyro if she wanted to keep it and she doesn't. she doesn't like bigger rings.
I thought I had run out of budget a long time ago. If I count what is on the car currently I am not nearly as bad as I thought.
I have spent approx $2399.14 to date, most of it was labor, my labor. So it is very possible for me to make the Challenge in Gerti.
Using RockAuto made much of it easy, 95% of my parts came from RA. I just looked up the past orders.
And I goofed at first on the discount from the RA invoice. So I added those in toward the bottom.
I dropped the brake parts and I don't have the tire receipt yet. But this is close. If we sell the ring, I may not have to pull any parts off!
Edit -- While I was sitting there all of a sudden I realized, while I am not as bad as I though I have spent $1599.14 in parts on one car to get it legal and safe.... 
Mostly for documentation.
111900 miles, back on the road as a daily. Smooth ride, lube was low in rear end, but the gasket has been leaking so no surprise. A/C is ok, needs service.
Runs smooth, did flutter at idle once, not sure what that's about. Its full of 1/2 regular and 1/2 premium, all fresh.
Steering is quick as in no slack, but seems a little floaty (?) not quite the right word. It however is steady and level the sway bars (HPP)s are doing their job, the poly Energy sway bar bushing probably add to the stiff lateral.
It coasts or has great momentum due to the weight, brakes bring it to a stop but not as authoritatively as I want. I have had semis that brake better. It is a boat and cones will die.
The high geared rear end needs to be replaced with a 3.55, it moves out but I want more.
Today is the first day to work and home, it is a nice ride, quiet and smooth. As a pure daily it is awesome.
I think "floaty" is as close a word as any! And "boat" as well. Maybe do a "Killer Cone Car'' theme? (I know; I can find the door)
When I swapped my busted air system with springs in back, I have not put the tiny 15mm rear sway bar back in, and its really bad. But still better riding/handling old iron boats I've dealt with.
The 19mm bars are fairly easy to come by, but I still haven't been able to find a 22mm bar. No decent yards near me. And online prices for a 22mm are more than front AND rear ADDCO's
Gerti is lookin' good.
I know I got lucky with the HPP find I got these sway bars off of. There is a taxi yard a short distance from the junkyard so sometimes pickings are slim.
So I put 230+ miles on in the last 2 days. Floaty sort of applies but it is the lack of slack. If your mind wanders so does Gerti. The steering is sensitive. I was slightly over correcting.
I tested a couple of corners marked 35 at 50+ a little and its rock steady.
I picked up a diff gasket and oil, stopped at the carwash and blew the dirt oil gunk off the differential. But I'm too lazy to do it today. It's not dripping fast so it will be fine until Friday when I catch up on sleep.
My truck in a box arrived!
And I have the gasket to fix the leak on the 8.8 diff.
Jacked up, and I had stopped at a car wash to get the worst of the grim off.
I pull all the bolts but 1 or 2 loose to hold it up and it wont leak until I shove a screwdriver in it.
Thank God there is no glitter in the oil.
I finally catch a break, I was worried about the condition of the gears and bearings.
I will ask if you notice whats missing though...
Yup, no gasket.
The tag says V026A which I can't find in the ford identification stuff I have, It has a 73 on it and it feels like a 2.73 gear.
Gears look good. So I cleaned it up, added a gasket and popped it back together.
I took this pic, looked at it, pulled a bolt out and put the tag on the housing. On to the truck ish part!
The hitch would almost balance on the jack, and I'm lazy so I'm not gonna hold it up by hand. I clamped a block of wood and then it would balance so I could position it to drill the holes.
I have watched people try to shove a 1/2 inch drill bit through in one single pass. Here's a tip, start with a small drill bit, easy to control, goes through the steel pretty quick. Jump several sizes and re-drill the holes. You will notice it can bite into the steel easier and throws chips like crazy, 3 changes later I have 4 hole sized 9/16 inch drilled faster than the person drilling a straight 1/2 drill all in one go.
This is a Curt hitch, I have put them in before on different vehicles. They have the little wire thing to pull the backing plate and 1/2 inch bolts through the frame. The yellow arrows point to the wire coming out of the hole. You can see the backing plate at the lower arrow.
And in.
Installed and bolts torqued to 110 ft lb it looks like it too high, but really the valance panel droops because the mounts are broken or just gone.
The one on the other side is just missing. But I can tow again!
Nice!
Got the rock appraised.
$970. Which brings Gerti down to $1429.14, Add the hitch, gasket, some sensors and carpet from pick n pull I haven't added yet and I think I am under $2000. I got tires, but they are budget neutral.
Right now its the only way I could go to the Challenge. I can build a car or build a truck to haul the car, but not both. And either of those require me to sell the RX-8. The RX-8 is at $2400 or a little more so its a no go.
So I think I'll work on the ZX2 / small block and plan to show up in 2021. I want something that tries to kill me for the next Challenge.
Its still cool that the ring is worth something.
Everything needs a hitch
That's a real nice valuation on the ring. What a lucky break on a really cool car.
Yes, that tag says 2.73, and I am sorry.
No gasket is normal. Ford assembled them with RTV.
gumby (Forum Supporter) said:Yes, that tag says 2.73, and I am sorry.
No gasket is normal. Ford assembled them with RTV.
Well Ford is just wrong.
I checked at lunch and its sealed. No leaks.
@brap -- you are correct sir!
@trumant -- thanks!
And then it started raining, not just misting. I gave up. Prior to that I was changing oil and wondered about the snap ring..
It started with just an oil change.
Oh that thing? Well honestly I had a loose something rattling and a loss of handling so I was going to look the suspension over good anyway and I am tired of the "Carolina Squat" thing. I thought they would settle but Gerti still sits like this:
And when I stopped to "rent" the tool from Autozone it was like brand new. Should I take it back or just keep it?
The oil change went quick. And I started on taking the coil springs out to cut a coil off. You would think after 3 times on the same car I would be quick at this but it still feels like a cage match with a baby octopus. 3 time I assembled and disassembled the tool to get the drivers side cut and back in.
Oh and I found the rattle after looking everywhere for loose bolts or broken shields. It also is the source of the decline in handling. It felt like the shocks weren't doing their job.
The weld broke at the top of the shock just below the washer rubber mount sandwich.
The notch on the right is where shaft had jammed up most of the time.
Well it started misting at some point and I set up a tarp to cut down on the soaking. And after 2 trips to town to get the right bolt for the upper ball joint and the rain started coming down hard I gave up for the day. Tires are rotated on one side, the coil spring has one coil cut off and the oil is fresh. Tomorrow I'll do the other side.
Gerti got some cosmetic surgery, probably helps with moving around. A quick before and after the "tuck" pics.
I cut almost a full turn off the spring. Someday when it sags I may regret that but I think it came out fine.
I will admit when I first lowered it off the jacks it looked broken it sat so low, but It was way too tall before.
It really sits like a stock police car for the most part. I wonder if mixing Grand Marquis a arms and P-71 springs was why it sat so high. But I would think the a arms were the same as the police ones. Who knows?
I forgot, I also put new shocks on the front and the handling is back to what it is supposed to be. Oil change and rotated the tires and its ready for a run to TN to get mom.
Although, I think Gerti is going Goth next.
Looks mucho better lowwww
Looks so much better.
Well its Monday. E36 M40 it.
Hit deer this morning coming to work. A hard left turn and on the brakes didn't save the deer. Damage to Gerti it minimal.
Blew the right front wheel bearing, I think. It growls when I turn left at low speed, anyway something is boinked in there. Got a wheel hub at lunch and hope to make it home (before it fails completely) and find that that is the problem.
@Brap and @Accordian, thanks!
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