upgrade project

hello fellow panther lovers!

just updating on some upgrades ill be doing this week


last week i uploaded pics to my profile of a couple fluid leaks. i stripped her down and it turned out to be a worse issue then thought. i spent a day scraping and cleaning gross oil from almost every part under the hood. i felt bad for being a bad owner so i figured its time to gain some experience and knowledge of my favorite ride and get hands on especially since i picked up a CHILTON car care manuel yesterday (for free)!

i ordered 1200.00+ worth of parts from the fine folks at ADTR.net and BOC

im anxiously awaiting my ported and polished 70mm plenum, aviator 70mm TB, hawk HPS pads, MSD blasters (cheaper on amazon),steeda underdrive pulleys,chip from of course BOC and oreillys hooked me up with new valve cover gaskets,fuel filter,ECR radiator hoses,gaskets and fresh clamps and a well needed baterry.

i also made sure to grab some RTV ,a can of air duster and a drain pan.

anywho i just wanted to tell some of you great people of SM...and CVN that my oil and coolant leak will be fixed and my p71 will now lead another long and healthy 200k and ill post progress pics if anyones interested in checking them out.



take care of them and theyll take care of you...wish me luck

Congrats of the startup. We all tend to forget about our babies at times, until they start to cry.

Leaks are a PITA, but once they get fixed, things look so much brighter.

I hope the upgrades help you get the miles you are looking for. One thing about the underdrive pulleys. If your lights seem to dim down at idle, change back to the original alternator pulley. But then you can also get the OEM alt pulley powdercoated and put it on.

I read an article within the last week about the length of time people are now keeping their vehicles. Those that own larger cars, like our panthers, tend to keep them on an average of 15 years, whereas those with the smaller cars get rid of them after about 6 years.

If you do needed repairs to the engine, transmission, and body, heck you could keep the car until you can't afford the parts anymore.

He jdmeaux:

Great tid bit of info on length of vehicle ownership....Wow...!

Thanks for the info. The parts stores are raking the $Money....!

thanks brother! got all my lines removed today. cracked open a beer and flushed my coolant till crystal clear. i got my oil cooler rust free and polished and clear coated. replaced every single clamp with fresh ones ,got my oil changed (picking up some royal purple tmw) for everything

ill be reading my chilton aka BIBLE tonight haha on removing the factory tensioners. and thanks for pushing me to get a haynes! for real

hey jdmeaux: couple questions....

1.how do i know when its necessary to change brake and power S fluid? pondering bc my both fluids are sort of black.

2.i drained my oil completely which btw was like black sludge and makes me wanna slap my own face, but is it possible/safe to clean the system with water or some sort of cleaner without starting the engine and flushing with new oil like the true way to do it. bc i dnt have a battery or any lines installed so driving is impossible.

3.what you mentioned about dimming lights from the steedas. besides looking nice do they really add a noticeable/sufficient efficiency increase (are they honestly worth it)? asking bc i might go with powder coating factory. thats a great idea and i love powdercoat.

check out my profile for pics of my sadly neglected elenore oil looks like mud,coolant had dirt and rust and sut) i am ashamed

also. I myself and im sure you and many others plan on keeping my panther till im 6 feet under. i love it. definately IMHO fords pinnicale.

ive heard many say if they were millionaires theyd still have a cvpi. with a million dollars in mods of course

So 'cvpip71y2k':

Since were so close to each other...you can just will it to me if your planning to be
6 foot under anytime soon.....

wizard just cuz you asked ill will it to you without a doubt

you deserve it

youre in ballwin? hows it over there? we should cruise someday

Could do about any time...just a few days notice.

Skype or I can shoot an email or something...

Have a good day....

Quote:

hey jdmeaux: couple questions.... 1.how do i know when its necessary to change brake and power S fluid? pondering bc my both fluids are sort of black. 2.i drained my oil completely which btw was like black sludge and makes me wanna slap my own face, but is it possible/safe to clean the system with water or some sort of cleaner without starting the engine and flushing with new oil like the true way to do it. bc i dnt have a battery or any lines installed so driving is impossible. 3.what you mentioned about dimming lights from the steedas. besides looking nice do they really add a noticeable/sufficient efficiency increase (are they honestly worth it)? asking bc i might go with powder coating factory. thats a great idea and i love powdercoat. check out my profile for pics of my sadly neglected elenore oil looks like mud,coolant had dirt and rust and sut) i am ashamed

1- Most people forget to REALLY READ the owners manual about when you SHOULD replace fluids. Whenever I did a brake job, especially the rears, I replaced the brake fluid, not just filled it up. Be sure to never let the brake fluid level get too low or run empty. Starting with the right rear, after you have opened the bleed valve, either get someone to pump the brakes or vacuum the fluid out until it becomes clear. Then do the same with the left rear. Then the front right, and finally the left front. Be sure to keep adding brake fluid to the reservoir ever so often while you are bleeding the brakes. By the time you have finished all this bleeding, you have new fluid in every cylinder and the lines.

Brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air, so never leave the reservoir uncovered for too long, and pick a dry day. Don't do this in the garage on a day its raining outside. That's part of the reason the fluid goes black.

2-Cleaning the oil lines inside the engine is a pain, unless you get specialized equipment. But it can be done while driving. There is an old trick that works (but will reveal any problems quickly). Drain the oil from the engine and replace the oil with diesel fuel and run the engine for about 100 miles. Yes, I do mean to drive the car for about 100 miles. (Depending on the distance you may drive, 2 or 3 days of normal driving is about the distance.) Then drain the oil and replace the filter. Remove the oil pan and clean the inside of the oil pan. Scrap whatever sludge you find, and button the bottom up with a new gasket.

Do an oil change (use the CHEAP filters and CHEAP30w oil from wherever for this) and run the run for about 200 miles (about 5 day of driving). I've used 30 w RECYCLED oil for this. Then do another oil change with the quality stuff you normally would use. You will be surprised how much sludge you will clear out of the engine with the diesel.

This will reveal whether you have a bad oil pump, gasket leaks, and leaking lifters. Diesel fuel is about like a 4w oil with excessive cleaners. It can be and has been used to clean parts on the counter. Be sure you do an oil change after you flush the engine with diesel, and get rid of that mess. Then do another oil change shortly after that. This is to cut the diesel that manages to stay in the engine as much as possible.

Regular 3000 mi oil changes will keep most of the inside clean after that.

3- The underdrive pulleys are good for helping to make a little HP, but don't expect miracles. Most web site will talk about 7-10 hp increase which YOU will never notice. The problem is with the alternator pulley. IF you have a weak battery OR IF you have a weak alternator, you may have lights that dim when at idle with such a pulley. And some cars will even do this with a new battery and new alternator. Go check some the Mustang forums.

Some people just go with the powdercoating which IMHO looks great.

jdmeaux thanks for the how tos. ill be doing them this week.

time consuming stuff but well worth it and needed. my goal right now is to get her back to running clean,efficient and happy so flushing everything is the first step, along with new gaskets .

as for the steedas IMO their price is worth it to try. if they work great if not powder coating it is. i want to powder my wheels sometime.

wizzard email or pm me. when im running again we should meet. you know if theres any panther meets in st louis or close?