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  #61  
Old 11-25-2014, 03:14 PM
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We usually just buy a bag when low and dump it in as soon as we get home, so the bags rarely sit with their contents inside...But the salt dust cloud that is created when we dump them can't be completely contained...Leading to gradual rusting especially of things in/near the softener room. We would not even use the darn softener save for the fact that the ground water here is SATURATED with iron/rust, and even with the iron out pellets our plumbing fixtures tend to get rust stains often. I've often wondered why there is not an iron mine in the area AFAIK.
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  #62  
Old 11-25-2014, 07:48 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by Electronic M View Post
We usually just buy a bag when low and dump it in as soon as we get home, so the bags rarely sit with their contents inside...But the salt dust cloud that is created when we dump them can't be completely contained...Leading to gradual rusting especially of things in/near the softener room. We would not even use the darn softener save for the fact that the ground water here is SATURATED with iron/rust, and even with the iron out pellets our plumbing fixtures tend to get rust stains often. I've often wondered why there is not an iron mine in the area AFAIK.
Do you find that problem with the nuggets. They refer to it as "Solar Salt".
I usually buy, whatevers on sale. If you look at the water piping circuit in the basement, you'll find, that the toilets and the cold water on the kitchen sink are not softened.
For drinking, coffee and cooking water, I use a Brita filter pitcher.
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  #63  
Old 11-25-2014, 08:28 PM
WISCOJIM WISCOJIM is offline
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Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
If you look at the water piping circuit in the basement, you'll find, that the toilets and the cold water on the kitchen sink are not softened.
Maybe, but not always.

In my house (built 1993) the only hard water is plumbed directly to only the outdoor hose bibs.

My father's house (built 1954) had a third faucet valve added at the kitchen sink to allow for unsoftened drinking & cooking water. The only other hard water connections in his home ran to his outdoor hose bibs.

Neither home had hard water running to the toilets, and I can't see why anyone would want that. Toilets would likely be the first to show rust staining, and the homeowner would constantly have to be fighting that.

.
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  #64  
Old 11-25-2014, 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Electronic M View Post
We usually just buy a bag when low and dump it in as soon as we get home, so the bags rarely sit with their contents inside...But the salt dust cloud that is created when we dump them can't be completely contained...Leading to gradual rusting especially of things in/near the softener room. We would not even use the darn softener save for the fact that the ground water here is SATURATED with iron/rust, and even with the iron out pellets our plumbing fixtures tend to get rust stains often. I've often wondered why there is not an iron mine in the area AFAIK.
Guys, guys, I mean unopened,completely sealed bags. No corrosion to worry about, as long as you don't cut or rip the bag and they are pretty strong these days. Open them and dump it in the softener in the spring.

You don't need salt. Anything will work but the smaller and the heavier it is, the better. 200-300# makes a big difference. Put in in the front of the trunk, as close to directly over the rear axle as you can get. It makes a big difference on rear wheel drive. Up here you can buy bags of sand and that works well but then you have to figure out what to do with it in the spring, or find dry storage until next winter. If your not driving in the slop and waiting until the roads are dried off then you won't need it though.

Either way, enjoy your new wheels. That is a beautiful car and it's in wonderful shape. I'm kinda jealous but I sold my motorcycle and bought a 1992 Saab 900 convertible so I have a new toy to play with in the spring. Drove it home and right into storage. This is the fourth 900 Turbo I've had over the years but the first convertible. Some people think I'm nuts but I really like those first generation 900 Turbos. And this one was too cheap to pass up although it does need some work, but nothing serious. Every time I post a photo with my phone the darn thing shows up sideways.
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  #65  
Old 11-25-2014, 11:52 PM
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Only the hoses are connected to the hard water. We also had the fridge connected, but have yet to turn the valve on! The main reason to keep the rust out is that whites come out of the laundry orange-ish otherwise.

I have put three 40lb bags of soil into the trunk, and if I can find anything else that is small, heavy, and not fragile/important to me I'll add that too. Maybe I should round up some Polka and Classical 78's (that I had to buy to get some swing records I wanted) I've got laying around and throw them in.
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  #66  
Old 11-26-2014, 11:05 AM
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polka records, LOL.
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  #67  
Old 11-26-2014, 12:35 PM
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On Saturday I got the correct Quad 8-track car radio from Adam. It was working good in all aspects, but I just had to replace the chopped off wiring harness at the internal solder joints (for neatness), which entailed pulling the tuner board....Well the AM band is now dead unless I touch some traces on the board and let my body be the antenna. I'd just about kill for the sams for this radio. I know where the antenna connects to this board, but I don't know how it connects to the AM section (it goes in to the FM section can and has no obvious connection to the AM section). Perhaps the freakiest thing is that I see no obvious connections between the FM section and the tuning mechanism (yet that part works)! I'm beginning to think this radio runs on magic, and I let out the AM sections pixie dust when I opened it....

If anyone can find me a schematic for this Motorola sourced car radio I'll owe you a beer.
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  #68  
Old 11-26-2014, 09:47 PM
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I keep my extra bags of snow-melting salt in my trunk.

I'm actually surprised that radio worked at all. I don't have the schematics.

And I like polka records!
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  #69  
Old 12-01-2014, 04:01 PM
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Nice Mark there Tom, I was wondering what car a true VK'er would select, and I think I may know why...besides all the electric gadgets.
Does it have the standard deep trunk that most Fords did? I used to wonder if a normal-sized roundie console would fit in those trunks?

With gas prices going down, you made a fine selection of ride there. I just hope you dont have to drive 86 miles round trip to work like I do.

One obstacle to better mpg may simply be the three-speed automatic transmission, likely the smooth but tough FoMoCo C-6.
The stock whisper-quiet exhaust, emissions-optimized carburetor and torque-optimized camshaft have an effect as well, but where to upgrade any/all of these and have a meaningful effect on mileage is up for much debate. I have not seen a good cost-benefit ratio to changing these components.

My first car was a 1973 Fury II small-town police cruiser with a 400 (bored out 383) and stock 2 barrel Holley carburetor with single exhaust.
It carried all manner of rescued sets in the trunk and had a Pioneer Supertuner 8-track player with Magnavox 6x9 speakers.
The gas mileage was only 10-12 and everyone in those angst-filled days blamed this on emissions controls and crappy gas which had just doubled in price. Most post-1971 vehicles were hastily adapted (not re-designed) to hit bechmarks of the CLEAN AIR ACT and use unleaded, low-octane gas. Automotive Engineers probably had NO input in crafting the clean air act because it would not have provided the instant gratification required of feel-good legislation.

Us reverse-tinkerers now know that the timing gearsets were "re-aligned", compression ratio reduced about 20% and various vacuum-operated controls were "fitted" to limit the emissions. Soon after came air-injection pumps, catalytic coverters and more weight.
The cars of the late 70s still had carburetors, requiring periodic adjustment and these add-on controls just made things worse when they malfunctioned. Many of us looked at the 1970 and earlier engines as easier to keep running right.
I have tried changing most everything (cam, exhaust, ignition, carburetor and higher compression heads) on my 1969 Grand Prix with a 1972 455-4V and it still gets a best of 12 mpg due to sheer weight, so I put very little mileage on it. Now, if there was an overdrive kit for a THM 400 transmission to get those highway rpm's down....

My best advice on getting better mpg is cheap; replace vacuum hoses, get the carb cleaned up and all linkage free from sticking and advance the ignition timing until it pings (knocks) when climbing hills in warm weather (do only when using 87 octane gas) then back it off until the pings disappear.
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Last edited by DavGoodlin; 12-01-2014 at 04:14 PM.
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  #70  
Old 12-01-2014, 06:44 PM
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Thanks!
The old TV repair gurus(VS a college electrical engineering student with an appreciation for classic tech like me) are more the true VK'ers in my book....Although if I was born some decades earlier I'm convinced I would have taken that route in life.

I could likely fit a roundy in the trunk, but I don't think it would close...

Only commute I have presently is ~25 miles to college. So gas should not be a killer.
I'm fairly sure it is a C6 transmission in it. I've never been behind the wheel of a manual equipped car. And only since a friend of mine got one have even known someone that presently has one....I considered possibly getting a manual equipped car when looking, but there were none that seemed worth the hassle of re-learning how to drive.

The electrical is going to be interesting. The high beams, miles to empty computer, and the power door locks are all not working. One of the interior turn signal indicator lights is intermittent too (the signal it's self is fine though). All that will be fun to trouble shoot for me....Though it ticks me off that the factory electrical manual lacks schematic detail of the workings of the radio and the miles to empty computer. Thanks to the manuals I bought I now know that the high beams could only be stuck on as they are if a relay/diode, wiring, or the foot switch are bad so it should be easy to fix.

I'll have to remember to change the vacuum hoses. When we have time a college buddy of mine who likes to work on cars and I are going to work on the tuning, though it seems fairly good presently. Last weekend we changed the oil, and did some work on the holes in the exhaust (it remains unfinished).
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  #71  
Old 12-05-2014, 06:05 PM
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High beam is probably the switch. They took a lot of abuse. Locks, maybe relay or fuse. They are not vacuum like the old T-birds, are they? The signal will probably be very easy to fix once you can get to it. The computer, good luck with that one although it could be something as simple as an intermittent connection on the sensor.

Last edited by ggregg; 12-05-2014 at 06:09 PM.
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  #72  
Old 12-06-2014, 08:13 AM
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Check every single vacuum hose on that car. It will take you some time, but you will be rewarded by a smoother running engine. Pay particular attention to the vacuum switch on the bottom of the steering column that operates the parking brake release. Those are notorious for leaking. If it's really bad, you'll notice a hissing noise when you put the transmission in drive.

Also, pay close attention to the thermal blower lockout switch. This is located in one of the heater hoses, and it keeps the heater blower from coming on until the car warms up enough to provide heat. Some of these switches are just electrical, but some versions also have a vacuum switch that is a common source of leaks.

If either of these switches are bad, you're about as well off to plug the lines than to replace it. These parts are available aftermarket at most parts stores, but they're cheap imports that won't hold up. Last year, I spent $40 to replace the parking brake vacuum switch because I'm so particular about everything working on my Lincoln. It's a pain to get to, a bigger pain to get the screws out, and after I replaced it the new switch was hissing intermittently in just a few months.
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  #73  
Old 12-06-2014, 08:29 AM
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And congrats on the purchase of a fine looking car. I've been a Lincoln guy all my life, and have loved every single one I've owned. I have two now, my 2001 Town Car daily driver (191,000 trouble free miles) and my 1989 Town Car weekend cruiser (a 69,000 mile "little old lady car).

To be quite honest, I like driving the 1989 better, and whenever I go out of town I always take it instead. By 1989 Lincolns had the fuel injected 5.0 V8 and most of the other modern dependability updates but retained the big, boxy styling that defined the brand from 1962 until 1989. To me, 1989 was the last year of the classic "Lincoln look" as the 1990 re-style rounded things off a lot. The last Town Car re-style in 1998 took the rounded off style and made it look "bloated". Not necessarily ugly, but definitely not the "Lincoln look" they were known for.
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  #74  
Old 12-06-2014, 01:44 PM
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Hey EM; if yer ever lookin for the best bolt on mpg upgrade for that car, made by ford,
get a 7200, or 7600 VV carb. The 7200 variable venturi was all vacuum operated, and
the 7600 variable venturi was stepper motor electronic feedback carb. Both almost
easy bolt on directly to a factory 2bbl manifold. I think you got a 2 bbl right....?

I said it here before, I put one on my '73 351C mustang and went from 9mpg town
13mpg hwy, to 16 around town, to just under 21 highway.... 55, no floorin it off lights.

The 7600 uses a 5 wire 15 degree stepper motor and you can easily figure out the
wiring and set yerself up a in the car controller with a few IC's and some driver transistors.
Or go nuts and add a O2 sensor and make it semi automatic.... I did add the O2 sensor,
I had a Radio Control Plane servo running the spark advance, and I could
also set that from inside the car.... So easy to set it for highway or local spark.

It started quicker, ran better, had less spark plug problems, "dial-a-ping" was what I
called my spark advance.....

The only problem is that those carbs did not have a direct spark advance
port like a regular 2bbl, it was derived from a buncha other things..... Funny
that the 7200 would always just about to ping with no knock sensor that I knew
of on our '79 LTD wagon, and run good and get 26mpg on the highway....
It was the first year redesigh, but still the big one, not the mini-LTD.... 302 v8..

As an electronics person, you can easily set up the same stuff I did, once you find where
everything works best, it's just a matter of hard wiring a matrex to follow at different
speeds......

I guess if you wanted....... you could always get fuel injection......
and a 4 speed auto.......
.
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Last edited by Username1; 12-06-2014 at 01:54 PM.
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  #75  
Old 12-06-2014, 08:44 PM
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Thanks for the ideas!

David: She does hiss for a moment when the vacuum parking brake release is activated, and does the same thing when the headlights, and certain climate control lever settings are activated. The Vacuum lines will likely be a project for the early spring as it is not fun tinkering in the freezing cold. I wonder if that would make it idle smoother?

Squirrel boy: IIRC it is equipped with a 2 barrel autolite carb so it may be possible to do what you suggest. If you did that mod any time in the recent past then I'm surprised that you did not take a knock sensor off a newer car and use a micro-controller, analog amplifier or some such to auto-tune out the ping. It could be an interesting summer project to try that out. An Arduino MCU board, some switching transistors, that carb, servos, the right sensors, and a decent control code and it could probably tune it's self. If come summer I still feel like keeping it then I'll probably start looking into doing this or fitting the fuel injection parts off of one of the last 90's era trucks to use the same engine block as mine.

As she is now I drive her about once a week for odd errands, and I'm thinking of commuting to school in her on the one day a week that I have late starting classes. Other days I'd probably have to get up 30 minutes early to make it there on time driving my self, and I need all the sleep I can get most days.

I need to get on the high beams soon. I just started this quarter of school, and have been busy reorganizing my AV racks....Squirrel boy, you know the audiophile olympics...I'll have to post about it when I'm done (which I basically am).
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