1997 Base half-breed

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markup97

Lost in Translation
She made it from Ohio to Central Florida with no problems. Girlfreind was driving it as I was piloting the 21' moving truck with a 97 Dakota extended-cab on a trailer behind. Dark Star got 27.4-28.2mpg on that haul, she ran cool and held up well. Couldn't ask for better.

After I get settled in and some spare cash generated, her mods will start.
 
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markup97

Lost in Translation
Been clocking 90 miles a day in mixed driving/traffic with her. She is averaging 23.5mpg so far, and rides smooth with good pick-up when I stomp her. Fixed all of my burned-out trunk/back-up light bulbs so I can be seen from behind at night. Other than that, I haven't had time to do anything other than drive her. Once I get a beater-mileage ride and the girlfriend does as well, I can start the list of mods (both of us working and only having two cars running means no project time).
 
L

lostsoul

New member
hey, cool write up man, when you are done with your hub jig if you want to sell it let me know, I just got a 98 lsc yesterday and want to put mustang rims on it, good luck with everything
 
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markup97

Lost in Translation
Had a passenger rear wheel bearing let go on me Friday coming home from work. Changed it out Saturday and went for a 200 mile drive Sunday. Worked well. Getting some more parts built up for her.
 
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markup97

Lost in Translation
Living in St.Cloud and working in Casselberry, 48 miles one-way. Did an oil change last weekend. Haven't had a lot of time to do anything with the car lately, too busy driving it! Still looking at more parts once I get my dad paid back from the move money I owe him. Grabbing an ASHAM8 for it real soon. Trying to find a place to powdercoat just the wheel centers (one-piece wheel).........nobody wants to do it.
 
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markup97

Lost in Translation
Received the ASHAM8 module Wednesday afternoon. Won't have time to install it for a while as I am still rolling her pretty regularly down the highway. 77,000 miles on the car now, and I started with 68,500 in October. Had the entire chassis checked out last week, and it all checks out good, so future mods are a GO.
 
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markup97

Lost in Translation
Car has been good since then. Still have an output seal leaking though.....and this will be the 3rd one installed since the trans rebuild.

Got the steering column swapped over (finally). Now I have a new problem. Steering column was from a 98 going into a 97 equipped with a 98 wheel. After the install, the wheel rubs on the plastic cover/clock spring of the column. I can't fully seat the wheel and have to have a shim installed to get the retaining bolt to tighten down (to hold the wheel to the column). Don't quite understand it, as both column stalks measure the same and I am using the shroud from my car, as well as the clock-spring unit.

One problem I still have is the telescope switch will not trolley out (it is the switch, and one weekend when I have time I will be back in there to see if I can fix the switch).
 
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Meister

New member
markup97 said:
Car has been good since then. Still have an output seal leaking though.....and this will be the 3rd one installed since the trans rebuild.
Click to expand...
Have you talked to the guy that built the transmission? What does he have to say? That is far from normal. Hopefully you don't have any alignment problems with the driveshaft causing the bushing/seal to fail prematurely (as I think you indicated that was a problem on the original transmission?).

Doug
 
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markup97

Lost in Translation
This seal has been an ongoing issue, and the guy who rebuilt it was the one to initially replace it (the second seal, as the first started leaking a week after the rebuild). The tail shaft bushing, as in inside the tailshaft? If so, I am sure it was replaced during the rebuild (as pretty much everything else inside of the trans was replaced due to severe damage). With that said, I will look at that when I have her down for upgrades.

The driveshaft will find itself being replaced by a custom-fit, rebuilt and balanced Police Crown Vic 4" aluminum unit here soon (the same time I install the 4:10 Trac-Lock equipped center section).

Right now, I am making the containment case for the ASHAM 8 module, plus trying to find a convenient-yet-non-intrusive location to mount it. Being as I use the lighter as a power output for a phone charger, that is out of the question unless I relocate it.
 
driller

driller

El Presidente
markup97 said:
The tail shaft bushing, as in inside the tailshaft? If so, I am sure it was replaced during the rebuild (as pretty much everything else inside of the trans was replaced due to severe damage). With that said, I will look at that when I have her down for upgrades.
Click to expand...
The tailshaft bushing in the very end of the tailshaft portion of the housing, directly behind the seal.

It is super critical to have the correct tolerance and also just as critical to get proper lubrication. Replacement bushings are notorious for being 'out of spec'.

Factory lubrication of the bushing is simple splash lubrication, suitable for stock applications. Some believe in the tailshaft mod where an external lubrication line is supplying pressurized oil direct to the modified tailshaft bushing. It becomes more important with higher driveshaft speeds such as when running shorter gears in the differential or extended high speed applications such as road racing.

Not only is the tailshaft bushing fit important but also the spline fit of the output shaft to the spline section of the driveshaft assembly. I have seen many applications where the spline is worn exaggerating bushing problems.
 
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markup97

Lost in Translation
I will have to check for ANY play in that bushing when I get the car up in the air. Thanks JP.

As to why I am not using the 93 One-Piece unit; I already have 3 of the Crown Vic Police units available to me. I have one shortened and balanced under my 84 GTTurbo Mustang, with the other two as spares. Having the tubes already helps to keep the costs closer to manageable.
 
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markup97

Lost in Translation
Not sure, but I will find out. If they are, good thing I have two spare (so it can be made into one!).
 
Lvnmarks

Lvnmarks

quandoomniflunkusmoritati
Would be nice to get one of them CVPI shafts in my TC. I thought they were longer but I guess we will find out.
 
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