sleepy hollow
Registered
Greetings from Virginia. I just registerd and passed inspection on my FIL's 98 Mark VIII. 168,000 miles. He was a fighter pilot of F-89Cs in the early 1950s patrolling the north pole from Greenland. He is now 92 and not really up to driving, but I've given him some thrills chauffering him around. He loves this car. Made him feel like a pilot again I suspect given the cockpit feel of the whole Mark VIII setup.
He and my MIL now live with my wife and me. I am blessed to be comfortably retired and am now able to work at the things I want to. Work is dignity and satisfaction for me so i'll never really retire. Long list of projects I did not get to when I was working for salary. I like golf but probably will never get down my list to that activity. For me that's what I prefer actually.
Here is what I have done so far to get her running:
New battery, air filter
Changed oil and power steering fluid, brake fluid still good and clear. Receipts showed brake job just prior to the covid-initiated 5-year dormancy.
AT was acting very sluggish. Barely made it from his house to mine (12 miles) so I could work on it. Reverse needed a significant goosing to move at all.
Changed AT fluid including torque converter. Drained about 7.5 qts. Took 12.5 qts to refill. drivability problems solved! No idea how she could be down 5 qts. Unless they did not refill after previous pan drop and fluid drain. Old filter looked pretty new.
Inspected brakes and suspension all around. She was very loose on the road requiring constant "trim" adjustments to keep her in lane.
Front control arms and lower ball joints shot. Also sway bar links. Lower stuff looked ok. Nothing obviously wonky there.
Found a $95 kit on Partsgeek for all decrepit parts.
Installed new control arms, sway bar links, and pressed in new lower ball joints. Now she is much firmer feeling and goes where I point her. That was quit a workout, but very satisfying when completed. Those back upper CA tower bolts are worth a few expletives. Especially when tightening one ratchet click at a time. Arghhh.
Neither power door lock worked. Ordered rockauto replacements and had a very fun time installing them (not). But they work now. Of the three key fobs he had, one works for three of four buttons (does not lock doors), one works for one button (trunk) and the other is dead. Not worth fixing. Ordered 2 new key fobs for $13. We'll see if they work as advertised.
Did a quick mechanical compounding of the black finish which pleased/surprised me greatly as it improved the look 100%. My FIL was smiling broadly when I showed him. Also sanded the headlights to reduce the oxidation by 80%. Tucked the "wrinkled" rear window trim on left and right side under itself into the drain channel beneath and it looks much better. I won't do much more than that unless someone has a better suggestion.
Tab so far is <$500. $130 of that was the AT fluid.
Left to do:
Brakes shimmy when stopping, and I noticed some uneven patterns on the front rotor faces but no obvious warping. Will try sanding the rotors and pads to see if the uneven surface compositions is causing the pulsations or not. If I don't feel any inprovment, I will probably just get new pads and rotors and be done with it. That is <$100 at rockauto.
AC does not work. Will post a thread on that in the HVAC section as I am scratching my head about this...
Lots of oil underneath but nothing dropping on the ground. Will clean and see what happens. Hope it's not the oil pan gasket. Not sure if I can do that in my garage. But, nothing like a new challenge.
Thank you all in advance for any advice and suggestions you may have as I seek it from you in threads I may post.
He and my MIL now live with my wife and me. I am blessed to be comfortably retired and am now able to work at the things I want to. Work is dignity and satisfaction for me so i'll never really retire. Long list of projects I did not get to when I was working for salary. I like golf but probably will never get down my list to that activity. For me that's what I prefer actually.
Here is what I have done so far to get her running:
New battery, air filter
Changed oil and power steering fluid, brake fluid still good and clear. Receipts showed brake job just prior to the covid-initiated 5-year dormancy.
AT was acting very sluggish. Barely made it from his house to mine (12 miles) so I could work on it. Reverse needed a significant goosing to move at all.
Changed AT fluid including torque converter. Drained about 7.5 qts. Took 12.5 qts to refill. drivability problems solved! No idea how she could be down 5 qts. Unless they did not refill after previous pan drop and fluid drain. Old filter looked pretty new.
Inspected brakes and suspension all around. She was very loose on the road requiring constant "trim" adjustments to keep her in lane.
Front control arms and lower ball joints shot. Also sway bar links. Lower stuff looked ok. Nothing obviously wonky there.
Found a $95 kit on Partsgeek for all decrepit parts.
Installed new control arms, sway bar links, and pressed in new lower ball joints. Now she is much firmer feeling and goes where I point her. That was quit a workout, but very satisfying when completed. Those back upper CA tower bolts are worth a few expletives. Especially when tightening one ratchet click at a time. Arghhh.
Neither power door lock worked. Ordered rockauto replacements and had a very fun time installing them (not). But they work now. Of the three key fobs he had, one works for three of four buttons (does not lock doors), one works for one button (trunk) and the other is dead. Not worth fixing. Ordered 2 new key fobs for $13. We'll see if they work as advertised.
Did a quick mechanical compounding of the black finish which pleased/surprised me greatly as it improved the look 100%. My FIL was smiling broadly when I showed him. Also sanded the headlights to reduce the oxidation by 80%. Tucked the "wrinkled" rear window trim on left and right side under itself into the drain channel beneath and it looks much better. I won't do much more than that unless someone has a better suggestion.
Tab so far is <$500. $130 of that was the AT fluid.
Left to do:
Brakes shimmy when stopping, and I noticed some uneven patterns on the front rotor faces but no obvious warping. Will try sanding the rotors and pads to see if the uneven surface compositions is causing the pulsations or not. If I don't feel any inprovment, I will probably just get new pads and rotors and be done with it. That is <$100 at rockauto.
AC does not work. Will post a thread on that in the HVAC section as I am scratching my head about this...
Lots of oil underneath but nothing dropping on the ground. Will clean and see what happens. Hope it's not the oil pan gasket. Not sure if I can do that in my garage. But, nothing like a new challenge.
Thank you all in advance for any advice and suggestions you may have as I seek it from you in threads I may post.
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