Captain Obvious

No, I think it was material off the ratchet gear itself. I'll take a look today and see if I can refresh my memory. Sad part is I've done two of these now (mine and my buddy who was with me at your place), and I don't remember the exact process. Some stuff you just don't think is ever going to come up again...

1) One end goes to the charcoal canister, and the other end attaches to the complicated 74 balance tube. 2) Charcoal can could help with gas smell, but won't do anything for vapor lock. All years have gas tank venting one sort or another... The difference is what they did with the fumes. Prior to 74, they "stored" the gas fumes inside the engine block, and after 74, they routed them to be grabbed onto by activated charcoal in the carbon can. I'm not sure about the very early years (like 70), but prior to the carbon canister, they used a device called the "flow guide valve" which directed fumes into the non-running engine crankcase. In 74, they updated the system to the charcoal can. Does that help?

Oh, and I forgot... I didn't like the perpetual Viagra posture of my parking brake either and I lowered mine too, but I did it a little different. I ground a little material metal off the parking brake assy where the two parts come together and limit the down travel. So now mine still uses the original mounting holes, but it lowers a good bit farther down than original. I don't think I have any pics, but I'll take some when I get the chance. I thought I had some in my parking brake spring thread, but not only didn't I mention that, but all my picture links are dead: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/49952-parking-brake-handle-return-spring/ Not sure what happened to the pics...

Whoa... They managed to stuff an angle grinder in the original harness? Those Germans thought of everything!!

I haven't tried it to confirm, but I believe the studious and creative Z owner would be able to find off the shelf molded hoses that could be modified to accomplish that.

That top tube is the purge line from the carbon canister system. I think the 73 still used the flow guide system and in 74 they updated to a full blown evaporative capture system. Meaning... I think that fuel rail is from a 74. But the bottom line is... Unless you're running a charcoal canister evap system in the stock location, you can cut off that top tube with no problem.

The technical term is "AFDB" - Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie Details can be found at http://zapatopi.net/afdb/ - An Effective, Low-Cost Solution To Combating Mind-Control And I know you are quite good with mechanical stuff, but just in case... Here's construction details: http://zapatopi.net/afdb/build.html

I'm also sure that, if one desired, it would be possible to use a newer style water control valve and mount it under the dash in a similar configuration to the original. Some of those valves come in 90 degree versions, and I bet someone could figure out a way to connect one of those up and keep the temp control valve on the passenger side of the firewall using all easy to find components. I haven't done it personally, but I believe the studious and energetic Z owner ought to be able to find a way to make that work.

I used a different version of those connectors. I believe it is VW. Instead of one long lock release bar on the side, it has two lock release tabs on the ends. The ones with the one long bar on the sides are good and much better than the originals, but I think the ones with the two tabs on the ends are even better. Don't remember if I've posted pics before, but these are what I used. Didn't work well for the water temp or thermotime because of clearance issues, but for the injectors... I love 'em!! :

And from what I've seen, sometimes they used a semi-circular washer to clear the rounded fillet at the bottom of the fender bend.

Nice. I've seen catalyzed paint in a can like that at Eastwood (2000K or something like that). I think that technology is really cool.

Sweaty and Dave, Some time ago I moved my water control valve up into the engine compartment, so I'll just reconnect to that location as before the Escort core. Because of the work previously done, that part of the job should be easy. One hose will go straight to the head with no splices, and the other hose will go to the Acura valve in the engine bay. I wrote up the details of that valve relocation in this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/44009-heater-water-****-valve-relocation-project/ Here's a pic of the valve in the engine bay and there are some other pics in that thread:

So I started messing with the hose connections to the Escort core. I realized that it would be easier if the core were located higher in the air box. So I pushed the core upwards until it reached the original upper locating tabs inside the air box. Here's the core in it's new upper location. Note the holes for the tubes from the first attempt lower position: And then I started playing around with hose connection alternatives. Here's one option... As I was messing with the hoses, it appears that I could use simple generic ninety degree hoses on both sides if it weren't for the fact that the feedthrough nipple assy turned the one hose downward towards the floor. If both feedthroughs were straight instead of bent, it would simplify the hose bends. My feedthrough is all rusty anyway, so I toyed with the idea of making a new one to replace the rusty one. I even went so far as to build myself a crude bead roller. Here's one of my bead rolled test pieces showing what could be done with a redesigned feedthrough assy: But then, as I was toying with the idea of remaking the feedthrough assy, I realized that I could get rid of the metal feedthrough nipples completely and just run the hoses directly through the firewall like they did on the 240's. So I made the original holes a little larger with a Greenlee chassis punch: Popped in some grommets of appropriate design, and ran the tubes straight through. Two generic ninety degree hoses (cheap!!). Here's some pics the hoses straight through the firewall without the rusty metal feedthrough nipple:

Haha!! Well you certainly blanked me with that one and right after I posted that, I realized took the wrong tact. I shouldn't have suggested it wasn't popular and tried to hide behind a shroud of obscurity... Considering it's one of your top ten, what I should have done was watched it!

I did not get that reference fairly, and have to admit that I had to look that one up. Methinks you were one of a very select few that actually SAW that movie!!

I would do what siteunseen did... Give it a half turn one way, and if it fixes it or makes it better, you're going the right way. If it gets worse, go the other way. And if you're going to use a Fonics Monkey, make sure have good music on hand. I believe Dio would be appropriate.

A potential answer as to why it hangs only while driving is that the BCDD is not active when the car is sitting still. There is a speed sensing defeat mechanism built into the speedometer that disables the BCDD below 10 mph (or in P or N for the auto). When the car is sitting still the BCDD should be disabled and have no effect. But when you're out on the road above 10 mph, and the BCDD is allowed to operate, the engine speed can hang. Take a look at the BCDD operation starting on page EC-5 of the 77 FSM. There is a single wire leading to the BCDD... Power on that wire defeats the BCDD. No power on that wire allows the BCDD to operate. As a crude test, you can pull that wire off (which will enable the BCDD) and see if the idle hangs even when sitting still. As for the black water coming out of the tailpipe... Water is a normal product of combustion. I wouldn't worry about that now. Probably completely normal.

Or zKarsTheMan.

So, I'm guessing from your implication of the above... You pulled up on the gas pedal with your toes and the hanging RPM's did not drop off?

Sorry Newton... There aren't any part numbers, nor are those parts for sale. I made that brass bushing myself on my lathe, and the ball is the original one that I pulled out of the mirror base. I don't remember if I wrote the dimensions for the bushing down anywhere. I may have created a sketch, but for one-off simple stuff like that I usually just make it up as I go along. If I'm thinking I might make more in the future, I write it down, but if it's something I don't believe I'll ever do again, I sometimes don't. I'll check when I get a chance. I fixed that pair of racing mirrors, used them on my car for a year or so, and then changed to a different mirror style. Those mirrors have since been sold and I don't have access to them anymore to take measurements.

The ball just presses into the base housing. It has some splines machined into it to bite a little into the base, but it's just pressed in. Just pull straight out with enough force and the ball will come out of the base. It's been a number of years since I did that job, and the details are fading, but I think I just grabbed the round part of the ball with some soft jaws in a vice and then tapped the base with a plastic mallet until it came free from the ball. I do remember that I used a little epoxy on the splines when I put it back together just to take up the gaps and be sure it stayed together. Splined fits like that are usually not designed to be used more than once. So about your method... I toyed around with similar ideas with a slot in a piece of something that would keep the ball from pulling through, and gave up because I had to either a) make the slot big enough to fit over the shaft of the ball, or 2) make the reinforcement out of something thin enough to bend like you did. Problem is I was worried if I made it out of something thin, it would just bend under the force of use. What I did NOT think of, was your great idea of using the screw posts for additional support for the reinforcing part. Using those posts to support it should keep even a thinner material from opening up again under use. Much simpler than what I did, and probably works just as well!

As for the LED blinker and an ignition disabler... I actually think it would be more theft resistant if they were NOT connected in any way. The thief is going to pull out the blinker LED and follow the wires. If they lead to a defeat mechanism, you have just showed him the way there. Better they were completely independent?

Haha! I like the little chaser LED. Reminds me of a project I did for one of my electronics design classes a long time ago. - I made an electronic metronome. Similar to the above, but when the LED reached the end of the row, it changed direction and went back the other way. Like a Cylon. An old school Cylon. Cylon Classic. I don't remember the details of the chips I used, but I do know there were more than just two of them...

What he said. If the RPM's drop properly when you pull the pedal up with your foot, then it's a linkage issue or a throttle plate issue. If the RPM's hang even if you pull up with your foot, then the BCDD is the prime suspect.

Amateur. Seriously though. Nice fix! A lot easier than what I did!!