1985 Vert - Starting The Fix-Up

[Kentennis]

Count your blessing Sandy. 6 friends gone since the first of December.

Memorial yesterday and again today. 2 in December and one tomorrow that we can't be at.

Everyday I thank God for decent health! Have a few problems, but compared with my friends, they are REALLY minor!

Now 74 and 13/365ths of a year old!

[CocoLoco]

So far, no snow today. Dodged that bullit. Anyway, I got a new air cleaner cover. I went for a chrome one. OK - I know it's not original, but mine was beyond repair and I was having trouble finding one in show condition. So I put on the correct lettering (from LMR) and it looks pretty good. It will stay until I find a better one.

Next issue - decals on original car.
This car has been re-painted and has a new radiator as far as I can tell. I'm trying to determine what decals I should have on it. Right now here is what I can see:
1) Motorcraft parts decal on windshield washer fluid tank
2) Emmissions decal on hood
3) Duraspark decal on ignition module
4) Blank white label about 2 x 3 inches dead center on fan shroud (no print - worn off)
5) Door plate on drivers side door frame
6) ASC tag on drivers side door frame
7) Tire inflation tag on passengers side door frame
8 ) Buck tag on radiator support
I have found these decals listed on various web sites (LMR, Foxresto, etc.). Do any of these exist on the 1985 vert and if so, where?
- Belt routing
- Air conditioning charge
- Coolant caution
- Fuel pump shutoff
- 5.0L firing order
- Air cleaner assembly tag
- Oil usage
- Jack instructions
- Engine code

Thanks in advance - Dwight

[CocoLoco]

Hi All - well I ended up out of town this week and I I have to go back next week as well. But it is my dream job - doing some work the Sam Adams brewery. Tough duty smelling beer all day. It's any wonder I get any work done. But this leaves very little time to work on the car.

I decided the dew wipe replacement was going to be tougher than I thought, so I took the car off to my speed shop to get the work done as well as some other things. So I have been getting my daily "guess what else is wrong" call. It looks like my clutch is marginal so may as well get it done while it's there. And the old dew wipes were really stuck (rusted). So those are getting replaced along with all the other rubber parts around the door. More effort than expected.

This car is getting to be a money pit. But I can't stop. I just like it too much. And next comes the state inspection. I wonder how much more $$$$ that's gonna be? This is the first time I am having the car gone over good. Who knows what other surprises await!!!

I'm starting to wonder if I'll have it done in time for Carlisle. Hope so.

[Kentennis]

I just had the dew wipes replaced on my '86. The parts were just over $100.00 and the labor, (At my local body shop that has worked on other vehicles for me) charged me $120.00 to replace them. They are NOT an easy job. They're screwed in and the door panels and windows had to be removed. But they did an excellent job!

[aaronlstiles]

I have installed a few sets of the dew wipes, I have never had to remove the window, the outter belt molding comes off the upper door, on 87 up cars and is pop rivited in, you drill out the rivits and pull up on the wipe it comes right off, takes about 20 Min a door, door panel is a little more work, if you can find those, I did not know anyone was making the inside door wipe yet. But you have to pull door panel for that if you can find them .

[negusm]

Yeah, the inners for 79-86 have been made for many years now.

The 87+ outer wipes are very different from the older ones. I don't think you had to remove the window for the older ones though. If there were screws holding them in, then you're on the third set. Pretty sure they were all rivetted in except up at the mirror where there is a screw.

-Mike

[CocoLoco]

Hi All. Well, my car is STILL in the shop and my desire to have it for Carlisle is getting more difficult to make happen. I don't know about the dew wipes in my car, but I will check with the mechanic to see how they were attached. I know I tried to remove them and they would not budge. Certainly something is holding them in place - screws, rivots, rust, duct tape??? I will get to the bottom of this.

My guy there came up with a different approach to attaching the tonneau piece - velcro. He got some extra heavy duty industrial grade stuff. Used a lot of it, especially in the front where wind can get under it. Hope it works OK. I'll keep you all posted.

My clutch was marginal, so while it's there I agreed to get a new clutch. They are inspecting it today so I'll see if there is anything else wrong. Here it comes....$$$$$$$$. I am beginning to dread getting phone calls from the shop!!

So after that, all that is left are cosmetic items. I was hoping to get the wheels re-done, but that may be out of the question for a while. Unlike the government, I only spend what I have.

Dwight

[CocoLoco]

Repair Update - just picked up the car. New clutch, new front rotors and one new muffler. And of course the dew wipes. Inspected and now legal to drive.

The air conditioner was not working. They said no power was getting to the clutch. I have a wiring diagram book so I may dig into it myself. Any ideas appreciated.

One thing - where is the fuse box on an 85 Capri? Cant seem to locate it. Usually Ford puts them under the left side of the dash but I must be missing something. I see something about a "mini fuse box" in the manuals, but it doesn't look big enough to me. The fuse box also has the flasher unit. I'll look more tonight.

Dwight

[negusm]

Left side, under dash. You need to remove the panel under the steering wheel. Requires a Phillips screw driver.

-Mike

[dahberg]

You might try taking off the kick panel on the drivers side. I have an auxilary fuse box underneath this area with a $@#% load of wires and transfer relays.

[negusm]

You might try taking off the kick panel on the drivers side. I have an auxilary fuse box underneath this area with a $@#% load of wires and transfer relays.

Don't think an 86 had anything there.

85s should definitely not.

-Mike

[dahberg]

You might try taking off the kick panel on the drivers side. I have an auxilary fuse box underneath this area with a $@#% load of wires and transfer relays.

Don't think an 86 had anything there.

85s should definitely not.

-Mike

When you own an 85' vert that did not come from the junk yard come tell me all about it Mike... we can compare builds! sheesh

[negusm]

That place is a good place to put in headlight relays. So, I would see what all of that is connected to.

The PO may have been trying to fix Ford's crappy headlight wiring.

-Mike

[CocoLoco]

I didn't tackle the A/C, but I spent a lot of the weekend working on the car. The passanger seat latch wasn't working, so I pulled it out. The latch wire was bound up in the pivot point where the back meets the seat. A little loosening of the back and a little tugging....it came free and is working fine. Don't quite understand how it happened though. Since I had one seat out I figured I may as well take the other one out. The slide assemeblies, especially the feet, were beat up and rusty. So I removed and painted the whole slide assemblies.

Since I had everything out, I removed the seal belt anchors and steam cleaned the carpets. Looks like they haven't been touched in years. Dirty!!!!! But clean now.

Painted the sill plates, the seat belt sleaves, the seat belt buckle covers and the plastic caps up on the rear panels (where the seat belts come out). Put everthing back together and now I'm onto the center console.

Dwight

[CocoLoco]

Hi all - well I got it put together enough to take to our Mustang club's big all-Ford show yesterday. Got a lot of good comments on it. No award though. A Mustang crowd.
I put it all back together (console, dash pad, insrument cluster. etc.) I got the wheels refinished last week. Thye look like new. A really good job by a local wheel refinishing company. I didn't get new center caps in time, so I used the old ones with some glued on logos that I found in the glove box. Not perfect but no one else but an ASC owner would know.

I put the pulldown motor back in and it started working (mostly) again. I think the last problem may have been a loose ground wire. But it still needs a new relay. I'm hoping that will solve that issue.

After I put the console back together, the low fuel light on the display is always on. Probably a wiring or connector issue.

So I'm down to the short list of things to do : new teak veneer on the dash, A/C not working, correct center caps, fuel light, a good waxing.

One last thing is the sun visors keep falling down, both out of the clips and rotating on the rod. Hard to drive when you have to push them back up every 2 minutes. Any suggestions??

Later - Dwight