What's The Point?

At least you know a road draft tube from a stick....

 

Oil pressure sender behind EGR and not by oil filter housing ???

 

Yes. Some Fords (especially 335-series engines) have the sender back there. Imagine my embarassment and anger when I was pre-oiling a 400 in a '79 F150, and had forgotten to transfer over the presure sender before spinning the pump....

 

I went & had the front tires replaced,then we had a downpour! Car looks more like a Ranch Wagon without whitewalls,which are no longer provided. I checked in at the Ford parts counter,& he can get the 2 gaskets plus the EGR gasket and the aluminum spacer,as the cast iron spacer no longer exists in the Ford world (the parts that are available are obsolete,but left over at various Ford parts depts. around the country). I wonder if I should dig deeper and hold out for the cast iron spacer,or hope that a NOS aluminum spacer will work OK. I can get these things for about $80.00.

 

The aluminum spacer is fine as long as it's not warped. No more than .002" warpage when measured diagonally from hole to hole. If it is, you can take it to a machine shop and they'll run it on a platen grinder to flatten it out. But if this is through a dealership, they already know no one else has any cast iron ones. If it's from an obsolete parts house, such as Green Sales in Ohio, ask them if they'll do a visual stock check in the warehouse. Then google "obsolete Ford parts" for other places that might have a used or new one in cast iron.

 

Just buy the damn thing and put it on. Given what the car is and how much it will be driven, it'll last as long as you have the car.

 

The Resident Curmudgeon hath spake!

 

My bad this thread is too long and been so many issues maybe he should start a new one and look on e-bay for the spacer they show up there and cast sometimes.

 

That would be up to him, but I think this issue's run its course. Fix one thing, test-drive, diagnose, fix another, lather, rinse and repeat.

 

Oh. Run its course,has it? I hadn't thought so. It is a bit tricky,as I have to use the big car for two different jobs for which the small car won't do. I can't have the car out of commission for Mondays,Tuesdays,or Saturdays. Anyway,the parts guy at Ford is getting the Aluminum spacer and the three gaskets for me,so I'll perform the surgery soon. I guess I don't use any gasket glop or RTV sealant on these gaskets? I guess I am leaving the EGR system intact and functional.

 

Well,that didn't work out. No spacers available from Ford. I told him to get me the gaskets & I'll see what I can do with the existing spacer.

 

Get a pane of glass and glue a sheet of 220 grit sandpaper to it. Applying equal pressure on your spacer, rub it back and forth across the paper. This will show you any warpage. continue until each side is fully smooth. Then flip it to the side with the cavities. Plug any external holes and fill the cavity with alcohol. If it is porous anywhere, the alcohol will leak out. Repair any areas found with JB Weld. Your spacer is now ready to use.

 

What he said. Just make sure the glass is thick enough that it doesn't flex and you are working on a relatively flat surface. I use contact cement to hold the sand paper down and a little WD-40 on the sand paper helps too. I've resurfaced cylinder heads using this method and it works amazingly well.

 

I should clarify: when I said "the issue has run its course," I meant the discussion about the carb spacer, and not the overall problems your wagon's having. It's never my intention, ever, to trivialize anyone's car problems. God knows, I have a few 'heapin' helpin's' of problems of my own.

 

Now the exhaust system is leaking fumes if I open the window. I am so done with crawling under the car,but once I'm under there,I go nuts on the whole deal!