Friday, April 28, 2023

HRPT Prep 16 - Cooling System Upgrade & Leaks (Part 3)

Again, I continued to work on the Mustang a little each evening after work this week.

On Monday, I covered the FelPro timing cover gasket with a thin layer Permatex Ultra Black RTV and installed it.  I already ran a tap through all the bolt holes and cleaned all the bolt threads with a wire wheel.  When I bolted it down, I used more than enough Permatex thread sealant (Part# 59214).  The torque spec for these is 15 ft/lbs. but I'm sure I'm closer to 20.  I went in several circles to ensure they were tight and then checked them again the following day just to make sure all were secure.

On Tuesday, I used the Permatex Thermostat and Water Pump RTV (Parts # 22071) to install the back cover on the water pump and to seal the water pump to the timing cover.  Again, I used the Permatex thread sealant on every bolt to be safe.  I used the gaskets which came with the water pump as they seemed to be of good quality and when covered with RTV it likely isn't crucial.  The bolts were torqued to about 20 ft/lbs. and I went in circles again checking them all to get them even.  

On Tuesday, I also installed the thermostat housing using the Mr. Gasket seal.  I'd sealed the thermostat to the housing using the Permatex 22071 on Sunday.  With that fully dry, I installed the housing without any RTV as it is expected to be installed dry.  The gasket is much thicker so I ended up finding a few 1.25" ARP bolts and cut them down slightly so they would fit perfectly.  While these holes are blind, I put thread sealant on them anyway as I'm so tired of leaks I'm putting it on everything.

On Wednesday, I installed the new Professional Products (#80006) harmonic damper and torqued it to 80 ft/lbs.  I then put on both the crank and water pump pulley using medium Loctite.  I reinstalled the coil, alternator and belt, ground wire to the block, the lower radiator hose, the bypass hose, and the heater hose.  I cleaned up everything and painted the parts which needed it so everything is starting coming together and looking much better.

After Wednesday, I didn't do much on the Mustang.  I'm getting a little tired of working on it daily but I'm getting close to finishing up this project.  It looks much better under the hood with all the clean and refinished engine parts.

While I did not do as much on Wednesday or Thursday, I returned all the EFI system parts those days after work since that project isn't going to happen.

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