• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

Kyle242GT's 1959 5.044

The 544 suspension might as well have 1 upper arm, but technically, it's two:

2000020.jpg


Obviously, your's isn't stock.

My PV is a rusty POS, but through some minor miracle (engine/trans/diff oil leaking and splattering over the decades?) that rear suspension area is strong. Or at least... as strong as it needs to be.
 
Yeah, that's what I've got. I think of the upper mount as one, but obviously (now, anyway, haha) that it has to be two separate links to allow for articulation. POS Miata back in one piece, just have to button up some minor items and then I'll get the 5.044 on the rack.
 
Was it the upper arm or one of the lower arms that broke loose?

I replaced all the rubber on my rear suspension a few years ago, and I seem to recall thinking that the body mounts for those lower control arms weren't really all that beefy. Just being used to looking under 122/1800/140/240 cars, where they mount to chunky brackets welded onto chunky subframes.

Obviously, the PV's were tough enough backintheday, winning rally races and stuff, getting bashed/thrashed/yomped.
 
Lower mount, which is why I was kind of surprised. I figured my jamoke-designed upper mount cobbling and 300# of tq would cause the upper to fail. Shows what I know.
 
The plot thickens! The brackets are only welded on one side, and apparently the QC guy didn't catch the fact that this one was poorly welded. Combo of MIG and TIG to get penetration and decent looking welds. The steel is so old and grimy that it was bubbling up these little pyrotechnic-snake looking blobs. :bleh: Welded the opposite side a bit as well. Should be good until something else breaks!
 

Attachments

  • fd6uRUu.jpg
    fd6uRUu.jpg
    68 KB · Views: 265
  • AiGtAbc.jpg
    AiGtAbc.jpg
    43.6 KB · Views: 264
  • ODozoR7.jpg
    ODozoR7.jpg
    74.9 KB · Views: 264
  • ZpBl50g.jpg
    ZpBl50g.jpg
    78.4 KB · Views: 264
Bro does a lot more driving than I do, and has a much higher threshold for annoyance at old cars' shenanigans. So he put on about 1K miles commuting in it. Then it spontaneously had zero oil pressure. Immediately shut off, over to my place. Cranked it to be sure there really was zero oil flowing, then pulled the distributor.

Found the oil pump drive twisted (it's supposed to be a straight hex all the way down!) and snapped. Kind of pretty in an "oh sh<z>it" sort of way.

Next step is to see if we can get the oil pan off without pulling the engine. If I hadn't welded the engine mounts to the crossmember and then to the frame rails, could maybe have dropped it. Sadly, not the case.

Will almost certainly be putting it up for sale when back in one piece. :ninja: No idea what I can get for it, but I think its mission (to teach me fab skills) has been accomplished, and now it's just taking up space.
 

Attachments

  • a5v2Kzb.jpg
    a5v2Kzb.jpg
    31.8 KB · Views: 189
  • fgsZCUI.jpg
    fgsZCUI.jpg
    35.3 KB · Views: 190
I got $500 (shipped of course) for the car, after you fix the oil pump drive.
 
Found the oil pump drive twisted (it's supposed to be a straight hex all the way down!) and snapped.
Are you running gear oil in there, or what? Holy cow.

Bro does a lot more driving than I do, and has a much higher threshold for annoyance at old cars' shenanigans.
Amen to that. I know in theory it's possible to build a toy to be a reliable as a new car, but I've seldom seen it done. Every time I've tried, I get thwarted by the replacement parts industry that's made-in-China-by-the-lowest-bidder. Stuff just doesn't last the way OEM did, that's all there is to it. I've bought parts from the dealer with only slightly better results. :roll:

I've been drooling on your fab skills for months, probably should have chimed in to say so. I well recall what a stock Mustang 5.0 feels like at 3000+ lbs, can only imagine what a mostly stock 5.0 feels like when hauling 2/3 of that weight. Could a person be allowed to have that much fun? :-P
 
The oil pump twist-n-fail is evidently not all that unusual.

Still haven't done the teardown... have been busy with typical summer stuff. But I suspect there's a wee little chunk-o-crud in there that locked the pump, and the drive is what failed first.

Thanks for the compliments on the fab techniques! Learning process for sure.

As far as DD reliable - I think this car really could get there easily enough. All the drivetrain electronics are full stock OEM Ford, so should be pretty bulletproof. It's just dealing with things like the wipers (iffy) heat (none) stereo (ditto) that make it kind of an... unusual choice for DD work.
 
Still haven't done the teardown...

Started today, finally... life gets in the way. Tried finagling the oil pan out with the engine bolted down, not a chance. Removed mount bolts, lifted as far as their was room, and :hahano: clearly an engine-out affair.

In hindsight, would have been smrat to not weld motor mounts to crossmember *and* framerails; then could have dropped crossmember easily. Oh well.

So, up next, engine comes out. Shocked to see I could *almost* get the engine removed from the trans in-situ; however, I think it's easiest to pull the whole stupid thing out in one piece.

Next shot at working on it is Wednesday. Luckily it's only going to be 100F. :wtf:
 
Pulled the engine out. Pleased that things went pretty smoothly; a good endorsement of the engineering of the pieces. Only oddball thing to remove was the driver's side header, due to interference with the brake master.
TOhidJSl.jpg


Pulled the pan.
QMjI05zl.jpg


Sure enough, there's the bottom end of the drive.
UiPWc6ll.jpg


Took the oil pump apart, found a little metal disc lodged in the pump. Yoszi suggested a spacer from the OEM oil pan gasket. No idea how it got into the pump.
THSwGsql.jpg


Deformed both pieces of the pump, so I have a replacement on order.
TsQQgL1l.jpg


This one is kinda cool, because you can see how the metal stretched from the force.
vPg6Sfil.jpg


Screen is intact all the way around.
2s6zWlXl.jpg


Also found this metal ring in the sump, which he thought might be a piece of a lifter. Other thought might be a piece of the driveshaft retainer.
ZPFPiQml.jpg
 
Back
Top