My new 1988 T/A

[DynoDave]

Took the car out to dinner on Woodward tonight. A beautiful evening, so we took the t-tops out for the first time this season.



After dinner at Nicky D's diner, I walked to the lot next door to say hello to a fellow I met on Woodward a year or so back. He has a baby blue Lincoln 4-dr. convertible...you can just make out the open reverse hinged hood and windshield to the left of the Nicky D's sign post, and behind the wall. When I got back to the car, I had a new neighbor...a Bright Red Formula! He caught up to me in cruising traffic later, and we exchanged pleasantries.



On our way home, we passed this black Formula on Woodward. Along with a smattering of Camaros, a strong showing for 3rd gens. on Woodward tonight. Actually, the cruising action was pretty heavy by 9pm. Probably the busiest night I've seen short of the build-up to the Dream Cruise. And all sorts of things, not just late models. Hot rod coupes, classic muscle, '50s machines, big cruisers like the Lincloln and a couple of '60-ish Cadillacs...rat rods, early Mustangs, Chevy-IIs, etc. etc. I even saw an Edsel! A lots of late model muscle, a trio of exotics (Lambos I think), etc. A few tuners, Subies, lots of Vettes. Pretty crazy.

[MP81]

"Nicky D's"...you mean Athens?

Athens_Coney_Island.jpg

I was pissed when the new ownership decided to change the name which had been there for so long...

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRHxRwGdV0zcwIiG1fbYUT9dwLr0tShvJqUAINFxyEPquMkt2D5XA.jpg

Looks like a beautiful night though - glad to see it stopped raining for once. I'm hoping that holds true when we get back tomorrow for a while...

[DynoDave]

Yes, Athens. Sort of like Pine Knob I guess.

[farmington]

Finally a decent weekend. Enjoy.

[MP81]

Yes, Athens. Sort of like Pine Knob I guess.

For the most part - it's not the same as what I grew up with, so I can't say the last time I've been there. Would be down to give it a try again and see - there literally may have not been anything wrong with it, I just don't live in RO anymore and it's been years.

Looked like another nice night out there this weekend, but having ridden home from Kentucky to Charlotte (MI) then drove home from there and unpacked, I am wiped.

[DynoDave]

Bored and with the sun shining, we drove back down Saturday. And it was (sadly) far more typical of what I usually see. A few hot-dogs in late model cars (one clown in a flat blue BMW who was determined to get me to race him, which I didn't fall for), totally empty at Ducati, Shell, and even the Mobil. A few diehards here and there, and a few on the road, but really very, very quiet.

So is this normal? Is Friday night the BIG night, and Saturdays are much more quiet?

[farmington]

Friday nights have traditionally been the better of the two

[MP81]

Yep - Friday is almost always my preferred night.

[DynoDave]

I wish someone would have told me that c1989! LOL

The old gal still looks good, but could be a lot better. Slow as a turtle, I've spent several years thinking about doing some paint correction, what machine, what product, etc. I assembled the chemicals, and recently bought an HF polisher. I looked at others, but could not find a significant difference between the Maguires, Porter, etc.



But there are things to watch for. HF has two part numbers for these, and one is a better unit than the other. More details in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_70qlcFWodw

[DynoDave]

And back together she goes. It was all dry when I opened it, and probably doesn't "need" grease, but I gave it a coating anyway. There were 4 machined pads in the ring gear housing that might make contact with the back of the ring gear, so now their lubed.



Teeth of the pinion packed.



Motor gear housing packed with grease. I left some room for expansion.



Ring gear and key dropped into place.


Ring gear and housing dropped back into place. No grease oozing out, so I think I got the volume right.



Housing for the orbital mechanism is next.



Orbital mechanism threaded on...



...and tightened.



Decal covering the orbital mechanism locking tool access hole back in place.



Cover back on...job done. It doesn't turn it into a Flex machine, but it is smoother and quieter.

[DynoDave]

Griot's backing plate arrived today, along with some microfiber and pad cleaner. Immediately chucked the plate it in the machine, and it's as true and smooth as it could be.

I most whole-heartedly agree with the advice from YouTube...if you buy and HF orbital polisher, open the box, grab the included backing plate, and throw it right in the garbage. The difference is so dramatic...I wish I could post video of them.

[MP81]

What was the overall cost with the new parts? How much time did you invest in it?

Amazon had this for $112 last December and I jumped on the deal, since it was the exact Porter Cable buffer I've had on my saved list for years now, and the same one my buddy used to 3-stage my Cobalt back in probably 2009:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[DynoDave]

I caught it on sale...I want to say it was $55. The new backing plate from Griots was $20. Pads I spent about $80, but that's for six pads, as I wanted 2 of each. So if you call it $40 for pads, you're at $115. Then you have to buy some chemicals to match that kit. I probably saved a few bucks over this kit, but I'm not knocking it. That's a good deal on a good machine IMO.

[DynoDave]

MIFB Dyno Day! I set the low bar (as expected). 170 factory rating at the crank, 140 was my optimistic estimate, I would not have been shocked by anything in the 130s. Came out at 144.

[MP81]

Easily the cleanest underhood I've seen in a 3rd gen in a lonnng time - and no matter the "low" power, it sounded good, because V8!