omgwizards

Looks like Ive found the issue... this is blocked up super hard.
 
Sorry its taken me so long to come back to the forum, ive been really sick.
 
So I have a question now, if I cant unstuck this fuel sender, is there are new age equivalent?
 
It did its job and ate all the rust and crap in the tank but sacrificed itself in such a noble way to protect engine.
 
 

Well, last Saturday was an epic day and has given me and my mate confidence and inspiration to push on harder than ever with the restoration of Granddad's old XC... 
 
After liberally lubricating each cylinder and leaving it for a week, we gently turned her over by hand. 
 
There were NO tight spots, weird sounds or unwanted friction at all and she turned beautifully... 
 
Battery was connected and carby was primed and after about 6 attempts, she briefly coughed and died... 
 
A few more attempts were made until, incredibly, the super fuel that was still in her tank (no, it HASN'T gone off at all) made it to the fuel pump and she ran long enough for me to get this very quick video. 
 
Pretty much a testament to the strength and engineering of the mighty crossflow engine... 
 
 

Yeah that's why I want to switch back to the original strommy, it's a 3.3 so a Weber isn't going to make it fast, just more shit to go wrong.  
I tried loctiting it in and I think I still had issues with the bushing falling out. The place selling them just confirmed its a press fit. From memory the hole might have been tapered and the bushing wasn't (also brass doesn't mould itself to the shape of the well to seal it as far as I know) so not sure how that's supposed to work in real life. Maybe I did something wrong before and I'll see when I take it apart.
 
Edit: They sent me these instructions so I guess it's a press fit, we'll see later.
 
My XD has aircon although not working at the moment, hopefully I can find the other half of the assembly.
 

I think you could Loctite the female part into the carburettor.
 
The Webers have a plastic thing in there and can cock up if not careful.
 
I had a few XDs in the past and never had any issues with the Strombergs, simplicity being the key.

I had some good luck with a cheap eBay special radiator, daily drove with it for a couple of years and it's still fine now even after sitting for a few more.
 
For the fuel issue - mine always had a problem pulling fuel from  a dry line, I guess it can't suck air through. The times I've had to start it after sitting for ages I've always had to pour some fuel into the soft line between the rail and pump to prime it first.

Just picked the radiator up from the shop.
 
He had a number of other higher priority stuff to do , so mine took a little longer to do.
 
Turns out that the radiator is the original unit, Denso style.  It was in pretty good condition and all he needed to do was clean it our (in a pickle bath) and sweat (solder) a few of the cores; one at the top outlet (a known problem with these radiators caused by thermo shock when the thermostat opes and closes) and the bottom outlet, and give it a new coat of paint.
 
Cost was $250 (normally $350, but as I've have a few radiators done with him and he enjoyed chatting about old fords, he gave me a discount!) .   He mentioned that a replacement radiator is going for around $800.  I didn't ask for the cost of a re-core, but would expect it to be between $250 to $800...
 
He recommended;
- put an 82 degree thermostat in it (as I will be running air con),
- use a 13lb cap, and
- use coolant at 20% concentration.
 

I just dropped the radiator out of the ZK at my radiator shop to have it checked out.  He's old school and one of the last guys in the region that can still do brazing work.
 
Initial look revealed that the core may need some work.
 
I'll report back with what he did and the cost next Wednesday.

yeah it's not unusual.. BUT.
 
@Nato of Falcons 
from that VISUAL,
you may find the radiator is fine, just reverse flush it, and see if you can see water flowing through the tubes (alloy radiators are cheap at least)..

what you will likely find, or find out soon. is the welsh plugs are on their way out.(there's one behind the inlet manifold also ON the manifold)and one behind the flywheel. 
and. the biggest risk in my opinion, is the water pump if it's got the steel fan type (genuine ford had a cast iron impeller that would last longer than the seal at least) anyway, the fan blades can rust away.  
AND, the other risk is rusted bolts in the block from the water pump. 


all good learning stuff. not fun for new players. 
but. the XF is THE BEST CAR FOR LEARNING.. 
one of the easiest things to work on this side of a gemini.
 

Stay positive, that looks dirty but I wouldn't throw out a working radiator because of that. I'd definitely give the whole system a flush and get new hoses though.

It sounds like you may need new fuel line and new coolant hoses, pretty normal maintenance things.

Another member on these forums got a fuel pump rebuild kit from Auto Surplus in Victoria, and they posted a pic of their cleaned and rebuilt fuel pump back in 2021. You may be heading in a similar direction if your pump isn't working perfectly.

Sent from my SM-F936B using Tapatalk

Not unusual, and not a huge problem

Huston... we have a problem... At this rate all the bolt ons and the radiator & Fuel pump are going to have to be scratched and new ones done.
 
I like learning and experiencing this engine but damn ive opened up a can of worms on this one fella's.

better the coolant issue now than cooking an engine later.

this is why i recommend changing all hoses on a "barn find" the cast alloy fittings in the manifold can go crusty is this what broke? i bypassed the manifold coolant flow on one of my cars for this reason, but also another car due to a welsh plug rusted out on the back side of one. 

sounds like the pump is weak, it could be full of crud. i'd be inclined to run the engine wherever the bottle works for a bit and see if fresh fuel cleans up that issue. 

Are you testing flow with positive pressure? Because the line flows using suction. Could the suction be collapsing the line somewhere?

Sent from my SM-F936B using Tapatalk

got to watch out for redbacks working on old cars, 
 
My cars have them from sitting a long time, definitely get the surface spray out if it was from the car.  and also a flea bomb type (i've had them in the air vents, in the wiper plenum, under the mudgaurds and bumpers (places you reach into to undo stuff)
tip for redbacks, the web is STRONG, if you are brushing a web with a screwdriver and the web seems strong, it's likely a redback so go to town with the spray ( 2 people i've met had been bitten by them working on cars, one needed the hospital) 

Sorry ive been sick (bit by a spider and it really rocked me hahha) ill be working on it this arvo and will def keep you posted to what happens.

Yeah def a good tip, I threw a few bug bombs in there a few weeks ago and they must have come back, got me on the leg and I tell you what, the itchiness was insane and yeah just had a bit of a nap haha all good just got real tired no life and death. Ill be on the lookout though a bit more now.

I did take the cap off thinking it was going to be something like this maybe but the same thing.
 
Thanks for all the help team, im going to be working on it in an hour or two and will keep you all updated!

if it had a rusty tank, it's could have plugged up the fuel lines with rust or rusted them also (metal lines)

there's also a hose join under the passenger side footwell/sill area where 2 steel hoses join with a rubber hose . if this hose is cracked it will suck AIR rather than fuel (easier) and therefore no fuel to the carby. 
 
check the hose join first the hoses are 40yrs old nearly if original. (stuffed) had many 10yrs ago with this issue. 

Au to fgx will be 99-16, so they are still at it.

They are the same from 72-99, xa-xh.

Well there you go. Ford really didn't like change back then.

RWC guys in Melbourne/Geelong love picking these kinds of things
 
better would be run a longer tube to behind the headlight (later XFs had this with a duct behind the battery for cold air intake ducting) 
 
 

I was just typing the same thing...
 
As Thom says, it won't do anything until the vacuum duct in the air horn is connected.  There's normally a hose with a vacuum delay valve from the vacuum duct to a bi-metal switch in the base of the air cleaner body.  A hose then goes from the bi-metal switch to the top port of the three port tee in the inlet manifold.
 
So, when the car starts cold, the vacuum duct is opened and draws warm air from the manifold.  As the car warms up, the duct closes and the car draws cold air.
 
It's normal state is open and draws cold air.

No exhaust flows through that tube it fits to the outside of the exhaust manifold, its just a heat riser to aid with warming up in cold climates, the on in that pic wouldn't work because the vacuum canister on top of the air cleaner that controls the flap to direct the warm air into the engine isn't hooked up

I cut the damned thing off and flare the intake end. It is only to get the engine up to temp quicker. I don't think it affects RWC but check with your RWC guy.