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Thread: 1986 LTD Wagon

  1. #26
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Just a follow up to the swaybar/lca/rear spring installation. Car sits more level and has a much tighter/firmer feel when driving. Shocks/struts/ front brake upgrade are under consideration for future mods. The car has inherited the ten hole wheels/ 215/65/15 tires from the Fairmont even though I really liked the original wheels, but they are 14" and wouldn't play nice with a brake upgrade.

  2. #27

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    Pics or it didn't happen
    Brad

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  3. #28
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Happy to oblige.

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    Last edited by gmatt; 05-20-2023 at 01:47 PM.

  4. #29
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Well, went out to the wagon today to go out with the wife. Got in the car and when I closed the driver's door, the glass shattered in a million pieces. Luckily, there is still an '85 LTD at the local junkyard going on 6 months. I've been getting parts off that car since spring. I grabbed both front door windows, but I'm gonna let a local glass shop do the install.

  5. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by gmatt View Post
    Well, went out to the wagon today to go out with the wife. Got in the car and when I closed the driver's door, the glass shattered in a million pieces. Luckily, there is still an '85 LTD at the local junkyard going on 6 months. I've been getting parts off that car since spring. I grabbed both front door windows, but I'm gonna let a local glass shop do the install.
    You are lucky! I wish I could find a parts car locally. I gotta check the yards again.

  6. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by nelzfoxes View Post
    You are lucky! I wish I could find a parts car locally. I gotta check the yards again.
    X2. I don't recall the last time I saw an LTD/Marquis in any junkyard.

    How do you like the ride with the sedan rear springs? I see RockAuto lists the Delco wagon springs in stock again. I need to replace my rear springs. The rear end sags quite a bit when we load it up for road trips.
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  7. #32
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    I like the ride. Kind of 'floaty' not harsh at all and very little roll in corners with the GT sway bars. It seems to have settled a little, but definitely better than before. I like driving this car better than my wife's Taurus, but it's not as much fun as the Fairmont.

  8. #33
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    I'm glad I left the window installation to the pro. I guess it's a pretty touchy procedure to remove the bracket from the glass, which has to be done to install the guide.

  9. #34

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    Drilling out rivets adjacent to glass is fun!

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    Brad

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  10. #35
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZephyrEFI View Post
    Drilling out rivets adjacent to glass is fun!

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    Ya, it's not something I've done before, so I would've hated to break the glass. It's a little hard to find anymore. I should've taken the rear door glass too, but I was pressed for time.

  11. #36
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    By the way, does anyone know if LTD and Fairmont/Zephyr door glass is interchangeable?

  12. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by gmatt View Post
    By the way, does anyone know if LTD and Fairmont/Zephyr door glass is interchangeable?
    Depends on whether both cars have wing windows or not. Also, early F/Zs sometimes had door mounted mirrors, rather than sail mounted. As for wagons, I believe all rear doors should be the same, and they are the same as F/Z and Granada/Cougar sedan doors. But LTD/Marquis sedan rear doors had a different shape.
    Brad

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  13. #38
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Replacing the water pump, radiator, heater core, fan clutch and some hoses. Glutton for punishment. But I must be living a charmed life because i didn't break a single bolt removing the WP.
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    Last edited by gmatt; 05-20-2023 at 01:47 PM.

  14. #39
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    I'm putting off the heater core for another(cooler) day, it's just too hot and humid. Got the radiator, wp and hoses done. Fan clutch is in transit , so I'll probably do that next weekend. Current battle I'm fighting is the upper trans coolant line fitting. Just unscrewed it from the old radiator and screwed it into the new radiator and it leaks like a sieve. It's got some plastic piece inside the fitting nut(oem) and seems to be leaking between the nut and the tube. May have to replace it with a flare.

  15. #40
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Just a heads up in case you're like me, lacking in complete knowledge of types of fittings. I purchased an inverted flare fitting which was marked NTPM and could not get the threads to seal no matter what I used. Teflon tape, pipe sealant nothing stopped the leak which was coming from the threads that go into the radiator. Turns out the 'M' in NTPM is for 'National pipe straight–mechanical', when I needed NTP which is tapered. I had no idea there where different types of pipe thread, I thought they were all tapered. Live and learn. And thank God for the internet. Interested in the different types of NTP fittings? Here ya go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_pipe_thread
    Last edited by gmatt; 07-06-2019 at 07:25 AM.

  16. #41

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    Manual swap would fix that.

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    Brad

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  17. #42
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZephyrEFI View Post
    Manual swap would fix that.

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    Yes, it would. Not with the 3.8 though.

  18. #43

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    Yours is nice and I could use another one...

  19. #44
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Had an exhaust leak where the air pump tube connects to the manifold. It rusted away. There was enough of a nipple on the manifold and enough tubing, so I just connected the two with a copper tube and crimped it. Quieted it down good. Also noticed the transmission cross member has rust issues, so I'll replace that. The front few inches of the floor pan where it meets the firewall has some rust too, so I need to address that too. Gotta love the midwest.

    Here's a pic of the new crossmember.
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    Last edited by gmatt; 05-20-2023 at 01:48 PM.

  20. #45
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    It's been my intention to upgrade the charging system on this car, so when I was at the junkyard last week (for some other stuff), I happened to spy a newish looking alternator under the hood of a 2000-ish V6 Mustang. So I grabbed it, knowing how much more difficult it is getting at the alternator in a Taurus. I realized after getting home that I had grabbed a 6G alternator. Thinking I had made some idiotic mistake, I took to the interwebs to find more info. Turns out this is actually a decent upgrade. Pretty straight forward install similar to the 3G. The one I grabbed is a 110 amp model as near as I can tell. Smaller than a 3G with reportedly better bearings, better cooling and a more compact, easier to install package. Got the wiring harness too, all for $35. Just waiting for my mega-fuse to arrive and I can install.
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    Last edited by gmatt; 12-02-2020 at 10:53 AM.

  21. #46
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    OK, well the alternator was a mistake. For the 3.8 anyway. The mounting ears are clocked differently. 12 and 6 versus 12 and 4. I'll just keep it for the next V8 swap.

    Bright side to this is that i separated the oem plug from the back of the alternator(on the car). Power lead was very corroded so I cleaned it and after reconnecting it I've got 14.5V at the battery. Don't know what the voltage was previously, but the plug was showing signs of melting due to the corrosion resistance.
    Last edited by gmatt; 10-19-2019 at 07:17 PM.

  22. #47
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gmatt View Post
    It's been my intention to upgrade the charging system on this car, so when I was at the junkyard last week (for some other stuff), I happened to spy a newish looking alternator under the hood of a 2000-ish V6 Mustang. So I grabbed it, knowing how much more difficult it is getting at the alternator in a Taurus. I realized after getting home that I had grabbed a 6G alternator. Thinking I had made some idiotic mistake, I took to the interwebs to find more info. Turns out this is actually a decent upgrade. Pretty straight forward install similar to the 3G. The one I grabbed is a 110 amp model as near as I can tell. Smaller than a 3G with reportedly better bearings, better cooling and a more compact, easier to install package. Got the wiring harness too, all for $35. Just waiting for my mega-fuse to arrive and I can install.
    How many ways are there to be wrong about something? LOL. Unless I'm wrong(again) this is actually a 4G not a 6G alternator. Still an upgrade over the original though.
    Last edited by gmatt; 12-02-2020 at 10:54 AM.

  23. #48

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    What about using Mustang 3.8 accessory brackets?
    Brad

    '79 Mercury Zephyr ES 5.0L GT40 EFI, T-5
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  24. #49
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZephyrEFI View Post
    What about using Mustang 3.8 accessory brackets?
    Might be worth looking into, but I'm not sure it would work with the other brackets. I should check.

  25. #50
    FEP Power Member gmatt's Avatar
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    These cars, being 30+ years old, you need to keep your eye on them. Started running rough at idle, would idle high when not in gear and sometimes die when put in gear(cold). I suspected a vacuum leak and took a look around under the hood. Rotted vacuum plug on the tree mounted to the fire wall. Fixed and she smoothed right out. Gotta like the easy ones. I've found and fixed at least 7 vacuum leaks on this car. Rotted rubber or brittle hard plastic lines. Sometimes hard to find because they're hidden in those corrugated loom protectors.
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    Last edited by gmatt; 12-02-2020 at 10:56 AM.

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