Winter Beater 1986 LTD Crown Victoria

[Greywolf]

Hi everyone!
I'm looking at this car for the winter (and a while longer, because it's IMMACULATE underneath!):

https://maine.craigslist.org/cto/d/1...747541000.html

Any Crown Vic / Panther enthusiasts about? Any advice about these things? It's pretty much my F150 with 4 doors, more seats, and maybe eve double-digit fuel mileage.

Any parts that interchange? I've got Fox and SN95 pieces kicking around.

Thanks!

[Haystack]

I drove an 88 wagon for about a year. Think of it as a comfortable truck. They can still tow 5k with a decent hitch.

Guy I sold it to cut the roof off the rear and put f-150 springs in and used it as a dump truck.

[Greywolf]

It might replace the F150, if it goes well and the hitch attaching area is as nice as the rest of it.
Started up (needed a little boost, but it's been garaged since January and only gone 122 miles since it was registered last in June of 2016) and drove to the inspection station. Soggy brakes, stuck wipers, one working speaker...it'll take longer to buff up the paint!

[webestang]

My Vic is an 96 so it's got the 4.6. Been a great all year daily for me so far.

If you need any advice on anything Crown Vic here is the site I joined. Just like this site, great bunch of guys with tons of info.

https://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/...s.php?ubb=cfrm

[87gtVIC]

Id highly suggest visiting http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/forum.php for the older panthers.


I have an 87 CV. Great car. A lot can interchange between the fox and your 86.

You can go crazy and do some cool things as well....just a bit of my car below:

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post796813

[webestang]

Id highly suggest visiting http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/forum.php for the older panthers.


I have an 87 CV. Great car. A lot can interchange between the fox and your 86.

You can go crazy and do some cool things as well....just a bit of my car below:

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post796813

That is one sweet Vic!!!!!

[Haystack]

I agree. I really wanted a toodoor crown Vic forever. Its hard to find them with the fulie v-8. Seems whenever there is one cheap, I don't have the money, and when I have the money, there isn't one for sale.

Id love nothing more then one of those with a regular old h.o. swap and a t-5.

[Walking-Tall]

My youngest brother had a gorgeous '81 Crown Vic, burgundy outside and in, 2 door. FWIW, the '81 Marquis Brougham I used to own was the most comfortable riding vehicle I have ever owned.

[Greywolf]

You guys got some nice Crown Vics!
This one has 76000 miles, and as you can see is the poop brown inside and out. It's like a time capsule from, say, 1992. Not new, but not used hard. A little too much sun fade, cracked plastic. A few quibbles (power locks don't work, wipers got stuck on the first swipe, soggy brakes, that sort of thing) but nothing a good afternoon and a few tubs of buffing compound won't fix.
It's a 4-door and I don't have exciting plans for it, unless that trailer hitch is exciting. The most important thing it's doing is freeing up money from selling my Mini, so I can get more done on the Z7. Buying the LTD was cheaper than insurance and registration on the Mini for another year (2013 Mini with full insurance, so I'll have about 3500-4000 to put into Z7 and house projects now and call it $750/year cheaper between insurance, registration, and other stuff).
Of course, gas and maintenance will take out of that but if I'm needing $750/year to fix the LTD I'll be pretty shocked, especially since I have the Ford tools and a pile of Fox, SN95 and '87 F150 parts. F150 is the same engine (but C6/4WD instead of AOD).

[Mentok]

My brothers first car was one of these back in 97. Got it for $100 because my dad worked at Rowe Ford. They took it in trade, but wouldn't put it on the lot because it was covered in pine sap. Had about 70k on it. He beat and abused that thing every chance he got! It would not die! It was hit 3 times,and he only replaced a marker light and the rear bumper. Just kept pocketing the insurance money. That car getting hit bought him a dirtbike lol. He worked in a tire bay so he just did brakestands like daily with take-off tires. An 89 vic with the police package came through the wholesale lot for $300 so he parked it. My dad drove it for another year till the starter died and we scrapped it because we needed the space. It had almost 200k on it. Lots of great memories in that sofa with a 5.0. I'd love to find a nice one myself. Actually kinda jealous I missed this one in my neck of the woods to boot.

[Greywolf]

Mentok, I only caught it because it was sitting on the side of the road in Lewiston with a "For Sale" sign. Even then I almost passed because the sign said $1800...but I was at a light, and traffic was nuts, so I just pulled over and figured I'd give it a look while I waited for the idiot drivers to pass.
Saw the 1800 was crossed out in pen and a smaller number underneath...so I called and made an offer.
Turns out the PO liked his old cars; he passed away and his daughter sold off some so the family could keep the really nice ones (I can't blame her--I'd pick the '68 T-Bird and the '66 Newport over the '86 LTD too!).

Cost me all of $14 to pass inspection, even with the soggy brakes (they're getting better with use, caliper sliders are sticky with rust).
Going to replace all the front brake parts; maybe the rears (parking brake works perfectly so I'm guessing they're okay; just going to look over the shoes and drums) and probably the rubber lines. The metal lines look good at first glance.
The suspension is saggy and that's going to get a little attention too, it's mostly 30-year-old bushings and I think the shocks and springs are factory.

[Greywolf]

Ordered up a heap of brake and suspension parts. Decided to go with police calipers and pads, but otherwise Moog/KYB stock-level parts.
Also a dash cover and floor mats (though I thought of using my new-in-the-bag 35th Anniversary Mustang ones...nah, I should sell those, as that car is no more). I have heaps of speakers and radios so I'll upgrade those without buying anything else (most of my spare radios are already adapted to 80's Ford harnesses, as a legacy of almost 30 years of Ford ownership).

Sadly, the VECI label on the door is completely illegible. Anyone know where the buck tags on there were attached? When I get home from the ship (around Christmas) I'll be looking under the passenger's seat for the build sheet. Is this car worth a Marti Report? Of course it is. Especially because I'm curious if it came with a locking rear--it handles like it, it feels like it, but I'm not posi(tive). It's certainly got an eclectic selection of options.

Last question for today: What are the bang-for-the-buck 5.0 upgrades for a non-HO '86 SD-EFI motor? I'm less interested in the HO/MAF upgrade as that requires tracking down an ECU and other goodies, but if I'm in the engine bay for maintenance I can do a few easy things for longevity, ease-of-work and maybe a few horses or mpgs. Any serious work takes time away from the Zephyr, and after I finish the suspension/brakes on the LTD that will be my next major endeavor.

[87gtVIC]

Slap a HO upper intake on it with a bored out (63mm max) spacer and fox throttle body. You NEED a stock style egr spacer for your throttle cable bracket to mount to. Lightning egr spacer will do as well. You will also likely have to swap the throttle body lever to your fox type throttle body. 86's did not use a TV bushing so you dont have to worry about grenading your tranny. 86 style throttle body lever needs to stay with your car in order for everything to hook back up properly.

[87gtVIC]

You can also play around with the timing.

My 87 I ran at 14 degrees BTDC. It was very happy there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM1zMQgbXQ0




This was just the stock engine with HO upper bored spacer and an explorer tb. I think the 3.73's were installed already as well......Was a lot of fun on the old set up.