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New member, fellow gear head, first ford.

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    New member, fellow gear head, first ford.

    Hello everyone, great place you got here!

    Well here's some background about me: been raised on hot rod's since I was born, helping my dad build his '40 Ford tudor sedan since I was like 5 years old. The 40 has a 305 from a Nova and is a lot of fun, we take it to car shows and Goodguy's Nationals in Indy and Wisconsin and Michigan as much as possible. I am through and through a Chevy guy, so don't flame me hahaha. But really, as long as it is a domestic, it's fine by me. (no dodges allowed)

    So my '81 Caprice is just not that safe anymore (rotted break lines, fuel line, etc.), so me and my dad decided it would be time to get another car to get me through the winter and from there on out. My good buddy had recently bought an 87 crown vic LTD from a guy he knew to use as his daily driver while his baby (87 buick GNX) sits for the winter.

    Within a few days, he had already ordered an Edelbrock Performer 4bbl and intake manifold. I helped him with this from start to finish, and it gained a lot of performance as a result.

    But... we did not know about the dreaded TV rod problems, as we thought it was just the kickdown and that the trans was vacuum modulated, so we left the TV rod unhooked. So the thing was shifting way late and way hard and was obviously not right. I didn't see him for a while, but he kept driving it and made his own TV rod bracket totally ghetto rigged. Then he unnecessarily gets the trans rebuilt and beefed up at a shop, but he installed it back in the car himself, so the TV rod was still set up incorrectly. Long story short he's sick of dealing with it, and sold it to me for $800 and buys himself another Regal instead hahah. Sweet !

    So now I have this thing to deal with, and while digging around on this site I find out alllll about this problem and that I basically need a Lokar bracket and cable set-up to get this thing corrected. We will be addressing that this weekend and hopefully I'll be all good to go after that.

    This car is really great, it was a building inspector's car in Vermont and is in great condition inside and out, and underneath with only 88,000 original miles. It is going to be a big upgrade in functionality, performance, and condition compared to my Caprice Classic, but a step back in style and class in my opinion :smirk:

    But seriously the more I think about it the more I know I am going to love this car, and am already getting mod fever. Needs back speakers, and after that probably some exhaust
    Attached Files
    '87 Vic LTD

    #2
    very cool! It looks solid from the picture.


    Is it a 351w? A few people on here have slapped on a Performer and 4 barrel on a 351 and ended up with a car that really rips, at least for the cost involved. What's the exhaust setup like?

    85 4 door 351 Civi Crown Victoria - Summer daily driver, sleeper in the making, and wildly inappropriate autocross machine
    160KMs 600cfm holley, shorty headers, 2.5" catted exhaust, 255/295 tires, cop shocks, cop swaybars, underdrive pulley, 2.73L gears.
    waiting for install: 3.27's, Poly bushings, boxed rear arms, 2500 stall converter, ported e7's, etc

    06 Mazda 3 hatch 2.3L 5AT (winter beater that cost more than my summer car)

    Comment


      #3
      Yup 351 windsor. and yea apparently he raced my buddy's Subaru WRX and thoroughly whooped him. Currently the exhaust is completely stock except for the removal of both cats.
      '87 Vic LTD

      Comment


        #4
        IMO, once you get the TV cable stuff done your next step should be headers and full exhaust. those tiny manifolds and 2 inch pipes are just waaay too small.

        85 4 door 351 Civi Crown Victoria - Summer daily driver, sleeper in the making, and wildly inappropriate autocross machine
        160KMs 600cfm holley, shorty headers, 2.5" catted exhaust, 255/295 tires, cop shocks, cop swaybars, underdrive pulley, 2.73L gears.
        waiting for install: 3.27's, Poly bushings, boxed rear arms, 2500 stall converter, ported e7's, etc

        06 Mazda 3 hatch 2.3L 5AT (winter beater that cost more than my summer car)

        Comment


          #5
          Yep, it's kind of amazing what a stock-ish 351 can do with just a Performer 2181 and a 1406 carb. Tubular exhaust manifolds help a bit too.

          I don't suppose the transmission shop also installed a Ford "High" or Transgo HIREV governor weight? You'll know that's the case if it shifts WOT at 5000rpm or higher.
          2012 Mazda5 Touring | Finally working on the LTD again!

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by johnunit View Post
            IMO, once you get the TV cable stuff done your next step should be headers and full exhaust. those tiny manifolds and 2 inch pipes are just waaay too small.
            That's the plan once I save up some more cash.
            '87 Vic LTD

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by 1987cp View Post
              Yep, it's kind of amazing what a stock-ish 351 can do with just a Performer 2181 and a 1406 carb. Tubular exhaust manifolds help a bit too.

              I don't suppose the transmission shop also installed a Ford "High" or Transgo HIREV governor weight? You'll know that's the case if it shifts WOT at 5000rpm or higher.
              I do not know the specifics, but they guy asked my friend what his plan was if he was going to keep it, or sell it and my friend was planning on keeping it at the time so the guy "beefed it up", which I assume would be a shift kit and/or other things like the governor you mention.

              I do have to get a tach soon as well, I cannot believe the stock gauges some cars come out with, just speedo, fuel level and the rest dummy lights. Luckily this one's got a nice set of gauges (oil pressure, water temp, volts, vacuum) installed in the dash already by a previous owner.
              '87 Vic LTD

              Comment


                #8
                Welcome! Good luck with it... You'll be bleeding Ford blue in no time! Some of those gauges might be stock police package fare...

                Remember to turn over the Caprice twice a year so it dosen't sieze.:smirk:

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by scottyB724 View Post
                  I do not know the specifics, but they guy asked my friend what his plan was if he was going to keep it, or sell it and my friend was planning on keeping it at the time so the guy "beefed it up", which I assume would be a shift kit and/or other things like the governor you mention.
                  If you know the people at the tranny shop, maybe you can get them to give you a rundown of what all they did to it? Might ease things if you find yourself posting at ClickClickRacing saying "why's my transmission do this or that?" I've currently got a quandry where a reused valvebody that someone else upgraded years ago suddenly behaves a little differently than it did in the "old" transmission, and upon being questioned, I realized that I'm really not sure what all is inside it. It's also good to know whether the modifications to your tranny were to the valvebody, etc. only or whether internals were also upgraded. Supposedly guys not uncommonly get into an AOD they thought was "race built" or whatever, only to find quite a few stock parts still inside that some builders consider to be relatively fragile.

                  I was excessively annoyed several years ago when a service shop completely and utterly ignored my request that they cause a high-RPM governor to be installed in a rebuilt transmission they were sourcing for me ....
                  Last edited by 1987cp; 12-08-2011, 11:10 AM.
                  2012 Mazda5 Touring | Finally working on the LTD again!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by ford man View Post
                    Some of those gauges might be stock police package fare...
                    I suppose it's possible but they don't look like it to me, I will get some pictures up. I wish this thing had the police interceptor package, it does have a rear sway bar though so that's cool.
                    '87 Vic LTD

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by 1987cp View Post
                      If you know the people at the tranny shop, maybe you can get them to give you a rundown of what all they did to it? Might ease things if you find yourself posting at ClickClickRacing saying "why's my transmission do this or that?" I've currently got a quandry where a reused valvebody that someone else upgraded years ago suddenly behaves a little differently than it did in the "old" transmission, and upon being questioned, I realized that I'm really not sure what all is inside it. It's also good to know whether the modifications to your tranny were to the valvebody, etc. only or whether internals were also upgraded. Supposedly guys not uncommonly get into an AOD they thought was "race built" or whatever, only to find quite a few stock parts still inside that some builders consider to be relatively fragile.

                      I was excessively annoyed several years ago when a service shop completely and utterly ignored my request that they cause a high-RPM governor to be installed in a rebuilt transmission they were sourcing for me ....
                      Yeah I definitely want to know the specifics so I can rest easy, and for future reference. I'm going to have to bug my buddy about it haha
                      '87 Vic LTD

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by scottyB724 View Post
                        I suppose it's possible but they don't look like it to me, I will get some pictures up. I wish this thing had the police interceptor package, it does have a rear sway bar though so that's cool.
                        rear sway bar + 351 + no vinyl top means it almost certainly IS a police package.

                        85 4 door 351 Civi Crown Victoria - Summer daily driver, sleeper in the making, and wildly inappropriate autocross machine
                        160KMs 600cfm holley, shorty headers, 2.5" catted exhaust, 255/295 tires, cop shocks, cop swaybars, underdrive pulley, 2.73L gears.
                        waiting for install: 3.27's, Poly bushings, boxed rear arms, 2500 stall converter, ported e7's, etc

                        06 Mazda 3 hatch 2.3L 5AT (winter beater that cost more than my summer car)

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Interesting.. maybe they were wrong after all. What else would it have if it was a PI? Can I verify with the VIN ?
                          '87 Vic LTD

                          Comment


                            #14
                            +2. Does it have the certified calibration 140mph police speedometer?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Well I'll be damned! There it is, certified calibration 140 speedo. And the Sun Pro set of gauges, for good measure.
                              Attached Files
                              '87 Vic LTD

                              Comment

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