Engine...

[trwp72]

Well, I have decided to go ahead and put a new engine in my 91... I WAS going to put new lifters, (I have one that takes a few seconds to pump up, and the others are statrting to make noise... ) valve guide seals, (Smokes a little when you idle it for a while) and oil pump in it, just in case... I have heard about oil pumps just sort of letting go... Since the oil pressure and compression was near normal I wasn't going to put the engine in it... But it would be my luck, a month after doing the work, I would either seize or spin a bearing or something... (Like half way to Chicago this summer!) Besides, I am making alot of overtime at work, which just the overtime will pay for the new engine... So since I will have the money, I figure now is a good time to get it done... and it will be good for another 18 years!

I am buying the engine through my old Advance store... My old manager is giving me a discount, and is not going to charge me for the core charge... since they will be delivering the engine to the shop, and picking up the core from the shop. So total price is about $1600.00...


Also, when my mechanic pulls the engine, he will give me some time to detail the engine compartment, and I will also be able to paint all of the brackets on the engine, and the intake plenum... I just ordered some different under hood detail paints and coatings from Eastwood products... Detail grey for the exhaust manifolds, black for the brackets... and some special paint for the radiator...

So the underhood will look good for this years carshow in Chicago....


Before, during and after photos will be taken!

Tom....

[Spaz]

are you going to convert to 5.0HO- it would look exactly the same as the lopo especially if you swap the plaque on top of the upper intake plenum

[mrltd]

Wow, that's more than I paid for my GT40 crate motor, complete from oil pan to intake...(but still a decent deal)

Pics will be cool. I'd like to see how well all the eastwood stuff works.

[87gtVIC]

Nice. Always good to play it safe.

[trwp72]

The car is NOT going to be a hot rod..... It will be the same engine that came with it originally.... No H.O....

[grandpaslincoln]

I don't really see the point in replacing the engine if it still runs good and has good oil pressure, but whatever...

[trwp72]

Because I have the money to do it right now... And with almost 200,000 miles on it, why not? We have had three different people in our Policecar club that has either seized or spun bearings this year.... I have a habit of being "proactive" instead of being "reactive" on my cars... (Fix it before it breaks!) I also like to be able to jump in my car and go on a long trip with out worrying.... Also, I can detail the engine compartment, which I wouldn't be able to do without pulling the engine... So I am taking care of two things at once... Remember, I show this car at carshows.... This year at Chicagoland, I want to be able to show it with the hood open... Last year it just wasn't good enough... (After seeing the underhood of some of the other cars!)

[Pirate]

Because I have the money to do it right now... And with almost 200,000 miles on it, why not? We have had three different people in our Policecar club that has either seized or spun bearings this year.... I have a habit of being "proactive" instead of being "reactive" on my cars... (Fix it before it breaks!) I also like to be able to jump in my car and go on a long trip with out worrying.... Also, I can detail the engine compartment, which I wouldn't be able to do without pulling the engine... So I am taking care of two things at once... Remember, I show this car at carshows.... This year at Chicagoland, I want to be able to show it with the hood open... Last year it just wasn't good enough... (After seeing the underhood of some of the other cars!)

Here's the problem: Your avatar saying, "Ford Police Motorsports", implies some sort of sport.

I really don't know what the hubbub with putting an actual H.O. engine is here. You get forged pistons in the deal....which don't break skirts off, and go into 'piston slap' mode the first time you do an oil change to it. So far as 'drivability' goes, a Exploder cam is better than a Lopo unit.....so what's the problem, again?

[70torino429]

Here's the problem: Your avatar saying, "Ford Police Motorsports", implies some sort of sport.

I really don't know what the hubbub with putting an actual H.O. engine is here. You get forged pistons in the deal....which don't break skirts off, and go into 'piston slap' mode the first time you do an oil change to it. So far as 'drivability' goes, a Exploder cam is better than a Lopo unit.....so what's the problem, again?

yeah, i agree with this. since i assume that your trying to make the underhood look 100% stock, the option of dropping in an HO with the lopo intake would be a good one. it wont look any different. do what you please though, its your car.

i myself dont trust engines past a certain point. and if its nearing 200k miles, its days are numbered.

[Pirate]

One other note about cop cars in general: I've owned one official police car. I know other people (here) who've owned P7- series cars....and there's one overriding theme that almost everyone appreciates about these cars: Cop cars were all some sort of 'pursuit special'; the 'high-performance' version of the crown victoria.

To be honest with you, this car appears to be more of the 'rolling museum artifact' type of static display, and to hear outright whining about 'keeping it stock', to the point where the stocker's problems are being continued....well, it's a little sickening.

To each their own....but I don't think one person in a million is going to lose months of sleep if your car has a stronger-mechanically hi-po engine in it.

It's a really nice car....but I honestly think you have the 'cop-car' thing/idea/mantra/mode-of-thought all wrong here. The p-series of interceptors have 'Pursuit' slathered all over them, but you are insisting, kicking and screaming, that your car shout out 'shade-tree' instead.

Good luck, sir.

[gadget73]

Another bonus for the HO firing order: the engines last longer. I'm not sure the mechanics of it, but with the revised firing order, it doesn't seem to take out the main bearings like the non-HO firing order does. My 229k mile HO motor is perfectly silent.

Its your car, and your option to do as you please but if you want to take the really proactive route, I'd go with the forged piston engine that won't eat bearings over a stock replacement. The fact that you get some more kick in the pants is just a bonus. They're still not truly fast by any stretch of the imagination but they are a whole lot more drivable.

[trwp72]

GEEEZZZZ... Who's fricken car is it? The car has lasted to almost 200,000 miles so far, stock... with the first 5 years being beat on pretty bad, it was assigned a rookie. the next 4 years as a Fire Chief's car, that WAS NOT taken care of as well as it should have...

The p-series of interceptors have 'Pursuit' slathered all over them

It does not say "Pursuit" slathered all over it... those are the newer cars....

If you want a hotrod, fine... I am going stock... if you have a problem with that whatever.... I DO NOT tell you about how you should install what you are wanting to put on your cars....


Thanks for your support!

[Pirate]

GEEEZZZZ... Who's fricken car is it? The car has lasted to almost 200,000 miles so far, stock... with the first 5 years being beat on pretty bad, it was assigned a rookie. the next 4 years as a Fire Chief's car, that WAS NOT taken care of as well as it should have...

It does not say "Pursuit" slathered all over it... those are the newer cars....

If you want a hotrod, fine... I am going stock... if you have a problem with that whatever.... I DO NOT tell you about how you should install what you are wanting to put on your cars....


Thanks for your support!

Sigh. I didn't say anything about making it a 'hotrod'....and most police officers I knew didn't 'grandma' their cars around.

I say you're scared of anything faster than stock. However, I'm not going to harass you about it, as it's a really nice car, never mind a forklift would beat it in a drag race.

[trwp72]

When I was younger, I had police cars that would out run anything around... One in particular was clocked by Texas DPS at 158 one night, and I still had a ways to go to the floor... (1977 Gran Fury 440) It and another car that one of our other officers owned bought them from DPS... they were built special for the DPS... they were unmarked felony warrants cars... The next day the left front tire blew out.... Since the tires of the day were only rated to 120 mph. So don't tell me about going fast... I restored this car to be a daily driver, and to show at car shows... So no, I really don't care about it going fast... If I want to drive something fast, I will drive my 5.0. H.O. "baby" 84 LTD....

And by the way, what do YOU have to drive?

[1987cp]

Larry the Pickle? Last I heard, he has .. uh ... a nonrunning Thunderturd and a DisAstroVan.


Neato story about your old Plymouth, BTW.