1982 Ford LTD-S 351W Police Car

[87gtVIC]

Awesome.

[Brown_Muscle]

Removed and modified the Lentech valve body to change my WOT shift points. It's their base street cruiser one. Using a baughman shift kit I found a few things they should have done on even a base one... upgraded TV spring, opening one hole for OD, opening a hole for better 4th to 3rd downshifts... shimmed the valve for WOT...

WOW. Transmission is so much better. Revs a little higher in each gear relative to pedal position, so it stays in the power band in light/medium throttle a lot better. Car feels so much peppier and less burdened. Shifts are smoother all around. It doesn’t struggle to get out of higher gear when i come to a stop (it would make clunking sounds and the RPM would drop trying to go from second to first). New shift point 1->2 is 5700rpm 2->3 5000 rpm, much better, pulls strong, nice flat torque curve.

[gadget73]

the AOD ain't that bad, but the shift scheduling does tend to suck hairy moose balls. Get a valve body that works right and its a whole different machine.

[87gtVIC]

Nice that you got some things sorted out.

[mitymerc]

It takes gonads to mix & match different brand shift kit components.

Good yob mang!

[Quincy]

Brown_Muscle, I've been reading to get up to date on your progress, since I haven't been on this site much in the last several months. How is everything presently? I bet it will blow the tires away! Sure looks good, I like your fan setup - I think now I'll just toss the bolt-on fan right away and run something like your setup. I need the extra air flow for the A/C anyhow.

Love those 351 finned valve covers (is that what you ended up with?). I considered those too, but seeing as mine's not really a "looker" like yours, I'm going with the "off-the-wall" stock marine approach (I'd LOVE to find some Holman-Moody aluminum valve covers, though). The inside joke is I'm certified in marine engines. I'll probably have to fab up some V/C spacers to clear the roller rockers, but I won't know until I get the heads reassembled.

[Brown_Muscle]

Thanks guys- it helps that I've done 3 shift kits now.

Quincy- Everything is good! Running well overall, good power, traction issues (the good kind ) no leaks on the driveway! Oh and I got 20MPG going 75 with the A/C on my last 350 mile highway trip. Only thing I hate is the quirks of a carb (doesnt like the heat, occasional hard starts, less consistent fueling compared to EFI), that will be fixed soon..

I ended up using some other valve covers you can see on the previous page (maybe thats what you meant?), with spacers. I needed a "medium" height valve cover, which they don't seem to make. The finned tall covers were too tall, they hit the plastic firewall box on the drivers side, and wouldnt fit with the A/C compressor on the passenger side. I had to take away some compressor material even with this setup to make it fit...

Next thing to do is make the wiring look neat..it's a disaster right now.

[Quincy]

Thanks guys- it helps that I've done 3 shift kits now.

Quincy- Everything is good! Running well overall, good power, traction issues (the good kind ) no leaks on the driveway! Oh and I got 20MPG going 75 with the A/C on my last 350 mile highway trip. Only thing I hate is the quirks of a carb (doesnt like the heat, occasional hard starts, less consistent fueling compared to EFI), that will be fixed soon..

I ended up using some other valve covers you can see on the previous page (maybe thats what you meant?), with spacers. I needed a "medium" height valve cover, which they don't seem to make. The finned tall covers were too tall, they hit the plastic firewall box on the drivers side, and wouldnt fit with the A/C compressor on the passenger side. I had to take away some compressor material even with this setup to make it fit...

Next thing to do is make the wiring look neat..it's a disaster right now.

I exclusively run AFB/AVS (Carter/Edelbrock/Weber etc.) carbs on my non-EFI vehicles (and an occasional BBD 2 barrel ) and I SWEAR BY these for heat dissuasion - they have worked better than just about anything else, and they're simple and unobtrusive. Mr. Gasket #97:

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Mr-Gasket-97-Carburetor-Insulator-Plate-Holley-AFB-Carbs-1-4-Inch,61743.html?sku=55097&utm_medium=CSEGoogle&utm_source=CSE&utm_campaign=CSEGOOGLE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhav11qP98gIVIRvnCh3o8QlHEAQYAyABEgI8GvD_BwE

[Quincy]

I ended up using some other valve covers you can see on the previous page (maybe thats what you meant?), with spacers.

It's the "351 POWERED" covers I really like. Did you have to ditch those, or is that what you ended up with?

[Brown_Muscle]

Sorry for the delay Quincy- those are the ones i'm currently using, with 1/2" spacers

I found a minty early box in EZ pull a few weeks ago. It had VERY nice tail lights...however i couldn't get the trunk open in time and had to leave. Luckily my buddy John went back and snagged them a couple weeks later. Cleaned them up...one lens was cracked so i switched it with my existing (I'm sure you can tell which one that is..) . They look amazing...almost NOS. The chrome on my originals was just about gone in a few areas.

[87gtVIC]

Those came out so nice. Every now and then you can still score some good parts at the junkyard.

[Tiggie]

That taillight design should have remained an option on the 83-87 models. They look so much better.

[87gtVIC]

Sorry for the delay Quincy- those are the ones i'm currently using, with 1/2" spacers

I found a minty early box in EZ pull a few weeks ago. It had VERY nice tail lights...however i couldn't get the trunk open in time and had to leave. Luckily my buddy John went back and snagged them a couple weeks later. Cleaned them up...one lens was cracked so i switched it with my existing (I'm sure you can tell which one that is..) . They look amazing...almost NOS. The chrome on my originals was just about gone in a few areas.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57130[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]57131[/ATTACH]

Howd the rest of the body look. Two door or four door?

That taillight design should have remained an option on the 83-87 models. They look so much better.

YES!

[Brown_Muscle]

I agree as well.

Body was Okay, its a 4 door, trunk lids now taken.



It has the early door lock buttons inside the door grab handles

[87gtVIC]

Damn derby guys still robbing the front bumpers. Howd the rear one look?