so far so good

[87ltdjohn]

i just got back from a long road trip, about 5oo miles, my 87 cv ran like a charm, i ran around 80-85 most of the time, got an average 24 mpg on the interstate, i was impressed..the lame 2.73 gears did well on the interstate, i had a hard time keeping it under 80..ill post some pics tommorow, since all the snow is gone here in southwest ia..

[Nathan in MI]

These cars are great highway warriors, that's for sure. I just did a little over 700 miles with my '89 on Sunday. I wasn't getting anything like 24 mpg, but it ran with nary a complaint all day long. It may not look good, it may not have comfortable seats, and it may be noisy, but gosh darn it, it'll get you where you want to go!

Looking forward to seeing the pictures!

[87ltdjohn]

the only thing i noticed that will need fixed is the exhausts, its starting to leak around the muffler, ill probably take it all off tommorow and just run it with the 4 cats on, from what i hear, its not terribly loud, the tail pipe is about to fall off anyway...

[Nathan in MI]

I can't speak for the cars with four cats, since both of mine only have two (and the ones on the Vic are gutted now hehe), but I can tell you that when I was running with just two cats, it was pretty loud. I wouldn't have wanted to listen to it for hours at a time. Also, you stand a better chance of getting exhaust fumes in the car with everything exiting right underneath your feet. If you need to run with just the cats for awhile to save a little dough, that's fine, but I'd definitely recommend getting a complete system back on it as soon as possible. Just my

[LTDMan83]

I too find it hard to keep mine under 80 on the interstate. It doesn't start to truly float until around 75ish.

[87ltdjohn]

the shocks on mine arent terrible yet, sometime this summer ill get around to changing them, ill go to some exhaust shops tommorow and get some estimates, of coarse im getting duals put on, with a h pipe..

[gadget73]

Mine is comfy at 75-85 normally. Oddly it does better on fuel at 75 than 65, which I do not claim to understand. I've done ~800 at a shot twice now, and its definitely not a bad ride. When I first got the car, I did a 370 mile trip with the original motor and dead front end parts. I can say without a doubt its far far nicer of a drive now with the suspension rebuilt than when I first got it. The seats have also been replaced with nicer ones since then.


As far as pulling the exhaust, its tolerable for short runs but if you plan to do 500 miles without it, you're going to regret that choice long before you get there. One of the things I'm very glad about with my car is the fairly quiet exhaust, at least inside. Loud cars are fun but they get really annoying when you've been listening to that sound for a few hours.

[gabegt90]

yeah there's nothing better then sitting back and setting the cruise mine's comfy at 65-75

[88Vic]

I haven't taken any trips with mine so I haven't used cruise yet. It's nice at about 65 tho and the rpm are pretty low so on a trip that's where i'd keep it. My exhaust drones at about 75, but I like that sound and i've driven hearing it drone for 20 minutes before and didn't get tired of it.

[P72Ford]

... it may not have comfortable seats, and it may be noisy, but gosh darn it, it'll get you where you want to go!

How bad could those seats really be? You never miss an opportunity to bring up how comfortable they are. I am sorry that your car didn't come equipped with the good seats like the ones I had in my '88. Now those were very comfortable, as are the '04 seats I have in mine now.

I have a clean velour split bench (and rear seat) out of my car that was always comfortable. Don't suppose shipping would be too cheap for that, eh?

I've never logged more than 600 continuous miles in my car; but those 600 miles were comfortable.

I find that the gears hold my car back on hilly terrain on the hghway. I have to keep it at 80 or higher; then I can roll up and down hills all day long without kicking down into 3rd. It goes up hills with ease when the engine is actually turning. You know, 1700-1800 RPM at 80 makes for a nice cruise, and so does 2000+ RPM at 100.

Now that I have the 4bbl though, I have improved low and mid range torque; I can go up and down hills at 70 w/o dropping into 3rd. Tis much nicer.

[Nathan in MI]

How bad could those seats really be? You never miss an opportunity to bring up how comfortable they are. I am sorry that your car didn't come equipped with the good seats like the ones I had in my '88. Now those were very comfortable, as are the '04 seats I have in mine now.

Try logging over 11,000 miles in those seats, 12.5-13 hours (~730 miles) at a time and you'll know why I complain. :p

I think when I dispose of the Lincoln I'll just harvest the seats out of that and throw 'em in the Ford.

[P72Ford]

Try logging over 11,000 miles in those seats, 12.5-13 hours (~730 miles) at a time and you'll know why I complain. :p

Well, most people would fix the problem then, wouldn't they? :p

[Nathan in MI]

Got a suggestion? :p

[P72Ford]

Yeah... I do...

Either change the seats out (which is what I would do), or, grow some fattitude on your bony ass...

[Nathan in MI]

From whence cometh these new seats that I am supposed to put in?