LTDMan's '87 Ford LTD Crown Victoria LX (The Blue Beast) *DUW*

[packman]

Nice!!! Your parts car looks like it has fresh sway bar end links. If the end links on the Blue Beast aren't new, perhaps you can swap them as well.


Packman

[LTDMan83]

Thanks. I ran those ES Bushings & Endlinks for about 2 years before retiring the car, and they have quite abit of miles on them. I always just buy new ones and replace them anytime I have a sway bar off, since Energy Suspension has them readily available for only $7 a piece.

[LTDMan83]

Forgot to mention before, that the only rust hole in the entire floor, which was next to the Body Plug in the PS front floorpan, was Mig Welded shut, and ground smooth prior to laying down the Por15.

I am gonna try and keep this project going steadily forward from this point, anytime I get the time/money to work on it. I at least wanna be done with the Interior Resto, and have the full Interior installed before this December. Time is in short supply for me right now, and I am also buying a 2008 kawasaki ninja 250 sport bike next month, so that is gonna cut into the my Box Fund money. Which sucks, but I have been wanting a sport bike since I was about 16, so this is 10yrs in the making for me, and I am pretty excited about it.

[packman]

Nice....with the bike thing! If I had the balls to get a bike in NJ, I would find myself an early '70s Harley and build it up a little.



Packman

[LTDMan83]

Yea, I hear ya. I love Harleys, and would definitely love to have one someday. I just have always had a thing for sport bikes. I need to fulfill my need for speed right now, and a bike is the cheapest way for me to do that. Maybe someday I will have $15K to throw into the drivetrain of my BB, and make it into a true sleeper, it just isn't gonna happen right now though, other things are more important to me currently. That's OK though because I like teh Blue Beastie for what it is (weak drivetrain and all), but still not as much as I love my Merc. I would sell The BB once completed if someone wanted to buy it, whereas my "Big Red" Merc is my Baby and will be staying with me for the rest of my life.

[marquisman]

the pld man has a 02' 250 ninjas, hes had a few of em. i remeber riding on the fist one he had new years ago, it was an 87' i think. the 02' is fast for a 250cc

[Tiggie]

Glad progress is continuing on teh beast! Maybe by the time you finish it, I'll be in the market to buy a nice box. Only this time I'd be driving it from NC to VA instead of hauling it from VA to NC .

[LTDMan83]

Glad progress is continuing on teh beast! Maybe by the time you finish it, I'll be in the market to buy a nice box. Only this time I'd be driving it from NC to VA instead of hauling it from VA to NC .

Glad to hear from you again Ben, I'd been wondering what had happened to you. Once the beast is completed there is nobody else I would want see it go to more than it's former owner, so I'm sure we could work something out when the time comes.

[LTDMan83]

I have finally decided on the route I'm going with the sound deadening in this car. Since this is gonna be a budget build, and I don't wanna spend $500+ to deaden the interior on this car, I've decided to go with FatMat instead of dynamat. Since there supposedly isn't much difference between the two. I can get a 100sq ft roll for $130 shipped, and I should need about 150sq ft to do all the metal in the interior. I'm gonna install at least one if not two layers of FatMat on all the Interior sheet metal, and then am gonna add jute padding on top of that, under the carpet and headliner. It should be a much quieter ride than how it came from the factory.

Another interesting note that I found out recently, is that most Custom & Restoration shops lay down there Butyl/Asphalt based sound deadening mats directly on top of Bare Metal and even Rusty Floor Pans. Claiming that the mats create a moisture tight barrier for the rusty metal already, so it isn't necessary to de-rust and seal them up beforehand. I'm still glad that I took the time to de-rust and seal up mine with Por15 though, as it should make the Floor Pans and Sound Deadening last much longer.

[Grand Marquis GT]

http://www.secondskinaudio.com/

Check it out!

[LTDMan83]

I was actually considering SSA's products last year, I even posted a link to their site much earlier in this thread, but I'm not willing to spend that much, and if I was I might as well just get dynamat. Fat Mat will work just as well, for not even half the price. I have read quite a few reviews on the internet with people who have used both products in their builds, and they all say that you cannot tell a difference between the vehicles that where deadened with FatMat vs Dynamat. Dynamat is basically just a good way to throw your money away, and at the same time have the illusion that your doing something more for your car than what you would be with a cheaper product. I was also considering using a asphalt based roof flashing like Quick Roof as a sound deadener, which would serve the exact same purpose, but I don't like or want the smell that comes with them, so I'm gonna go with Butyl based mats. The factory mats in these cars are Tar/Asphalt, and I can still smell their odor in the interior at times, even 22yrs after they were installed.

[1987cp]

Asphalt based flashing? Would that just be similar to really thick tarpaper?

[LTDMan83]

Not really. Tar paper is a thick heavy paper stock that is impregnated with tar. A roof flashing is a thick layer of rubberized asphalt, which has waterproof polymer films, and a reflective aluminum foil sheet attached to it. I doubt Tar Paper would have the same deadening qualities as a Roof Flashing does.