My 1987 Two Door Crown Victoria AKA THE BROWN BLOB

[grandwagon]

i like the mustang wheels better!!! just me!!! the HPPs do look good to!!!

[packman]

I like the Mustang wheels too, but if you were to take the HPP's and paint them black or better yet, the body color............


Packman

[Piece-it pete]

Super nice, it just keeps getting better and better!

Pete

[gadget73]

yeah, I kinda have to agree with grandwagon. The Mustang wheels look more right on that.

[87gtVIC]

Boo you. lol

I clayed them last weekend and they came out much better. I also purchased flash brown royal wheel cleaner. We shall see how that does.

In other new I have beat up elbow and pretty much everything. Pulled all four rear control arms. Hardest two were the lowers on the axle. Easiest two were the lowers on the frame. Everything but the easy ones needed lots of heat to come out. Took me 5hrs to take all 8 bolts out.

Just before I called it quits for the night I decided to burn out the bushings in the upper control arms. The first one I heated up and pushed it out. The next one shot out. Luckily it shot downwards or that thing would have went flying. A VERY loud POP sound it made when it ejected itself from its home since '87.

Tomorrow I will prep the uppers for paint and paint them. then burn out the lowers and paint them, then burn out the two bushings on the axle.

Also discovered I have a leaky axle bearing.

[gadget73]

pull the axle and look at it closely. Leaky seal could be a warning that the axle or bearing is worn and soon to become a problem.

[87gtVIC]

yep that is the plan.

[87gtVIC]

Completed the job today.

Hardest bushings to burn out were the ones on the axle.


Some notes.

Sway bar bolt 15mm, nut 18mm

Lower shock nut 18mm

All nuts holding the control arms on were 21mm

All 6 point bolts holding the control arms were 18mm

two torx bolts above the differential were t60.

To remove the upper control arm from the body I had to remove a couple of holds down for the brake line leading to the rear.

I had to drop the passengers side exhaust to remove a bolt holding the lower control arm to the body.

[87gtVIC]

Rotated an exhaust clamp that was knocking the frame, and installed an Green 194 led and a proper twist socket into my autometer tachometer. I had an issue with faulty readings with illumination on. Hopefully it will be resolved with this led. Should put out no heat to screw with the readings.

[87gtVIC]

Well I feel that the upgrade to poly was worth it. Definitely more solid back there. Feel it over bumps etc. Turns feel for solid now as well.

I have some rear sping isolators on the way and the after that I may install the new fuel pump or finally getting around to the big brake swap. I should actually order my caster camber and toe set beforehand.....And I still need to find some fuel proof rubber to make my new pump fit the stock rubber.


/One last note about burning bushings. IT MAKES AN FUCKING MESS AND YOUR DAD WILL DISOWN YOU IF YOU GET HIS SHIT DIRTY.

[sly]

yes... burning them out was an easy way to do it, but I think if I ever do that again... I'm gonna press them things out. I have a bushing removal tool (c-clamp thing like the ball joint tool) and can modify the setup with the proper fitting deep socket and just force the old rubber out the hard way with a breakover bar.

[Piece-it pete]

...

/One last note about burning bushings. IT MAKES AN FUCKING MESS AND YOUR DAD WILL DISOWN YOU IF YOU GET HIS SHIT DIRTY.

ROTFLMAO!

Pete

[packman]

Awesome with the poly bushing swap! THey make a difference. I ended up drilling the rubber bushings. Still made a mess though. Went through quite a few drill bits as well. The bushings on the axle I drilled and then pressed out with a C-clamp and a small piece of piping. I got pics of it somewhere on here. Hopefully your seals and bearings are in good shape. Though, changing them isn't that bad.


Packman

[gadget73]

The problem with pressing them out is you're left with no way to actually install the poly bushings. They do not come with an outer shell. The other trouble is that you tend to smash the arm if you try and push them out without proper bracing. A few pieces of angle iron in the right size fixes that but without it the arm will distort severely.

[gadget73]

The problem with pressing them out is you're left with no way to actually install the poly bushings. They do not come with an outer shell. The other trouble is that you tend to smash the arm if you try and push them out without proper bracing. A few pieces of angle iron in the right size fixes that but without it the arm will distort severely.