My 1987 Two Door Crown Victoria AKA THE BROWN BLOB

[tjc78]

Orange = Fail.

[packman]

Depends on the color of the car. I will be painting whate4ver engine I put into Putter Project Orange because it goes better with brown than any other color except black. Bright blue engine in a brown car; okay maybe. But to each his own.

[Brown_Muscle]

Looks good Dave...I must be the oddball here, I don't mind orange, and I LOVE burnt orange...

[87gtVIC]

Thanks. I enjoy burnt orange myself.

Only the block and the water pump will be blue. Heads will be polished aluminum. Timing cover, upper and lower intake will be engine aluminum painted. Valve cover are wrinkle black. Spark plug wire holders I have will be engine aluminum painted (they are the ones already installed on the engine that run along the valve covers). EGR space is low gloss black and throttle body is engine aluminum painted. A bunch of neato colors...

[gadget73]

Oldsmobile gold engine paint in a brown car = win.

[Bobcat]

Oldsmobile gold engine paint in a brown car = win.

I've got some gold engine paint laying around....

[packman]

oldsmobile gold engine paint in a brown car = win.

yes!!!!!

[87gtVIC]

Beat the snot out of the car today on my ride. Its nice knowing a new engine is one the way..makes you more courageous in pushing the limits of the old one. Multiple pulls up to 100+ mph resulting in tach readings close to and above 5grand. The 3.73's don't help keeping the rpms down but they sure do help get her up to speed quickly. Not sure how happy the engine is when it revs that high. Sounds like the valves are floating but whatever. lol Finished the ride off with a couple nice brake stands. I love a smoke show.

Gonna prep the timing cover for paint this week. Updates to come.

[packman]

I was going to do that with the 5.0L in the CV, but I will just take it easy until the day I pull that engine. It may live again in the Ranger as my 4.0L is getting the crap kicked out of it with commuting. The bearing knock is louder than the 5.0L in the CV. LOL

Packman

[87gtVIC]

Went out this morning for a nice drive. TO get out of the back yard I have to wiggle the car around a lot and today the steering was really knocking clunking ever so slightly from left to right at idle. Once on the road though all is well and you rarely feel the knock in the steering.

The knock is like a loose point in the steering. I thought it was the u joint in the steering shaft so after the drive I took out the shaft and much to my surprise it was tight tight tight. Well damn.

While it was out though I strengthened up my modified coupler to the PI box by welding the washers to the coupler that attach through the rag joint to ensure I was not getting any play from that. I also cut a piece of metal off of the heat shield that may have been interfering with the steering shaft. I took some pics of the before so others can see how I cobbled together the newer coupler/input shaft to the stock box shaft.

Next drive out I will see if I fixed anything or I have to dig further and into other items.

Here are the pics of the modified steering shaft:

For anyone following this I have seemed to fix the minor clunk/knock the steering had when ever so slightly rocking the wheel back and forth. It must have been in the modified rag joint because after my last once over of it where I trimmed some of the heat shield and tacking the washer onto the lower shaft all is nice and solid. Happy to have found the issue. Amazing how one can feel some slight metal to metal contact through a rubber rag joint all the way up the steering column and into the steering wheel!

[sly]

[87gtVIC]

Another parts order placed.

• efi engine lift plate
• 3 core police radiator
• proper upper hose
• lower hose
• smog delete belt
• new engine mounts...just to paint them as I already have new ones installed
• felpro tranny pan gasket

Planning on painting the timing cover tomorrow morning. Prepped it for paint yesterday.

[87gtVIC]

Timing cover painted

ON your mark: Prepped



Ready: Primed



Set: Based



Go: Cleared



And the finish:



1st place!





Color is rustoleum aluminum engine enamel.

[packman]

Funny, I got this DuPont Chrome spray paint that I used on the Ranger throttle body and power sterring pump. It takes some heat to get that stuff to harden onto the surface. So I figured I would put some clear over the spray chrome for the accessory brackets on the CV. It turned it into a gray silver. I was bummed at first, but then I realized that it matched the intake that way; and the chrome woulda clashed. LOL

Point is, your clear coating remained silver-like without the gray. Good job

[87gtVIC]

Received my three core rad and other bits the past day.




Note that the 3 core has 3inch tanks...All of the brackets I pulled from the yard years ago don't fit (no idea what I pulled them from but one seems to be about 2.5" and the other 3.5"). Any idea what car I need to pull the 3 inch tanks hold downs from?