Project Bahama Panther

[Bahama_Panther]

My 1988 Crown Victoria LX 4 dr has been a long time obsesion project that most people i know say I'm crazy for it.

Drivetrain:
1972 LTD 351W .030 over
* Edelbrock 2182 Perf Plus Cam
* D3UE 302 Heads
- plained 52CC chambers
- ported and polished
- three angel valve job with 1.94/1.60 valves
- screw in rocker studs
- pushrod guide plates
- Roller Rocker Arms
* Cloyes Tru Roller Timing Chain Set
* Edelbrock Performer 600 CFM carburetor
* Edelbrock Streetmaster 351W Intake Manifold
* 14" x 4" round K&N air filter
* BBK 351W swap Shorty Headers
* HEI Distributor
* Nylon Flex-a-lite Fan
* Lokar AOD kickdown cable and throttle cable
* Mickey Tompson aluminum finned valve covers (love the vintage look)
~ Planning to get a Edelbrock Performer RPM intake in the future

Stock AOD transmition
* Stock stall convertor
~ when i have the money im going to get a 2200rpm stall and a shift kit

2.25" Dual Exhaust
* H - pipe
* Purple Hornies glasspacks
~ different exhaust when i decide what i want and have the money

Stock driveshaft
~ looking into possible upgrades

Rear axle
* Stock 1984 Towncar Signature 3L55 axle swap
- 3.55 gears
- Factory Ford limited slip posi unit

Suspension
* PI springs
* PI 1" rear sway bar and 1 1/16" front sway bar


Shown with Holly carb (couldnt get it to run right)






Body work / mods

* Carved up the shock hood and made it have 3" cowl
* Shaved antenna
* Shaved rear door handles
* Removed stock side mirrors and put Mustang II mirrors on (further forward)
* Slicktop Conversion
* Under the hood is already painted Bahama Green (hence the project name)
* PI 140MPH Speedo
* Tach mounted in dash where clock was
~ Planning to paint the car Bahama Green and maybe 2 tone with black or gunmetal
~ Planning to redo the deck lid (remove ford oval and redesign the liscense plate spot
~ Going to build a lip style spoiler
~ Working on design for custom tail lights
~ Working on design for custom grill (and possably headlights/beseals)
~ Wanting to get sideskirts











A few Sketches of what I'd like it to look like:







Let me know what you think and any ideas you have for I'm sure there is some good ones I havn't thought of yet.

[p71towny]

I'm stealing your hood design, also, that tach is the mother fucking win!!!

[Bahama_Panther]

Hope you all enjoy.

[Bahama_Panther]

I'm stealing your hood design, also, that tach is the mother fucking win!!!

Guess ill take that as a complement.
If things go well this summer im hopeing to cast a mold and reproduce the hood in fiberglass.
I acurally found that tach in an old ford truck at a local junk yard and knew right away what i wanted to do with it.

[79lincolnlover]

I like sketches 2 & 3 the most. What colour is the interior?

[Bahama_Panther]

I like sketches 2 & 3 the most. What colour is the interior?

Thank you. the first sketch is very old from before i did any body work 2 & 3 are newer and more what im aiming for.

the interior is brown (ill try to get interior pics up when i can)
im wanting to redo the interior in black or dark grey and maybe pull the green in too

[87gtVIC]

Very nice work. It is great to see new fresh faces that have already taken a deep liking to the panthers.

Your speedometer is SUPER clean. What did you use if anything? The lettering tends to get chalky and smear....

[Nathan in MI]

Finally, a tachometer installation that looks like it was meant to be in the car! I love it!

Very nice work with the rest of the car, as well. I'm interested to see how this turns out.

[MrMarquis]

Damn dude, that's pretty bad ass. The taillights remind me of the newer Vic's, very nice touch. And the paint would look pretty slick too.

What do you mean sideskirts exactly, I'm curious; not to mention what you're gonna do with the grille and bezels.

Did you hand draw those pictures or trace a photo of the car. They're very well done. I'd love to do a rendering of what I want my car to look like, but I can't draw that well...

[91grandmarquis]

That is going to look good when done in that color. A They still make M/T valve covers? I was told they didn't anymore, but Ive got a set on the satellite's 383 from back in the day when my dad built the engine. That's pretty cool and I bet it moves.

[Brandon]

Cool man! I love that tach!

[1990LTD]

Cool man! I love that tach!

Me too. I love funky old gauges like that...I gotta install mine soon..haha

[johnunit]

That hood is weird, but pretty damn cool.

The tach is brilliant. Any idea if it's still being made?



Also, do you have any dyno or 1/4 numbers? That sounds like a setup that must scoot.

[Bahama_Panther]

Very nice work. It is great to see new fresh faces that have already taken a deep liking to the panthers.

Your speedometer is SUPER clean. What did you use if anything? The lettering tends to get chalky and smear....

thank you.
i took it apart used canned air to blow it out then wiped it with a dry microfiber cloth.

Finally, a tachometer installation that looks like it was meant to be in the car! I love it!

Very nice work with the rest of the car, as well. I'm interested to see how this turns out.

thank you.
id like to see how it turns out as well but its going to be a while money is tight and time is limited

Damn dude, that's pretty bad ass. The taillights remind me of the newer Vic's, very nice touch. And the paint would look pretty slick too.

What do you mean sideskirts exactly, I'm curious; not to mention what you're gonna do with the grille and bezels.

Did you hand draw those pictures or trace a photo of the car. They're very well done. I'd love to do a rendering of what I want my car to look like, but I can't draw that well...

thank you.
i ment fender skirts sorrk about that but one of the exhaust options il looking into is the chrome side pipes with mufflers built in (thats kinda like side skirts lol)
the 1st pic is all hand drawn by me the other twi i used photo shop to break it into lines then print trace and made multi copies of the lines to try different designs.

That is going to look good when done in that color. A They still make M/T valve covers? I was told they didn't anymore, but Ive got a set on the satellite's 383 from back in the day when my dad built the engine. That's pretty cool and I bet it moves.

thank you.
no they dont M/T valve covers anymore they are ventage got them for about $40 on ebay ive seen them go for around 100-150 on a regular basis tho. im going to have to strip them and repaint them sometime alond with repainting the engine (made the mistake of using cheep raddlecan ford blue and its peeling bad.

Cool man! I love that tach!

Thank you.
it makes me smile when i get in and turn it on

Me too. I love funky old gauges like that...I gotta install mine soon..haha

thank you.
it was one of my best junkyard finds imo. install with taste

That hood is weird, but pretty damn cool.

The tach is brilliant. Any idea if it's still being made?

Also, do you have any dyno or 1/4 numbers? That sounds like a setup that must scoot.

thank you.
i love my hood its nice to have a costum / one of a kind and its functional unlike most (ricers and such)
i love my tach too. dought they still make anything that isnt round anymore but search ebay and the likes maybe youll get lucky.
no no numbers yet but ive smoked a 45th anny V6 mustang and a 5.0 foxbody 5 speed mustang. im wanting to wait till i get a better exhaust upgrade the hei with timing curve kit, adjustible vacume advance, and maybe (not sure yet) mds module with adjustible rev limiter and msd coil. change the intake manifold and tune the carb better im burning too rich. but as it is it scoots very well. if i want true 1/4 times id have to go to another state think they closed the one that was close by in neb.


Forgot to mention that im wanting to change the front door handles to something more sleek i dont want them sticking out from the door. in the end i want to have a nice smooth sleek look (i know its a box but at least i want it as sleek as i can)

[insomniac391]

wow nice work, I cant wait to see some numbers!