My 1985 Town Car Sig.

[Piece-it pete]

Ahhhh.... relief.

Now I can beat my beater 89 TC with a hammer and pretend it's the dealer lol. No walking away from this one - I'm almost out of the big cheese. Besides, this one is clean and nice.

A 1985 Sig TC, 34,000 showing (certainly 134), one teenie teenie speck of rust. Very well cared for, very clean underside and clean interior ('cept for the drivers door armrest and glovebox door of course).

I'm uncertain if I really like the color. I do prefer the dark blue, but pics don't exactly do this paint justice, it is very metallic. Dark blue leather interior.

I've got the 89 as a donor for parts.

Issues:

Suspension (tomorrow!) - spring advice needed (see below)

Passenger mirror missing glass, drivers temp gauge dead.

Dash needs dyed (but it ain't cracked!)

Drivers window dead, pass rear window dead.

Locks almost completely dead.

Drivers outside door handle broken (tomorrow!)

Headliner sagging.

Radio inoperable.

Interesting tidbit: The vin decoder at LincolnsOnLine in their Tech section says this car is - drum roll please - CARBURATED. I don't know, I saw the round air cleaner housing and assumed it was CFI, I'll check tonight.

I thought it seemed even slower than normal lol.

But, nice and straight :twothumbsup: . And the paint is unusual in my experience anyway.

A couple of questions:

A big one: I see Moog cargo coils are listed as the same part # for lincs/mercs/fords. Is there a Police coil I should request, or how far up will the SW coils lift it (don't want too much of a lift ).

I understand it's pretty darn hard to change the outside mirrors, any input?

If the windows are doing nothing, no motor spinning, no thunking etc, is it probably the motor? How difficult is that?

Any idea why none of the locks are working? I get a very quiet attempt from one of the back doors, that's it.

Is the headliner removal straightforward?

How do you remove the front seat headrests?

I'm sure to have forgotten something, but that's it for now. I will certainly update on the carburation thing.

And, whoo hoo!!

Pete

[87gtVIC]

Nice car!
I can help with the mirrors and the headrests,

You say the mirror is just missing as in the glass correct? You can just get a new glass mirror from a JY. Just take a screw driver and pop it off...assuming they are power...Make sure you have the little cross looking thing when you pop it off so everything can go back together correctly when you put it on the car..Once you actually see the parts I am talking about it will make sense.

The headrests...Remove the back access panel for the seats. You will see a black brace in front of you. Take a flat headed screw driver behind the brace and feel for an angles piece of metal. Pry that away while pulling up on the headrest at it should come out.

[Nathan in MI]

Ahhhh.... relief.

Now I can beat my beater 89 TC with a hammer and pretend it's the dealer lol. No walking away from this one - I'm almost out of the big cheese. Besides, this one is clean and nice.

A 1985 Sig TC, 34,000 showing (certainly 134), one teenie teenie speck of rust. Very well cared for, very clean underside and clean interior ('cept for the drivers door armrest and glovebox door of course).

Sounds nice! Glad you found a good one.

I've got the 89 as a donor for parts.

If you're feeling ambitious, the '89 would be a good parts donor for putting the multiport fuel injection on this '85. There are a couple of threads around here explaining how to do that.

Interesting tidbit: The vin decoder at LincolnsOnLine in their Tech section says this car is - drum roll please - CARBURATED. I don't know, I saw the round air cleaner housing and assumed it was CFI, I'll check tonight.

I thought it seemed even slower than normal lol.

You were right in your assumption - it's CFI, unless you got a Canadian model by some chance, but that's unlikely. Ford's CFI system was basically junk, though occasionally you'll find one that runs really well for no good reason whatsoever. That's rare, though, so your chances for that aren't real good. At the risk of being bludgeoned to death with Nerf bats by other members, GM's throttle body injection system worked an awful lot better. Like I mentioned before, swapping yours to multiport EFI (preferably with HO parts) would be a wise move.

A big one: I see Moog cargo coils are listed as the same part # for lincs/mercs/fords. Is there a Police coil I should request, or how far up will the SW coils lift it (don't want too much of a lift ).

Lincolns react differently to spring changes than Crown Vics and Grand Marquis do, presumably because of the differences in weight. Hopefully Scott (lincolnmania) and/or Thain (gadget73) will chime in here with their experiences. I believe both of them ended up going with stock replacement springs, combined with big brakes in front, poly suspension bushings, and police swaybars, which they claim actually works quite well.

If the windows are doing nothing, no motor spinning, no thunking etc, is it probably the motor? How difficult is that?

More than likely, yes. If you take the door panel off and whack the motor with a hammer, it may start working, but not in a way that I would trust. Replacement motors are available.

Any idea why none of the locks are working? I get a very quiet attempt from one of the back doors, that's it.

Are you able to lock the doors manually? If not, then the actuators have rusted up and can't move. If you can, they're probably still dead. Again, replacements are available; I'll let others recommend which ones to use/which ones to avoid.

And, whoo hoo!!

[marquisman]

that is a PIMP blue linc and i like it! lol to help with your window issue, it might be the window switch. if you play with the power window switch with the door open, the interior lights should dim as you operate the switch. can you operate the pass side window with the pass side window switch?

[Piece-it pete]

You guys don't play

Thanks for the glass tip 87gt, that's a nice time saver. Does the access panel on the back of the seat just pop off?

Multiport, I wasn't going to do anything that ambitious, but if I'm scrapping the car anyway I'll pull the parts for future use, great idea!

I did a little digging re: the springs and it looks like plain old non cargos are the way to go, I'm still open to sugggestions though. Big brakes and bushings will have to wait for the moment, 1st I need to get this car in tight running trim (I'm hoping to take it from Cleveland to Augusta in June). I do want the suggestions though!

Whack it with a hammer, I like it! And marquisman, I'll fiddle with all the switches tonight.

I also need some accessories:

[87gtVIC]

ahh yes, I forgot that part. Well if you ever taken off a door panel, the access panel behind the seats come off in the same manner. A door panel removal tool would work well, but in times of crisis you can make do with a fork with a couple of prongs cut out of the middle. And once the panel is removed just slid the flat head screw driver behind the black support brace in your way and slid it up till you are stopped by something, then just twist the handle this will move the piece of metal holding the headrest post in place allowing you to pull it up and remove it. I still have a hard time doing it but that is the way to do it.

[Piece-it pete]

Perfect explanation!

One nice part of the 89 is the adjustable headrests, thought I'd try them on the 85.

Pete

[marquisman]

hey! thats my hat! lol

[Piece-it pete]

Shocks and cargo coils in! (couldn't find the regulars stocked locally, even Summit didn't have them).

Nice difference! Now mechanically it just needs a tuneup (it seems to have the slightest miss), pitman and idler arm, decent tires, and on to the interior stuff.

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

I forgot to mention, it has the CFI, must be one of those weird # things.

The top will need replaced sometime fairly soon, got a price of $650!!

And it doesn't include the strap that runs across the middle from side to side, he said 'they don't come out well'. And mine isn't in too good condition, but the strap on the 89 I have is - but it's dark blue.

Anyone have their top done? Any input appreciated. And what's everyone think about this car with a dark blue top?

Pete

[marquisman]

a dark blue top would look good IMO. they are right about the strap. im in the process of redoing the one for GMGT and its a pain since its been hot pressed glues on to the frame. i dont even want to recover mine so, i will be painting it.

[87gtVIC]

What is this strap?

[marquisman]

the chrome with matching vinyl center strap that runs across the roof that houses the coach lamps. to get the roof done for $650 is a good deal, esp. if its a good job cause, just dropping the headliner to unbolt the strap is a job in its self.

[87gtVIC]

So this must be a Town Car and Grand Marquis thing only?

[Piece-it pete]

That chrome piece between your front and rear side windows on your vic, that I see on your signature picture, on the TC it's a 3 or 4 layer thingie with roof-matching vinyl in it. I can see why it would be hard, it looks machine-made.

Yikes, so $650 is a good deal I've got a little saved, only $648.23 left to go lol. Will painting fill in the cracks, or is there even a way to do that?

Agreed I don't think dk blue would look bad, and it's a dark blue interior (which is cleaning up beautifully). But when I explained the strap issue and asked my better half if she thought dk blue would look good, my SO says, it would look good in white, do it in white. I says, I don't have a white strap. She says, why'd you ask me then!

Half day today, so I'll fix the drivers outside door handle (that'll be nice)(understatement) and perhaps the drivers mirror while I wait for delivery of the idler and pitman, which should roll in this afternoon, thank you Rock Auto. NOT looking forward to the pitman, if it's anything like the one on my old 97 Grand Marq, oof!

Pete