My 1985 Town Car Sig.

[87gtVIC]

I know you can jack up the font a couple of inches..and place a big pry bar underneath the tire and lift up...I forget if that check upper of lower though.

[Piece-it pete]

Ah so....

It also looks like I could put the car on stands and lift the LCA a bit with the jack, get the spring pressure off the ball joint. I dunno :drug:

Pete

[gadget73]

Welding the lower in is what you do in order to make it go for a while longer. Can't change the ball joint again once you do it really, but its fine as long as the weld is strong. Pick up another set of control arms and plan on replacing them in another 100k or so.

holy hell, 149k on a CFI car with the original chain? Most of them are bucking and hitching by the 90k mark. I know a guy who lunched a motor in an 84 Conti with just a little better than 100k on it when the chain jumped. Bent the valves on 2 or 3 cylinders when that happened. Sadly, you can easily do that on a motor with a double roller chain and steel gears. I pulled one out of my Mark at 225k and it wasn't honestly loose enough to require replacement. I changed it anyway because I had the cover off at that point but it was plenty good enough that I wouldn't have been concerned about it had I known.

[Piece-it pete]

100k? I think that'll work My neighbors' a weldmaster, it'll be strong. If he ever does it! :grr:

Hey, no looking gift horses in the mouth lol.

I have no idea if it's original but believe this car was babied its' whole life. The chains' been on my list since you mentioned it, but I was hoping to make it till spring. Perhaps a rethinking is in order. It feels almost like the tranny slips a little when cruising. If it's not a timing issue (which I'm just guessing on) I'd think converter.

I just pick up something like a dbl-roller silent 3 piece kit from Rock, right? Any suggestions, any reason to go 'premium'?

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Welded lower ball joint FTMFW!

I still have a slight wobble that I believe is the tire itself, but the car is back to stock sloppiness

Can't wait to take it on the freeway after work today, take it up to 80-85, I haven't had it past 62-63 in a while.

Pete

[gadget73]

I've never ordered a chain online. I go to the parts store and make them go to the shelf 3 or 4 times till they bring me a double roller. Without fail, the one they hand me at first is a single row chain.

[Piece-it pete]

It seems the general level of parts counter guys skill has lowered over the years. The guy I always asked for locally is gone

I still have some woobly even though the 'new' tightness is obvious, no more skittering/weaving around. I'm going to get a different set of rims and tires come spring, and it's still a possibility there's a bad shock in the back. But I think tires.

24 inch spinners? My friends kid has a nice set of 17" black real spokes with chrome hub and outside lip that should fit. Heck I dunno, I'm severely short green, and I have trouble picturing various rims on the car, it's gonna be hard. Maybe I'll find a set of Lincolns on CL.

Pete

[87gtVIC]

Try this out...

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?t=27946

[Piece-it pete]

Very cool, thanks!

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Picked up a set of 16" linc rims from a 96 Cartier yesterday ftw!

In pretty good shape too, not perfect but far from bad. Just the same, I think I'll strip, polish, and reclearcoat them while they're tireless.

Any advice? I'm thinking using the oven cleaner way I've read about online, with POR-15 Glisten as the finish. I don't suppose a pint will be enough.

Also the centercaps have minor scuffing too. Can I strip/polish them too, or will I damage the plastic?

And anyone have any experience with Cooper CS4 tires by any chance? I'm thinking of getting them, thin whitewall.

Pete

Not mine, but this style:

[87gtVIC]

I can't answer any of your questions but I sure do love the wheels you picked up.

[Piece-it pete]

Thanks! I hope they look good on the old box. I've seen them with the non-machined parts either a darker grey or painted, if I had more skill I'd try painting that part a color match light blue.

But I just ain't that good :darn:

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Went on a 3 hour trip, she ran fine. Although those bias rear tires still do some scary things, particularly on old but unbroken pavement. Can you say fishtail, at a modest 58 mph? Can't wait to ditch them.

However, upon return I stopped at a gas station and teh SO ran in. While I sat there idling, I noticed that the idle would slowly work faster, then drop back down to normal, over and over. Not bad but I could certainly tell. Any ideas?

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Got the tires and rims on. Ended up buying cheap blackwalls, oh well. Shoulda sold the SO and used the green for whitewalls lol.

WOW! Cruised right up to 80 before the speedo went haywire, I'm sure I topped out over 90-95 before backing off. Smooth as silk. Setting the cruise at my usual 73 mph it felt more like 50

The rims are much brighter than the spoked hubcaps. Jury's still out in my mind. I'll have pics hopefully this weekend.

The spoked hubcaps WERE making a lot of noise, gone now. And for the second time I'm pretty happy with Conrads here. I had an exhaust break behind the muffler, they fixed it for 25 bucks (or 24.27 loonies ).

Pete

[87gtVIC]

Shoulda sold the SO and used the green for whitewalls lol.


Pete