My '80 Ford LTD 2-Door Slicktop
Here's the newest addition to my collection. An '80 Ford LTD 2-Door Base model Slicktop, that I picked up from one of our GMN members who is local to me (Brandon) for $800. Was a North Carolina car its entire life, and as such is about 90% rust-free. Myself being the 3rd Owner. The car has 117K on the clock, is 32 years old, and still runs and rides awesome. She is the definition of a no options Base Model, and doesn't even have defrost lines in the Rear Windshield, surprised it even had a tilt column and A/C from the factory. Powered by a stout D9 302 w/ VV carb. Future plans for the car, are a complete Frame-off Resto, and a Turbo 351W build w/ supporting drivetrain and suspension mods, which should put her in the neighborhood of 5-600 horses. I won't accept anything less than that this time, and now have the money to make it a reality.
On with the pics!
Exterior:
All I have done at this point is swap out the hood (at Brandon's house), with the hood from my old '87 CV, and give her a good wash. Wanted to get pics of the original look of the car before I start changing things. The body is in nice shape with no major damage or rust, just a few dings and dangs here and there, which are easily fixed. The rare 1980 only Front Bumper is damn near perfect other than needing a re-chrome. I have a smooth '79 Landau rear bumper, I'm gonna be installing. I have no idea why the bottom lip of the Trunk Lid is rusted out, when the rest of the car is in such nice shape. Maybe mice got in there and packed it full of stuffing, which held moisture and in turn rotted out the lip.
I have a very nice replacement Trunklid for the car, and will be installed sometime soon.The car is sitting on a hill, which is why it's leaning to one side, and I got it stuck in the mud on a dirt back road earlier which is why the tires are dirty. For anyone wondering, the red car in the pics is an old '87 Merc project I decided to abandon for other reasons, is now my parts car, and is about to be hauled off to the scrap yard soon. The white car is my '80 MKVI, that I'm currently doing an SEFI 302 HO conversion on, and getting ready for the road again.
Interior:
Haven't done anything in here, haven't even cleaned anything yet. Just a standard base model cheap vinyl interior. Doesn't even have door sill plates. The Dash and all the Interior Trim are still really nice and easy restorable. Everything else in here will be re-upholstered. Carpet is the only thing still available new to my knowledge. Only other interior I have ever seen optioned just like this one in a box, was in an '85 CVPI ex-police detectives car. Regardless of what Bucket seats I end up going with in this car, the entire Interior will be redone in Red, as I'm planning on painting the car Gloss Black. Something about a Black car with a Red interior.
The trunk carpet was nasty so I had already ripped it out at this point. It had the cheap base model carpet though, which doesn't cover the entire trunk anyway. I will be looking soon to score some LX carpet from a creampuff in the yard. Nice and rust-free Trunk pan, and inside of the Rear Quarters (which is a common rust out point).
Engine:
VV powered D9 302, nothing special, but surprisingly stout and torquey for such a weak little motor. The air cleaner assembly was removed for the pic, you can't see it in the pics, but there is a massive spaghetti mess of vacuum lines behind the Intake, WTF are they all for!!! The VV only runs right when it wants to, and will be replaced with a Holley 4bbl w/ Intake, and Lokar Throttle/TV Cables soon, so that I can drive the car around reliably. Lots of clean up, and removal of unnecessary items to be done in here. This is gonna be a nice weather only car, so I'm deleting the A/C and Heater Core and removing everything related from the car to lighten things up. There's a '90 Towncar fan shroud, and Aux Trans cooler in there too, looks to be stock otherwise. This is one area of the car which is going to change very dramatically over time.
Undercarriage:
Nice and clean, just how I like em. Only minor surface rust on a few places. PS A/C drain bulkhead doesn't have even a speck of rust inside it.
Nice custom dual exhaust setup w/ Flowmasters installed, nice and tucked up to the body, just how I like it. Was well done by whoever did it. I would have ripped it all out by now if someone had just thrown some ill-fitting mustang parts on there. Body Mounts look to be good for now, but I'm going to replace them anyway with Poly units.
Core support is bent, but I have a replacement sitting in my shed ready to install.
She's an excellent starting point for what I want to do. Which is to build a lightweight Full-Size street rod that I will enjoy driving fast on windy back roads, and to embarrass/win money from the local Chevy douchebags at our 1/8mi track here. Planning on doing a full frame-off Resto, having the Bumpers re-chromed, and a fresh Gloss Black Paintjob laid down as well, to make her look new again. More progress is coming soon. Stay Tuned.
On with the pics!
Exterior:
All I have done at this point is swap out the hood (at Brandon's house), with the hood from my old '87 CV, and give her a good wash. Wanted to get pics of the original look of the car before I start changing things. The body is in nice shape with no major damage or rust, just a few dings and dangs here and there, which are easily fixed. The rare 1980 only Front Bumper is damn near perfect other than needing a re-chrome. I have a smooth '79 Landau rear bumper, I'm gonna be installing. I have no idea why the bottom lip of the Trunk Lid is rusted out, when the rest of the car is in such nice shape. Maybe mice got in there and packed it full of stuffing, which held moisture and in turn rotted out the lip.
I have a very nice replacement Trunklid for the car, and will be installed sometime soon.The car is sitting on a hill, which is why it's leaning to one side, and I got it stuck in the mud on a dirt back road earlier which is why the tires are dirty. For anyone wondering, the red car in the pics is an old '87 Merc project I decided to abandon for other reasons, is now my parts car, and is about to be hauled off to the scrap yard soon. The white car is my '80 MKVI, that I'm currently doing an SEFI 302 HO conversion on, and getting ready for the road again.
Interior:
Haven't done anything in here, haven't even cleaned anything yet. Just a standard base model cheap vinyl interior. Doesn't even have door sill plates. The Dash and all the Interior Trim are still really nice and easy restorable. Everything else in here will be re-upholstered. Carpet is the only thing still available new to my knowledge. Only other interior I have ever seen optioned just like this one in a box, was in an '85 CVPI ex-police detectives car. Regardless of what Bucket seats I end up going with in this car, the entire Interior will be redone in Red, as I'm planning on painting the car Gloss Black. Something about a Black car with a Red interior.
The trunk carpet was nasty so I had already ripped it out at this point. It had the cheap base model carpet though, which doesn't cover the entire trunk anyway. I will be looking soon to score some LX carpet from a creampuff in the yard. Nice and rust-free Trunk pan, and inside of the Rear Quarters (which is a common rust out point).
Engine:
VV powered D9 302, nothing special, but surprisingly stout and torquey for such a weak little motor. The air cleaner assembly was removed for the pic, you can't see it in the pics, but there is a massive spaghetti mess of vacuum lines behind the Intake, WTF are they all for!!! The VV only runs right when it wants to, and will be replaced with a Holley 4bbl w/ Intake, and Lokar Throttle/TV Cables soon, so that I can drive the car around reliably. Lots of clean up, and removal of unnecessary items to be done in here. This is gonna be a nice weather only car, so I'm deleting the A/C and Heater Core and removing everything related from the car to lighten things up. There's a '90 Towncar fan shroud, and Aux Trans cooler in there too, looks to be stock otherwise. This is one area of the car which is going to change very dramatically over time.
Undercarriage:
Nice and clean, just how I like em. Only minor surface rust on a few places. PS A/C drain bulkhead doesn't have even a speck of rust inside it.
Nice custom dual exhaust setup w/ Flowmasters installed, nice and tucked up to the body, just how I like it. Was well done by whoever did it. I would have ripped it all out by now if someone had just thrown some ill-fitting mustang parts on there. Body Mounts look to be good for now, but I'm going to replace them anyway with Poly units.Core support is bent, but I have a replacement sitting in my shed ready to install.
She's an excellent starting point for what I want to do. Which is to build a lightweight Full-Size street rod that I will enjoy driving fast on windy back roads, and to embarrass/win money from the local Chevy douchebags at our 1/8mi track here. Planning on doing a full frame-off Resto, having the Bumpers re-chromed, and a fresh Gloss Black Paintjob laid down as well, to make her look new again. More progress is coming soon. Stay Tuned.
FUCK! I thought, what am I gonna do now, other than hack the trunk lid somehow to get it back open, or call an expensive locksmith. Feeling Defeated, I slinked away. 
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