My '89 Lincoln Town Car

[Hearsesrock427]

I'm surprised you put up with E46 for as long as you did. Even if you get one that's been well cared for it always adds up. Newest generation 3 series I would ever own would be an E36 and even those are wrought with problems from the factory. E46s are worse. (E90s are stupider still, but that's another story.) We rag on our panthers for some of the stupid shit Ford did on our boxes (drainage issues, weak pre '86 timing gears & timing chains, weak pre '88 AODs, plastic '87-'91 302 TV cable grommet, stupid water pump/timing cover design).

But all that pales in comparison to the corners that BMW and countless other "premium" manufacturers have cut, and continue to cut. The fact that we can trick out a panther to handle as good as, if not better than, an E46 as well as maintain it for a fraction of the cost of an E46 is proof positive that a lot of so-called "premium" cars are just more cents than sense purchases. They're sold to people who are happy with paying a premium for something that's really not that much better than other offerings, both in the short term and the long term. Sucks you had to learn that lesson the hard way, but at least now you know. Am excited to see how things go with your Town Car in the interim! Welcome back indeed.

Some links to qualify my claims about E36 and E46:

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f92/bmw-e36-common-problems-things-look-out-t3652/

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/buying-maintenance/a29308/bmw-m3-e36-review/

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/3cgzym/e36_3series_reliability/

http://e46valvecover.com/13-common-problems-bmw-e46-models/

https://www.bimmershops.com/e46-3-series-common-problems

[TecNickal]

Why not fix the skip at least? Or low priority to fix much of any of it til you move to a house w/garage. If you're in Charlotte - you're an hour and a half away from me and I like to visit the 4 different self service junkyards up there and in Rock Hill.

[L1011tristar17]

Planning on getting some new sig pics when the snow melts.

As for the BMW, I owned it for about a year and a half and put 30,000 miles on it. Only repairs I had to do during that time were wear-and-tear items typical for a 20 year old car. I think these cars are very well-built and mine drove like a brand-new car. It has aged a lot better than most other cars made in '99. I am only selling it because I don't have the time and space to perform regular maintenance on it. I don't have to worry about this with the Lincoln because I only put about 2-3 thousand miles on it a year.

The misfire is something I attempted to fix a couple years ago by throwing a bunch of parts at it. It still drives just fine and the misfire has been occurring less and less. One day I'll get into it. I still go to LKQ and Pull-A-Part to look for unobtanium parts. I found a minty dash pad there about a year ago.

[L1011tristar17]

Did a little more tinkering and finally got all door panels back on the car. I also got it washed.



I'm leaving for Ireland in a few days so unfortunately it will have to sit for a few more weeks before I drive it again. The a/c doesn't work but driving with the windows down isn't so miserable. Lubricating the window tracks made a huge difference!

[87gtVIC]

Looking good!

[slack]

I'm jealous how good your paint job still is. Looks really nice.

Any plans on the vinyl roof down the road? Looks like it's starting to give up the ghost. (Like I should talk, mine has been a tattered disgusting mess for years )

[L1011tristar17]

Thanks! Paint is starting to look bad in some places but it was painted in the PO's backyard so I can't really complain. The silver hides a lot of the dirt and scratches pretty well.

Yes, the fake convertible top has been giving me problems since day one. I got a quote for ~$1200 to replace it and that was probably 7 years ago. Depending on how much it ends up being I may try to do some of it myself, I've been wanting to re-do the headliner anyway.

[L1011tristar17]

Set up the dashcam in the Lincoln. I've had it this way for a few months and haven't captured anything really interesting yet. I'm using the cables that came with it for now but eventually I'll hardwire it like how it is in my truck.



Camera is an A119S. I took one with me to Ireland and set it up in the rental car. Got lots of really cool footage over there!

[L1011tristar17]

I may be replacing the oil pan sooner than I thought

Took my car to Meineke last December for an oil change (first time getting the oil changed at a shop since I bought it in 2010). As they were working on it one of the techs told me that he had to replace both drain plugs since they were "stripped out." Interesting, I didn't realize my grip was that strong but ok. My car spends 29 or 30 days out of the month in its regular parking space and the oil stain underneath it has started to grow. I put it on jacks yesterday and saw oil dripping from the new drain plugs they had put in.

My theory is that they stripped out the plugs when they were doing the oil change, not me. I had done all the oil changes myself and never run into that problem. I called the store and told them what was going on. The guy on the other end kept harping about how he couldn't believe I haven't changed the oil since the last time I was there. "I can't believe you haven't changed your oil in over a year man!" On what, a car I drive ~800 miles a year? I kept explaining the leaking drain plugs to him but he didn't want to listen and kept bringing up the fact that I haven't changed the oil since then, so I just hung up and called their corporate office instead. Hoping to hear from them in the next couple of weeks.

[jaywish]

There used to be self tappers to fix that.

[Tiggie]

There used to be self tappers to fix that.

X2 I run an oversized in my 74 pickup. Looks like they still make them.

[gadget73]

Make sure they put gaskets under the drain plugs before you get too far along. Its never going to seal without the gasket.

[L1011tristar17]

The car has been sitting for the last couple weeks. I planned on driving it back to my parent's house to do some work on it, but the fuel pump had other ideas. I was able to coast to a stop and come back for it an hour later. Luckily I was only a 10 minute walk from my place when it happened. I know it needs new tires too but I haven't had the chance to get those done. The car runs pretty well otherwise considering how infrequently I drive it!

Any of you guys have experience with these simulated convertible tops? Mine is rough around the edges (literally). I think the previous owner removed and reinstalled it when the car was re-painted ~10 years ago because it looks a little "off" compared to some of the other ones I've seen. Can you still order the material for the top? It looks like the same material most convertibles have. The fiberglass shell underneath seems to be in pretty good shape.

[L1011tristar17]

And of course, no post is complete without pictures

[Kodachrome Wolf]

If you’re wanting to recover the roof, maybe something like a marine grade vinyl would not be a bad option. The only challenge is if you plan to do it yourself or have a shop do it for you.