The Murph Deuce, my old 1985 Crown Vic, a documentary

[murphmobile2]

It's taken a lot of time and searching, but after discovering my old Reader's Rides topic on here has broken links for almost every photo, I have decided it's time to make a documentary on my old '85.

The pics will do most of the explaining for me, and I hope everyone enjoys! These photos start in 2004 when it was given to me as a high school graduation gift, and run all the way up to 2009 when I sold it for a whopping $3000 after it's last restoration.

Let's start this off simple, first purchased by my dad for $650 with 88k on the clock!









I couldn't find a stock engine photo, but this is close enough. All I had done at the time were some Accell wires and a little bit of red wire loom.

[murphmobile2]

Let's start with the exterior, shall we?

Mods started fast, as my first modification were the U.S. Indy Slot Mags off of my first car, the Murphmobile, my 1984 Crown Vic! 15x7 fronts with 215/60's and 15x8.5 rears with 235/60's.

Here they are on the old car, sadly they looked best on this one!







Honestly, they didn't look bad with the silver either. I did the black grille and headlamp inserts like the '84, along with dual with glasspacks and chrome tips.





You can see where the 14's went!



Shortly afterwards, I had the car repainted black and put red stripes down the body. I also had the windows tinted down to 35%. The vinyl top still needed replaced, but that was coming up fast. This is the only "good" photo I have of the car from that point in time.

[murphmobile2]

Time for some bigger meats! 235/60's up front and 255/60's out back! This paired with air shocks on the rear was perfect!





New black vinyl top, no more red stripes, round fog lamps behind the grille, and a few Ford decals! I also added hood pins and some V8 emblems off of a Ford Explorer to the front fenders. I used older Ford lettering on the trunk as well.

[murphmobile2]

The body was pretty wrinkled up after a couple years, so it was time for a full on restoration. The restoration took approximately six months, but was well worth it! I also added clear turn signal lenses and a grille off of an '82, along with the matching taillamps. Some emblems were also removed, or relocated.

[murphmobile2]

The interior I kept old school to match the car, including a wood trim steering wheel. I changed all gauge lighting, including the analog clock, to all red. A three gauge set was installed where the ash tray was from the factory. The speedometer was replaced with a 140mph one, the dash emblem was replaced with an LTD emblem, and eventually I went with a more factory look set of floormats and reinstalled the factory AM/FM radio. All dials in the car were repainted orange, even in the radio.













More factory appearance floormats, and the factory radio together in one photo.




The trunk was spotless too, so I truck bed lined it. I also restored an old tool box, just for this car lol.

[murphmobile2]

Finally, what makes her move! And stop... and handle...

First, the suspension. I upgraded the front shocks to Monro's, then the rears to air shocks and eventually a set of KYB's. I installed a heavy rear sway bar, all poly bushings on the front sway bar with Energy Suspension end links, and heavy duty police cruiser grade springs. I also got a set of underbody braces for the front and installed them as well.









Painted green! Couldn't miss these in a blizzard! The KYB's were installed at this point, I should have kept the air shocks on though.







These mufflers were my old Dynomax Ultraflows with my dumps at the rear axle, which were eventually replaced with a pair of glasspacks, again. I used 2.5" piping, no converters, an H-pipe and a pair of Hedman shorty headers.









Red calipers! One failed, might as well do both was my thought process.



I also installed a B&M shift kit to help sharpen up the shifts. Best decision ever. I painted the pan red as well, to match all of the rest of the red on the car.

[murphmobile2]

MSD cap and rotor kit with matching 8.8mm wires, spark plug heat wrap sleeves, factory Ford distributor boot, Edelbrock air filter assembly, chrome valve covers and breather filter, chrome thermostat housing, Hedman shorties, and a dual electric fan out of a Z28. I also went A/C delete while I was at it!











Sadly she's been sold for five years now, but she'll never be forgotten! This is one car I will ALWAYS miss!

[sly]

[t65neon5]

its a shame that car is gone........

[HiFiMerc]

Is it still kicking? Or has it met the crusher like so many others?

My dad has that same tool box. It's full of ammo.







I'm almost certain it has a Hooker Headers sticker on it too. Haha

[murphmobile2]

Thanks guys! I'm not sure if the car is around still or not, but it's been on Craigslist 3 - 4 times since. Last time I saw it, I was taking classes at Sinclair Community College in Dayton and didn't have the $650 the guy was asking for it. The tint was no longer there in the last Craigslist ad.

And HiFi, great minds think alike! Haha

[Brown_Muscle]

Your Murph Deuce was always one of my favorite panthers, I vote you buy it back if you see it again!!

[purplebomb302]

That sure was a sweet car.

[packman]

That car and Blaze's 86 is what got me hooked on this site. Perhaps one day it will show up on Craig's list and you'll have the money to buy it back. Though, it looks like you got your hands full with the Caprice.

I wish that were the case with my old Malibu, but I know that is a cube of metal now.


Packman

[murphmobile2]

Thanks guys! I really do wish I could find it on CL again, but at the same time it's been so long since I've owned it, that I'm partially afraid to see what's been changed on it since my ownership.

If it ever does pop up again, I will at least go take a look at it.