85.03 Crown Vic Coupe "CVGT"

[Bobcat]

Progress has been slow, selling the whale since I've bought a truck. Whale funds will go into box, box will continue being a project.

Half of the pistons are in the 351 and I've come to the conclusion I need to either find someone with built gt40p heads will 1.7s or buy some and outfit them with the correct hardware for 1.7s. Intake and carb are the same, nothing's changed.
I believe I'm going to do some sort of shift kit, I looked into SilverFox valve bodies, but. I don't want the AOD for a long time and I don't want to dump a bunch into a old slushbox AOD just for the coming summer. Just plan to make it suck less, stock converter, shitty cheap shift kit, maybe silverfox.

[Hearsesrock427]

found out the nice youngster who owned the car before me decided to merely use water to cool the car, since a hose was leaking. Neglected to fix the problem but decided to just keep refilling it instead. Well! The engine drained some nasty water out when I took the radiator out. I tried to flush the radiator yesterday and some water which looked like mud came out. The overflow was also filled with a rusty mess of clogged up water. It was awesome!

Oh cock. That's not gone well.

Good thing you're flushing that shit out now, before you start getting into the go-fast work. I'm amazed that muddy/crusty coolant didn't make the red engine light of death to come on. Unbelievable how these cars can get so messed up from neglect/stupidity, and still somehow run good. It's downright scary how stupid some owners are. You did your '85 a HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE favor by taking off that idiot kid's hands.

Makes me really, really, weary about this nice '88 Grand Marquis GS (dark blue+white stripes, with vent windows), with some 72,000 miles. The kid who owns it gives off a similar vibe to your coupe's previous owner. Feel free to skip the horror story below if you'd like:

A long time ago, in a parking lot not too far away from my house, I was making inroads with an '88 Grand Marquis owner. We inevitably got onto the topic of what happened to the car's trunk latch system.

'88 Grand Marquis owner accidentally locked his keys in the trunk. Instead of researching how to ground a wire to the circuit to pop the trunk or calling a locksmith, he tries to take apart the steering column to hot-wire the car and start it, so he can pop the trunk with the button in the glovebox. Nevermind the fact that it's almost impossible to hotwire a later model Ford. They underwent tons of theft protection improvements- especially in the steering column. By '79, it was damn near impossible to hot-wire a full size Ford passenger car.

Consequently, the guy's hotwiring attempt failed. So the guy does a half-assed reassembly of the steering column, then (if my memory serves me properly) put a screwdriver under the trunk latch thing, and hit it with a hammer. The trunk latch plate thing came off after a couple whacks. Mind you, this was a MINT FUCKING TRUNK LID. Not anymore.

The mechanical side of the car is also not too confidence-inspiring. The guy also has not bothered to do a basic tune-up, which explains why the car has to crank for like, 2 to 3 seconds before it turns over. I bet it's still running original plugs and plug wires. He claims to have bought all the parts, but never got around to putting them on. I was so close to just calling BS. My first tune-up was done within an hour, and that's with me taking my sweet time! But I refrained. Mainly becuase I knew the guy thinks I'm generous for offering him $800 for the car. Which means I can probably come down to $600, and steal it. In the interest of not blowing up business negotiations, I held my tongue.

[Bobcat]

Shortblock 351 is done, awaiting a set of heads, intake and carb. If I wasn't at school, I'd post up the pictures of me taking out the engine with my dad's excavator. Since the engine hoist couldn't clear the front clip. Loosened it up with the engine lift, got it all good and free, then just lifted it out with the machine.

Soo.. I'm using an air gun with a wire brush attachment to get off the spots of surface rust on the frame, not much. After I used alot of Super Clean and hose action the engine bay looks like it's new. Perfect. So after I source some damn heads, I'll get to stripping out all of the EFI shit and tucking most of my wiring inside the fender. I don't like the look of wires everywhere and want it very very organized, in the end.

Also. I picked up a set of 3.55s and 3.73s. I'm planning to use the 3.73s so if anyone wants a good set of dealer take off 3.55s. I'm a reasonable fella.

On a side note, I called a junkyard near me and they priced an Aero rear end for 150$ maybe I'll snag that before winter. If anyone ends up buying the whale, I'll be able to get quite a bit accomplished.

[gadget73]

we used to pull motors out of boats with a backhoe. I've done them with pole trucks too. As long as you have someone steady at the controls, and they respond properly its pretty easy.

[Rodentkiller]

To the idiot destroying a perfect trunk lid I would have called a locksmith and saved myself the aggravation!!

[slack]

if anyone wants a good set of dealer take off 3.55s. I'm a reasonable fella.

Oooh! Mark me as interested!

[packman]

we used to pull motors out of boats with a backhoe. I've done them with pole trucks too. As long as you have someone steady at the controls, and they respond properly its pretty easy.

Or a low-hanging tree limb.

My Ranger had and still has some crud floating around in the cooling system. I was gonna change the heater core (might have to do that anyways), but the mechanic who was looking at another problem flushed the system out last year; temp-spike problem solved.

Can't wait to see what heads your gonna use.

Packman

[gadget73]

I've used trees, it sucks. They bounce and shit, not fun. Also a good way to have a motor and a branch come down at the same time. I helped a friend swap a 4.3 for a 305 in a full size Chevy pickup once using a tree and a come-along. Had to roll the truck out, get the old motor out of the way, get the 305 in position, jack it back up, and then get it all lined up again. F that.

[packman]

I've used trees, it sucks. They bounce and shit, not fun. Also a good way to have a motor and a branch come down at the same time. I helped a friend swap a 4.3 for a 305 in a full size Chevy pickup once using a tree and a come-along. Had to roll the truck out, get the old motor out of the way, get the 305 in position, jack it back up, and then get it all lined up again. F that.

That's why we have kids old man

Bobcat; sorry for the

Packman

[gadget73]

I'm pretty sure you're older than I am.

[Bobcat]

Or a low-hanging tree limb.


Can't wait to see what heads your gonna use.

Packman

Planning on using GT40Ps with 1.7 Rocker Arms, heavier valve springs and so on. Just to get it driving, then MAYBE some head work since they'd be restrictive on the 351.

Oooh! Mark me as interested!

Send me a PM, I'm not on much since my computer had a slow death and now needs a steady rebuild. But when I am, I'll respond!

I'm trying to liquidate the small bit of shit I have, including my whale Vic.

we used to pull motors out of boats with a backhoe. I've done them with pole trucks too. As long as you have someone steady at the controls, and they respond properly its pretty easy.

Boat motors, makes me wanna use boat headers! And a cam with a wicked dumb duration.
When the new engine goes in, I plan to have the front suspension disassembled anyways for BB swap, I'll just drop the front end down really low and clear the front clip with the engine hoist.




On a side note, I plan to disassemble the front suspension today (Upper control arms, spindles) with a buddy of mine. He's goin through some tough times and loves cars so I'm gonna teach em a bit of mechanics.

Anddd I'll be /maybe/ taking out the inner fenders. Then taking off the surface rust on the frame and painting it all. Those inner fenders look like a bitch to take out..

[gadget73]

water cooled headers? nah, you don't need that. Makes for a rather overly large cooling system if you want wet exhaust. Also, they're stupid money.


surprised it wouldn't reach. I've done Towncars with an engine crane before, and they are longer up front. Smashes the shit out of your front plate, but it does get the job done. The shorter Vic front end shouldn't be an issue.

[87gtVIC]

Inner fenders...ehhh pretty easy if you have the radiator out as there is a bolt close to it. Otherwise just remove all of the plastic push pins in the wheel arch and just some 8mm here and there...Oh and then prying it out of place.

[Bobcat]

water cooled headers? nah, you don't need that. Makes for a rather overly large cooling system if you want wet exhaust. Also, they're stupid money.


surprised it wouldn't reach. I've done Towncars with an engine crane before, and they are longer up front. Smashes the shit out of your front plate, but it does get the job done. The shorter Vic front end shouldn't be an issue.

I meant boat headers as in car headers that're flipped upside down. Like those go fast boats.

It's kind of a shitty engine hoist..

Inner fenders...ehhh pretty easy if you have the radiator out as there is a bolt close to it. Otherwise just remove all of the plastic push pins in the wheel arch and just some 8mm here and there...Oh and then prying it out of place.

We'll see how determined I'm feeling. Yeah... I'll probably do it just because. Thorough job.

[88Vic]

Put gauges in that monitor stuff like cylinder head temp, just to make sure it's running like it should. I was amazed the first time I browsed at gauges, all the different ones they make for monitoring different stuff. That'd be stressful to me, having a cluster like an airplane, hoping all the time something isn't going wrong. I'm just lazy and wait for stuff to really go wrong before I fix it.