1988 Lincoln Town Car

[nfldfordltd]

I'll try again to do a little writeup on the nine year adventure that has been my ownership of this car.
It's an oh-so-blue cloth seat 88 Lincoln Town Car base model. I bought it in summer 2006 for $2500 from a guy who sold it just so his ex-wife wouldn't get it in the divorce settlement.
At that time it had 127,xxx km (about 79,000 miles), all original parts and paint.
Here's a brief summary of what was done with it every year up to this year: (excluding oil changes and other 'routine maintenance')
2006: Inspection for transfer of ownership. That included tie rod ends and exhaust work. Some smog crap eliminated at that time. 4 matching used tires installed as well. All new brake lines. New upper engine gaskets. Swapped over newer parts from the 88 Crown Vic it replaced including alternator and battery.
2007: Dual exhaust (Cherry Bomb Turbo mufflers) installation. New rotors, pads, calipers, ect. New water pump, radiator, thermostat and housing, all rubber hoses. New power steering lines and stereo head unit. Installed rear springs (1991 Crown Vic RCMP donated), 4 new shocks. 4 new studded snow tires. New voltage regulator connector.
2008: First new heater core. 4 new tires for summer. Full tune up including fuel filter. New tailpipes as one of the pair used in the dual exhaust conversion was used and rusted out. Remote starter installed.
2009: Used transmission from when I broke the tail shaft in the original transmission. New drums, shoes, spring kits, disc pads, wheel cylinders, etc. New paint in October at a cost of almost $3200. New battery.
2010: Heater core #2 went bust. Used clutch fan from a truck 351. All new front end including ball joints, tie rod ends, pitman arm, idler arm, sway bar end links.
2011: Heater cores #3 and #4 installed. #3 lasted less than a week. Changed rad cap and put heater hose flusher fitting in the hose as well. Popped the block heater out of the frost plug hole (lost all coolant), got very, very hot but still made it home and lived to tell the tale. New Flowmaster 50 Series mufflers. Brass TV cable bushing.
2012: NOS driver side mirror as the thermometer in the original one was stuck on 18 degrees celcius. NOS hood lift shocks, MAP sensor, other bits and pieces like that. Noticed trunk floor getting rusty, but no holes at this point. Greased the power window regulators in the front doors.
2013: Another full tune up, eliminated a bunch of unnecessary vacuum lines, replaced a lot of the other ones. Refinished the lacy spoke aluminum rims and installed 4 new RWL tires. New disc pads. K&N air filter. New starter. New front upper control arm bushings.
2014: Installed Lincoln logs. Punched out the cats and re-installed them with the guts gone. Got NOS stainless steel rain guards and put them on. Put a temporary patch on the trunk floor to provide some rigidity.
2015: On the road (sort of). Have to cut out and replace the front half of the trunk floor as it is rusted out bad now with big holes and weak metal near the gas tank strap anchor. Also have to replace the gas tank during this operation as the original one has a hole chafed in it from the straps moving. Purchased remanufactured A/C compressor kit (compressor, orifice tube, drier), going to get new lines and condenser ASAP. The A/C will be operational just in time for the hot weather to be over...lol. Also heater core #4 has bit the dust, new one #5 will be installed soon along with new heater hoses and another restrictor for good measure. Needs two new rear tires as well hehe...
251,xxx km on the odometer as of today.
Time for some picutres:

[sly]

Nice. I'd have to pull out my folder of receipts to have any clue on what year what was done to my rides. Too much to list.

[nfldfordltd]

Took me a while to recall all that, and I'm sure I missed stuff too...
I just hope now when I get everything done something major doesn't give out on me, like the engine or rear axle! lol

[Mainemantom]

That new paint looks great. Hopefully for the money you paid, the paint shop paid attention to the small details.

[nfldfordltd]

That new paint looks great. Hopefully for the money you paid, the paint shop paid attention to the small details.

Puh no! I had to remove the chrome myself before I dropped it off there.
I looked OK until I had it shipped from Goose Bay to Deer Lake in 2012. I asked it be but in an enclosed trailer, and the company put it on a flatbed, then hauled it over literally hundreds of miles of gravel highway. That resulted in approximately 200 chips in the paint and broke the windshield in 3 places. Couldn't get a cent out of the trucking company. I was (and still am) pissed.

[88Vic]

How does it sound with punched out cats? I've heard it doesn't sound as good as replacing them with a smooth pipe. I'm gonna stick with mine but if they start to clog, they'll be gone in a heartbeat.

[nfldfordltd]

How does it sound with punched out cats? I've heard it doesn't sound as good as replacing them with a smooth pipe. I'm gonna stick with mine but if they start to clog, they'll be gone in a heartbeat.

I'm really happy with it, personally. The 50-Series Flowmasters make for a quiet idle but a distinct growl when you get into the throttle. They do kind of act like resonators a bit IMO. I'll try to make a video someday (not today, I have it all took apart to replace the heater core again lol).
But mind you I have never heard a box with pipe replaced cats so I don't know for sure. My truck has the cats gone altogether and replaced with pipe and it sounds pretty good with cast iron manifolds and regular single round muffler. Nice little chug-a-lug.

[88Vic]

Since Lincoln logs are harder to find, I figure I can get Mustang shorties a lot easier. Also since my exhaust is still almost new, I'll have a shop make catless downpipes that reduce to 2" and bolt it to my stock H-pipe. Then I'll just have to figure out what mufflers to get if it's too loud with just pipe.

This is all academic at this point, not sure if I'll keep the car if I can't put a new transmission into it cheap enough. I'll definitely need Mustang shorties and HO intake swap to make the car not such a turd, I'm used to the power of my 4Runner so it'll be hard to go back to such a slow car. I figure those mods and at least a K-code rear will be needed for me to be satisfied with it's performance, for now.

[79lincolnlover]

How much $ are these heater cores that keep failing??

[nfldfordltd]

Since Lincoln logs are harder to find, I figure I can get Mustang shorties a lot easier. Also since my exhaust is still almost new, I'll have a shop make catless downpipes that reduce to 2" and bolt it to my stock H-pipe. Then I'll just have to figure out what mufflers to get if it's too loud with just pipe.

This is all academic at this point, not sure if I'll keep the car if I can't put a new transmission into it cheap enough. I'll definitely need Mustang shorties and HO intake swap to make the car not such a turd, I'm used to the power of my 4Runner so it'll be hard to go back to such a slow car. I figure those mods and at least a K-code rear will be needed for me to be satisfied with it's performance, for now.

Beauty of Logs is they are direct bolt-on with no fabrication required. But if you have access to a muffler shop that will make the pipes for you then you're all set for Mustang shorties. I think I'm going to do 3.55 rear end gears in mine maybe next year, and do a EFI 351 swap as well if the stars align properly. I honestly can't see a 4-Runner being that much more ballsy than a box (unless it's modified or something) but I guess it's all about how it feels to drive. I'll try to get a video uploaded soon to give an idea about the sound.

[nfldfordltd]

How much $ are these heater cores that keep failing??

Roughly $60 each. This last one cost about a little over $100 as I bought new molded heater hoses, all new clamps and had it all shipped here from upalong.
Coolant isn't very cheap either...lol
I'm down to under 4 hours work to replace a heater core now after having done it so many times.

[88Vic]

I honestly can't see a 4-Runner being that much more ballsy than a box (unless it's modified or something) but I guess it's all about how it feels to drive.

It's an 06 with the 4.7 V8 from the Tundra, 270hp/320tq and it's a low-end torque engine because it was designed for use in the Tundra for pulling. It's not the old wheezy V6's, it'll move lol.

[nfldfordltd]

It's an 06 with the 4.7 V8 from the Tundra, 270hp/320tq and it's a low-end torque engine because it was designed for use in the Tundra for pulling. It's not the old wheezy V6's, it'll move lol.

Roger.

[88Vic]

If I can get the local machine shop to attach the stock throttle linkage bracket to the HO TB when I see about boring the stock EGR spacer, I'm gonna do HO upper on mine, hopefully Mustang shorties/catless downpipes and rear end swap, I'm thinking any aero rear for the disc brake and I'll buy new 3.73 or 4.10 ring & pinion and Trac-Loc kit. That should be enough to keep me satisfied.

And possibly if I can find them in good condition, swap to cloth seats. The leather I have in mine is nice but I remember the cloth seats from my Vic were more comfortable, so I'd like to swap.

Your list is kinda depressing me, makes me think of all the stuff I need to work on after I get my car running. Stuff like the brakes that I've never touched, all the tune-up stuff, changing the fluids, and installing gauges to keep an eye on stuff and know something's wrong before it's too late. So much work, so little time and money, story of my life.

[nfldfordltd]

If I can get the local machine shop to attach the stock throttle linkage bracket to the HO TB when I see about boring the stock EGR spacer, I'm gonna do HO upper on mine, hopefully Mustang shorties/catless downpipes and rear end swap, I'm thinking any aero rear for the disc brake and I'll buy new 3.73 or 4.10 ring & pinion and Trac-Loc kit. That should be enough to keep me satisfied.

And possibly if I can find them in good condition, swap to cloth seats. The leather I have in mine is nice but I remember the cloth seats from my Vic were more comfortable, so I'd like to swap.

Your list is kinda depressing me, makes me think of all the stuff I need to work on after I get my car running. Stuff like the brakes that I've never touched, all the tune-up stuff, changing the fluids, and installing gauges to keep an eye on stuff and know something's wrong before it's too late. So much work, so little time and money, story of my life.

Didn't mean to get you depressed...but I could have done a bunch of mods to my car and ignored all the basic stuff. I believe in breaking stuff down into two lists: 1. Must do and 2. Like to do. I always take care of the stuff on the must-do list first, then if there's any resources left over (time and/or money) I shift my attention to the like-to-do list. That's why my car isn't nearly as fun to drive as a lot of other GMNer's cars, but I can road trip with relative ease and reliability. I'd like to do Scottfest some year when I can get my life in order enough to do such a long road trip. The joys of living in the North...I could have left a lot of the stuff alone and just let it go, but I want everything to work properly, some may even call me OCD lol.