1988 Lincoln Town Car

[gadget73]

they won't shock your Sach ?

I put KYB Excel-G's on both ends of the Continental, can't complain. They make the only front shocks that actually fit the car correctly, so that was a huge motivation. Back ones were on clearance. Of course air suspension sucks up a whole lot of shitty shock absorber action. The old front struts were wasted, one had no resistance and the other actually seized up. Thats what drove replacement, the front corner of the car got stuck down and it started riding poorly. I'm sure it had no resistance to speak of before it got stuck and I never noticed.

[nfldfordltd]

Nice. Hopefully a good report on the new shocks, at least for your sake. I'd be curious to hear if they're too harsh/stiff or not.

I had a set of stock replacement Gabriel's on the front of my '89 years ago, and they were awful. I couldn't tell the difference between the completely dead originals and the brand new Gabriels. That car was parked not long after those shocks were installed, but I had no intention of reusing those shocks. However, the old Gabriel Hi-Jackers on the rear of that car and the new pair on The Ice Car I found to be great. You don't need to haul a ton-o weight to benefit from air shocks, just run lower pressure in them with less weight for a manual fill setup like mine, or adjust the sensor accordingly for the optional stock setup. I think the minimum pressure recommended for the Hi-Jakers is 25 PSI, I think I run around 150 PSI (haven't touched them in 3 years since I installed them), I think max is 225 (the max is much lower on the Monroes, like 125 PSI I think, I'm at 90-100 on those). Anyway, nothing wrong with not wanting to go the air route, it's just my preference and may not work for everyone.

Good to hear that sending unit is still working. I know Kevin discovered some of the late build '88 TCs in the JYs seem to have gotten the newer sending unit like '89 TCs got, luckily yours needed the older unit that we sent you.

Makes sense, my car's build date is 05/88. I think the next month was when everything changed.

[nfldfordltd]

they won't shock your Sach ?

I put KYB Excel-G's on both ends of the Continental, can't complain. They make the only front shocks that actually fit the car correctly, so that was a huge motivation. Back ones were on clearance. Of course air suspension sucks up a whole lot of shitty shock absorber action. The old front struts were wasted, one had no resistance and the other actually seized up. Thats what drove replacement, the front corner of the car got stuck down and it started riding poorly. I'm sure it had no resistance to speak of before it got stuck and I never noticed.

I don't like it when a car that is supposed to ride nicely rides poorly.

[DerekTheGreat]

Makes sense, my car's build date is 05/88. I think the next month was when everything changed.

Wow, that's a late build '88! Mine is 08/87. Does your check engine light work? Mine is there, just not wired up. Heard that was a sign of an early build '88, that the later cars' CELs actually worked.

[nfldfordltd]

Wow, that's a late build '88! Mine is 08/87. Does your check engine light work? Mine is there, just not wired up. Heard that was a sign of an early build '88, that the later cars' CELs actually worked.

Mine doesn't have a CEL at all. Blank space in the panel.
AFAIK, the 88 model year ran from spring 87 to fall 88. Hence higher production numbers for 88 than all other years of Lincolns in the 80s.

[DerekTheGreat]

It's probably there like mine. And if it's like mine, it's wired up at the idiot light pod and all, just not wired up somewhere else downstream. I had mine out once upon a time and verified. I just don't know where to trace it to without hacking the dash up.

[gadget73]

if you ever get a copy of the complete wiring diagram for the car, that would probably tell you where the wire ends. Short of that it turns into "exploratory surgery" to try and find it. No thank you.

[DerekTheGreat]

Yeah, I think it definitely requires surgery. I later found an '88 TC at a yard and hacked that up as someone already took a hacksaw to the dash. Wire went somewhere on top of the steering column and then off to the left to pass through the firewall. I lost it/gave up right around there as I knew I'd never want to go that far into my own car just for a light which, as you put it, mostly never comes on or flickers.

[gadget73]

Thats basically what I did when I was considering a digital dash swap. I got a good look inside of a digi dash car in the junkyard and noped right out of that idea.

The only possible glitch is if you live in one of those really stupid states that demands a CEL that works. I know a guy on another forum who had an 88 and had that problem. I think he ultimately fixed it by changing the light cluster to one without the CEL and going to a different inspector.

[DerekTheGreat]

Now that's an idea. I think I might even try that, as sometimes anal retentive me sees the CEL and knows it doesn't work. If the '87 and down pods work I might try one of those instead when I finally remove my cluster to fix the clock. Need a minty one though.

[gadget73]

you could probably also take it apart and change the lens. I believe the CEL goes where my car has the "ALARM" lamp for the optional security system.

[nfldfordltd]

So my car now has a complete HO conversion, complete with HO upper, bored out EGR spacer and 89 HO throttle body. I was running an 86 style 58mm TB bore until now since 2017. Seems to have really woken the engine up, I'm happy with it.
Also finally got at the rear axle recently. Tore out the 3.08 peg-leg and now running a K-code locking differential. That really helps to bring out the best of the 5.0 HO. Cruising on the highway is so nice now, not labouring, OD hunting and losing it on the slightest hills. Still plenty fast on the top end and not a total turd at lower speeds.

[Lutrova]

That better hill performance makes the HO conversion tempting. What effect did it have on your fuel economy?

[nfldfordltd]

That better hill performance makes the HO conversion tempting. What effect did it have on your fuel economy?

As of now, the fuel economy is worse than before, but only because I've been driving it like I stole it because it's so much fun now lol. I need to fill and run sensibly and work out the numbers once the novelty of having something more ballsy wears off.

[87gtVIC]

So my car now has a complete HO conversion, complete with HO upper, bored out EGR spacer and 89 HO throttle body. I was running an 86 style 58mm TB bore until now since 2017. Seems to have really woken the engine up, I'm happy with it.
Also finally got at the rear axle recently. Tore out the 3.08 peg-leg and now running a K-code locking differential. That really helps to bring out the best of the 5.0 HO. Cruising on the highway is so nice now, not labouring, OD hunting and losing it on the slightest hills. Still plenty fast on the top end and not a total turd at lower speeds.

Awesome. Great to hear.