Dr.Hax's journey to madness with a blue 1986 crown victoria

[79lincolnlover]

Does it have the original spare tire?

[DrHax]

Yes it does. That was something that impressed me too when I got it. The "hacked" in double din has been quite a great thing for the usability of the car. Most people like it, but either way I prefer it to say a walmart single din unit.

The car has proven to be very reliable after the fixes. It is currently at 1901xx miles now. The prior owners put about 200 on it. I put on over 2000 so far. I am loving every minute in it.

[Georges86]

Never was a fan of cutting up the trim. It looks out of place to me. I say hacked in, because of the jagged edges.

[DrHax]

The trim wasn't pristine to begin with. The silver on the HVAC was already disappearing, and the area above the ashtray was flaking off. No way to really "Restore" that without getting into faux wood painting or hydro dipping the entire dash. Which would be an excellent way to "repair" the trim With that techique you could just sand down and rebuild with apoxy then hydro dip it and it would look brand new.

You can't really see the edges in the car. You have to get close and personal like the pictures show to even notice it. Most people don't even notice the edges. If you want to see really hacked in look at the link in the box electrical audio subforum. That CVN link was good example to show me what not to do.

I'm more worried about getting the dents and dings out and knocking out the surface rust. I really need to weld up the trunk but I haven't had time at all to even tackle it.

[knucklehead0202]

I'd say you've done very well thus far. Now it's time to noisy up that exhaust and start doing some engine mods! Can't really talk much I guess, all I've done is exhaust so far. Do have a set of edelbrock heads, intake, tb, maf, and other stuff lying in wait though. Bide your time and choose your mods wisely based on what you really need from it and you can't go wrong. Got my company work truck home now so I hardly ever drive the LTD these days and I miss it. Lot cheaper on gas though...

[sly]

I'd be the goober to try and put that door edge silver trim on that bezel to "trim in" the stereo. and then trim in the AC controls the same way to make it match. Something like this crap: http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Chrome-M.../dp/B004QY9O9Y

[DrHax]

Nice! I guess they don't use salt in Minnesota like they do here!

I hear you with never swapping that clock. I've been passively looking for one for a while now. I dig the analog look over the digital. The radio swap you did looks good. The modern upgrade actually fits nicely in the dash. Much more than I was expecting. (This is coming from a dude who swapped the PO's aftermarket radio with an '87... but then again, half my car has been swapped with an '87 )

Crazy option combos are the best. Definitely gives the car character. I like how they went with a clock and radio but said "nahhh" on the passenger side mirror. I mean, how much extra could that have possibly saved them at the dealership? haha Definitely a rare bird you got there.

Side note, I feel like there's something special about the "triple blue" car configuration. From my experience, they always seem to be in decent shape for their age and cost much less than their counterparts. I've owned/own (all triple blue) a '78 LTD, '82 DeVille, '84 Celebrity, '94 TownCar... and they were all $1000 or less. I don't know what it is. Blue's not my favorite color but I seem to keep buying them and they've definitely been my favorites (besides my '89). haha

Every car I buy personal for myself is blue. My first car is a 1968 vw bug that is blue.. now it's multi colour since its been in "project" status for three years now. Yeah.. I feel horrible about that, still I find it amusing Blue 1968 bug, Blue 1986 Crown victoria. Every car I see I want to purchase its always blue. I'm not a "blue" person its just the blue cars always seem to be the best deals usually. Its hilarious in the family my father gets Red cars, my mom gets green cars and I get blue cars.

I do love just how crazy it is that it's "missing" a passenger mirror. It was the first thing I noticed and I was laughing my butt off at it. I personally don't mind it since I have never used that mirror. My fiancee wants to take her drivers test in my LTD so its going to be hilarious seeing the reaction because you only need two working mirrors in MN for the car to be legal. The car is very quirky with power nothing.

The radio has been quite a lovely touch even looking from the rear window to the dash it doesn't look that out of place or out of the norm. Everything else in the car was designed as a square or a rectangle so it just seems to blend right in. It's hilarious having a car this old with every modern day luxury now just because of it. Bluetooth GPS, internet, and I even have a rear view back up camera I am seeing about installing. I got it mocked up with the holes drilled and the wires ran to the trunk. Now I just need to figure out which wires to tap into for the reverse lights. If i knew the pin layout of the socket I could just tap into the socket.

The car has been a very positive thing in my life. I've been treating it well and giving it good oil, good oil filters. The first oil change I stuck in was a high mileage full synthetic which combined with an engine cleaner by around 2000 miles it was about a quart low, but it cleaned out the system. The K&N oil filter weighed a crap ton. The oil was pitch black and afterwards with then new oil change with a motorcraft filter everything is great. I am checking the oil every fill up. I want this damn car to last me a long time. Even if it ends up needing an engine rebuild or swap it'd be worth it to me. Mainly because this car is everything I have wanted and they don't make them anymore. I can't go into a ford dealership and pick up a brand new 2016 car that has a v8 (that I can work on) made out of metal with crank windows and a bench seat with chrome bumpers and a 7 body trunk. Don't exist anymore, and the gas mileage isn't horrible at all. Most people were expecting me to get 12mpg but I'm rocking 20 at least with the bad days being 19 mpg.

I really wish I could find where the original build sheet is for this car. I wish I knew how much it cost back in the day because that would be great to see.

[86VickyLX]

I really wish I could find where the original build sheet is for this car. I wish I knew how much it cost back in the day because that would be great to see.

Build sheet is under the front drivers seat between the wire frame and the padding

[DrHax]

Might be something worth retrieving.

[sly]

Mine was on the passenger seat and shredded in the 88 MGM.

[86VickyLX]

They do tend to be very fragile. Use care when removing.