kishy's 1985 Country Squire

[kishy]

...Hood and wipers came off to make access easier.

The reciprocating saw dealie is not going to help at all, I've concluded. Utility knife to cut out the adhesive around the edge of the glass, cold knife to go around sides and top, piano wire to zip across the bottom. If I break it, oh well, there'll be more and there's no time crunch here so it's not like my daily is off the road waiting for a windshield...

I did it exactly that way today in the yard. Worked like a charm.

...Transporting the windshield is another thing entirely. I don't want to drive the Ranger until it has its clutch job done at least, so the Lincoln is going to do what it does so well and act like a truck. Measurements confirm the windshield will fit on the passenger seat like I've done with bumpers, but I'll need to be very careful to avoid flexing the glass. Lots of cardboard to line everything too...

It was a very snug fit, but the windshield did fit in the car. Seats all the way reclined, cardboard lining entire seat surface, windshield in through driver door then swung up and over the seats onto the passenger side. The windshield height is pretty much exactly the same as the space between the door panel armrests and the side of the driver seat, so it fit like a glove. For future windshield jobs I would use the truck though.

[Mainemantom]

Good job !! How difficult was the seal to cut through ? All the ones I did were in the desert, so they were hard and dry. That is why I use the release agent. What did the JY charge for the used windshield ?

[kishy]

Good job !! How difficult was the seal to cut through ? All the ones I did were in the desert, so they were hard and dry. That is why I use the release agent. What did the JY charge for the used windshield ?

Seal was squishy, knife kept sticking in it. Dish soap and water in a spray bottle made it cut like butter though.

$27.99 USD plus MI sales tax (6%) = $29.67 USD = approximately $37 CAD and customs didn't give me any sort of issues bringing it back. Oh, and there's a $2 fee to enter the yard, but I pay that just to browse anyway so I don't factor it in.

Considering used is unavailable entirely my side of the border, and the new thin crappy ones are upwards of $250 installed, I don't mind doing it this way. Not out of the woods yet though. Still need to get it out of the Lincoln without breaking it, clean the old goop off without breaking it, and install it without breaking it, so there's plenty of opportunity for this to go wrong still.

[DerekTheGreat]

Say what? You can put the autolamp feature in any Ford car?

Were boxes prewired for them regardless if they got the option or not?

[kishy]

Say what? You can put the autolamp feature in any Ford car?

Were boxes prewired for them regardless if they got the option or not?

Not sure about the prewired thing...but as for moving them to other vehicles, the circuit is pretty straightforward and you could easily transplant the required stuff. Install could range from "functional hackjob" to "clean like factory" depending on your level of dedication. Unless I'm mistaken one could also just use the sensor and a relay to make autolamps be on permanently and without the delay function...

[DerekTheGreat]

I see. I'm a "clean like factory" kind of guy.

[gadget73]

dunno, I never found it to be valuable enough to bother with. My Towncar didn't come with it and still does not have it. Pull the knob, it ain't that hard.

[kishy]

dunno, I never found it to be valuable enough to bother with. My Towncar didn't come with it and still does not have it. Pull the knob, it ain't that hard.

I mainly like it because of the headlamp doors, but that's just the kid in me I think.

Also there is some function in having the driveway illuminated after exiting the car at night. Various fauna occupy my property.

[gadget73]

never trusted that part. The Mark VII has it, but the delayed exit is turned off. I got tired of standing next to the car to make sure the lights were actually going to shut off.

[WagonMan]

On my 90 Colony Park, if I turn the left hand signal on when I shut the car off, the Auto-lamp system keeps the headlights on as well as the cornering lamp, which illuminates my front porch so I can see where I'm going and find the key hole in my house door. WagonMan

[VicCrownVic]

Yeah, pull the knob isn't hard, but being so used to auto headlamps I tend to forget pushing the knob back in especially if I had the lights on because of rain and it's not dark enough for the lights to catch my attention when I get out (also I've disabled the chime on all my cars). My solution to my forgetfulness is to place a hat over the sensor when I need the lights on but it's not dark enough for the auto feature to turn them on. Wedge the bill of the hat between the windshield and dash and it stays put.

[DerekTheGreat]

And the anal OCD in me doesn't like pulling the knob because it wears it out. My stuff is factory stiff and the detents are nice and tight still along with the sensitivity controls. My ATC slider used to be tighter along with the HVA/C controls too, since the old man never used them much. I'm an air conditioned gypsy though, so I'm always using that in the summer or floor in the winter.

[kishy]

After discovering exactly how different the Ford is from the Lincoln (engine harness functionally the same, but other stuff...yikes), I bought a seemingly new copy of the 85 Ford/Mercury EVTM. I've bought from VintageAutoLiterature on eBay before and always been pleased with what I received. There's one left...

Once I have that I should be able to better help BirdOfPrey with the Tripminder wiring as well as better understand my own car. I went looking to try to figure it out and found too much extra stuff vs the Lincoln to be sure what it was.

Here, have some sad wagon:



The broken windshield is still sitting in place, but the adhesive is all cut out. I'm going to tape it up before trying to lift it out when it's time to put the new glass in.

[VicCrownVic]

But a sad wagon is still better than no wagon.

[Birdofprey]

Once I have that I should be able to better help BirdOfPrey with the Tripminder wiring as well as better understand my own car. I went looking to try to figure it out and found too much extra stuff vs the Lincoln to be sure what it was.

Awesome, thank you! Just looking at what that seller has, looks like he's selling a whole dealership on ebay!