kishy's 1985 Country Squire

[kishy]

You might want to check the wheel bearings for any play.

It has 95-97 front end stuff - I don't think that is a likely failure this early in the life of the hub-bearing. Still maybe a good idea to check overall wheel play in all directions from any potential cause, of course.

Wagons are fun to drive...

It's pretty fantastic. It gets lots of attention, too.


Bumped the idle. Cold weather was making 2-footing necessary until it warmed up. Some day, I'll fix the cold idle bits. Still a bit ticked off about those screws breaking off.

Last night, added a 4-flat trailer connector. Pulled all the driver side rear quarter plastics out and tapped in (solder, not crimp splices) in the driver rear corner. Would prefer everything to be relayed, but I didn't feel like pulling a new wire back from the battery. There's a looooot of car to cover in between. Not sure how the factory tow wiring works, this car doesn't have it. EVTM is MIA. I'm suspecting there's a whole sub-harness that probably starts somewhere near the fuse panel on cars so-equipped.

Oil sprayed the inside of the quarter panel...I was there anyway and it's kind of irritating to access so it made sense.







Test fitted the Ranger Trailer using a typical drawbar, flipped to rise instead of drop. Fits close...pretty much ideal really. The ball is as close as mechanically possible to the hitch mounting points.

[mitymerc]

The MegaMerc had a new never used wiring kit in the well.

[gadget73]

Factory tow wiring has 3 relays in the trunk that are wired into the rear lights. Two for turn, one for parking. Power feeds from the starter relay through those relays to the trailer connector. Makes it so the trailer doesn't affect the blink rate and it puts basically no extra load on the stock light circuits. There is also usually wiring to the front kick panel area for a brake controller, and a charge wire in the trailer harness. Don't recall if that is switched or not. Its a no bullshit trailer wiring system.

[87gtVIC]

If you find you have issues I did mine this way:

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthread.php?26257-My-1987-Two-Door-Crown-Victoria-AKA-THE-BROWN-BLOB&p=828036&viewfull=1#post828036

Still need to source power..which i understand is not fun running all the way to the back.

I have yet to tow anything...but the system works as it should after testing it out with a 4 blade tester.

[kishy]

One of those trailer power module things (probably just full of relays) is an attractive option for being neat, integrated, and easy. I may go that route if a very cheap one comes my way. I want to do some rear power distribution anyway, maybe a couple 12V sockets and USB chargers in the driver side storage cubby, so I'll just pull something like a 10ga wire to the back and distribute as appropriate. When I get to it.

The Gas-a-Justs arrived today, and have been installed. 5500km on the blue Monroes. They are super garbage, but not any worse than they were when they were new...it's just how they are. They came out effortlessly thanks to my liberal use of anti-seize. All 4 shocks replaced in a little over an hour. Not bad. Car handles way better as expected.

[DerekTheGreat]

"Fix the cigarette lighter."

(Leaking diff cover gasket)

[kishy]

I don't actually think the diff cover is leaking. I didn't clean it when it was off, and it looks about the same as I remember.
The engine, on the other hand...oh boy is that leaking. The whole driver side of the pan is soaked. It may be the pan gasket, I don't think the issue is further up (rear of intake or valve cover).

The amazing thing is that this one doesn't seem to have a pinion seal leak.

[DerekTheGreat]

Oh, your confidence!

Most everything seal related I do I clean stuff to help me check for leaks later, because of course I'm paranoid there will be some.

[gadget73]

The pinion seal on the Conti dumped a puddle of oil on the garage floor in about 3 days. Probably the first time the oil level had been correct in a long time and it was not happy about it. Most of them just weep enough to make a mess on the diff without actually drooling on the ground.

[DerekTheGreat]

That was the diff in Ashley's C1500. ONce I filled it to the proper level, it began leaking like mad. I don't tolerate leaks from a diff at all.

[kishy]

With the pandemic being what it is, my usual yearly vacation to Pelee Island with my boyfriend and mother didn't happen in May. The island is a small, relatively isolated community, and the ferry is government-run, so it was to everyone's advantage to just not even try at that time. We were, however, able to pull it off for the past week of the 4th through today, and it was a great week weather-wise. Pelee Island is the southernmost inhabited part of Canada, has its own micro-climate and the past week was almost summerlike.

This also happens to be where I dragged the wagon home from 3 years ago, so it was kind of neat to bring the car back now that it's fully up and running*.
*: a thorough go-through of engine management is still required

Some pics:

Back at the house I collected it from. As Americans are not currently allowed in Canada, the American property owners were not present.


Found this one again...it's been around the island for a long time.


















The lower shock bolts on the passenger side are a problem and I will be addressing them before the weekend is over. At first I thought the (admittedly shit quality) hardware I used had stripped, but the spot welded nut is no longer welded and the bolt has wiggled its way most of the way out. I have some U-nuts to solve this. It's Thanksgiving on Monday, so the long weekend is a nice bonus on top of the last week off.

[87gtVIC]

I'll say it again. You sure have a knack for taking photos.


I did a double take with the first Crown Victoria photo. At first glance I thought he was sporting a unique (and extra shiny) roof top cargo carrier.

[Tiggie]

It would seem you favor the wagon for road tripping. Can’t say I blame you. They are made for it.

[gadget73]

those lower shock mounts are not very good. Mine stripped out a long time ago. I have some crappy speed nuts in there holding it together but at some point in the future I really should come up with a better fix. I have a rivet nut installer tool at work, possibly that is the solution. My other thought was drop the control arm and weld nuts inside, but I really don't feel like dealing with the springs again.

[87gtVIC]

those lower shock mounts are not very good. Mine stripped out a long time ago. I have some crappy speed nuts in there holding it together but at some point in the future I really should come up with a better fix. I have a rivet nut installer tool at work, possibly that is the solution. My other thought was drop the control arm and weld nuts inside, but I really don't feel like dealing with the springs again.

I hear you on that. Same boat here. Want to do it the right way but those springs........