kishy's 1984 Town Car

[kishy]

A few topics here:

The seat bottom:



The seat switch, barely visible, laying flat:



Older and newer parts:



Cardboard supports which didn't help:




Re-examined putting a correct Town Car hood ornament (shorter, wider) on the Mark VI grille surround (as that is what is on my car). No go.
1. The angle of the "peak" is more aggressive on the Mark VI surround, thus the base of the Town Car one will not lay correctly on it (leaves a gap at the front corners)
2. The locating pegs to keep it oriented correctly are spaced very slightly off and don't align quite right. The Mark VI ornament base has a third peg which would make it even more impossible to use it unmodified on a Town Car surround.
3. The round ridge on the underside of the ornament base is larger on the Town Car ornament, and won't go into the hole of the Mark VI grille surround.
4. The Town Car ornament cannot be attached to the Mark VI ornament base, as the 'pivoting foot part' at the bottom is larger and shaped different.

So, basically, gotta swap back to a Town Car grille surround if I want it to fit properly. Thing with that is, the Town Car one is a little less squared off in its overall styling. The Mark VI grille better matches the faux grille in the bumper. It isn't clear to me that the Mark VI grille insert will properly fit the Town Car grille surround. These parts were made significantly different despite their similarities. More tinkering to be done here yet.












Washed the car and dug out the Bleche-Wite (please, for the love of the flying spaghetti monster...the first word is not and never has been "bleach"). Stylin'.









This is literally the car's worst angle, I think, and it still works it OK:








The new dashcam, Viofo A129 Duo:





So far, I like it, but I have some gripes with the form factor and mounting. Overall it seems like a decent device though.


Power antenna...I swapped in the good junkyard one today.
It is plug-n-play. Unplug the antenna relay, plug the new antenna "fake relay" into the relay connector, and leave the original antenna connector hanging disconnected. Works like new. I'll definitely be watching for this exact unit in all junkyard Townies going forward.

I also have a Mark VI antenna but I think its really weird proprietary relay thing is somehow defective as no amount of prodding I've done can make it do anything useful. Oh well.



This is our hero, the new one:



My factory original:



The Mark VI:





Original relay above, new antenna "fake relay" pigtail is connected:





I also got a great condition shift knob off the white junkyard 84. It is now where it belongs.

[87gtVIC]

Looking good.

Anyway you can shave down the base of the hood ornament and make it fit within the cup of the other one? Or would that result in the opposite combination of what you were after?

[DerekTheGreat]

What David said, I love that brown. Reminds me I need to find a nice shift knob, mine is peeling.

[gadget73]

The best and worst thing about white walls is that they look really nice when clean, but only when clean. Otherwise they're awful. If I could have found decent quality WW for my Conti it would have them. They look proper on wire spoke wheels.

Pics of inside of goofy antenna relay? Is it a relay with a bunch of circuitry as well? If so its probably the same goofy one my Continental has. Mine had an obviously melted trace and simply fixing the melted spot made it work correctly. The antenna is original but it was mechanically jacked up when I got it and wouldn't stop running. I suspect the trace turned itself into a thermal fuse. Not an option now, its bridged with desoldering braid.

[BigMerc96]

Meh. I like the Continental ornament a little better. Coincidentally(well maybe not), it looks a lot like the Aero ornament. I was toying with the idea of changing mine out for one off a early FWD Conti, the ones with the lucite in em, but decided to just stick with the '90-'97 style. I've been thru 3 of them. The original was gold and in disgusting condition, the 2nd was extremely nice but some asshole broke it in the parkinglot at Meijer and left it on my hood, 3rd is not as nice as the 2nd but it was cheep on eBay and its better than no ornament and its not like the car is winning any prizes in its condition anyway.

[kishy]

Looking good.

Anyway you can shave down the base of the hood ornament and make it fit within the cup of the other one? Or would that result in the opposite combination of what you were after?

Yes, that would achieve the combination I want, but the plating would be an issue as there will be no way to zip through it that doesn't make the plating lift. At least I suspect.

However I'm realizing there are other things I don't like here. Ever since I did the header swap I've disliked the profile forward of the end of the hood because it's "different". Essentially it slopes more, and is more pointy. I need to see if the entire grille surround can swap. If it can, I think it will be the compromise I want. I had previously established that the parts are keyed to prevent you doing that but keys can be defeated with pliers and such. What remains unknown until I try, is if the profile of the header panel can mate to the profile of the grille surround. Then there's the issue of the grille no longer matching the bumper grille but whatever. I ran that way before the header panel swap and it didn't bug me then.

The best and worst thing about white walls is that they look really nice when clean, but only when clean. Otherwise they're awful. If I could have found decent quality WW for my Conti it would have them. They look proper on wire spoke wheels.

Pics of inside of goofy antenna relay? Is it a relay with a bunch of circuitry as well? If so its probably the same goofy one my Continental has. Mine had an obviously melted trace and simply fixing the melted spot made it work correctly. The antenna is original but it was mechanically jacked up when I got it and wouldn't stop running. I suspect the trace turned itself into a thermal fuse. Not an option now, its bridged with desoldering braid.

Yeah, white walls are a curse in that way. They are so unforgiving. My driveway being made of mud does not help.

I will put the antenna relay on my "list"...the one in my head, of all the things I intend to talk about here. It'll happen, just not now. lol.

Meh. I like the Continental ornament a little better. Coincidentally(well maybe not), it looks a lot like the Aero ornament. I was toying with the idea of changing mine out for one off a early FWD Conti, the ones with the lucite in em, but decided to just stick with the '90-'97 style. I've been thru 3 of them. The original was gold and in disgusting condition, the 2nd was extremely nice but some asshole broke it in the parkinglot at Meijer and left it on my hood, 3rd is not as nice as the 2nd but it was cheep on eBay and its better than no ornament and its not like the car is winning any prizes in its condition anyway.

I like the wider ornament mainly because it is quite unlike the Lincoln emblem everyone knows...the taller skinnier one stuck with the brand all the way up to present. The shorter wider one is "different". I guess I'm an automotive hipster.





Exhaust sound video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWDYff8c11A

Returned yesterday from a much needed one week vacation, once again on Pelee Island (pelee.org, Wikipedia). A new and controversial ferry, MV Pelee Islander II, is in service this year. The government tender for its construction was awarded to a Chilean company, Asenav, and while the vessel is much nicer than what it will soon replace, I spotted some shoddy workmanship and that pales in the face of the insult it was to our local community and local shipbuilding company that didn't get the contract. Even if it had cost more (and it was never established that it would have), keeping the money in Canada seemed like such an obvious choice...but what's done is done and the new ferry will be used for decades to come, shoddy welds and weird pot-metal latches included.

The Town Car performed phenomenally for this trip as it has in the past. The Swagman XTC-4 hitch mount carrier performed as I hoped, and the Air Lift helpers in the rear coils kept the car level when loaded down with 3 people, the week's supplies for said 3 people, which might not seem like much in weight, but bottled water is one of those supplies. The platform-style bike carrier proved far superior to the hanging-style and despite weighing a ton (70lbs, roughly) I will never go back to the trunklid-strap style. Especially when handling "cruiser" style bikes, the platform carrier really proves itself. Hanging a cruiser frame is complicated as the tubes do not go the places that bike carrier designers want them to go.
















Unrelated in all respects, I bought the Harbor Freight house brand Bauer cordless angle grinder, with 3Ah battery. $5 off coupon for the grinder, battery at regular price (meh), charger open box at $5 off. Seems like a decent tool. The intent is to simplify junkyard removal of things like rear axles/control arms/sway bars and exhaust parts, where the fasteners are doing an excellent job of fastening and don't respond to normal tools. I'm excited to find something to use it on. The cordless reciprocating saw of course still has use for the same things, but it's a bigger more awkward tool.

[87gtVIC]

They let you take in angle grinders up there and in Detroit? Its a no no in the yards out in PA that I frequent.


That bike carrier looks good. Much more rugged than the lay on the trunk deal. Plus I am against anything touching the paint/body panels.

[kishy]

They let you take in angle grinders up there and in Detroit? Its a no no in the yards out in PA that I frequent.


That bike carrier looks good. Much more rugged than the lay on the trunk deal. Plus I am against anything touching the paint/body panels.

Most likely, it is not actually allowed...but hell, I brought in a corded grinder and used it on an outlet beside a vending machine once. I suppose if I get turned away with it, well, that's fine. It will still see use anyway.

Another reason for wanting it is that I have a sneaking suspicion the HFT Bauer tools might...miiiiiight...use the same batteries as Canadian Tire store brand Mastercraft tools (after all, the Chinese tool makers are only working off so many reference designs...). This will be quick to verify once I finally go out to my damn garage but it's rainy and I feel unmotivated.

The trunk mount bike carrier I've used, which is the same one my mom used when she brought me on these same trips as a single-digit-age kid, is definitely rugged. Fairly substantial materials. I have no confidence issues with it, necessarily, but it's more the convenience of getting into the trunk, loading/unloading the bikes, and as you mentioned, paint contact. Not that my paint is great, but someday this car will get a paintjob and then it will start to matter more.

[gadget73]

Sometimes a sawzall will be allowed where a grinder will not be. No sparks (usually) with a sawzall so much less chance of setting something on fire.

[DerekTheGreat]

That is why I like my Town Car for road trips. Only thing comfier would be a late 80's early 90's glass eye Econoline conversion van. Guess a GM offering would work too. But the air assist in the back is nice and there is plenty of room for cargo. It just pains me to know that when on road trips, it will not see a garage and sees the elements. Why I might sell it. It's either that or moth ball it.

[gadget73]

honestly my Continental is more comfortable, half for the seats, the other half because of the annoying-ass mufflers. Need to fix that shit, I'd enjoy driving the car a lot more if it didn't cause me back pain and ear ringing.

[DerekTheGreat]

They don't bother us.. But it does take some settling in and then with all the room we have it's easy to settle in and watch the miles roll on the odometer. I let my turd roll at 65, she's happy there. I'd do 70 if I had an HO equipped VII. Maybe I'll trade for one...

[kishy]

These mufflers do not drone noticeably. They aren't silent, but there's nothing bad happening. Wind noise is far more annoying, as is my very noisy speedometer cable. Noise level is lower (as you'd hope) than when the exhaust ended after the Y-pipe, which is how it was before I did the exhaust.

The Panther seats are absolute junk. Less-so when in good shape, but even then, it's like a plush park bench. I need to find some proper Chrysler buckets (I swear they're the only domestic automaker that knew how to make seats in the 80s) and toss em into this thing.

[DerekTheGreat]

LoL too bad the rest of the Chrysler was a hold over from the 70's. (Fifth Avenue..)

I think the seats are fine, but I think I'm the only one who does, that and Ashley.

[gadget73]

I think a chunk of foam in the lower back area would take care of it honestly. Surprisingly the Conti seats are fine in that regard, and they do not look like anything special at all. They're far from mint too.