This is my 1987 Signature level Town Car, named Prudence by my wife. I bought it back in June of 2019 for $1200 from a guy who had bought it the previous year from his neighbor, who inherited it from his father, who I believe was the original and longstanding owner. (It took all summer to sort out the title between the two of them, but that's a story for a different time.) It seemed the car more or less sat between the original owner's passing and my purchase, but before that had received fairly regular maintenance. Coming from Tacoma, it was rust free with a good vinyl top. The paint was redone in a somewhat middling fashion at some point in the last 5-10 years and is currently single stage.
The first few projects after buying the car were getting all the windows working and replacing a lot of light bulbs. Pretty must all the exterior lights but turn signals, head and taillights had burned out, and I've been swapping out those and all interior bulbs out for LEDs. The car came with chrome window vent covers, but they were a little beat up and I didn't care for the look, so I removed them. It also had an aftermarket tint that had long since turned purple. That was replaced with a ceramic tint, which I hope should resist color fading and provide better UV blocking. I also had a 2" hitch receiver installed. My wife drives a Honda Fit, and while it's remarkably roomy for such a small car, I figured it would be prudent for one of our vehicles to be able to tow a trailer.
In November 2019 my wife and I moved from Tacoma to the Mojave, driving the Town Car down the coast in an abbreviated honeymoon. We lost the ignition pickup just south of Eureka, but otherwise the car held up well. This move took us from three blocks away from a mechanic to about 40 miles. I had next to no experience with auto mechanics up to this point, but out of necessity have been picking it up since. But while I have exterior photos posted, I should mention the things I've changed. Prudence originally came with the fake wire wheel covers. I picked up a set of "luxury wheel covers", which I believe were an option on Continentals in the mid 70s. They seem to highlight the need for whitewalls, but the current tires are only two years old so it may be awhile before that happens.
Removing decades of oxidation from the grille has been an ongoing project, currently about 3/4 done in the picture below. I also pulled apart the headlight bezels and cleaned up the reflector lenses that sit between the headlights. The headlights themselves were swapped out with e-code housings and LED bulbs. I tell myself the sharp cutoff of the e-codes mean the brighter LEDs aren't too irresponsible, and I definitely appreciate the improved light levels, but I'm sure Daniel Stern would disagree. This was also done without a headlight relay, which I don't think is necessary for the LEDs, but is probably still a good idea for the headlight switch.
The interior is in pretty good shape. There are the typical issues: cracked dash pad, both front door armrests are starting to go, and the ATC sensor has gone out. The leather is solid, apart from some splitting on the outside ends of the driver's seat 'pillows'. It received the Leatherique treatment this spring. I bought a set of floor mats from a whale TC to replace the generic Wal-Mart mats the car came with. The newer carpet isn't nearly as thick as the 80s stuff, but it gets the job done. I also swapped out the radio, which was some cheapo aftermarket head unit when I bought it. The replacement unit is also cheapo, but with a matte black finish that's less offensive, and includes bluetooth, aux, and SD card inputs. I have a stock premium sound unit sitting on my desk right now, but its day has yet to come.
The engine bay has received the most love this summer. A 3G alternator swap happened in February, right after the stock alternator's pulley bolt worked itself out on a return trip from Phoenix. This was followed in May by a loose vacuum hose to the MAP sensor, which quickly escalated into an intake manifold gasket replacement, which spiraled into sanding down and polishing the intake manifold. I also replaced the hood insulation, PCV valve and filter, most coolant hoses, vacuum lines, and a lot of the emissions stuff. There are still leaks from the rear main seal, transmission, and the power steering has been giving me grief. But all in all, the engine bay is a lot cleaner than when the year began.
At this point the car is in decent shape. I'm currently hunting down an exhaust leak somewhere up front, and will continue to deal with anything else that breaks over time. I don't have a particularly strong desire to modify the engine right now. Not after having spent dozens of hours on the intake manifold, anyway. Future projects will probably involve restoring small features that have been lost and making aesthetic improvements - paint, trim, leather, etc.
Mileage currently sits just shy of 85,000, or almost 15,000 more than when I bought it. Hopefully the car will last long enough to see the odometer turn over a couple times.
The first few projects after buying the car were getting all the windows working and replacing a lot of light bulbs. Pretty must all the exterior lights but turn signals, head and taillights had burned out, and I've been swapping out those and all interior bulbs out for LEDs. The car came with chrome window vent covers, but they were a little beat up and I didn't care for the look, so I removed them. It also had an aftermarket tint that had long since turned purple. That was replaced with a ceramic tint, which I hope should resist color fading and provide better UV blocking. I also had a 2" hitch receiver installed. My wife drives a Honda Fit, and while it's remarkably roomy for such a small car, I figured it would be prudent for one of our vehicles to be able to tow a trailer.
In November 2019 my wife and I moved from Tacoma to the Mojave, driving the Town Car down the coast in an abbreviated honeymoon. We lost the ignition pickup just south of Eureka, but otherwise the car held up well. This move took us from three blocks away from a mechanic to about 40 miles. I had next to no experience with auto mechanics up to this point, but out of necessity have been picking it up since. But while I have exterior photos posted, I should mention the things I've changed. Prudence originally came with the fake wire wheel covers. I picked up a set of "luxury wheel covers", which I believe were an option on Continentals in the mid 70s. They seem to highlight the need for whitewalls, but the current tires are only two years old so it may be awhile before that happens.
Removing decades of oxidation from the grille has been an ongoing project, currently about 3/4 done in the picture below. I also pulled apart the headlight bezels and cleaned up the reflector lenses that sit between the headlights. The headlights themselves were swapped out with e-code housings and LED bulbs. I tell myself the sharp cutoff of the e-codes mean the brighter LEDs aren't too irresponsible, and I definitely appreciate the improved light levels, but I'm sure Daniel Stern would disagree. This was also done without a headlight relay, which I don't think is necessary for the LEDs, but is probably still a good idea for the headlight switch.
The interior is in pretty good shape. There are the typical issues: cracked dash pad, both front door armrests are starting to go, and the ATC sensor has gone out. The leather is solid, apart from some splitting on the outside ends of the driver's seat 'pillows'. It received the Leatherique treatment this spring. I bought a set of floor mats from a whale TC to replace the generic Wal-Mart mats the car came with. The newer carpet isn't nearly as thick as the 80s stuff, but it gets the job done. I also swapped out the radio, which was some cheapo aftermarket head unit when I bought it. The replacement unit is also cheapo, but with a matte black finish that's less offensive, and includes bluetooth, aux, and SD card inputs. I have a stock premium sound unit sitting on my desk right now, but its day has yet to come.
The engine bay has received the most love this summer. A 3G alternator swap happened in February, right after the stock alternator's pulley bolt worked itself out on a return trip from Phoenix. This was followed in May by a loose vacuum hose to the MAP sensor, which quickly escalated into an intake manifold gasket replacement, which spiraled into sanding down and polishing the intake manifold. I also replaced the hood insulation, PCV valve and filter, most coolant hoses, vacuum lines, and a lot of the emissions stuff. There are still leaks from the rear main seal, transmission, and the power steering has been giving me grief. But all in all, the engine bay is a lot cleaner than when the year began.
At this point the car is in decent shape. I'm currently hunting down an exhaust leak somewhere up front, and will continue to deal with anything else that breaks over time. I don't have a particularly strong desire to modify the engine right now. Not after having spent dozens of hours on the intake manifold, anyway. Future projects will probably involve restoring small features that have been lost and making aesthetic improvements - paint, trim, leather, etc.
Mileage currently sits just shy of 85,000, or almost 15,000 more than when I bought it. Hopefully the car will last long enough to see the odometer turn over a couple times.
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