Prudence, my 87 Town Car

[gadget73]

the smog pump is there to warm up the cats quicker. The old style cats also sometimes needed extra oxygen to do their thing. If your lower cats are gone, the only thing its doing is pushing some extra air in the pipe, and mostly only when cold. Later cats are 2 stage, one side generates extra oxygen, the other side uses it, so it doesn't need the external connection.

[Lutrova]

Went on a whim to the junkyard in Hesperia this past Sunday. There was a '90 P74 Crown Vic that had come into the yard that Friday, and I was hopeful it might have a rear sway bar. Sure enough, it did, though I believe it's the smaller, handling package bar. But I understand that any rear sway bar is better than nothing, and for $25 it seems like it's worth a shot. I had to get past a black widow while taking the wheels off, my first desert spider encounter while living down here. The drums were covered in what I think were egg sacs and former spiders. Glad that wasn't my car.



I also grabbed the washer fluid reservoir. Haven't tested the pump or sensor, but it does hold water. David, I know you had passed up one long ago due to broken mounting tabs, and this one's no better in that regard. But if you want it, let me know, otherwise I'll compare it to the '90 TC reservoir to see which one fits my inner fender better.



Side question: the 90s Boxes moved some relays from the fender to the vacuum reservoir to free up space for the washer tank, but is there anything special about the way they're mounted on the 80s Boxes? Are they grounded through the fender or would otherwise not function if I unbolted them and let them dangle?

[Mainemantom]

Was that junkyard in a valley like a dry lake bed? There are a bunch of yards there. Hopefully you got the bolts and spacers with the bar ? Black widows, O yes. Look before you work. Nasty bites . Do NOT kill a tarantula though. Big and ugly, but they are your friend.

[Lutrova]

No, it was the LKQ yard in Hesperia, which is along some railroad tracks. I have been to the LKQ yard in Victorville, or rather a little northwest of it. That one spans either bank of a dry river bed - or perhaps it's an arroyo, if you will. I know there are plenty of good yards out here, especially in the desert, but I like the way the LKQ chain will notify you of vehicles as soon as they come in, and the prices are all published online. Takes a lot of the mystery out of the day, which is important for me because any trip beyond Victorville is an all day event.

I did grab all the hardware with the bar. But I'm planning to paint it before I put it in. Just need to wait for the wind to die down. There were gusts up to 50 mph today - one of them blew down part of our fence. Luckily we're on post and it's a rental, so not my problem.

As for the black widow, if it had a spouse, it's a widower now.

[DerekTheGreat]

Pics or it didn't happen. Speaking of, you need to make us rust belters cry with photos of the all the "good" cars that are junked out your way. Wife and I went to a yard in FLA when we visited my dad and almost cried with the clean old cars that were discarded..

[87gtVIC]

Went on a whim to the junkyard in Hesperia this past Sunday. There was a '90 P74 Crown Vic that had come into the yard that Friday, and I was hopeful it might have a rear sway bar. Sure enough, it did, though I believe it's the smaller, handling package bar. But I understand that any rear sway bar is better than nothing, and for $25 it seems like it's worth a shot. I had to get past a black widow while taking the wheels off, my first desert spider encounter while living down here. The drums were covered in what I think were egg sacs and former spiders. Glad that wasn't my car.



I also grabbed the washer fluid reservoir. Haven't tested the pump or sensor, but it does hold water. David, I know you had passed up one long ago due to broken mounting tabs, and this one's no better in that regard. But if you want it, let me know, otherwise I'll compare it to the '90 TC reservoir to see which one fits my inner fender better.



Side question: the 90s Boxes moved some relays from the fender to the vacuum reservoir to free up space for the washer tank, but is there anything special about the way they're mounted on the 80s Boxes? Are they grounded through the fender or would otherwise not function if I unbolted them and let them dangle?

You can test fit it with your car. If you pass on it maybe we can work something out. I would not use it other than test fitting and if it passes that test I would peruse a suitable replacement to install into my car. My question and something I pretty much now the answer of is if it clears the fender braces that wagons come with.

Nice score on the bar and hardware.

[Mainemantom]

Pics or it didn't happen. Speaking of, you need to make us rust belters cry with photos of the all the "good" cars that are junked out your way. Wife and I went to a yard in FLA when we visited my dad and almost cried with the clean old cars that were discarded..

Yes too many nice vehicles are junked before their time. Either tired of it, Didn't pass smog and the repair person wanted to rip them off, so they junked it, impounds. Even back in the early 70s dealers junked great cars because they were WHITE. Dealers did not want white on their lots. I remember rows of beautiful cars just a few years old in San Diego at A-1 Metals. Junk yard had to agree not to sell them as whole cars. Gave me PTSD on that issue.

[DerekTheGreat]

Jeez... You know, I didn't like white until I owned a white car. Was the first car I ever insured actually, but I came to love the color. Forget what GM called it but it had a very, very slight blue hue to it, was a '94 Grand Am.

[Lutrova]

Got the car back together and running last night for the first time in a month. Unfortunately, the exhaust leak I set out to fix is noticeably worse. Or it's moved. I can clearly hear a tick on acceleration coming from below the passenger floor and a generally louder exhaust sound, whereas before the leak was only audible when reflected off curbs or nearby walls. Will have to hook the vacuum up to a tailpipe and check for leaks. The obvious culprit would be the manifold to downpipe connection. There is no play in the pipes, but the way those two pieces connect make me think I might have them seated wrong. Really hoping it's not between the manifold and head or anything with the smog pump tubes.

Other than that all the other recent acquisitions seem to be working well. Fan shroud and coolant overflow are in, as is the new air intake. Definitely like having all this open space beside the engine now. I'm waiting to install the washer reservoir while I figure out what to do with the fender liner and the newly displaced relays.



The rear sway bar seems to have cut down on body roll a bit, though it's still a boat. I'm glad I have it installed anyway.

[Tiggie]

Looking modern under there.

[Mainemantom]

Looks very good. I would like to do that mod to one of my Lincolns. Need a good junkyard to go to.

[87gtVIC]

Very nice. I was quite happy the first time I did that do my car..big improvement in the looks department.

[DerekTheGreat]

Yeah, that really cleans & opens things up in there.

[Lutrova]

Took another look at the exhaust last night, this time with the vacuum hooked up. Had a major leak at the passenger manifold to downpipe connection, as I suspected. Took a little coaxing to reseat, but fortunately the passenger side flange is the easier of the two to get to. Still have some little leaks to take care of, but things are much quieter now.

Drove Prudence down to Barstow today for groceries. I'm definitely noticing a decent amount of vibration, both at cruising speed but moreso at idle. It goes away, though, if I shift into park. Since it happens at idle I assume it's not the brakes. The differential has always whined on acceleration, but that hasn't seemed to change recently. I'm not really sure how to go about diagnosing from here.

On another note, I started to hear a clank, like driving over a steel plate or railroad tracks, when going over bumps or dips. Turns out one of the sway bar bushings finally gave up the ghost. I measure 31/32" with the calipers, but most bushings I see online are 15/16". Is that close enough?

[gadget73]

Does it do this when idling and not moving? If so that sounds like either a misfire or really shitty motor mounts.

If it only happens when moving, go for the U joints.


15/16 is 30/32, the rubber will give 1/32 easily.