Fender Liners

[Lutrova]

I have half a mind to go pull a '90 driver's inner fender from the yard tomorrow, but I don't really understand how they're held in place. Specifically, how are the liners secured to the fender itself? Last time I tried getting one I removed all the obvious screws and bolts but the thing was still pretty locked in. The shop manuals don't seem to have any information on this part, unless there's a body-specific manual I'm missing.

My '87 fender liner will still get the job done, but in swapping out the air cleaner box and washer reservoir I'm eliminating the spot for the air ride compressor. Seems they solved that problem in '90 by hiding it in a little compartment underneath.

[VicCrownVic]

Here is what the 1991 Ford Shop Manual has for CV/MGM:

[Mainemantom]

I would think it would be easier to remove the fender first then the inner fender. Are you thinking the '90 inner fender will fit your '87 TC ? The 90 was a totally different towncar.

[Lutrova]

Thanks, Vic. Looking at my own shop manual now I see the exact same diagram. Don't know how I missed that before. And yeah, if the manual is any guide, I guess they wanted you to remove the fender before getting the 'apron' off. The rivets must be hidden otherwise. Interesting that they'd use rivets over screws or bolts for a plastic piece.

As far as compatibility, I have no idea whether it'd work. The '90 still has the 5.0, so I figure everything within the engine bay would be compatible. The big question is whether the fender metal is similar enough.

The yard charges $11 for one, so if I can get it out I'm not averse to trying.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I’ve snatched the liner out of a ‘90-‘91 twice now. It’s fairly straight forward, and there’s no need to remove the fender. Essentially there’s some bolts towards the radiator support, all the plastic push rivets along the outside edge towards the fender, and a little clamp bolted to the frame.

Once you look at it and get going, it’s not that bad. You may have to remove the cruise control servo, relay/vacuum box, and washer fluid/coolant tank for removal though.

[Lutrova]

Was that a '90-'91 Town Car liner, or from a Vic or Grand Marquis? I can imagine a 90s Box would swap over fine, but whether the Aero TC liner works in a Box is the question. Or, I suppose, whether you can take a '90-'91 Ford or Mercury liner and put it in a Box TC. Though if you went that route I assume you'd lose the space for mounting an air ride compressor.

[Lutrova]

I can now confirm that at least the driver's side fender liner from a '90 TC will fit a Box. Despite the body style changes, the fender liners remained pretty similar. All mounting points are the same except where the Box liners have six plastic rivets, the '90 TC has a small passage for wires and attaches to the fender through some sort of channel/clip. This attachment point is obviously not present on the Boxes, but with the two bolts that go into the fender their omission doesn't seem to make it feel any less sturdy.



'90 at left, '87 at right.



The '90 air compressor now lives happily at the bottom of the fender liner. It looks like the connector might be the same from at least '87-'90, though the wires are too short on my car to verify right now. I don't have air suspension right now anyway. The bigger reason for doing this was to have the stock mounting points for the '90 air box and vacuum reservoir. I still need to sort out where the displaced relays will live once the '90 washer reservoir takes their place.



One conflict I was worried about was the air compressor enclosure running into the cornering lamp assembly. Turns out they just barely clear each other. The Aero TCs have their cornering lamps in the headlight assembly, so this was one potential conflict I hadn't fully thought through. Beyond you can kind of see the new fender liner sitting an inch or two from the surface of the fender. I suppose this leaves a new avenue for debris to get into the engine bay, but in practice I doubt it'll make much difference.

Does anyone have the part number for the plastic engine splash shield that clips to the fender liner? All the junkyard ones seem to be in varying stages of disintegration, and the only replacements I've found online seem to be generic Dorman models.

[VicCrownVic]

Nice, the later airbox really helps the engine bay look less cluttered in my opinion. Having the proper mount points for the air box is a good thing.

[mercurygm88]

I can now confirm that at least the driver's side fender liner from a '90 TC will fit a Box. Despite the body style changes, the fender liners remained pretty similar. All mounting points are the same except where the Box liners have six plastic rivets, the '90 TC has a small passage for wires and attaches to the fender through some sort of channel/clip. This attachment point is obviously not present on the Boxes, but with the two bolts that go into the fender their omission doesn't seem to make it feel any less sturdy.



'90 at left, '87 at right.



The '90 air compressor now lives happily at the bottom of the fender liner. It looks like the connector might be the same from at least '87-'90, though the wires are too short on my car to verify right now. I don't have air suspension right now anyway. The bigger reason for doing this was to have the stock mounting points for the '90 air box and vacuum reservoir. I still need to sort out where the displaced relays will live once the '90 washer reservoir takes their place.



One conflict I was worried about was the air compressor enclosure running into the cornering lamp assembly. Turns out they just barely clear each other. The Aero TCs have their cornering lamps in the headlight assembly, so this was one potential conflict I hadn't fully thought through. Beyond you can kind of see the new fender liner sitting an inch or two from the surface of the fender. I suppose this leaves a new avenue for debris to get into the engine bay, but in practice I doubt it'll make much difference.

Does anyone have the part number for the plastic engine splash shield that clips to the fender liner? All the junkyard ones seem to be in varying stages of disintegration, and the only replacements I've found online seem to be generic Dorman models.

If you do decide to add air suspension later you may run into issues. The 80’s panthers just had load leveling air shocks in the rear with standard coil springs.

1990 and up Town Cars and 92 and up CV’s and MGM’s with air suspension have actual air springs with no coil springs. It’s a proper air ride system that actually adjusts as you drive.

The pre 90 frames do not have the holes to Mount the top of the air spring after you’ve removed the coil spring. I believe it was Gadget73 who found this out when he attempted to retro fit the new system to his Town Car.

[Lutrova]

If you do decide to add air suspension later you may run into issues. The 80’s panthers just had load leveling air shocks in the rear with standard coil springs.

1990 and up Town Cars and 92 and up CV’s and MGM’s with air suspension have actual air springs with no coil springs. It’s a proper air ride system that actually adjusts as you drive.

The pre 90 frames do not have the holes to Mount the top of the air spring after you’ve removed the coil spring. I believe it was Gadget73 who found this out when he attempted to retro fit the new system to his Town Car.

Interesting. I still don't fully understand the difference between air shocks and air springs as far as their effect on ride quality. I thought shocks just dampen vibrations while springs maintain ride height. So I don't see how air shocks could be self leveling.

Looking at my shop manual, the control module appears to live separate from the compressor somewhere near the trunk. If the compressor is just a compressor, maybe it doesn't care whether it's sending air to a shock or spring so long as the sensors and module are all correct for the same setup?

[Lutrova]

For the record: the Box splash shields that cover the control arms are interchangeable with the '90 TC fender liners. Though I'm pretty sure all other Aero TCs have a different mounting pattern for their splash shields.

[Brown_Muscle]

For the record: the Box splash shields that cover the control arms are interchangeable with the '90 TC fender liners. Though I'm pretty sure all other Aero TCs have a different mounting pattern for their splash shields.

Interesting, I looked it up and it appears the right splash shield has a 1980 part number, but the left one a 1991 part number. I wonder what the difference is, as I could use new ones...

[Lutrova]

I can't say I've inspected the right apron or splash shield for the '90, only because it didn't get me anything by swapping into my '87. But from what I've seen, there appears to be at least two different styles of splash guard. The earlier style has a large flap in the middle and two smaller ones at the sides. Later ones seem to split right down the middle. The mounting pattern also changed at some point. Box splash shields have a four clip pattern with three clips in a row and the fourth somewhat lower. The later shields seem to have two inner clips high with the outer two lower.

At any rate, it doesn't look like you can get replacement shields anywhere, unless you're driving a Whale. Maybe the best course would be to source a good plastic and cut out the shape at home. It's not a very sophisticated piece, and it was cut from a single sheet of something. Probably the same sort of stuff they use for mud flaps.

[GM_Guy]

Whale ones are too small, otherwise, 5 or 6 bucks each on rockauto. I was looking for the flexable bits to replace the ones on my truck so looking at what would serve the purpose without having to spend the big bucks from a resto supplier.