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replacing the front panel of a late 80s Town Car

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    replacing the front panel of a late 80s Town Car

    how involving is replacing the front panel of a late 80s Town Car? I'm talking about the fibegrlass thing that holds the headlights, the corner lamps, and the grille - mine is smashed, so i have to replace it. Also the sheetmetal wall behind it (holds the radiator) is bent, how much trouble I'm getting in with trying to swap it too? To me it all looks like a couple of bolts...

    #2
    if its anything like a Vic/GM header panel its a royal pain. there are 4 nuts, two on the hood latch piece and two supporting the middle of hte header panel. then there are 4 that hold the panel to the fenders, two on each side. you have to use extensions and a contortionist to undo those ones. the only problem is sometimes even with lots of pbblaster, the nut takes the stud right out of the header panel. i've had that happen on several vehicles and its a pain to fix :cuss:
    Save a seal, club a liberal.

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      #3
      Yeah, thats pretty much how it goes on a Townie too. I think the radiator support might weld in, but I'm not sure on that. I'll advise on a variety of extensions, flex joints and sockets to get that stuff out.

      Sucks about your car man, but glad you're OK. At least all this crap is able to be unbolted and fixed without too much trouble. I'm guessing the police / insurance will declare you at fault ?
      86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
      5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

      91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

      1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

      Originally posted by phayzer5
      I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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        #4
        Radiator support bolts to the frame, but if you can bend it back to shape you might as well do that. My mounts on the towncar are getting nasty. They used aluminum spacers that are corroding like a mofo.
        Chris - A 20th Century Man \m/ ^.^ \m/

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          #5
          Well, I just picked up a new hood - white, aluminum (of course), real good shape, $43 Tomorrow I'll be going for a header panel, I think I'll only have to fight with the 4 nuts that hold it to the fenders as the brackets that hold it to the radiator support are crushed as well, so I'll just use the ones coming with the header panel. The radiator support is really a bolt in thing, but it's gonna be a bitch to replace... And on top of that I just found out I can't open my front passanger door anymore, the fender moved back a little and is pushing against the door now :cuss:

          Thaine, Michigan is a no-fault state, the main idea of which is to reduce insurance fraud (like when someone intentionally gets in front of you and slams on their brakes), but it doesn't really work that well - her insurance company pays for her repairs, mine pays (nothing) for my repairs, but they can later go after each other... and yes, in a rearending accident the fault is by default on the driver in the back car :bs: Stupidity at its best if you ask me :drug:

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            #6
            Having the fault default to the person in the rear is good. Not always the case, but 95% of the time it is.

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              #7
              Dunno if it's good or bad, and honestly I don't care - my insurance jumps right away, no matter whose fault it is.

              The car's up an running again, yesterday I painted and installed the hood, and today I got a nice white complete header panel (panel itself + good headlights, grille, and bumper fillers) for $72 and installed it in the afternoon. The relayed harness didn't get too damaged in the accident, only two broken relays and one pinched ground wire - all relays are replaced with new ones, wire's fixed as well. Tomorrow I only need to adjust the front bumper and put a new protective cover for the license plate, and she'll be good for the road again.

              Header panel on a TC is held by 16 bolts/nuts - 3 studs with nuts on each fender (two top, one bottom, easily reachable via an 11mm deep socket), 4 bolts on each V-bracket set (5/16 head), and 2 studs with nuts on the hood latch (3/8 nuts IIRC). Pulled studs can be screwed back in with some high-strength threadlock, fixes them good. If replacing the whole panel I'd recommend not messing with the V-brackets, but leaving them on the panel and disconnecting them from the radiator support - much easier to allign afterwards. The nuts in the fenders are real easy to get to if the blinker bulb's socket is first pulled off. The bumper filler mouldings are held to the panel with 3 sheetmetal screws (7/32 head), then there are 3 more screws of the same size that attach the mouldings to the fender's lower portion - all easily reachable with a 1/4 ratchet, externsions are optional. Other than that... nope, it's pretty straight-forward

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                #8
                Good to hear it man! We need some pics though!!

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                  #9
                  ya... show us some pictures of your bolts

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