Lookin at a Vic... what ya think it's worth?

[Nathan in MI]

Here's what the "dreaded" Variable Venturi looks like (see attached image). As Thain (gadget73) said, this sounds like a Canadian model if it has the 351W in it. Either that or it's a police car, but if it's heavily optioned, I have pretty serious doubts about that. If it is the Canadian model, then I think it'll have a Motorcraft 2150, because I don't think Canuck cars ever got the VV.

[marquisman]

mmMmmmmMMm VVcarb goodness!

[87_crown_vic]

i was gonna ask about the vin number to verify if it was fleet or civilian based. i was gonna ask since it has dual exhaust and a 351w.

[mrltd]

Sitting is the worst thing for a car. The gas tank will be full of crud, which means the rest of the fuel system will need a good work over. Cooling system is the same way. Both the coolant and oil get corrosive when not run or changed for extended periods of time. It's a lot of potential problems for an old car-It'd be worth 2K if it was running well and drivable. If the body, frame, and interior were SPOTLESS, I'd offer no more than 1K.

[1987cp]

Now when it coems to this 4-barrell you speak of, could i not just order a new one from holly or something... What am i looking at for pricing?

The Edelbrock 1406 carburetor many of us use runs around $265 brand-new with electric choke. Manual choke knocks about $50 off the price. That'll get it running; tuning kit is about another $35. A typical street 4V manifold is the Edelbrock Performer 351; that goes for maybe $180 new but there's zero harm in going used if the threads aren't stripped or you're willing/able to repair them if they are.

There are several good Holley-based carburetors as well, such as the 600cfm Street Demon that one of our members recently purchased that seems to work great but is on the high end of the cost spectrum (maybe $380 just for the carb, not including tuning parts, but you do get features like quick-change secondary springs).

[devile]

Well you guys are definitely on the money, it is a canuck car with approx 110,000kms on it.. I just did teh conversion, figured it would be easier for you guyes to see the mileage in MILES...

As far as the VIN i will have to check but as far as i know they purchased this car off the show room floor, i believe it was just optioned out...

[1987cp]

i was gonna ask about the vin number to verify if it was fleet or civilian based. i was gonna ask since it has dual exhaust and a 351w.

Good thought. Here's the linky to one lookup site some of us use, since I happen to have it handy:

http://www.motorcraft.com/catalog.do?goto=vin

[devile]

Perfect, well she turned down my $500, so i'm gonna get the VIN and see waht it's got. I will let you guys know...

That motorcraft site, if i put in the vin will it tell me which carb, rear end, brakes?????? That would be AWESOME... thanks again... I'll keep you updated...

[1987cp]

No info on the rearend and brakes, unfortunately .... I still have to pull and clean the tag on my new car to be sure what gears are in it. I think there's another site with different info, though .... I want to say Tiggie might have a link.

[gadget73]

Tis the general consensus, but it doesn't hold for the "porno" red P72 parked in my driveway. No, I'm not sure whether the rear was swapped out, but I have no reason to believe it was.

well, as always there are exceptions but my shop manual says 11" for "station wagon, police, taxi, and trailer tow". everything else says 10". Its vaguely possible your p72 wasn't ordered as a police package car, so it got 10" drums, though that doesn't really make sense if you've got the sway bars and springs. Or, you got a Friday car and someone shoved the wrong parts on it.


I dont think the VIN will tell you a huge amount about the car, you'd be better off looking at the door sticker. It will give you the VIN as well as the other important info for the car. Get a pic if possible, one of us should be able to decode it for you.

[1987cp]

A "Friday" car?

[87_crown_vic]

friday car = rushing to build to get home for weekend...
monday car = getting over the days off from the weekend and hangover

[Tiggie]

An '85 won't have a P72 VIN.

As far as teh motor goes, VIN position 8 will have a "F" for 302 or a "G" for 351W.

$2K is way yonder too much. $1K if it's a really nice car. You'll have $200-300 in the fuel system easy if the gas has turned to tar.

[gadget73]

also, dumb question but are these metric dollars? You're in Canada right? prices there are a bit different, especially given the condition of the thing in the great winterland.

[marquisman]

thats what im sayin, its not easy to find a good cond car here. if you can get it for a G note or whatnot, you will be lucky. people in this country still ask high prices for these old cars out of ignorance. i say give a 1000-1500 dollar offer.