potential purchase "89 crown vic 351w"

[starkophile]

What's some of the things I should look for, potential problem areas? Perks about a box police car?

[gadget73]

its got a really goofy carb, so be aware of that first off. It can be replaced with a normal 2bbl if its just too dumb to live.

Perks are its got all the factory handling crap. The rear bar and the front bar are the best parts Ford ever bolted on a box. The bad thing is, those upper control arms with the solid bushings are pure unobtanium and have been for years now. When the bushings wear out, you're going to have to replace them with civilian arms.

Most of the rest of it is the same stuff found on any Vic of this time period in terms of rust and wear items.

[nfldfordltd]

I had an 89 Grand Marquis with the 351w (Canadian model) in 2001-2002. It was a nice car overall except the 7200 VV carburetor was a major PITA. I recommend converting to a 4 barrel intake/carb combo, or at the very least ditching the VV carb for a 'regular' 2150 Motorcraft carb. Those aren't nearly as tempermental as the Variable Venturi that came on those cars originally.
Make sure you have no vacuum leaks in the intake/carb gasket areas or it will be a big source of grief for you. Also, if you're looking for performance, they usually came with tall rear end gears making them fast on top end but not very quick, so expect that characteristic. Mine had 2.73:1 factory Traction-Lok, good in the snow but very lazy starting from a stop.
If the one you're looking at is an ex-cop car, make sure it's well inspected for damage as those cars are generally driven pretty hard during their life, despite having fairly regular maintenance. Good thing is that it's very likely the alternator is heavy duty, as well as the radiator and it may have auxilary transmission and oil coolers. And there won't be Automatic Temperature Control (ATC) it will be a standard manual heater/AC so it is less trouble and easier to work on than the ATC cars.
Hope this helps.

[starkophile]

The car it's self looks pretty clean from pictures and for a grand I think it's a pretty decent deal.

Anything special about the 351w that's in it? I assume it's a flat tappet cam in that

[79lincolnlover]

Which state/province is the car located in?

[johnunit]

Flat tappet cam, not roller like 302's of that vintage. Moderately hot cam (206" intake 219" exhaust, .444 lift, comparable to an HO mustang cam). Very low compression, 8.3-1. Same heads as the 302's. Pretty meh stock, but the good news is that with a compression bump, headers, and 4-barrel carb you're going to go from 180hp to more like 250 or so. Slap on a decent set of aftermarket aluminum heads and you're down to the weight of a 302 and would have to try real hard to not make 300hp and 350+torque.