Mark VI Coupe has HD Frame like Police Interceptor?

[tjc78]

nice. A friend of mine had a 71 Mustang with a whooped 302 in it. He replaced the oil pump and went fishing in the pan while it was off. He found a bearing like the one in the picture laying in the pan. Never investigated to find out where it came from, but my guess is thats why it made no oil pressure. He put it back together and ran it a couple more years before selling it. The motor sounded horrible, but it ran.

I'm no expert, but it certianly seems that the older Ford V8s will run for a long time with low oil pressure. My 79 Conti with the 400 was still going after 30K+ miles of driving with little or no oil pressure at idle in gear. In the summer I ran straight 50 weight oil in that thing, just to build a little pressure.

[Lincolnmania]

mk6 coupes have the same wheelbase as a vic/gm

[sly]

the 84 f150 my dad had knocked for at least 2K miles until he sold it... the guy that bought it put another 5 K on it knocking... then sold it. The next person put at least another 3K on it before leaving the grapevine of information... so they can run for quite some time knocking like hell. That was a 302 with a whipped carb.

[1987cp]

Someone once told me that the panther wagon used the same frame as the f-150.Any truth to that?

[1990LTD]

Very Cool that my car has an HD frame. The car feels much more solid, than the past LTD/Marquis' that I have owned. I can't wait to drive/ride in this beauty.

Slightly off topic, but I had to show this. After taking apart the original 351w engine today, I found out why she knocked like a mofo, and caused the original owner to junk the car. Just what I thought it would be....Burnt up Rod Bearing on #7, paper thin. Ouch!

time to get out the plastigage and see if the oil clearance is within spec lol

[LTDMan83]

^LOL

That bearing was still hanging on under the cap, surprisingly. The oil pan was frag free. This motor was indeed low-mileage, and came apart easier than any motor I have ever seen in my time. Was a pleasure to deconstruct.

The rest of the bearings where damn near perfect, including the crank bearings. I gave the D9 block to a buddy for free yesterday, who wants to rebuild it and use it for his '79 Bronco project, so at least my cars original block will live and run on, in another cool project. Which is a helluva lot better than just throwing it away, imo.

I do agree that it seems like oil pressure is not a working requirement for these weak old Ford V8's.

[mitymerc]

Sorry for the dumbo question, I've never worked on a truck......

[P72Ford]

Sorry for the dumbo question, I've never worked on a truck......

He was out of line. Having met you in person at SF, I know for a fact that you have areas of expertise that other people on this board haven't a clue about. You needn't feel bad about asking questions that you are curious about.

My police cars were stamped HD in the rear, on the frame horn just aft of the rear wheel on the driver's side.

Never really noticed if my Dad's P71 was stamped HD or not.

[Brown_Muscle]

Just looked under my police car and it does in fact have HD stamped on it...where the rear control arm mounts to the frame.

[mercurygm88]

When I first bought my merc I was showing it to my dads buddy who is in his late 60's and used to be head mechanic at the local ford dealership. He told me that in 88 when they went and did the redesign on the panther that everything got the HD frame until 91 and prior to 88 the HD frame was specific to the lincolns and cvpi's. Dunno how true this is just what I was told by a normally reputable source. I do know that when I had my car up to 102 mph it felt extremely solid id even venture to say it was more solid than my aero merc.

[Brown_Muscle]

When I first bought my merc I was showing it to my dads buddy who is in his late 60's and used to be head mechanic at the local ford dealership. He told me that in 88 when they went and did the redesign on the panther that everything got the HD frame until 91 and prior to 88 the HD frame was specific to the lincolns and cvpi's. Dunno how true this is just what I was told by a normally reputable source.

Interesting! I'd love to know the specifics of the HD frame...whether the entire thing was made of a thicker gauge steel or just parts of it...

[LTDMan83]

My car has HD stamped right where the rear lower control arm mounts to the frame, as well. For anyone who is wondering if there car has one or not, looking there would be the definitive way to know, without having to pull the motor mounts.

I've been measuring and comparing the HD frame on my Lincoln, with the standard frame on my LTD, and it certainly is made of a thicker gauge metal all around, from front to back. The Engine and Trans cross-members are much beefier than the ones on the standard frame as well. I might have to source an HD frame for my LTD, when the time comes, that or just go for an 03+ frame.

[sly]

can we have a picture of this location? Quick gander at mine showed nothing.