My Ma's 1986 Crown Victoria LX

[packman]

I mentioned on the "What Are You Working On in 2021" thread about my missing AOD shift linkage rod. I think I found it.............in the picture below. I thought I removed it entirely from the AOD; but it may have went to the junkyard with the AOD. So I have 2 choices; 1) go to the junkyard and see if there are any boxes left to get that rod from; or 2) get an aftermarket floor shifter. Either way; this is gonna delay the 1st start by quite a bit. I'll go to the junkyard before considering option 2; because I will definitely need bucket seats with that. I'm gonna clean up under and around the CV in case I did remove it and left it on the ground somewhere; just not getting my hope up with that being the case.

[87gtVIC]

Better to have the plug in there and be slight welded than no plug in there at all while they did their thing. Preserved the threads...the part that matters most.

[packman]

I managed to get home while the sun was still up in the air yesterday; and ground the plugged O2 sensor bung free of the weld. When I sent the exhaust out for welding; he managed to tag the plug. Not too much of a problem; but annoying. Since the bung was right across from the trans X-member; I knicked it a couple times; so that will need to be repainted. Annoyed, but I have to remind myself that it is not a show car; and will most likely never be one.

Pic

[packman]

Sinuses were killing me today and they didn't get any better laying around; so I figured I would get some work done on the CV. Started by installing the starter wiring. Then I moved over to the ACT sensor extension. When I got done with that; I figured I would take a gander at the alternator; which then turned into sorting out the wiring and getting that done as well. All in all, I got more than I thought would get done. I do have a question about the alternator regulator wiring harness; but I will post in the Box Tech forum.

Pics

[packman]

It worked; 3/8"-18 tap. It had just stopped raining when I got home; so I popped the pvc portion off; drilled and tapped it; then reinstalled it. Done deal.

Tomorrow I will install the starter cable and signal wire; start figuring out the alternator wiring; and extend the ACT sensor wire.

Pics

[87gtVIC]

If your pops tap aint the right size I picked up a NPT tap set from HF and it worked for me.

[packman]

Assembled the starter power cable and the signal wire last night. Supposed to rain later today; hope to get home before that happens to install them. My Dad went to his friend's place in the next town yesterday; and got what looks like a 3/4" npt tap for my ACT sensor. I will remove the air intake; weather permitting; and drill and tap the sensor. Then permanently install the intake tube assembly.

Pics

[packman]

Wired up the Flex-a-Lite temp sender/switch and ran the signal wire to the auxiliary fuse box. Then I got to making the CAI up. I thought I'd have more of the pvc run than I ended up with; but it should be functional. I need to drill and tap the pvc for the ACT sensor. I will wrap it with foil when it is all said and done.

Pics

[packman]

So I got 1.5" radiator hose with a 90* bend and 6" legs. Cut 1.25" off of one hose and it all fit like a glove. Since the recently bought water pump put the coolant hoses closer to the fuel lines; I will slide some heat shield over the driver side fuel rail line to keep the fuel cool. I am running the Auto Meter 2283 inline sending unit collar in the upper radiator hose. This places the temperature sender/switch right next to the fan controller. It shouldn't look too shabby.

I also started mocking up the CAI. I reused the elbow that was used for the lopo. A little bit of heat and it slid onto the throttle body. After that I set up the air filter on the kitchen table and heated up the flange (86mm ID) a good bit with the heat gun; then I slid it over the MAF sensor (92mm OD). I'm using leftover 4" PVC from a recent house project for the piping. I slid the BBK CAI installation collar over the back end of the MAF sensor as it's a different size than the front; then I ran the PVC 3" to 4" reducer over the collar and clamped it down. I ran out of daylight to mock it all up; so that will happen tomorrow. I will mark where I need to drill for the ACT sensor relocation. I will need to go out and get a NPT tap for that.

Pics

[packman]

I did a temporary rerouting of the hoses whilst waiting for a meeting to begin; then it was postponed for an hour; so I started messing with the upper radiator hose. Discovered that the Mr Gasket T-stat housing is 1.5" too; so the stock hose I got, won't fit. Very annoyed. I will see if I can get a 1.5" hose with a 90* bend to complete that assembly. Since I still had some time; I decided to start routing the electric fan wiring. I found a place for the 70A fuse; just have to route the signal wire, fan power, and fan ground. And if it's nice (or not horrible) over the weekend, I will put the CAI up and relocate the ACT sensor. I'm getting there; faint light at the end of the tunnel.

Pics

[packman]

I got a couple hours in yesterday with the CV. I mounted the trans cooler semi-permanently. I discovered that the bottom mount (bottom tube) lined up with the lower brace stud that I used for the side mounting braces for the fan. I had to drill the tube clamp holes out a little to get it to line up; but it worked. I also put 1/2" nylon spacers on all mounts to push the trans cooler away from the center brace. I then assembled the hoses. I ran into a fitment issue when doing that. My original intent was to run the [hard] lines the way they were ran on the Ranger; which was run and mounted under the radiator core support. What I failed to notice is that the 2 cores are vastly different as the CV core doesn't have a flat bottom; and was never intended to be used for this purpose. As such, the hose placement and routing is wonky. I will have to revisit this in the near (probably distant if the lines don't fail) future; and route them better/cleaner. I already have an idea how to do that.

I just got done cutting the upper radiator hose and pressing the coolant temperature sender fitting into it. I am using the same method that I did for the Ranger; as I don't like the idea of poking the temp sender through the radiator fins. Another observation failure with the upper radiator hose; I didn't notice that the radiator port and the T-stat housing ports are 2 different sizes. The upper rad hose tapers down to a smaller size before the 1st bend. My temp sender collar is the size of rad port. So I had to take the heat gun and heat up the section that I cut; and press the collar into the rad hose while it was hot. Took a bit of effort, but it went in. I will be working from home on Tuesday; so I will go out and look at what I have to cut to make the rest of the hose line up with the T-stat housing. Then use the same heating method to make it fit the other end of the collar. I will get pics when I finish that install.

Pics of the trans cooler

[packman]

I worked on the trans cooler a little today. I took the grille off for better access. Not sure why I didn't do that 12 years ago when I painted it. The only thing I can think of is the stripped screw; that I made quick work of. Anyways, I think I figured out how to mount the trans cooler. I'm gonna use the insulated hose clamps that I used on the hard lines for the fuel system. I will put them on the ends of the core tubes and fasten them against the side brackets I used for the fan. The other end I will fasten to the center bar; and maybe use spacers to hold the trans cooler out so it doesn't rub against that bar. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Pic

[sly]

The more wiring you do the more you find out everyone and their mother has their own crimp die. It is annoying.

This. I've gotten pretty good at just using needle nose to get most of it done.

[87gtVIC]

The more wiring you do the more you find out everyone and their mother has their own crimp die. It is annoying.

[packman]

It will be 5 years this July. The car is sitting in the spot where it died. Had I followed my Dad's advice 13 years ago and rebuilt the lopo (or stuck an Explorer engine in there); the car would have been running by now. But I went head first down the spirally steep slope when I chose the F4TE engine over the Explorer engine that was lying right next to it. Then it all went downhill from there. It is what it is. For now; all I can say is that this has been a learning experience. I have learned a lot since I pulled the lopo out of the car; and I am still learning new skills. Just trying to get it like you guys got it.