1982 Ford LTD-S 351W Police Car

[Tiggie]

I'd like to use the rod setup. I have a donor VV and a parts 2150. Maybe I'll see if I can transfer the lever to the 2150.

[Brown_Muscle]

If you have a grinder and welder, anything is possible, just have to get the angle right. I removed the whole throttle plate rod with the end still on it, but I had considered attaching the rod end onto it (before i had a welder too..)

[gadget73]

I think the 82 Tbird 5.0 is supposed to be the magic application. Probably about as common as hen's teeth these days. I believe it was a 1 or 2 year item. 83 would have been CFI, not sure if they had an AOD prior to 82.

[DerekTheGreat]

The literature I just skimmed showed the AOD available in 1980, only with a 2V 302. God those T-birds were ugly... Stranger still how most of the controls & digital display were like Lincoln knock-offs.

[gadget73]

yeah I knew the AOD existed before 82, just didn't know if the Tbird had it as an option at that point. I guess 80-82 Vic might have had the right carb too.

[Brown_Muscle]

The LTD has not gotten much love recently. I drove it to Scottfest, got horrible mileage despite being all highway (15.6 mpg average), so i re-tuned it with the wideband, it was running rich. I leaned it out to cruise around 14.7:1, and decreased how much fuel the accelerator pump was squirting. I'm taking it on a 700mile round trip to NY, so I must get better mileage! haha.

The paint has been slowly degrading for years, it wasnt the best when i got the car but a waxing would make it look half decent. Wax really stopped helping it much the last couple years, and i stumbled upon an article on how to gently restore old single stage paint. (WARNING, its long): https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...ge-paints.html

To summarize it, you Clay Bar the entire car after washing it, then apply Mcguires #7. #7 has been around for years and contains oils that will seep back into the old single stage paint. You let it sit on there for 12 hours, then buff it off. You then repeat 1-3 times more as needed to fully saturate the paint and remove a small amount of oxidation each time. This requires a lot of time and elbow grease, but is the critical step. After you do that, you can coat it with a high quality wax or sealant. (im using a sealant for longer protection. Mcguires #21).

If this works, in the future i will use a better, longer lasting sealant. Im holding off now due to price, but there are some amazing sealants out now that can protect a car for well over a year.

I plan on posting pictures and letting everyone know how well this works. Its cheaper and faster than a new paint job, so im will to give it a shot since ill have some time.

[jaywish]

[Tiggie]

Is yours the metallic brown like my 82 was?

I used #7 on the roof of my 88 almost ten years ago. It's a single stage urethane from the early 90's (accident damage and decided to paint the whole car is the story from the original owner). I sanded with 1500, used polishing compound, #7, and wax after that. I wax it yearly and it looks good.

[Brown_Muscle]

Yup! Metallic Brown, paint code 5V. That's good to hear about #7!

After a bit more research I found out about this: http://www.autogeek.net/optimum-glos...g.html#reviews

It's pricey, but many people claim water still beads off their car after 1-1.5 years! It's advertised almost as adding another clear coat to the car...might be worth checking out.

[Brown_Muscle]

Brought the car on a 350 mile trip... Thain, I think it's time for you to get a carbd 351, I averaged 18mpg going 70-72 on the trip. I clay bar'd and put on the first coat of glaze. Pics to come soon!

[gadget73]

Same mileage I get from mine, and I don't have to deal with a carb.

Unrelated but when you fetch the wagon would you mind grabbing my cup that I left up there?

[Brown_Muscle]

Scotts bringing the wagon down to me actually, shoot him a message and he'll bring it down.

[86VickyLX]

Thain, I think it's time for you to get a carbd 351, I averaged 18mpg going 70-72 on the trip.

But then it'd only make 170hp and wheeze at 80. He averages about 18-19 since the retune. <3

[Brown_Muscle]

I finally finished the process, it was a lot of work but the color and sheen came out great. It's certainly not like a new clear coat paint job, but what a difference!

Here's what it looked like before i began. pretty bad.



After using the clay bar and 2 coats of Mcguires #7:



And the final result:

[Tiggie]

Did you use anything on top of the #7?