1987cp's new '81 LTD 2-door

[79lincolnlover]

I did see a website where a guy apparently appraises vehicles with pictures ....

If you're planning to get your car(s) appraised, it pays to shop around! One guy I've dealt with in the past charges $129.95...The guy that appraised my MK VI only charges $29.95...If you want them to take pics, the price may increase. I just get the basic appraisal done for tax purposes, nothing fancy.

[1987cp]

Funky. Big difference in price! Did your appraisals also include mechanicals and things that would be checked in a smog or safety inspection, or was it just the overall condition of the vehicle?

[packman]

We don't have inspections here, but vehicles with Michigan historic plates are strictly forbidden from being used for transportation.

I did see a website where a guy apparently appraises vehicles with pictures ....

I imagine the historic plates are for show cars; meaning that you can only drive it to car shows and can only acrue a certain amount of miles each year? Perhaps going to Dairy Queen, picking the kid up from school, and other such activities wouldn't technically be transportation; though I would have to see their definition of "transportation."

I had to get insurance and plates for my '53 because my "neighbors" were gunning to have that truck crushed. They had a small victory when they got us to junk the '73 F-350 and they were feeling lucky with my truck. If this economy weren't so bad, I would build-up the 390FE just for the purpose of running it on the weekends to piss them off. They said they required a running vehicle right:evil:?



Packman

[sly]

no mufflers? no cats? nice and poppy? :evil:

[packman]

no mufflers? no cats? nice and poppy? :evil:

And a lot of cam! It was very loud in stock form with just headers and two turbo muffs.

Okay, enough with the threadjacking. 1987cp, that is an awesome sig pic



Packman

[1987cp]

:lol: And thanks - I was starting to think the old sig was outdated since the wagon's been in pieces now for what, nearing three years?


I spent some time last night doing some piddly things, like arranging a way to mount the off brand mini tach in place of the factory clock delete plate, reinstalling the aftermarket Jensen tape deck more permanently (since neither of my old Ford headunits seem to be in working order and replacements are getting expensive), and using a plug near the headunit area to attach power and lighting leads for the auxiliary gauges that aren't hooked up yet. I also found my voltmeter, which is nice.

[1987cp]

An-noy-ing!

Stupid ticking noise that I'd presumed to be the flexplate hitting something got worse last night. Horrible racket on the way home, though of course everything seemed to still be running just fine.

Now I've got the tranny back out AGAIN - and darned if I can find a specific spot that's been rubbing. No obvious grooving on the block plate, and the flexplate just has what look to be tiny burnished areas on the weight and on each weld, including the ones around the perimeter holding the ring gear on. I held it up against my old flexplate, and while the teeth seem pretty obviously further from the mounting face, it's harder to tell about the weight and the welds. I seem to be left to conclude that the only thing to do is to procure some flywheel shims and see if it helps!

[1987cp]

I went back out and poked at the separator plate, and I think I finally found the scuffing. Then I had a dumb idea. I've read about people not bothering with the block separator plate - and that's definitely cheaper than spending $20 a pop on flexplate shims that may or may not fix my problem! So maybe I'll try reassembling without the block plate and then see about contriving a partial plate just to keep garbage out of the bottom.

[1987cp]

Bah. No good. Still ticking.

Wonder if I could space the starter forward with some washers....

[1987cp]

I are an Idjit!



You know what's been making my ticking noise?

The valvetrain!


I got to listening more carefully in different places with a tube to my ear, and noticed it seemed louder from inside the driver's side valve cover. Running it with the valve cover off, I thought the intake rocker on #5 seemed louder than the rest, and sure enough, when I loosened that rocker, the noise went away. I guess it could easily be the lifter, since I reused the original '87 lifters when I rebuilt this engine.


Dashed nuisance if it is a lifter, but at least that might have been a bit less trouble than removing the transmission an extra time, if only I'd known!


I guess if this engine is going to need some work (again), I'm leaning back toward my thought of putting this transmission in the Vic so at least it can go reliably in Reverse and maybe even operate more efficiently the rest of the time.

[1987cp]

Wow, almost two years again since this car was good for anything! I didn't even end up running the P72 with the transmission spoken of for very long, since in Jan. '12 we bought an actual new car and I haven't had to worry about mobility since. (The P72 passed to a new owner recently, too!) Now I've got two kids instead of one, and homeschooling the older one, and the idea of trying to DD anything antique seems just plain idiotic (provided there's another option).

Someone has joined GMN twice, under different screennames, and never posted but sent urgent-sounding PMs indicating a keen interest in buying this car. That someone has once again evaporated into thin air. What I'm thinking now will need to happen will be to get the car outside, disconnect the e-brake, do some serious cleaning, and get some good pictures, and put it up on local Craigslist and see if someone will bite on it with no transmission installed.

[Louis]

Why not hold onto it Michael....never know when the bug may hit you again and a good tudor is next to impossible to find these days.

Then we can have 'mini-meets' with nearly matching cars!

[1987cp]

Yes, that was one side effect of getting the P72 cleaned up (and de-fuel-leaked) for sale - started getting looney ideas for this car again! A stick shift would likely be in its future if I were to keep it ... my latest idea is to add a Subaru 2.5L H4, since my Mazda weighs the same and does OK with its 2.5L engine. I already have a 2.2L Ecotec core, though, and I know guys have already figured out how to bolt that to a T5. One of the more interesting ideas I've thought up for it would be an '03-up frame swap (and maybe add a newer dash too), but good grief, would that be a huge project!

Too bad storage is a slight problem, especially since I've gotten this crazy notion of putting our DD cars inside the garage! Though, the newfound space in my mom's garage is great for sorting things there that need to be sold off ....

[packman]

I'm with Louis on this; keep the tudor. Slowly save teh money to build it up. Then by the time the kiddos are going to school, you can be the Dad with the cool car when you pick them up.


Packman

[88Vic]

Kinda off subject but if you sell this will you have any Panthers left? Whatever happened with your black and white wagon, I think it was an 87 too? Do you still have it?