Sly's Panthers

[Lincolnmania]

very nice!

[sly]

yeah... it's nice to have tires on there that actually accent the curves of the turbines rather than truncate them.

[sly]

New lifts on the trunk. It actually stays up with a little bit of means it instead of just barely after some persuasion. Check the numbers on the lifts... the new ones are different, but the main number is the same. The old ones are actually still good. I may use them to mod the GM for an easy open and actually stay up in the wind.

Pics:

Trunk open... and stays that way


Old lift:


New lift:

[gadget73]

ah right, early model with the gas shocks on the decklid instead of the torsion rods. That must have ended in 82. I've seen 83's with the rods.

[sly]

the "old" lifts were the first replacements I used.

The new lifts will actually lift the decklid all the way if you've just shut it. too bad they don't do that all the time.

[79lincolnlover]

MK VI tires

yeah... it's nice to have tires on there that actually accent the curves of the turbines rather than truncate them.

What size tires were on there before? I've got 205/70/15's on my MK VI now. Ride and handling is pretty good overall.

[sly]

they were 205/75/15 Cornell 1000 (almost no grip wet or dry - sidewalls starting to crack... just crap tires)

fresh rubber much better.

[sly]

new mod to the 88. My wife is using it as the DD and needs the trunk to stay up all the way when it's open to get stuff in and out for work. that's fine and dandy if there's no wind... but a slight breeze will drop it about 10 inches. Sooo...



all from parts lying around... so don't ask why I didn't use such and such bracket. There's also nowhere to mount it up on the deck either and I didn't want to take the back seat out to get at the rear deck to make a mount point.

one thing is for sure... it's gonna take a HELL of a wind to push that thing down now. like the order of 40mph +

not pretty... but as is my style... very functional. Plumbers tape to help prevent bending the bracket I did use.

[sly]

For those that haven't seen it yet, here's the vid of the exhaust hole on the 88 (air injection pipe broke off the driver side cat)

My cousin welded it back together and welded the pipe shut.



He also welded shut the passenger side one.



Got the tail light assembly on the 88.



The old one with the star crack in it



also put the new lugs (gorilla) on the Mark. These are single piece lugs that won't fall apart and are long enough to be an easy grab with a wrench without actually contacting the wheel.

[marquisman]

oooo your turbines are minty!

[sly]

they should be... they're brand new reproductions.

[packman]

they should be... they're brand new reproductions.

Wait, they make those things?!? Meh, I'm happy with my current setup. Like your trunk mod. You can always say that it's some sort of custom bracket to keep the rear body from twisting from all of the hp. That's what I said when my father fab'd up an aluminum bracket for the window wiper motor in my Malibu. It looked like the fender braces found on the Panther wagons and Lincoln TCs, but at the back of the engine compartment. I used to get all kinds of questions about that bracket LOL



Packman

[1987cp]

new mod to the 88. My wife is using it as the DD and needs the trunk to stay up all the way when it's open to get stuff in and out for work. that's fine and dandy if there's no wind... but a slight breeze will drop it about 10 inches. Sooo...

Reminds me, I still haven't figured out what's different about my P72 that the trunk pops open near-instantly and stays there. You hit the remote trunk popper inside the car and a half-second later the hinges go thwack. I've assumed the springs are just in a different notch, but for all I know it actually uses stronger springs than the '81 does.

[sly]

the bars on my 88 are in the middle notch. I have no delusions of grandeur to think that I can move them without any issues which is why I put in the lift. When the weather strip doesn't stick to the trunk lid, it will heave up and bang in about one second... but in a small breeze it will sag about a third back down. The next project will be getting some rubber stoppers for the bumps.

[sly]

went ahead and stuck the mark badge on the mark. trimming foam tape with a utility knife is a PITA.