Derek's 1988 Town Car

[DerekTheGreat]

Oh yeah, I think you told that story before. On the way to work right? These tires had lots of tread left too, no cracks/rot on the sidewalls but inbetween the tread was another story and that's where it let go. Tire didn't blow out which is cool as it saved the wheel but the tread is what ended up slapping stuff silly. Glad it didn't bust the fender liner or worse. I'll get a pic of that rascal later Still has shiny tire jizz on it lol. Certainly forcing my hand and made me go even slower but ya know, I think whenever we plan to drive long distance like that again, we're going to go slow like that. So much easier to just set the cruise and let the hurried folks go around us without having to constantly modulate brake & gas, plus enjoy the extended range benefits. Engine seemed so happy at that point.

Ashley was the one who wanted to stop lol, she did not want to be on the side of the road again so I stopped. We were amongst civilization again so gas stations were everywhere, I really wanted to push it lol. Should note it was Chevron gas, and that it looked much clearer in the filler neck than the yellowish Shell we got the whole way down and up. Maybe it had less or no Ethanol in it but the pump said it could contain up to 10% like all the other stations. I also ran BG44 fuel infector cleaner & Restore engine treatment. Last year I consumed almost 5qts of 5W-30 to get there and back and this year I consumed maybe half a quart! I also had the oil changed down in Florida as it was due so if I hadn't done that I might've consumed a bit more oil. But still, I think that stuff does work! Certainly worth the $8-10 I spent on it.

[knucklehead0202]

Similar tire-fuckery appears to have happened to my new car at some point before my ownership. This is indicated by a couple of arc-shaped scratches above the driver's front wheelwell. Does not appear to have jacked the ditch lights but definitely left it's mark. When I got the car that one was the newest tire on it and none of them matched. Quickly swapped the 17's from dead car on and problem solved. Your turbines arrive yet?

[TecNickal]

It wouldn't surprise me if you need valve seals from fowled out spark plugs. My old 91 needed them bad they were wasted. Cured the oil burning and bad plug issue.

Head gasket issue would cause coolant to bleed into combustion Chamber. Not oil. Now if both sets of rings are shot that'll blast oil out the tail pipe I've done two sets of head gaskets on Sefi box 5.0s. Not too bad.there was a super nice red on gray 90 TC in Atlanta that needs airbags in rear. All original under the hood though! Even hoses. And a headliner. Super nice car. But they wanted 2500$ or something insane.

[VicCrownVic]

I probably did tell you about that tire incident. It was on the way home from work in The Ice Car on Ryan road while Mound was under construction. Turned from 16, 17, or maybe 18 Mile onto Ryan and the tread let go like yours, the tire stayed inflated. The incident going to work in The Scab on M59 last year was determined to be caused by running something over, which caused the tire to go flat, which I somehow didn't notice, which then destroyed the tire. That was a fairly new tire that came with the car, so I wasn't planning on buying any but ended up buying 2 after that happened. I ended up working from home that day; I needed a shower bad after fighting with the wheel that didn't not want to budge (rust/corrosion fusion that I finally got off with the aide of a giant crow bar borrowed from a State Trooper).

Speaking of oil consumption, now that the engine from my '89 is in The Ice Car it sure is nice not consuming oil. No more going through 5 quarts in a couple days, it hasn't used a drop so far just like I remembered.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Wow, that sucks that the tire decided to let go and try to do some re-configuring of your fender area. FWIW, I've been using Firestone tires on both cars, and I love them, but I don't have those Champion Fuel Fighter ones. I have the Precision Touring on the '97 (which the Champions replaced), and FR710s on the '87. I would have done the Precision Touring tires again, but with their discontinuation, the only Firestone white wall tire left was the FR710.

Speaking of tires, I need to figure out how old the full size spare is in the wagon. The '97 has a full size spare, but it's not that old. If the one in the '87 is beyond 7 years, I'll run down to the tire shop and get another tire.

[gadget73]

Seen that trick before, you got off fairly easy at least.

+1 on valve seals, head gaskets are rarely much of a problem on these. The back cylinders seen to have fouling problems first, I suspect its because of the tilt of the engine. More oil probably lays back there. Valve seals aren't that bad to do. Its annoying, but I did mine in a couple hours from start to finish, never having done them on a car before. Back pain is the worst of it, its not exactly an ergonomic working position.

[DerekTheGreat]

Similar tire-fuckery appears to have happened to my new car at some point before my ownership. This is indicated by a couple of arc-shaped scratches above the driver's front wheelwell. Does not appear to have jacked the ditch lights but definitely left it's mark. When I got the car that one was the newest tire on it and none of them matched. Quickly swapped the 17's from dead car on and problem solved. Your turbines arrive yet?

Oh, most likely. You think Ferd would have shielded those things somewhat cause as I've discovered, you can shred them into bits by hand if you're not careful. Turbines finally arrived, opened one and I guess the ones the car has are better despite Michigan life status. Not sure what to do with them now haha.

It wouldn't surprise me if you need valve seals from fowled out spark plugs. My old 91 needed them bad they were wasted. Cured the oil burning and bad plug issue.

Head gasket issue would cause coolant to bleed into combustion Chamber. Not oil. Now if both sets of rings are shot that'll blast oil out the tail pipe I've done two sets of head gaskets on Sefi box 5.0s. Not too bad.there was a super nice red on gray 90 TC in Atlanta that needs airbags in rear. All original under the hood though! Even hoses. And a headliner. Super nice car. But they wanted 2500$ or something insane.

That is insane, I would love to snatch a '90 TC. How about you trade us yours for Ashley's rust free '89??? We'll throw cash on top haha. Yeah I'm purty sure it's got valve seal issues, thought the engine had to come out but it's looking like that's not the case. However, we have a lead on an HO engine from Scott's old Mark VII and not sure if we want to just pony up the extra dough and do that or put more money into the LoPo. I say it needs headgaskets cause it has dual exhaust minus a cross over and the driver's side tailpipe chooches a lot more than the passenger side one does, especially at idle. Thought that meant coolant but it doesn't smell funny so I think it just indicates that's the side which has the fouled plug.

I probably did tell you about that tire incident. It was on the way home from work in The Ice Car on Ryan road while Mound was under construction. Turned from 16, 17, or maybe 18 Mile onto Ryan and the tread let go like yours, the tire stayed inflated. The incident going to work in The Scab on M59 last year was determined to be caused by running something over, which caused the tire to go flat, which I somehow didn't notice, which then destroyed the tire. That was a fairly new tire that came with the car, so I wasn't planning on buying any but ended up buying 2 after that happened. I ended up working from home that day; I needed a shower bad after fighting with the wheel that didn't not want to budge (rust/corrosion fusion that I finally got off with the aide of a giant crow bar borrowed from a State Trooper).

Speaking of oil consumption, now that the engine from my '89 is in The Ice Car it sure is nice not consuming oil. No more going through 5 quarts in a couple days, it hasn't used a drop so far just like I remembered.

"Needed a shower bad" lol, makes me think of myself after a good junkyard run. Good to know these things can be made not to suck oil. If you're lazy, it looks like that Restore stuff does help cut it back some, my car hardly uses any now.

Wow, that sucks that the tire decided to let go and try to do some re-configuring of your fender area. FWIW, I've been using Firestone tires on both cars, and I love them, but I don't have those Champion Fuel Fighter ones. I have the Precision Touring on the '97 (which the Champions replaced), and FR710s on the '87. I would have done the Precision Touring tires again, but with their discontinuation, the only Firestone white wall tire left was the FR710.

Speaking of tires, I need to figure out how old the full size spare is in the wagon. The '97 has a full size spare, but it's not that old. If the one in the '87 is beyond 7 years, I'll run down to the tire shop and get another tire.

Yeah, major bummer that was lol. At first I thought no damage was done and that I hit something on the road as it was 2AM and all the tires appeared to be inflated. At closer inspection I noticed the carnage and missing tread. Whoops. Glad it wasn't worse, heard stories of tire tread stoving in quarter panels and such. Yikes. Might've made me cry lol. I had to battle with myself about using my never before mounted spare tire... Glad to hear first hand stories of Firestone love. I'm digging them, seems Michelins just like to dry rot right from the start and their sidewalls are just too busy for me. I really like the XH4's that were on it but yeah, those are from the early 90's.... Tough choice for me on white vs black, decided to forgo the white wall look. For what it's worth, the full size spare on my car is the original equipment, no dry rot or anything and stored away from the elements so I think it's ok, then again, looking at how the dead tire died it just came apart.. Like the tread delaminated so perhaps age is a factor there. Thinking of using one of the turbines I've got as a full size matching spare..

Seen that trick before, you got off fairly easy at least.

+1 on valve seals, head gaskets are rarely much of a problem on these. The back cylinders seen to have fouling problems first, I suspect its because of the tilt of the engine. More oil probably lays back there. Valve seals aren't that bad to do. Its annoying, but I did mine in a couple hours from start to finish, never having done them on a car before. Back pain is the worst of it, its not exactly an ergonomic working position.

I think you're right. I kinda would rather just drop an engine in that's worth doing valve seals on ya know? Or, Ashley could fly you out and you could do the job

[gadget73]

Done it once, that was enough. I would re-seal the engine you plan to put in it though if you aren't rebuilding it. Much easier to do on the stand vs in the car.

[DerekTheGreat]

Yah, figure we'll do the pan gasket and rocker cover gaskets too. I forget, is the Mark VII trans the same length and such as a Townie trans? Hers was recently rebuilt so I doubt we'll be swapping the trans too but good info to retain.

[gadget73]

Yes. Lincoln trans is a Lincoln trans, just needs the shift linkage changed to put it in a Towncar.

If its the one I think it is, that trans is a bit buggy. It worked, but was not what I'd call amazing. Probably something sticky in the valve body.

[VicCrownVic]

I've swapped shift linkage on one of my transmissions so if you need a hand just give me a shout.

[gadget73]

Something I will tell you about that, its a hell of a lot easier to do with the trans upside-down on the ground than it is underneath of the car.

[DerekTheGreat]

Word. Thanks fellas. We'll keep that in mind. gadget, it probably is the trans you're thinking of. Guess I'll keep it as a spare or just use the governor & TC.

[knucklehead0202]

Does that trans have one of those "shit kits" in it? That might make the difference.

Bummed to hear my wheels weren't better-looking than the Michigan junk. The visible side was good, although the back side was dirty as a 2-dollar whore. Don't reckon they'll clean up?

[DerekTheGreat]

Shit kits, lol. I don't know. Before said car got wrecked I was offered the chance to drive it but declined for some reason. Idled really good and reportedly used 0 oil. Probably just use her trans as it was rebuilt and is known to be all clear.

Michigan junk indeed, guess they're better than I thought. Well so far I only opened the one box and looked at the wheel that was staring at me. I saw a spot of curb rash and some filiform corrosion and stopped. Was pressed for time as were in a hurry for some damn reason. Was thinking 1 of 4 should be good and was going to use one to make a matching full size spare to be prepared for next road trip. Ashley said that was a dumb idea as I'd have 3 left with no purpose and just to clean them up and try to sell them here. I said that was a great idea, how about you clean them up for me while I finish fixing my fender? She then recanted her statement about the full size spare idea.