My '89 Lincoln Town Car

[gadget73]

I think I'd do cloth rather than vinyl. It would look more proper. Anyplace that does marine canvas should be able to supply the material and likely they can do the edging and all that. The actual installation, dunno.

[L1011tristar17]

I'll probably end up going with canvas as opposed to vinyl. I took it to an upholstery place years ago for a quote. The guy working there said the fiberglass shell was fastened and glued to the roof so it would require dropping the headliner and using a long prybar. I think the quote was $1200 to do it all.

I see a lot of cars driving around with the fake convertible tops, so you would think there would be some sort of aftermarket out there. I thought about fixing the edges in the short term with something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Besteek-Prote...dp/B06ZZDF85V/

[gadget73]

He's right on how its attached. Big blobs of the same adhesive used to glue windshields in.

[DerekTheGreat]

Please tell me the way Ford attached the other roofs from the factory was at least marginally better than how ASC did those awful carriage tops..

[gadget73]

The ones under the half vinyl? Not honestly sure. I think those also glue on but it might be a little better of a job than the globs of windshield schmoo.

[L1011tristar17]

New fuel pump went in today. I got the pump by itself instead of the whole assembly, but it came with a replacement rubber hose and o-ring. I also got a new strainer.

The tank was not too difficult to get out. I used my floor jack to lower it down although I had to lift the car a few more inches to get enough clearance. Good thing I still had the bumper jack!

I had to put different connectors for the new pump. I had a hard time figuring out how to put the strainer on. No instructions on the box and my shop manual didn't say anything. The old pump strainer was sitting in the bottom of the tank, which might explain why it wasn't working great! The old pump was a Bosch.

Getting the tank back was definitely the worst part! The straps were all bent up and I had a hard time getting them straight enough to reach the studs. Eventually it worked out and the car seems to idle a lot better than it used to. Next up is new tires!

[gadget73]

The factory pumps were Bosch, quite probably thats what you took out.

[L1011tristar17]

That would explain it then! 249,000 was a good run.

[gadget73]

yeah electric fuel pumps last a decently long time, especially on vehicles that actually get used. Sitting seems to be what kills them.

[DerekTheGreat]

That would explain it then! 249,000 was a good run.

And 30 years!

I'd bet my house that whatever you installed won't return the same run.

[knucklehead0202]

Goddamn i'd say you got your money's worth.

[sly]

Fuel pump on my 93 lasted about 230K IIRC. My Expedition only got 130K out of it's fuel pump.

[L1011tristar17]

Just passed another state inspection. The person who inspected it told me that the NC laws recently changed and my car won't need anymore safety inspections since it is now 30 years old. I'll have to look into that even though the inspection is only $13.

On another note, the misfire is back. It's not near as bad as it was with the old fuel pump. It happens intermittently after the car has warmed up and is idling at a stop. The car actually seemed to run better the longer I drove it.

[L1011tristar17]

Not sure why the picture is upside down. Guess it's my fault for using Australian Siri

[L1011tristar17]

The good: Oil is changed, leak is (mostly gone). One of the "new" crush washers was really chewed up which might explain the oil leak. Brand new drain plugs seal perfectly.

The not-so-good: Tires are nearly 9 years old at this point. I currently have Hankook Optimo H724's.

Misfire is also back, but it only occurs after a warm start. I'm thinking it is probably something electrical. Any thoughts? Most of the ignition components were replaced in 2014 right before I retired it from daily driving duty.

[Tiggie]

Every time I have a misfire in my 88, it’s a plug. #8 most often. Followed by #4 on my particular car. Easy to check, cheap to fix.

Nine year old tires are getting aged. Have they been inside? Inside, with no indications of dry rot, I would run them locally. But outside, ten years is about it. And long trip, heat, and or loads need fresh rubber.

[L1011tristar17]

Some 2020/2021 updates:

Got a new job, moved apartments, and bought a house a few months later. I stopped driving the car back in September 2020 but a few months ago I brought it to a shop and had a few things fixed. I had mixed up a couple distributor wires (d'oh!) and they also reset the timing and replaced the coil. Before that I had also put on new plugs and wires. Now it runs and drives again, although it doesn't like to accelerate. It's still perpetually hovering at 249k miles.

Oh, and one of the calipers is stuck too.

[87gtVIC]

Excellent use of crutch.


Neat drive though garage there.

[matth825]

Definitely a neat garage! I would put a sheet of 6 mil plastic down over that dirt though. The moisture coming up will rot the undercarriage quickly.


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[DerekTheGreat]

At least you still have it! It's hard holding on to cars when you've got other marshmallows to roast at the same time.