My 1989 Crown Victoria.

[slack]

When I Ran gauges on my ash tray eons ago I used the little christmas trees that hold the door panels on and wedged them in the hinge for the ash tray to make the ash tray stay closed. Your magnet allows you to still easily use the ash tray.

Yeah, I still wanted access to the ashtray so I could use the lighter for the GPS if needed, also there's a bunch of random screws in the ashtray. I think I saw Sly use magnets on his ashtray a while ago to keep it closed as well. Works pretty well!

[sly]

I used radiator shroud clips to help "clip" the ashtray up.

the magnet I used on the old visor to keep it from swinging off the door and smacking me in the head when I turned left. The newer visors I got don't swing as easy and still have all their padding and suck so work much better.

[slack]

Ah, so that's what it was. I knew it was something that you used to hold up the ashtray.

[slack]

Rear Shocks Round 2 : KYB Gas-A-Justs

Well, I went ahead and replaced my rear shocks from the MONROE 33128 economy shocks I installed last November to KYB Gas-A-Justs (KG5521) to match the front Gas-A-Justs. I had a thread complaining about the suspension being too stiff, but in the end, it ends up it's not that it was too stiff, the back soft shocks just threw the whole balance of the suspension through a loop as the springs and front shocks were all much firmer.

I also picked up what I thought was the correct coil spring isolators for the rears from Engergy Suspension. Turns out, I managed to get the front isolators again. Damnit.

On with the pics!

Here's the before. (Note the blue Monroe shock)


Here's a pic of everyone's favorite top shock nut. Luckily, these being only 11 months old, it wasn't rusted solid. I was able to put a 14mm wrench in there and spin the shock to loosen it up. (Moving the wrench to undo the nut would have taken days as there's only about 3 inches of movement you can get)


Old shock removed:


Here's a pic from later in the night, but these Monroe's were completely DEAD. Only 11 months on them and they didn't spring back. They made nice gurgling sounds I compressed them with little to no effort. Lesson learned here: Don't buy $12 Monroe shocks.


New stuff about to go in: Too bad the isolators weren't right. The ones on my car are completely shot.


When I put the old shocks and current springs in, I used a spring compression tool to get the springs in and out. After reading on here I didn't need to do that, I gave it a try. With both shocks removed, and the rear end hanging, there's still not enough room to get the spring out freely. I had to put a jack on the axle and sort of pry it down a little to get the spring out. Worked fine and the springs came out in a few minutes.


Nasty top mount:


A little coat of paint to fix that:


Here's the spring isolators side by side. The left is the correct beat up one from my car, the right is the one I ordered. Does anyone have the right ES part number for the rear? (Or does it come with the rear poly bushing kit like the front ones did?)


Shocks installed and old isolators reused:

[slack]

Rear Shocks Round 2 : KYB Gas-A-Justs Part 2 / POR 15 trial

I should also mention that the bottom mount for the shocks that the KYBs came with didn't really work right. It was too short when fed through the mounting hole to fit the nut, lock washer and regular washer on there. It also had threaded posts on both sides??? I ended up reusing the Monroe mounting hardware because it made more sense and I didn't really like how the KYB set up was going to pan out.

Here's two night time crappy shots of everything installed. In the first one, you can sort of see the Monroe mount bolt that I was talking about.


After everything was done, I figured I would finally give the POR15 can I've been sitting on a while a try before it got too cold out.


First impressions? This stuff is a mess. No matter what I did, it got everywhere. It's waaaaaay thinner than I expected it to be. I wore gloves, long sleeves and still managed to get my hands and forearms permanently stained while painting. (Does not wash off, needs to "wear off"). Also the smell is pretty bad and there's a bunch of warnings on the can about how harmful the fumes are.

That said, it does go a long way. I was basically able to cover my whole rear half of the frame and differential with this stuff and only used half a quart. I've heard the cans never reopen after closing them again, but I figure I can just cut the top and pour it into something else. If it helps keep the rust away, I guess it's worth the headache and stains.

Here's some pics of mess being made: (Btw, I used Foam brushes)

[87gtVIC]

Eastwoods rust encapsulator and extreme chassis black paint I used on my frame and underbody is just as runny.

I currently run KYB gas adjusts up front with KYB GR 2s in the rear....you are making me want to cut that nonsense out and get a matching set of gas adjusts.

[sxcpotatoes]

Gas-A-Justs or bust! That's what's going in the rear of the '82 Mark VI tomorrow or the next day!

[HiFiMerc]

I have Gas-A-Justs on both of my Panthers. I like 'em. Police spec on the front. Rockauto Doesn't list Police spec for the rears, for some reason.

[slack]

Eastwoods rust encapsulator and extreme chassis black paint I used on my frame and underbody is just as runny.

I currently run KYB gas adjusts up front with KYB GR 2s in the rear....you are making me want to cut that nonsense out and get a matching set of gas adjusts.

Haha. Well, the KYB gas adjusts in the back seem to work really well for me so far. That said, I do haul a ton of weight back there at all times and did just switch from completely dead shocks that I thought were still functional. I really like how planted to the ground I feel now.

Good to know about the Eastwood stuff. I've been looking at them lately as well. I guess that's just the nature of the beast. I like they're little do-dad thing for getting inside the frame rails. I was reading a story online about a guy who POR-15'd his car but the frame ended up rotting from the inside out anyway. Maybe in the spring I'll try to get some stuff on the inside of the frame as well.

Gas-A-Justs or bust! That's what's going in the rear of the '82 Mark VI tomorrow or the next day!

Nice! I hope they work well for you. That car's awesome!

I have Gas-A-Justs on both of my Panthers. I like 'em. Police spec on the front. Rockauto Doesn't list Police spec for the rears, for some reason.

I just checked out RockAuto. It looks like the Gas-A-Justs are listed for non-taxi/police for both rear and front. Huh... interesting... They're under performance. They have a set of Monroe's for the front and back for taxi/police

MONROE Part # 550010 Gas-Magnum Severe Service
Front; w/ Police or Taxi Package
$31.79
MONROE Part # 550011 Gas-Magnum Severe Service
Rear; w/ Police or Taxi Package
$38.79

I wonder how they are?

[87gtVIC]

I did the coating on the inside of the frame. At the time they only sold green...Now they have black too.

[slack]

Homebrew Alarm System Update

So, my friend and I have been working on setting up a homebrew alarm system for my car. (This all started after someone ripped my emblem off). Basically it's going to have two triggers. One to the emblem if it's getting messed with (push/pull switch) and one tied to the interior door lights (relay turned on once door light has power). Interior lights go on if someone tries to pull the front door handles or manages to open the door. Seemed like the simplest way to go about it.

So far I have the code done (or at least done until we find a bug with the schematic) and the basic prototype built and tested. My friend was able to write up the schematic from the breadboard rats nest and will etch the rev 1 board. I can then solder the components to it for a beta trial run.

Using one of these guys to trigger the horn circuit and the headlight relay. (Still need to do relay mod to car before headlights will also strobe when alarm is running)

Ebay Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/5V-Two-2-Cha...item2a26055221


Here's what we're using for the key fob:

Ebay Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/IC-2262-2272...item2ed607261a

The brain of the thing is an Arduino Leonardo to program the thing and handle the pins in and out.

The horn is a Wolo Loud One horn I picked up at Pep Boys.

Here's some pictures of the rats nest prototype on the breadboard. Not really much to it and it works! (Ignore the amps reading on the power supply.. it's busted. )






I'll give a more detailed write up once things are installed and tested.

[86VickyLX]

Double take at '89 Crown Victoria and see that front end lol. Looks good mang! How much is this homebrew alarm system running you so far?

[sly]

I'd tap on the parking lights for blinkage instead of the headlights for battery conservation.

[slack]

Double take at '89 Crown Victoria and see that front end lol. Looks good mang! How much is this homebrew alarm system running you so far?

Haha. Thanks! For price... hmm... can't be more than $50 so far with everything. I should know for sure sometime this week or next when I get the etched board done and start tallying up receipts.

I'd tap on the parking lights for blinkage instead of the headlights for battery conservation.

Hmm. Good point. The thing is, I sort of want the headlights to go off to hopefully scare off the person because of the area being illuminated. I figure if it's on a 1 min strobe pattern, it shouldn't be so bad. The alarm will only kill the battery if they leave the door open or keep messing with it for a long time. In that case, if no one has come to it's attention (me included) a dead battery is to be expected. The horn is stupid loud and I doubt the neighbours will stand that thing for any length of time before calling the cops.

[sly]

point