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1976 Ford LTD

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    1976 Ford LTD

    Hey Guys,

    I'm finally getting to look at a barge LTD this Thanksgiving weekend. I managed to find one close enough that's manageable and at a price point I can do.

    It's the Landau version with a 400 engine.

    Any points or spots I should be looking for with these guys when I'm there that could be considered a big red flag? (Ex: places to look for rot that might not seem obvious, known issue with the 400, etc)

    Thanks!

    '78 LTD | '87 Grand Marquis | '89 Crown Vic (RIP) | '91 Grand Marquis (RIP) | '94 Town Car (RIP) | '97 Town Car (RIP)

    #2
    Watch out for engine blocks made before 3/2/77 cast at the Cleveland Foundry (MCC). These blocks were known to crack in the lifter bore area. The 400 give reasonable fuel mileage but kind of a low-end torque engine and short on high-end performance. Like most over-square engines (4.00 bore x 4.00 stroke) you'll find them in sleds and pick-ups. I never liked the mid-70's Fords especially those early cat engines. Since the roof is a Landau, watch out for rust pimples under the vinyl and under the roof trim! The doors are huge, heavy, and long....watch out for worn door hinges.

    Comment


      #3
      The hood hinges bend and springs are weak. The back part of the hood you may have to push down on to get the hood level.
      The rear bumper assembly is made of different metals. Most that are not from the west are rotten. Look at the bumper support and the bumper shocks. Look for rust in the trunk areas. Look at the gas tank hold down straps.
      Inside plastic trim is very fragile, especially the door arm rests. If you use them to close the door, they will break!
      TFI module on the inner fender. They are so bad that most owners kept spares in the car.
      If you need parts, let me know. Do what I do, stock up when you find them.
      Last edited by Mainemantom; 11-23-2015, 11:49 PM.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Mainemantom View Post
        TFI module on the inner fender. They are so bad that most owners kept spares in the car.
        Do you mean the starter solenoid? When those fail, buy the most expensive solenoid you can find. The cheapest solenoids are absolute junk...
        '79 Continental Town Car
        '90 Crown Victoria LTD
        '94 Crown Victoria

        Comment


          #5
          No it is the square box that has wires with plugs at the ends. Driver side fender well. I guess another name is " ignition control module" I just replaced another one on the '75 a few weeks ago. They quit whenever they feel like it. Motorcraft brands last longer however they all fail. They are color coded at the grommet where the wire come out of the module.

          Comment


            #6
            Duraspark module that is isn't it?

            TFI it pretty much the one on the dizzy (or remote mounted on the driver fender with the 3 wires to the dizzy for the PIP) in fuel injected vehicles.

            Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
            rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
            Originally posted by gadget73
            ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
            Originally posted by dmccaig
            Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

            Comment


              #7
              I believe you are correct Sly. Duraspark. I believe that is Ford's name for it. I know Rock auto called it Ignition Control Module

              Comment


                #8
                Great info! Thanks everyone for the input. I'll hopefully be heading down to check it out Saturday or Sunday.

                Originally posted by P72Crazy View Post
                Watch out for engine blocks made before 3/2/77 cast at the Cleveland Foundry (MCC). These blocks were known to crack in the lifter bore area. The 400 give reasonable fuel mileage but kind of a low-end torque engine and short on high-end performance. Like most over-square engines (4.00 bore x 4.00 stroke) you'll find them in sleds and pick-ups. I never liked the mid-70's Fords especially those early cat engines. Since the roof is a Landau, watch out for rust pimples under the vinyl and under the roof trim! The doors are huge, heavy, and long....watch out for worn door hinges.
                The car I'm checking out is a '76 so the engine in it will be from before the '77 cut over. (Not restored, original car). I'll make sure to look for any cracks. I'm okay with it not being high performance. I'm more of the cruising type anyway. Good to know that it'll get decent gas mileage for it's size and will hopefully have enough torque to get itself out of the way from a stop. Also, because the car is vintage, NY doesn't require the original emissions systems to be intact any more. From what I remember, it's 25 years to not have to pass emissions (my '89 CV currently) and around 27 or 28 years you no longer have to pass the visual "emissions" check to verify things are there. I know my '82 Deville I did an engine/transmission swap in with just a carb and vacuum advance distributor and it had no problems passing safety. (All emissions stuff was out)

                I plan to go over the car with a fine tooth comb when it comes to rust. I was reading that back then they used a more primitive way to attempt to fight corrosion on these things than they did even in the '80s. (Which would explain why I see so many of them pop up with bad frames)

                The car is a 4 door so even though they may be heavy... hopefully the hinges have fared better than if it was a two door.


                Originally posted by Mainemantom View Post
                The hood hinges bend and springs are weak. The back part of the hood you may have to push down on to get the hood level.
                The rear bumper assembly is made of different metals. Most that are not from the west are rotten. Look at the bumper support and the bumper shocks. Look for rust in the trunk areas. Look at the gas tank hold down straps.
                Inside plastic trim is very fragile, especially the door arm rests. If you use them to close the door, they will break!
                TFI module on the inner fender. They are so bad that most owners kept spares in the car.
                If you need parts, let me know. Do what I do, stock up when you find them.
                Originally posted by Mainemantom View Post
                I believe you are correct Sly. Duraspark. I believe that is Ford's name for it. I know Rock auto called it Ignition Control Module
                All really great info to know. I haven't read anything in my research about any of that. I do remember with my old Cadillac, the plastic stuff inside liked to crack if you looked at it wrong. I guess that's to be expected with something that will be 40 years old come next year though.

                The bumper assembly being of different metals I guess explains why you see so many LTDs with sagging bumpers? I always wondered if that was because of rust rot... Hopefully this car doesn't have a rust issue. It would be a big bummer to drive out there to find out it's all rotted out.

                ICM you guys are talking about is this one right? (Not the car I'm looking at, taken from an eBay auction for one with a bad frame. SURPRISE!) My friend's '83 Crown Vic has the same set up as well I believe.
                Click image for larger version

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                '78 LTD | '87 Grand Marquis | '89 Crown Vic (RIP) | '91 Grand Marquis (RIP) | '94 Town Car (RIP) | '97 Town Car (RIP)

                Comment


                  #9
                  Here are some pics the current owner sent me of the car. Not the best of quality but looks promising from what I can see.
                  Attached Files

                  '78 LTD | '87 Grand Marquis | '89 Crown Vic (RIP) | '91 Grand Marquis (RIP) | '94 Town Car (RIP) | '97 Town Car (RIP)

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Hopefully it is as promising as the pictures let on.


                    My Cars:
                    -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                    -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                    -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                    -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Cool man good luck
                      ~David~

                      My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
                      My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

                      Originally posted by ootdega
                      My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

                      Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
                      But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

                      Originally posted by gadget73
                      my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




                      Comment


                        #12
                        From the pictures it looks like it has red interior ? Really beautiful high optioned car. One of the options that was available was the seek/scan radio. If it has that and you choose to change the radio, let me know.
                        You might already know this but do not put cheap gas in it ! 91 Octane only. Wish you the best with it.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Yes, from what I can tell it has red interior. Rear fender skirts as well! (Well, hopefully they're still on the car.) If it comes with that radio and I ever decide to change it out, I'll let you know.

                          No cheap gas in it because the of the 400's detonation problems with lower octane right?

                          '78 LTD | '87 Grand Marquis | '89 Crown Vic (RIP) | '91 Grand Marquis (RIP) | '94 Town Car (RIP) | '97 Town Car (RIP)

                          Comment


                            #14
                            The octane in the gas in the 70s was higher. How octane was determined was different than it is now. Ethanol was not used either.
                            My 460 will barely run on anything under 91. With a 95/91 mix it runs great. I can only get 95 at the airport. At 10 mpg it isn't worth the cost.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              You need to move down here... 93 is our premium.

                              Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                              rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                              Originally posted by gadget73
                              ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                              Originally posted by dmccaig
                              Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                              Comment

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