August 1st, 2014. Effectively an eternity ago. I was just driving around in search of additional projects. I had even less money to throw around then- this was August of 2014. My '89 had just gotten a bunch of maintenance done, but the panther bug was still biting me hard. You know how it is; one is too many and seventeen isn't enough.
And then I saw the distinctive rear and roofline of a pre '88 panther. It was just a quick glimpse but I knew what it was. I immediately turned back around, and drove up the hill. What greeted me was an '86 or '87 Grand Marquis, or so I thought. Further analysis and discussion with the owner revealed it was a very late '85 car. September of 1985 to be exact! So it was late enough in the production run to get the CHMSL, but not late enough to be a 1986 model year and receive the SEFI 302. Drats. But the more I looked at Eva, the more I liked her. The immaculate chocolatey interior. The beige and brown two tone brightened up by thick orange bisecting stripes. The big wraparound bumpers. The hard creases. And that special something about a box panther. Best part of all? She's literally just down the road! It's about 50 minutes one way on foot, and less than a tenth of that by car! The ideal project? Heh.... if only. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
So I talk to the owner, learn all about how his dad bought it new in '85, special ordered it and everything. Passed it down the family, where it accumilated only 78,153 miles. Was very well maintained until the owner's college aged son started daily driving it circa 2010. Between the salt and the neglect, it started to get bad. A lack of indoor storage only made things worse; the '85 wouldn't fit in the garage. And so after the son was done with the car, it got parked under a tree in late 2010. It sat there ever since. This already should've been an issue, and I quietly noted it. But I was head-over-heels for this car, and wasn't keen on exploring her faults.
It all looked solid, and the finger test on both bumpers and rear quarters confirmed my suspicions. Good enough for me! So I threw out an offer. It was close to the owner's number- the closest one yet. It was then that I learned that many, many others had made offers on it before. Of course, none of them were willing to go the restomod route. They either wanted to drive the '85 into the ground or demolition derby it. Told the owner I'd sooner throw my fat ass into oncoming traffic before doing either of those things, and that I understand why he's sitting firm at his price, and why he's not ready to sell the car yet. I gave him a number to reach me at if he ever changed his mind.
Over the next year and a half, the owner would call periodically and we'd shoot the shit- mostly about his '85 and my '89. I didn't push the selling point. But I could tell he was inching toward it.
Finally in early March 2016, he asks me when I want to go pick up the '85; he doesn't want her to go to anybody else. Great news, but it didn't come at the best time! I was wrapping up the semester at school, and I was soon going to be up to my eyeballs with the '89, buying parts and saving up money for a long overdue round of upgrades and maintenance. Told him we're looking at mid to late August. I still needed to find indoor storage, too! I would try to come up with something in April or May and help get the '85 ready for the trip back home.
In my excitement and eagerness, my first test back in 2014 only covered a fraction of the car- the rear quarters and both bumpers. Made it a priority to look further and deeper- but not deep enough as is often the case. All the areas that I checked out befoe were both solid. The frame checked out too- even the notorious passenger side bulk head. Being a frenched rear window car, I was highly suspicous of the tiara bar/upper middle roof trim. But that area checked out too! So far so good. Small hiccup occurred when we went to start the car; AC belt was dragging the starter. No big deal; I never use AC anyway so I cut the belt. We also both noticed the exhaust past the mid pipe was shot. No big deal; I'm getting the entire system replaced from headers to tail pipes. Couple minutes of pulling, cutting, and kicking later, we had the offending pipes pulled off. By this point I was confident I'd be able to drive the '85 back home in all its CFI glory when the time came in August. Note how I forgot to check the rest of the car....
Fast forward to June. I come by to finish prepping the '85 for the voyage. Unlike before, I made it a priority to check the whole car out. I forgot to do that last time, and I wasn't about to drive a hooptie down the road- even it was only two miles. I was confident that Eva would be fine to drive.
She was far, far, from it. Because the fenders, door bottoms, rockers, and trunk floor were shot. Fuel lines and brake lines were leaking- the latter in two places. I quickly concluded that the very thing that helped protect the roof, frame, quarters, and bumpers destroyed the rest of the car. Literally every single rain channel and panel gap was clogged with plants, water, or some lovely mix of both. So I told the owner to give the aforementioned areas the finger test, and that I'll give him $200 to get the car out of the driveway. He was as surprised as I was at that discovery. He came down to $400. But I wasn't about to stop there. I got inside and tried the brakes. Thankfully the car was in park, with the parking brake set. Because the brake pedal went straight to the floor. No matter how much brake fluid we added to the resevoir to replenish it, it all leaked out too fast. That's how bad the brake lines were. It was at that point I considered backing out. But my affection for the box panther prevailed. I had been lusting after this '85 for almsot two years, and I'm not going to just give up and walk away. So I stuck to my guns at $200. Also said we're definitely going to be doing this in mid to late August; ain't no way am I starting this kind of undertaking when I've still got to get the '89 up to snuff. Needless to say the owner folded. He didn't even know how bad the '85 had gotten. Told him that made two of us, that I was undeterred, and to have the title ready.
Fast forward to August 20th. Owner calls saying he's got the title all ready to go, and to pick a day to get the car towed out. Naturally I chose the next day. Got some small jobs done early on, and took the rest of the day off. Scheduled the tow, and got her home. Spent the next 3 hours cleaning, vacuuming, stripping, and swearing. But I loved every minute of it. Because for the first time in my life, everything felt complete and correct. Unlike before, I don't find myself browing CL classifieds, lusting after other panthers I've found locally, or anything like that. They say it's not a good idea to meet your idols, or get that which you've been lusting after. I think "they" are full of shit. Because sometimes your idols are just as wonderful as you expect them to be. And sometimes they're even more than that.
Thanks for reading this wall of text. Your first question is "so what happens now?". General plan is to get her drivable and reliable next summer then get the body work taken care of the summer after that. It's a long, hard, road but it's one I've been down before with Ebyt. Updates will be periodic, especially with me starting school again in September. But you'll see and hear all about Eva's restomodding journey in due time, just like Ebyt!
And then I saw the distinctive rear and roofline of a pre '88 panther. It was just a quick glimpse but I knew what it was. I immediately turned back around, and drove up the hill. What greeted me was an '86 or '87 Grand Marquis, or so I thought. Further analysis and discussion with the owner revealed it was a very late '85 car. September of 1985 to be exact! So it was late enough in the production run to get the CHMSL, but not late enough to be a 1986 model year and receive the SEFI 302. Drats. But the more I looked at Eva, the more I liked her. The immaculate chocolatey interior. The beige and brown two tone brightened up by thick orange bisecting stripes. The big wraparound bumpers. The hard creases. And that special something about a box panther. Best part of all? She's literally just down the road! It's about 50 minutes one way on foot, and less than a tenth of that by car! The ideal project? Heh.... if only. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
So I talk to the owner, learn all about how his dad bought it new in '85, special ordered it and everything. Passed it down the family, where it accumilated only 78,153 miles. Was very well maintained until the owner's college aged son started daily driving it circa 2010. Between the salt and the neglect, it started to get bad. A lack of indoor storage only made things worse; the '85 wouldn't fit in the garage. And so after the son was done with the car, it got parked under a tree in late 2010. It sat there ever since. This already should've been an issue, and I quietly noted it. But I was head-over-heels for this car, and wasn't keen on exploring her faults.
It all looked solid, and the finger test on both bumpers and rear quarters confirmed my suspicions. Good enough for me! So I threw out an offer. It was close to the owner's number- the closest one yet. It was then that I learned that many, many others had made offers on it before. Of course, none of them were willing to go the restomod route. They either wanted to drive the '85 into the ground or demolition derby it. Told the owner I'd sooner throw my fat ass into oncoming traffic before doing either of those things, and that I understand why he's sitting firm at his price, and why he's not ready to sell the car yet. I gave him a number to reach me at if he ever changed his mind.
Over the next year and a half, the owner would call periodically and we'd shoot the shit- mostly about his '85 and my '89. I didn't push the selling point. But I could tell he was inching toward it.
Finally in early March 2016, he asks me when I want to go pick up the '85; he doesn't want her to go to anybody else. Great news, but it didn't come at the best time! I was wrapping up the semester at school, and I was soon going to be up to my eyeballs with the '89, buying parts and saving up money for a long overdue round of upgrades and maintenance. Told him we're looking at mid to late August. I still needed to find indoor storage, too! I would try to come up with something in April or May and help get the '85 ready for the trip back home.
In my excitement and eagerness, my first test back in 2014 only covered a fraction of the car- the rear quarters and both bumpers. Made it a priority to look further and deeper- but not deep enough as is often the case. All the areas that I checked out befoe were both solid. The frame checked out too- even the notorious passenger side bulk head. Being a frenched rear window car, I was highly suspicous of the tiara bar/upper middle roof trim. But that area checked out too! So far so good. Small hiccup occurred when we went to start the car; AC belt was dragging the starter. No big deal; I never use AC anyway so I cut the belt. We also both noticed the exhaust past the mid pipe was shot. No big deal; I'm getting the entire system replaced from headers to tail pipes. Couple minutes of pulling, cutting, and kicking later, we had the offending pipes pulled off. By this point I was confident I'd be able to drive the '85 back home in all its CFI glory when the time came in August. Note how I forgot to check the rest of the car....
Fast forward to June. I come by to finish prepping the '85 for the voyage. Unlike before, I made it a priority to check the whole car out. I forgot to do that last time, and I wasn't about to drive a hooptie down the road- even it was only two miles. I was confident that Eva would be fine to drive.
She was far, far, from it. Because the fenders, door bottoms, rockers, and trunk floor were shot. Fuel lines and brake lines were leaking- the latter in two places. I quickly concluded that the very thing that helped protect the roof, frame, quarters, and bumpers destroyed the rest of the car. Literally every single rain channel and panel gap was clogged with plants, water, or some lovely mix of both. So I told the owner to give the aforementioned areas the finger test, and that I'll give him $200 to get the car out of the driveway. He was as surprised as I was at that discovery. He came down to $400. But I wasn't about to stop there. I got inside and tried the brakes. Thankfully the car was in park, with the parking brake set. Because the brake pedal went straight to the floor. No matter how much brake fluid we added to the resevoir to replenish it, it all leaked out too fast. That's how bad the brake lines were. It was at that point I considered backing out. But my affection for the box panther prevailed. I had been lusting after this '85 for almsot two years, and I'm not going to just give up and walk away. So I stuck to my guns at $200. Also said we're definitely going to be doing this in mid to late August; ain't no way am I starting this kind of undertaking when I've still got to get the '89 up to snuff. Needless to say the owner folded. He didn't even know how bad the '85 had gotten. Told him that made two of us, that I was undeterred, and to have the title ready.
Fast forward to August 20th. Owner calls saying he's got the title all ready to go, and to pick a day to get the car towed out. Naturally I chose the next day. Got some small jobs done early on, and took the rest of the day off. Scheduled the tow, and got her home. Spent the next 3 hours cleaning, vacuuming, stripping, and swearing. But I loved every minute of it. Because for the first time in my life, everything felt complete and correct. Unlike before, I don't find myself browing CL classifieds, lusting after other panthers I've found locally, or anything like that. They say it's not a good idea to meet your idols, or get that which you've been lusting after. I think "they" are full of shit. Because sometimes your idols are just as wonderful as you expect them to be. And sometimes they're even more than that.
Thanks for reading this wall of text. Your first question is "so what happens now?". General plan is to get her drivable and reliable next summer then get the body work taken care of the summer after that. It's a long, hard, road but it's one I've been down before with Ebyt. Updates will be periodic, especially with me starting school again in September. But you'll see and hear all about Eva's restomodding journey in due time, just like Ebyt!
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