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kishy's 1984 Town Car

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    I did 20% on the front & side windows but 0 or 5 % on the rears for that limo look. I love it. I also got that special ceramic tint or whatever that's supposed to repel UV rays. It doesn't work quite as well as the demonstration thing but it does help significantly. Even on the hottest, nastiest muggy days I'd have to turn it down, that's how cold it could get.
    Last edited by DerekTheGreat; 05-31-2018, 12:07 PM.
    1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
    1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

    Comment


      Originally posted by kishy View Post
      That looks really good...I mean, the back window lightened up a bit more than I'd like, but the sides look like they held up well and they looked good when fresh.

      Probably depends on the choice of tint. I'm assuming some are more resistant to breaking down from sun exposure than others.

      Also I don't think I've said it anywhere, so I'll say it now: that's a sweet car.
      Thanks.

      For the most part the work I have done has held up. There are a couple big bubbles on the p side window that have developed for no apparent reason within the middle of the glass. Its been slowly happening for 4 years now. I installed the tint around 2006/7. I just dont care to touch it/fix it/redo it.
      ~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


        I've held off on tinting this car for a few reasons...

        1 - it was purchased as a beater, and needed a fair bit of effort to get it where it is now. I never knew for sure how long I'd have it. It's becoming clearer and clearer that this car will be with me for quite a while though, which I'm happy about.

        2 - the requirement of keeping the windows closed in a car without working A/C (since negated by the fact the A/C actually works)

        3 - the condition of the dew wipes and window channels is quite bad and I had concerns about this causing damage to the tint (the window channels, anyway). I have the dew wipe material and have ordered the window channels though, and I don't think it'll be an issue in the meantime. Unless I'm mistaken I think I owe you the thanks for the info about replacing both of those.

        My hope would be that a quality, professionally installed tint job will last 10 years before significant issues justify redoing the job. But, the sun is a cruel and abusive entity, so it's hard to fault a product that breaks down due to exposure.

        Current driver: Ranger
        Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
        | 88 TC | 91 GM
        Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
        Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
        | Junkyards

        Comment


          I need to have the tint in the Cake redone. It's starting to peel and bubble and generally be just unhappy. I think mine is 25% (whatever was legal at the time I'm sure) as it's not quite as dark as what I usually see told as 20% and came on the car when I bought it in 06... so no clue how old it really is. I'd rather get "privacy tint" stock window glass, but that would require actual money. I'm about 1.5 years away from that day (student loans paid off).

          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


            Word of warning about the clutch, inspect the center hub of that thing. The one on my Continental came apart. The middle of the plate is coupled to the hub that actually drives the compressor with a rubber spider. The rubber got gooey on the Conti and expanded inward, catching on the retaining ring that holds the clutch bearing in place. It spun that ret ring until it milled the snout off the end of the compressor. It sounded like a slight clutch drag or ailing bearing, but I found out it was totally f'd when I pulled it apart to swap the clutch for one with a good bearing. There was nothing to hold the bearing back, so the pulley was constantly in contact with the compressor hub. It did that until the clutch face was heavily grooved and damaged. That is what actually caused the compressor replacement. You're not likely to have that, but give it an eyeball just in case its more than a bit of rust on the clutch. You can pull the clutch off easy enough to clean the face up and spin test the bearing just to make sure you don't have any sort of impending doom there.
            86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
            5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

            91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

            1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

            Originally posted by phayzer5
            I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

            Comment


              Yikes. Does it mean anything that it goes completely silent when the clutch is engaged?

              After repeat engage/disengage (flipping the mode lever back and forth) it will quiet down also, intermittently returning during the drive if A/C is left off. It made this noise way-back-when, when I bought the car, also, and went away after not using the A/C for ages.

              Having not closely studied it, I'm not exactly sure how the clutch works, what part moves, in what direction it moves, etc.

              Current driver: Ranger
              Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
              | 88 TC | 91 GM
              Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
              Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
              | Junkyards

              Comment


                Its probably the bearing or rust, but just have a look at the middle to see if it looks like the spider is coming apart. Mine was really f'd up, and to be fair I've never seen one disintegrate like that.


                The outer face actually sucks inward towards the pulley that the belt runs on. Its spring loaded, the magnet sits behind all of it and overcomes the spring force to pull it. If you can switch it on and off a few times with the engine not running its pretty clear what its doing. Doesn't move much either, I want to say the gap is somewhere in the .015" range.
                86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                Originally posted by phayzer5
                I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                Comment


                  No progress re: verifying A/C clutch isn't eating stuff. Looks normal from above/in front though (and I'm familiar with the clutch appearance from my 83, and also had the wagon available for reference). There is, however, some sort of oil(?) appearing in the centre of the clutch. My presumption is that there's a refrigerant leak around the shaft of the compressor and my air's going to go byebye soon. But maybe not.

                  Gave ATC a shot today and found it works as expected. Temps may be a little bit off due to how much I've screwed around with that whole system, but it all seems to work properly.

                  Received this past week my new dash cam. I had sought to replace my G1WH with something approximately equal or better in video quality, with the ability to wirelessly transfer video to my smartphone rather than needing to take out the microSD card, and with capacitor-based power rather than battery, due to the Panther 12V sockets being hot at all times. I was suggested to try the Blueskysea B1W, and although the video is a slight step down I'd say, overall it's a winner of a cam, especially at the price point (and AliExpress free shipping from China was surprisingly fast).

                  From my US shipping address, picked up...
                  -A/C tools (no longer needed in a pressing way, but I'm glad I've got them now).
                  -AVS 14202 box Lincoln stainless ventshades (x2, one set for me, one set for buddy with 87). These have been in short supply over the last 2 years and when available, usually for too much, but Amazon finally had them for an alright price.
                  -Radiator! Spectra Premium CU552.

                  Put 2/4 of the ventshades on, but had to give up, because my window channels were shattering into little tiny bits. Will finish this job once the new MMP WC 33-96 is on hand to redo some doors.

                  Grumble grumble, get off of my lawn:
                  The radiator is made in China. I'm a little irked by this. I figured for sure the old school brass and copper rad (or that's what they say it's made of, anyway) would have come from the Canadian facility. Oh well. At least I paid barely more than I would pay for an aluminum+plastic Chinese example.

                  The rad packaging was quite skimpy, especially considering it's a 23 pound radiator. The rad sustained minor injuries in transit, but nothing I couldn't bend back into place. For $162 US I'm not that fussy.

                  The rad is now installed, as is a new thermostat, and I can idle this thing all day long with the A/C on and it won't touch 200. So that's good. Mission accomplished.

                  Plan of reusing the old rad (which was new 2 years ago) backfired. A very bad incident occurred with the trans cooler. Not going to bother with the details, but long story short, I had to de-tank one side of the rad in the car to get the trans line out. Was not happy about this. I really don't think they'll warranty it for me given what I've done to it since the initial failure (trans cooler not firmly mounted to rad tank allowing wrench force on fitting to break the cooler) but I have at least a slight inclination to try.

                  As an aside, I know those are probably quick-connects, but undoing them with a wrench still attached to the line has yet to be a problem, knock-on-wood. They do typically seep a little after messing with them, but they seal themselves up soon after.















                  Last edited by kishy; 06-03-2018, 01:15 AM.

                  Current driver: Ranger
                  Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                  | 88 TC | 91 GM
                  Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                  Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                  | Junkyards

                  Comment


                    Did a number on the tranny cooler side. Nice!
                    ~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


                      Well that sucks, but at least it was under controlled conditions.

                      Fair warning, the window run felt in that center dividing bar netween the main and the vent window is narrower than what the rest of the frame uses. Unfortunately I wasn't organized enough to keep notes about what I used, but it was some other material from the same vendor to get the job done. I measured, asked for some samples to confirm, and then ordered a stick of whatever the other stuff was.
                      86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                      5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                      91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                      1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                      Originally posted by phayzer5
                      I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                      Comment


                        Yeah...if I didn't have the new rad on hand I'd have been beyond pissed. I'm quite confident it's a design defect, or a defective individual radiator, because the upper line fitting didn't give me issues. The only thing holding the lower one in position (preventing it rotating) was the cooler itself, which of course had no ability to resist the force of a wrench turning it.

                        Even if they don't warranty it (and I rightfully believe they should, but likely won't) I think the look on the guys face at the counter should be more than worth the effort of bringing it back to them. It's from Advance Auto Parts.

                        My hastily purchased, and determined to be unnecessary A/C suction line has been refunded:
                        "We received a message from the shipping company that your order with order number #### has been lost in transit, as they cannot locate it. Unfortunately this was the last unit we had available and we won't be getting this back into stock for the foreseeable future. CAD$56.76 has been refunded back to your Amazon account."

                        Yay for money. I think the message is a bit of a fib, it's probably an inventory issue on the seller's part and the item was never shipped at all because the last one they had sold out however many years ago.

                        Current driver: Ranger
                        Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                        | 88 TC | 91 GM
                        Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                        Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                        | Junkyards

                        Comment


                          Aren’t those window channels just the best when they turn into dust? Interestingly only the front window channel on the passenger door fell apart on the wagon. The rear ones were still pliable, but I have a better set laying around. I can only figure environmental factors play the largest part in the window channel degregration since I’ve encountered even newer cars with crumbling channel and older ones that weren’t terrible.

                          You’ll find those vent visors are rather nice if you’ve never had them before.


                          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


                            I suspect its sun / heat damage. UV kills plastics, so does heat. Seems like cars with baked paint also usually have baked rubber bits.
                            86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                            5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                            91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                            1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                            Originally posted by phayzer5
                            I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                            Comment


                              Forgot to mention, for the rad mounting:
                              Driver side lower required no modifications.
                              Driver side upper needed some rubber cut out to fit the tank, but I had already done this for the previous rad which had the same issue.
                              Passenger side lower needed some rubber cut out, which I did.
                              Passenger side upper is (as is common knowledge here) a no-go. Can't use it at all.
                              Neat trick though: you can use a second driver side one, with the same rubber cutout, for the passenger side. Borrowed one from the wagon for this.

                              Decided to tackle the group 65 battery conversion today. This was quite easy, just snip out the front plastic lip and the protruding end of one bolt, and bam, done. Borrowed the hold-down from the 91 and all fits exactly as it should. The battery is installed "backwards" (posts towards the front) because my battery positive feed to my front lighting relays cooperated better this way.

                              Left the battery (a not-that-old example from my 91) on the charger for a few hours to make sure it was relatively perky, then popped it in the Lincoln. It's my first East Penn battery, so I'd like to get some proper use out of it and see how it holds up.

                              While examining the 91, I found a spark plug gapper I lost 3 or 4 years ago. Sweet.

                              For reference, the exact overall width of the bottom of a group 65 battery, at the widest point, is 7-3/8". Available space in the Lincoln prior to alterations is 6-1/8". After removal of the plastic lip and the metal bracket thing in front of it, the next restriction point is the protruding bolt end which begins at 7-1/8", so prevents the group 65 battery from sitting until it has been zipped off with a grinder. Most elegant solution? No. But it works, sits the battery nice and flat, and holds it down well. I'll do the same to the wagon and 83 when time allows, and then I can stop fussing around with figuring out what battery goes where. Ideally I would have only two car batteries on hand, both capable of fitting in any of my vehicles. Ideally.












                              Current driver: Ranger
                              Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                              | 88 TC | 91 GM
                              Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                              Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                              | Junkyards

                              Comment


                                Same exact battery hold down I am using. It is an absolutely perfect fit.
                                ~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

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