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Prudence, my 87 Town Car

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    Prudence, my 87 Town Car

    This is my 1987 Signature level Town Car, named Prudence by my wife. I bought it back in June of 2019 for $1200 from a guy who had bought it the previous year from his neighbor, who inherited it from his father, who I believe was the original and longstanding owner. (It took all summer to sort out the title between the two of them, but that's a story for a different time.) It seemed the car more or less sat between the original owner's passing and my purchase, but before that had received fairly regular maintenance. Coming from Tacoma, it was rust free with a good vinyl top. The paint was redone in a somewhat middling fashion at some point in the last 5-10 years and is currently single stage.

    The first few projects after buying the car were getting all the windows working and replacing a lot of light bulbs. Pretty must all the exterior lights but turn signals, head and taillights had burned out, and I've been swapping out those and all interior bulbs out for LEDs. The car came with chrome window vent covers, but they were a little beat up and I didn't care for the look, so I removed them. It also had an aftermarket tint that had long since turned purple. That was replaced with a ceramic tint, which I hope should resist color fading and provide better UV blocking. I also had a 2" hitch receiver installed. My wife drives a Honda Fit, and while it's remarkably roomy for such a small car, I figured it would be prudent for one of our vehicles to be able to tow a trailer.



    In November 2019 my wife and I moved from Tacoma to the Mojave, driving the Town Car down the coast in an abbreviated honeymoon. We lost the ignition pickup just south of Eureka, but otherwise the car held up well. This move took us from three blocks away from a mechanic to about 40 miles. I had next to no experience with auto mechanics up to this point, but out of necessity have been picking it up since. But while I have exterior photos posted, I should mention the things I've changed. Prudence originally came with the fake wire wheel covers. I picked up a set of "luxury wheel covers", which I believe were an option on Continentals in the mid 70s. They seem to highlight the need for whitewalls, but the current tires are only two years old so it may be awhile before that happens.



    Removing decades of oxidation from the grille has been an ongoing project, currently about 3/4 done in the picture below. I also pulled apart the headlight bezels and cleaned up the reflector lenses that sit between the headlights. The headlights themselves were swapped out with e-code housings and LED bulbs. I tell myself the sharp cutoff of the e-codes mean the brighter LEDs aren't too irresponsible, and I definitely appreciate the improved light levels, but I'm sure Daniel Stern would disagree. This was also done without a headlight relay, which I don't think is necessary for the LEDs, but is probably still a good idea for the headlight switch.



    The interior is in pretty good shape. There are the typical issues: cracked dash pad, both front door armrests are starting to go, and the ATC sensor has gone out. The leather is solid, apart from some splitting on the outside ends of the driver's seat 'pillows'. It received the Leatherique treatment this spring. I bought a set of floor mats from a whale TC to replace the generic Wal-Mart mats the car came with. The newer carpet isn't nearly as thick as the 80s stuff, but it gets the job done. I also swapped out the radio, which was some cheapo aftermarket head unit when I bought it. The replacement unit is also cheapo, but with a matte black finish that's less offensive, and includes bluetooth, aux, and SD card inputs. I have a stock premium sound unit sitting on my desk right now, but its day has yet to come.



    The engine bay has received the most love this summer. A 3G alternator swap happened in February, right after the stock alternator's pulley bolt worked itself out on a return trip from Phoenix. This was followed in May by a loose vacuum hose to the MAP sensor, which quickly escalated into an intake manifold gasket replacement, which spiraled into sanding down and polishing the intake manifold. I also replaced the hood insulation, PCV valve and filter, most coolant hoses, vacuum lines, and a lot of the emissions stuff. There are still leaks from the rear main seal, transmission, and the power steering has been giving me grief. But all in all, the engine bay is a lot cleaner than when the year began.



    At this point the car is in decent shape. I'm currently hunting down an exhaust leak somewhere up front, and will continue to deal with anything else that breaks over time. I don't have a particularly strong desire to modify the engine right now. Not after having spent dozens of hours on the intake manifold, anyway. Future projects will probably involve restoring small features that have been lost and making aesthetic improvements - paint, trim, leather, etc.

    Mileage currently sits just shy of 85,000, or almost 15,000 more than when I bought it. Hopefully the car will last long enough to see the odometer turn over a couple times.
    1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

    #2
    Nice! Short of the interior color, wheel covers and digi dash, it's a pretty good ringer for my car.
    1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
    1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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      #3
      That is one sexy box you've got! Definitely saving the first pic for personal use...
      The black on black plus those wheel covers almost reminds of a japanese mafia car or so on, like an older Toyota Century. If I had that, I'd do nothing to it's looks.
      1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
      1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

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        #4
        black interior is kind of rare, and good black Signature leather is a real unicorn.
        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


          #5
          Wheel covers look nice on that. Nice job on bringing her back up to snuff.
          ~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


            #6
            That is beautiful! Really like how you polished the intake and cleaned the engine bay; looks like a resto now.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by DerekTheGreat View Post
              Nice! Short of the interior color, wheel covers and digi dash, it's a pretty good ringer for my car.
              When I first got the car I was disappointed it didn't have a tan interior, as that was the setup I had on my 01 Town Car back in grad school. But over time the black has grown on me, and after putting in 'daylight' LEDs the interior has felt much less dark and lair-like.

              Originally posted by Arquemann View Post
              That is one sexy box you've got! Definitely saving the first pic for personal use...
              The black on black plus those wheel covers almost reminds of a japanese mafia car or so on, like an older Toyota Century. If I had that, I'd do nothing to it's looks.
              That reminds me of the time last year when a coworker and I were driving through Seattle traffic to get to a jobsite meeting. We finally arrived and my coworker told the contractors that if we'd had diplomatic flags on the car we might've made better time. Well, after the meeting we were walking the site and foreman saw our ride. "That's not a diplomat's car," he said, "That's a mafia car!"

              And at one point, I guess these cars were...

              Click image for larger version

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              1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

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                #8
                Hah, when I first saw pics of what was soon to be my Town Car, I almost didn't buy it because it didn't have a red or blue interior or black. I thought it was blah bland gray until I saw it in person and noticed it was tan. 2nd strike against it was not having a digital dash, at that time I thought that was a must have.. However, it was still a Sig Series with the leveling rear air shock option, was sporting factory turbines and was rather minty. When I sat in it and took the interior/exterior color combo in I was hooked. Come to find out my '88 is something like 1/38 built that year with that color combination.
                1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Lutrova View Post
                  When I first got the car I was disappointed it didn't have a tan interior, as that was the setup I had on my 01 Town Car back in grad school. But over time the black has grown on me, and after putting in 'daylight' LEDs the interior has felt much less dark and lair-like.



                  That reminds me of the time last year when a coworker and I were driving through Seattle traffic to get to a jobsite meeting. We finally arrived and my coworker told the contractors that if we'd had diplomatic flags on the car we might've made better time. Well, after the meeting we were walking the site and foreman saw our ride. "That's not a diplomat's car," he said, "That's a mafia car!"

                  And at one point, I guess these cars were...

                  [ATTACH=CONFIG]55248[/ATTACH]
                  In the '80s; if somebody showed up with a 3-piece suit and climbed out a TC like the one you have; you knew you were in trouble.

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                    #10
                    How many bodies in the trunk????? WagonMan
                    89 Colony Park
                    90 Colony Park
                    70 HEMI Daytona Convertible

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by WagonMan View Post
                      How many bodies in the trunk????? WagonMan
                      "Louie the lumper" didn't tell him. Just told him to drive to the river, close his eyes and wait.
                      "Tony two fingers" will tell him when to leave. Don't ask him why he is called that. He likes to demonstrate.
                      Last edited by Mainemantom; 11-24-2020, 02:03 PM.

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                        #12
                        Willie the Wimp. He lived like he lived in a lively manner. They laid him to rest in a special way.. ..that casket mobile really drove 'em wild..
                        1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                        1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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                          #13
                          Nice ride! Does it still have the original spare tire?
                          '79 Continental Town Car
                          '90 Crown Victoria LTD
                          '94 Crown Victoria

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                            #14
                            New tires were put on within the year before I bought it and the best old tire was put on the spare. How old that tire is I don't know - haven't looked at it too closely to be honest. I do remember that it's a whitewall. But the way everything else was cared for on this car, I'd be surprised if the tires weren't replaced a couple times in the last 33 years.
                            1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Took the car out for some errands Saturday. Somewhere along the way I lost the right rear wheel cover. Don't know if I hit a pothole or someone in the Costco parking lot liked it a little too much. I guess I can't bolt them to the wheels like the stock wire wheel covers. But maybe some zip ties would add a little insurance?

                              At any rate, on Sunday afternoon the weather was nice and I thought I'd spruce up the tail light and rear reflector trim. It's hard to tell whether this was still original paint or if it'd been touched up at some point, but either way it was mostly gone.



                              I masked off the raised part and roughed up the plastic with 400 grit, cleaned off the dust, and applied two coats of a metallic oil paint with a paint marker, waiting maybe 15 minutes between coats. Time will tell just how long the fix lasts, but for five bucks and an hour or so of time, I guess I'll take whatever I get.



                              For now, though, I'd say it looks pretty slick. Those little silver lines really tie the rear lights together.



                              1987 Lincoln Town Car - Signature, "Prudence"

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