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kishy's 1988 Town Car

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    #31
    Your friend plans to fix that up but is storing it without a cover? If the paint & top were shot I wouldn't care, but that thing is pretty nice. Advise him to pick up a fitted California Car Cover for it for less than < $300 USD. Or, if he really want to be cheap, just get a tarp and some bricks. But the CCC would end up saving him more than the purchase price over the long run.
    1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
    1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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      #32
      Originally posted by DerekTheGreat View Post
      Your friend plans to fix that up but is storing it without a cover? If the paint & top were shot I wouldn't care, but that thing is pretty nice. Advise him to pick up a fitted California Car Cover for it for less than < $300 USD. Or, if he really want to be cheap, just get a tarp and some bricks. But the CCC would end up saving him more than the purchase price over the long run.
      I may have given the wrong impression. My friend is not doing anything with the car, he's just letting me use his yard and enabling and encouraging my bad decisions. This was supposed to be a parts car, but he said he'd store it for me if I'd fix it, and that he'd help me fix it...but that project is entirely directed by me.

      I've given some thought to a car cover and am intending to put one on it, but it needs the new bumper before that can happen, otherwise it'll just slice right through it.

      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

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        #33
        When it comes to semi or long term outdoor car coverings, or covering anything really, one of the keys to long tarp life is padding the corners or any protrusion.
        03 Marauder DPB, HS, 6disk, Organizer Mods> LED's in & Out, M&Z rear control arms, Oil deflector, U-Haul Trans Pan, Blue Fuzzy Dice
        02 SL500 Silver Arrow
        08 TC Signature Limited, HID's Mods>235/55-17 Z rated BFG G-Force Comp-2 A/S Plus, Addco 1" rear Sway, Posi Carrier, Compustar Remote Start, floor liners, trunk organizer, Two part Sun Visors, B&M Trans drain Plug, Winter=05 Mustang GT rims, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R-2 235/55-17
        12 Escape Limited V6 AWD, 225/65R17 Vredestein Quatrac Pro, Winter 235/70-16 Conti Viking Contact7 Mods>Beamtech LED headlight bulbs, Husky floor liners

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          #34
          Yeah, just pad where it goes over the bumper. Get that cover on there ASAP and protect your investment.
          1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
          1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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            #35
            Originally posted by kishy View Post
            ...
            So, the parts list already acquired looks like:
            • ...
            • Rear bumper: failure due to aluminum corrosion. If a big bumper swap comes to fruition, I have a good set of bumpers and fillers to facilitate that.
            • ...
            ...
            While I have a set of big bumpers for this car, and I think my preference will be to go that direction, I did find a decent condition skinny bumper in July, noted in the junkyard thread. This bumper has been living in my friend's truck since then, and I've finally been able to reconnect with it.

            Externally, the bumper looks great, but there is some "rust jacking" (except it's all aluminum galvanic corrosion, triggered by steel fasteners) at some points between the inner and outer parts of the bumper. Yesterday, I pulled the two halves apart and studied the condition of things.

            The facebar/outer section is very nice and will go on the 88. Since storage space is not unlimited, this will likely happen some time before the quarter panel repair, so the old one can go as scrap and take up less room.

            Unfortunately, and also unsurprisingly as it's typical, the backbar/inner section is pretty rough. It can be cleaned up to be just fine at the points where it bolts together with the outer section, but it is going to require reinforcement at the points where it attaches to the bumper shocks. This is to be expected with aluminum parts left in contact with steel parts, especially when they get hit with salty road splash, but it's always annoying when it is found.

            New hardware will be used, and for now the bumper is remaining in pieces until it's time to move forward. Stainless U-nuts and bolts will probably be the right long term solution, of course I could also just grease all the hardware contact points on the aluminum.














            For the sake of completeness I will also note that earlier this month, I did source the quarter section of a fairly rust-free junkyard '83 Town Car, also noted in the junkyard thread. That quarter section remains in my trailer at this time, with no work of any type having been done to it. There is no intent at this time to begin the body work in 2022, but it definitely feels more "within reach" to have acquired all the needed pieces.

            Speaking of needed pieces, I also harvested the driver side nylon fuel line (from steel line to fuel tank) from that 83. There is a fuel leak on the 88 believed to be that line.

            I noticed on a shelf in my garage that I can't reach at the moment (there's a pile of exhaust pipes in the way), a pair of 85-88 front turn signals that I pulled back in 2014 or thereabouts. So that's taken care of as well.

            I can't actually think of anything else that this needs that isn't on-hand now, besides hood lift supports. It has the aluminum hood so one of my pairs of take-offs from the 84 (steel hood) might be good enough for it. It will need the usual under-hood efforts before it sees the road again re: oil and coolant leaks, but at this point that's just standard stuff when you buy any small block Ford.
            Last edited by kishy; 09-19-2022, 11:00 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


              #36
              So, when the local auto parts store is out of stock, do they call you? Cool that you have all these "goodies" for parts swaps.
              What I Own: 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis GS
              What I Help Maintain: 1996 CV / 1988 CV / 1988 Tempo

              Comment


                #37
                Originally posted by friskyfrankie View Post
                So, when the local auto parts store is out of stock, do they call you? Cool that you have all these "goodies" for parts swaps.
                LOL. I know that's tongue-in-cheek, but friends who are employees at auto parts stores have actually referred people at their counter to me for Panther stuff.

                Let's be real. It's hoarding. Focused and purposeful hoarding, but still. My garage is a disaster. Getting better though as I'm finally getting some of the items other people want into boxes and out the door.

                My two significant hobbies are computers (hardware-focused, preference towards retro/vintage) and cars (if that wasn't apparent). I have an obscene amount of bits and pieces related to each of these hobbies. It is all legitimately useful stuff that is being kept for a sane and logical purpose with a roadmap for how and when it will be useful, but it greatly exceeds what one person should ever own in terms of material possessions.

                I am not a hoarder in any other sense of the word so I suppose as long as the stuff is attached to the hobbies, it isn't actually a problem.

                I did not own any Lincoln, nor had I previously, at the time I pulled those front turn signals. I can't explain the thought process behind pulling them when I did, but clearly I had some foresight.

                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

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                  #38
                  I'm still waiting for the tripminder. WagonMan
                  89 Colony Park
                  90 Colony Park
                  70 HEMI Daytona Convertible

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                    #39
                    When the need exist, it is better to have than not have. Many of these parts are difficult to find so I wouldn't be beating myself up if I were you. Now if you can turn the extras into a profit, that's "gravy"! As an aside, yes I was joking (but just barely - it was meant as a good thing).
                    What I Own: 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis GS
                    What I Help Maintain: 1996 CV / 1988 CV / 1988 Tempo

                    Comment


                      #40
                      I'm in a similar boat, lots of this and that around. I wish I didn't have to keep it around, but when you can't get it elsewhere I don't want to be SOL. If I could just go to the parts store and get what I want, my garage wouldn't have shelves of just random things I've found for a good price here or there and grabbed just in case I need it.
                      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

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