The Galactica - GrandMarq.NET

**gadget73** · 09-11-2005, 10:54 PM

OK, I figure I should post/picture whore a bit. Since I don't really like fooling with Cardomain, mostly because I think its annoying to post pics and edit things and such, and I'm a lazy bastard, I'll just post some stuff here. This shall be a multi-part post with a bunch of pics.
The beginning.
I bought this heap in the middle of November 2004. It needed a front rotor, both front calipers, and a set of shoes. I took care of that, threw a set of hinges on the driver's side door, replaced the broken waffle grille and cleaned the tons of garbage out of it before taking these pics. I'm guessing these date from just after Thanksgiving.

As you can see, it wasn't much to look at. On to the interior, which is somewhat worse to look at

And the motor. At this point it was the all original solidly running 302 we all know and love

From this point, things started to go downhill. The engine blew up, I caught the car on fire, the interior got worse from a combo of abuse, neglect, and old age. Mostly it was so crappy that I didn't care to try and keep it from getting any worse, which of course it did. On to where things begin to get better.

**Paul_** · 09-11-2005, 10:56 PM

looks prety decent

**gadget73** · 09-11-2005, 11:06 PM

Fast forward to about April. The engine lost all it's oil pressure and developed a nice little rod knock after I decided to fix a very long standing oil leak. It sat in the back yard for 4 months while I rebuilt an HO engine for it, and sometime in early april it went in. This was somewhat of a disaster as I didn't have the fuel rail on quite right, and the fuel leak plus the open headers (which sounded f'n awesome btw) lit it up rather well. The fire cooked the transmission and I ended up having to replace that, the mount, the trans crossmember (it was rotted) and the fuel rail O rings along with re-wrapping most of the wiring harness and re-plumbing the HVAC horror under the dash.

I also replaced the shitty rusted rear bumper. This new one is both shiny and aluminum.

some of the wiring damage

kinda screwed up locating one of the oxygen sensors. This is the passenger side, and you might not be able to tell but it's jammed solid against the frame. This makes an annoying exhaust leak because I can't get the downpipe to seat against the header flange properly.

**Paul_** · 09-11-2005, 11:08 PM

that aluminum bumper is sexy

**gadget73** · 09-11-2005, 11:15 PM

At this point it's pretty much running. It hit the road under it's own power on April 24 about 5 am when I drove it 45 miles home after an all nighter doing a transmission install. Fast forward to the end of May when I got it debugged enough to start messing with cosmetics again. The interior was really trashy when I got this car (see first post) and the carpet and everything else looked like crap. It was far beyond simple cleaning. I gutted the interior and spent a good 4 hours with the pressure washer on it one day, and ended up with this. Pics don't quite do it justice as I don't have a good before and after picture, but the carpet is actually pretty nice now.

Still have the same crappy seats and glovebox as you can see. The pics make the carpet look spotty and brown, but really it isn't.
Some of y'all at Scottfest may recall just how bad the inside of my car looked. It was waaaay worse in person. On to the end of July. By this time I had gotten a new door panel (thanks David!) and I scored a nice set of front seats.

and yes, the door panel still looks exactly like that. I've been too lazy to grabg an insert. I'm actually thinking that I may just change them from the original leather/vinyl insert to grey velour to match the seats.

**Paul_** · 09-11-2005, 11:17 PM

i want some tc velour seats

**gadget73** · 09-11-2005, 11:19 PM

Another week goes by. Its now early August. Its hot, I have all my fingers still, and I raped more parts from the junkyard. First up, the grille. I had an 84 grille in it for a while, but I found a really nice 86 waffle grille, and since I like wierd limited run parts that were mostly unpopular, I grabbed it. I also had a crappy painted black hood ornament that got replaced at this time.
The old:

The new:

I also put different rims on it. They need work because the clear is peeling and I don't have caps, but they look better than the crappy hubcaps. No stupid rattles either.

**Paul_** · 09-11-2005, 11:33 PM

i thought the waterfall grilles were on the 89's

**Grand_Marquis_GT** · 09-11-2005, 11:34 PM

I also got to drive it

It hauls ass.

**Paul_** · 09-11-2005, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grand_Marquis_GT

I also got to drive it

It hauls ass.

you suck

scottsfest 2k6, assuming you haven't been sent to england yet you can drive shifty

**gadget73** · 09-11-2005, 11:39 PM

Mid September. I have working fingers again (yay) and wanted to test them out. Sometime between early August and mid September I also got around to putting the power seat motor on the passenger side of my car, along with a new mirror. I also installed a rear sway bar and a set of cargo coils. No pics but y'all have seen a box with a bar, so use your imagination.
First up, a new dash pad.

And now, the perfection which I scored from the junkyard:

I should have gotten pics with it out, but its about as perfect a dash you'll ever find from a 1986 in the junkyard.
I also found a correct 1986 only HO intake plate.

I also replaced these nasty things:

With these. I had no idea these lights were chrome at one point. The passenger side one looks brand new, driver's side chrome is not so great, but the lens isn't damaged and the "chrome" inner opera window trim is not yellow and nasty.

And I got the nicer illuminated mirrored sunvisors. I don't have power wires up to them right now because my car is a crappy base model, but someday these will light up.

The bad part about replacing stuff, it makes everything else look crappy. All the trim in my car is a couple shades darker than it should be from years of the original owner's chain smoking. Look at this shit.

You can see the stains on the headliner over the driver's seat. The stains are actually a fair bit larger but its hard to get a good pic of it. Headliner is falling down anyway, so it'll get replaced soon.

The other thing I did today was replace the carpet in the trunk and clean the rest of the hay out of it. This car was used as a farm truck for years, hauling a horse trailer and apparently hay.

I also took all this crap out:

and now my trunk looks like this:

This part still needs a little work, but with the spare tire moved over, I actually can get a board in here to mount the amp and the distribution blocks too. Its somewhat better than it was tho.

**gadget73** · 09-11-2005, 11:41 PM

waterfalls were up to 84. 85-86 had a waffle, 87-89 had a slightly different waterfall. the 84 and older ones had Lincoln on the chrome surround, the 87+ had the text in the lower right corner of the grille.

**gadget73** · 09-11-2005, 11:42 PM

She hauls more than ass.

**Paul_** · 09-11-2005, 11:49 PM

thats a cool pic,lol

**Paul_** · 09-11-2005, 11:49 PM

btw, thanks for clarification on the grilles,lol

**Grand_Marquis_GT** · 09-11-2005, 11:57 PM

Get those KYBs installed!

Also, I will be at SF2K6, paul.

Im going to fly back home for it...

**gadget73** · 09-12-2005, 12:00 AM

heh, np. This is what happens when you start to pick up too many trivial details about your car. I can identify most of the one-year specific styling cues on Towncars anymore, and they're all small details too. I got like this with VW Beetles at one point, but I've forgotten much of the really nitpick stuff now.

**Jonathan** · 09-12-2005, 12:25 AM

I got to ride in Galactica at Scottfest, but pre velour seats

That's when I also noticed the cool thermometer on the drivers side mirror on both Thains and Scotts LTC's, I am gonna go find one of those and put it on GL

Galactica is lookin good there mang, keep up the good work!!!!!

**85crownHPP** · 09-12-2005, 05:38 PM

Nice!
I didnt know it had been through so much. I didnt know those map lights were chrome either! If I had would have looked for good ones, lol. O well mine look ok in red.
Nice score on the bumper too, it make a world of difference.

boXman · 09-13-2005, 12:00 AM

I got a ride in it too, cool car

09-11-2005, 10:54 PM	#1
gadget73 small engines suck Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 18,190	The Galactica OK, I figure I should post/picture whore a bit. Since I don't really like fooling with Cardomain, mostly because I think its annoying to post pics and edit things and such, and I'm a lazy bastard, I'll just post some stuff here. This shall be a multi-part post with a bunch of pics. The beginning. I bought this heap in the middle of November 2004. It needed a front rotor, both front calipers, and a set of shoes. I took care of that, threw a set of hinges on the driver's side door, replaced the broken waffle grille and cleaned the tons of garbage out of it before taking these pics. I'm guessing these date from just after Thanksgiving. As you can see, it wasn't much to look at. On to the interior, which is somewhat worse to look at And the motor. At this point it was the all original solidly running 302 we all know and love From this point, things started to go downhill. The engine blew up, I caught the car on fire, the interior got worse from a combo of abuse, neglect, and old age. Mostly it was so crappy that I didn't care to try and keep it from getting any worse, which of course it did. On to where things begin to get better. __________________ 86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica). Drivetrain: 5.0 HO, Explorer cam, FMS 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley, SuperCoupe stall converter Suspension: Bridgestone Protenza G019 225/60/16 on LSC turbines, 1 3/16" wagon front bar, 1" PI rear bar, cargo coils, KYB GR-2 front shocks, F150 rear air shocks, big front brakes, ES poly front suspension bushings, 00 CVPI steering box, ES poly body mounts, rear disc brakes 91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC SE, triple black (Timewarp) - poly front bushings, KYB struts and shocks.

09-11-2005, 10:56 PM	#2
Paul_ Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Milton, NH Posts: 9,295	looks prety decent __________________ Now taking requests for Snapper! Save a seal, club a liberal.

09-11-2005, 11:06 PM	#3
gadget73 small engines suck Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 18,190	Fast forward to about April. The engine lost all it's oil pressure and developed a nice little rod knock after I decided to fix a very long standing oil leak. It sat in the back yard for 4 months while I rebuilt an HO engine for it, and sometime in early april it went in. This was somewhat of a disaster as I didn't have the fuel rail on quite right, and the fuel leak plus the open headers (which sounded f'n awesome btw) lit it up rather well. The fire cooked the transmission and I ended up having to replace that, the mount, the trans crossmember (it was rotted) and the fuel rail O rings along with re-wrapping most of the wiring harness and re-plumbing the HVAC horror under the dash. I also replaced the shitty rusted rear bumper. This new one is both shiny and aluminum. some of the wiring damage kinda screwed up locating one of the oxygen sensors. This is the passenger side, and you might not be able to tell but it's jammed solid against the frame. This makes an annoying exhaust leak because I can't get the downpipe to seat against the header flange properly. __________________ 86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica). Drivetrain: 5.0 HO, Explorer cam, FMS 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley, SuperCoupe stall converter Suspension: Bridgestone Protenza G019 225/60/16 on LSC turbines, 1 3/16" wagon front bar, 1" PI rear bar, cargo coils, KYB GR-2 front shocks, F150 rear air shocks, big front brakes, ES poly front suspension bushings, 00 CVPI steering box, ES poly body mounts, rear disc brakes 91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC SE, triple black (Timewarp) - poly front bushings, KYB struts and shocks.

09-11-2005, 11:08 PM	#4
Paul_ Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Milton, NH Posts: 9,295	that aluminum bumper is sexy __________________ Now taking requests for Snapper! Save a seal, club a liberal.

09-11-2005, 11:15 PM	#5
gadget73 small engines suck Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 18,190	At this point it's pretty much running. It hit the road under it's own power on April 24 about 5 am when I drove it 45 miles home after an all nighter doing a transmission install. Fast forward to the end of May when I got it debugged enough to start messing with cosmetics again. The interior was really trashy when I got this car (see first post) and the carpet and everything else looked like crap. It was far beyond simple cleaning. I gutted the interior and spent a good 4 hours with the pressure washer on it one day, and ended up with this. Pics don't quite do it justice as I don't have a good before and after picture, but the carpet is actually pretty nice now. Still have the same crappy seats and glovebox as you can see. The pics make the carpet look spotty and brown, but really it isn't. Some of y'all at Scottfest may recall just how bad the inside of my car looked. It was waaaay worse in person. On to the end of July. By this time I had gotten a new door panel (thanks David!) and I scored a nice set of front seats. and yes, the door panel still looks exactly like that. I've been too lazy to grabg an insert. I'm actually thinking that I may just change them from the original leather/vinyl insert to grey velour to match the seats. __________________ 86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica). Drivetrain: 5.0 HO, Explorer cam, FMS 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley, SuperCoupe stall converter Suspension: Bridgestone Protenza G019 225/60/16 on LSC turbines, 1 3/16" wagon front bar, 1" PI rear bar, cargo coils, KYB GR-2 front shocks, F150 rear air shocks, big front brakes, ES poly front suspension bushings, 00 CVPI steering box, ES poly body mounts, rear disc brakes 91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC SE, triple black (Timewarp) - poly front bushings, KYB struts and shocks.

09-11-2005, 11:17 PM	#6
Paul_ Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Milton, NH Posts: 9,295	i want some tc velour seats __________________ Now taking requests for Snapper! Save a seal, club a liberal.

09-11-2005, 11:19 PM	#7
gadget73 small engines suck Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 18,190	Another week goes by. Its now early August. Its hot, I have all my fingers still, and I raped more parts from the junkyard. First up, the grille. I had an 84 grille in it for a while, but I found a really nice 86 waffle grille, and since I like wierd limited run parts that were mostly unpopular, I grabbed it. I also had a crappy painted black hood ornament that got replaced at this time. The old: The new: I also put different rims on it. They need work because the clear is peeling and I don't have caps, but they look better than the crappy hubcaps. No stupid rattles either. __________________ 86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica). Drivetrain: 5.0 HO, Explorer cam, FMS 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley, SuperCoupe stall converter Suspension: Bridgestone Protenza G019 225/60/16 on LSC turbines, 1 3/16" wagon front bar, 1" PI rear bar, cargo coils, KYB GR-2 front shocks, F150 rear air shocks, big front brakes, ES poly front suspension bushings, 00 CVPI steering box, ES poly body mounts, rear disc brakes 91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC SE, triple black (Timewarp) - poly front bushings, KYB struts and shocks.

09-11-2005, 11:33 PM	#8
Paul_ Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Milton, NH Posts: 9,295	i thought the waterfall grilles were on the 89's __________________ Now taking requests for Snapper! Save a seal, club a liberal.

09-11-2005, 11:39 PM	#11
gadget73 small engines suck Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 18,190	Mid September. I have working fingers again (yay) and wanted to test them out. Sometime between early August and mid September I also got around to putting the power seat motor on the passenger side of my car, along with a new mirror. I also installed a rear sway bar and a set of cargo coils. No pics but y'all have seen a box with a bar, so use your imagination. First up, a new dash pad. And now, the perfection which I scored from the junkyard: I should have gotten pics with it out, but its about as perfect a dash you'll ever find from a 1986 in the junkyard. I also found a correct 1986 only HO intake plate. I also replaced these nasty things: With these. I had no idea these lights were chrome at one point. The passenger side one looks brand new, driver's side chrome is not so great, but the lens isn't damaged and the "chrome" inner opera window trim is not yellow and nasty. And I got the nicer illuminated mirrored sunvisors. I don't have power wires up to them right now because my car is a crappy base model, but someday these will light up. The bad part about replacing stuff, it makes everything else look crappy. All the trim in my car is a couple shades darker than it should be from years of the original owner's chain smoking. Look at this shit. You can see the stains on the headliner over the driver's seat. The stains are actually a fair bit larger but its hard to get a good pic of it. Headliner is falling down anyway, so it'll get replaced soon. The other thing I did today was replace the carpet in the trunk and clean the rest of the hay out of it. This car was used as a farm truck for years, hauling a horse trailer and apparently hay. I also took all this crap out: and now my trunk looks like this: This part still needs a little work, but with the spare tire moved over, I actually can get a board in here to mount the amp and the distribution blocks too. Its somewhat better than it was tho. __________________ 86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica). Drivetrain: 5.0 HO, Explorer cam, FMS 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley, SuperCoupe stall converter Suspension: Bridgestone Protenza G019 225/60/16 on LSC turbines, 1 3/16" wagon front bar, 1" PI rear bar, cargo coils, KYB GR-2 front shocks, F150 rear air shocks, big front brakes, ES poly front suspension bushings, 00 CVPI steering box, ES poly body mounts, rear disc brakes 91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC SE, triple black (Timewarp) - poly front bushings, KYB struts and shocks.

09-11-2005, 11:41 PM	#12
gadget73 small engines suck Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 18,190	waterfalls were up to 84. 85-86 had a waffle, 87-89 had a slightly different waterfall. the 84 and older ones had Lincoln on the chrome surround, the 87+ had the text in the lower right corner of the grille. __________________ 86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica). Drivetrain: 5.0 HO, Explorer cam, FMS 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley, SuperCoupe stall converter Suspension: Bridgestone Protenza G019 225/60/16 on LSC turbines, 1 3/16" wagon front bar, 1" PI rear bar, cargo coils, KYB GR-2 front shocks, F150 rear air shocks, big front brakes, ES poly front suspension bushings, 00 CVPI steering box, ES poly body mounts, rear disc brakes 91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC SE, triple black (Timewarp) - poly front bushings, KYB struts and shocks.

09-11-2005, 11:42 PM	#13
gadget73 small engines suck Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 18,190	She hauls more than ass. __________________ 86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica). Drivetrain: 5.0 HO, Explorer cam, FMS 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley, SuperCoupe stall converter Suspension: Bridgestone Protenza G019 225/60/16 on LSC turbines, 1 3/16" wagon front bar, 1" PI rear bar, cargo coils, KYB GR-2 front shocks, F150 rear air shocks, big front brakes, ES poly front suspension bushings, 00 CVPI steering box, ES poly body mounts, rear disc brakes 91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC SE, triple black (Timewarp) - poly front bushings, KYB struts and shocks.

09-11-2005, 11:49 PM	#14
Paul_ Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Milton, NH Posts: 9,295	thats a cool pic,lol __________________ Now taking requests for Snapper! Save a seal, club a liberal.

09-12-2005, 12:00 AM	#17
gadget73 small engines suck Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 18,190	heh, np. This is what happens when you start to pick up too many trivial details about your car. I can identify most of the one-year specific styling cues on Towncars anymore, and they're all small details too. I got like this with VW Beetles at one point, but I've forgotten much of the really nitpick stuff now. __________________ 86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica). Drivetrain: 5.0 HO, Explorer cam, FMS 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley, SuperCoupe stall converter Suspension: Bridgestone Protenza G019 225/60/16 on LSC turbines, 1 3/16" wagon front bar, 1" PI rear bar, cargo coils, KYB GR-2 front shocks, F150 rear air shocks, big front brakes, ES poly front suspension bushings, 00 CVPI steering box, ES poly body mounts, rear disc brakes 91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC SE, triple black (Timewarp) - poly front bushings, KYB struts and shocks.

09-12-2005, 12:25 AM	#18
Jonathan "Drinking your own blood is the paradigm of recycling"-Gary Busey Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: La Grande, Oregon Posts: 19,897	I got to ride in Galactica at Scottfest, but pre velour seats That's when I also noticed the cool thermometer on the drivers side mirror on both Thains and Scotts LTC's, I am gonna go find one of those and put it on GL Galactica is lookin good there mang, keep up the good work!!!!! __________________ 1985 Lincoln Town Car-JonsLincoln Pebbles-1968 Ford F250 Pile of Junk! An Electronics Project Site (To get wet by)<---Clicky! NEW STUFF!!!!

09-12-2005, 05:38 PM	#19
85crownHPP milking the funky ball of tits from outer space Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: central VA Posts: 10,132	Nice! I didnt know it had been through so much. I didnt know those map lights were chrome either! If I had would have looked for good ones, lol. O well mine look ok in red. Nice score on the bumper too, it make a world of difference. __________________ Pete ::::>>> resident LED addict and CFI defector LED bulb replacements 91 Crown Vic (ugly cream-puff) 85 LTD Crown Vic (HPP project) 88 P72 (new beater) I'm old gregg! 85HPP's most noteworthy mods: CFI to SEFI conversion w/HO upperstuff headers & flowmasters Towncar seats LED dash light-show center console w/5 gauge package LED 3rd brake light 3G alternator mini starter washer/coolant bottle upgrade Towncar power trunk pull underhood fuse/relay box 16" HPP wheels - police swaybars w/poly rubbers Soon (maybe): big brakes, 3.55L, shift kit, possible explorer bits swap and MAF conversion

09-13-2005, 12:00 AM	#20
boXman pickup man Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: millville PA Posts: 8,433	I got a ride in it too, cool car __________________ '89 Ford LTD Crown Vic - '92 Ford F-150 Custom - '95 Ford Bronco XL -

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