kishy's 1988 Town Car

[kishy]

Yeah, unfortunately, people are very concerned with what other people do on their own property in a way that doesn't generate any offensive noise, smell, light pollution, etc.
A car merely existing on property that isn't yours does not affect you.
We've been down this rabbit hole before though.

Bought one of these things:


I very strongly suspect that it will need additional bracing added before it can do what is going to be asked of it, but I think it's a good starting point.
A certain degree of pushing out from inside is also possible.
The primary goal for the first phase of "working on the car" is just to make the fuel filler neck accessible - both for putting fuel in, and also for dropping the tank, which I suspect will be needed to repair the return line (though I haven't actually put eyes on what is broken, I'm sure it's the quick-connect at the frame rail).

Yeah Derek, potentially interested. If you can get the model number (on ThinkPads there's something called an MTM number in the format of XXXX-XXX on the underside) and send me a PM, we can coordinate something.

[87gtVIC]

Machine looks cool. Curious how it’s gonna fair against the steel from the Lincoln versus the steel of a modern vehicle.

did it come with those keys pictured? The ones welded into the body panel?

I am very interested in seeing how it does.

[kishy]

Machine looks cool. Curious how it’s gonna fair against the steel from the Lincoln versus the steel of a modern vehicle.

did it come with those keys pictured? The ones welded into the body panel?

I am very interested in seeing how it does.

It comes with a hook attachment that expects to attach to something like these, glued to the body panel.

But since I am not concerned with actually fixing the existing panel, and there's no real reason to protect the paint in the middle of the collision damage, other options might be pursued too (like putting a bolt through it with a giant flat washer and tugging on that).

[GM_Guy]

Neat, never seen something like that before.

[WagonMan]

It would be a waste of money for me. A tree, a chain, a come-along and a wood 4x4 works the same. I guess I'm a redneck bodyman! LOL! WagonMan

[87gtVIC]

ahh. I did not realize it was marketed as a painless dent repair.

I’ve seen similar units that one welds a number of those keys in place and then pulls them in unison with a bar slid between them.

It comes with a hook attachment that expects to attach to something like these, glued to the body panel.

But since I am not concerned with actually fixing the existing panel, and there's no real reason to protect the paint in the middle of the collision damage, other options might be pursued too (like putting a bolt through it with a giant flat washer and tugging on that).

[kishy]

The car is home. Waiting until the snow and ice melted and weather warmed up a bit was definitely the right move.



Swapped on a tire that will hold air in place of the one which wouldn't air up at all. Sprayed it off at a carwash. Got it into the garage.



The stuff is already encroaching, but there is more storage efficiency yet to be fully realized.

I currently have no intent to work on this particularly soon, but once it's warmer out I may take a shot at manipulating the dent, at least towards the goal of being able to address the fuel system issues.

[DerekTheGreat]

Well, it certainly looks nice from the angle on the trailer. What's with the emblem on the grille? Isn't that an '89 only deal? Taillights say "1988-1989," but the lack of orange cornering lights say "1988." I suspect the grille was swapped on later. Not that it's important, just that I noticed.

[kishy]

Well, it certainly looks nice from the angle on the trailer. What's with the emblem on the grille? Isn't that an '89 only deal? Taillights say "1988-1989," but the lack of orange cornering lights say "1988." I suspect the grille was swapped on later. Not that it's important, just that I noticed.

I hope you know that I mean it as a term of endearment when I say neerrrrrrrrrd.

Good eye. Yeah, fairly sure that emblem is an 89ism. The 88-and-prior header panel emblem is also present (in the earlier font), and the car itself is an 88. Header panel should be original, but perhaps the grille was swapped (or maybe the emblem is easily transplanted and that's the only change made to it).

[DerekTheGreat]

..Guilty as charged.

It's been a minute since I looked my car in the face, but yeah, pretty sure there's no text on the grille portion and just the swanky script on the driver's side of the header panel. They're at the age where anything is a possibility. I have to remind myself that these things aren't 10 or 15 years old any more...

[gadget73]

89-specific grille. The 89 Lincoln script is that larger style that the 90s cars got, 88 and older were the smaller badge as seen above the driver's side headlight. 89 wouldn't have had the badge there.

Not a fan of the badging on the 89 honestly, the font looks wrong with the rest of the car. That said I think the older font would look bad on a 1990+. No idea why they did this, it would have made more sense to just leave the badging alone and change it with the body style IMO.