My Mom's 1986 Ford Crown Victoria

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XLTbeater

Member
I will try to keep this short. A little background for this story. Bought this car for my Mom back in 2003 as a short-term daily driver. Back then I had a 1978 Malibu with a slightly mod'd and abused 305sbc (thanks to a young me); and a joint project 1967 Chevelle with a 406 stroker sbc. Back then my friend would bring the '67 over after work (we both worked at the same plant) on his way home. Little did I know that my Mom really liked those visits and both cars. She would always find excuses to drive my Malibu to work (yes, I'm thick-headed). So, after college, I sold my Malibu and bought a '92 Ranger. I failed to tell my Mom and she found out when she saw what she thought was a car thief driving my Malibu around town. When I explained that I sold the car to a friend's sister, she hung up on me. What followed was 3 months of talking through my Dad and having to cook my own meals when I visited them. Finally, I made an agreement to mod her car like I did with the '78 Malibu.
 
The mods were simple at the beginning. Started with purchasing 17x7 (front) and 17x8 (rear) American Racing Ansen Sprint wheels (I always liked the Starsky and Hutch Ltd); that was 2006. Following year I put together a dual exhaust (which is really what she wanted) that consisted of BBK fox body shorty headers; BBK cat'd H-pipe, cutouts, Summit turbo mufflers, and a '94-'96 Impala catback exhaust (needed just the tail pipes). That appeased her for some time; but unintentionally, I came to like her car. So the following year (2008), I replaced the stock front and rear springs with Speedway drag springs. They lowered the car 1.5" and stiffened the ride a little; but most importantly, the car stopped floating/drifting in the lanes on the highway. Really improved the stance of that car as well. In 2009 I did a full tune up; which included a home-made CAI which was made from a K&N cone filter and 3" PCV pipe; not pretty, but it made a difference. It was then that I devised the idea of building a Lightning engine for the Crown Vic. I asked my Dad and he shot it down. He simply asked why I would not just rebuild the stock engine. I didn't understand his reasoning back then; but agreed and looked into building a nice 306.
 
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2010 was bad year; my Uncle passed away from throat cancer; and a few months later, my Dad had hemorrhagic stroke. That year, I decided to move back in with my parents to help out a little. At the time, my grandmother was still alive, but her health was failing as well. A year later, whilst looking for an Explorer engine to rebuild, I saw a F4TE lying several feet from it. I don't know what made me do it; but I looked it over; and after seeing that it was in good shape; I pointed to it and told the junkyard operator to put it in the back of my S-10 (Ranger was long gone). Brought it home and stuck it in the garage. I meant to go back and snag the GT40 heads off of the Explorer engine. But my "friends" intervened and convinced me to get better parts for the 351W. So I started saving money for the build. In the meanwhile, the Crown Vic crunched a spider gear in 2012. We replaced it, but it got me started on getting a rebuild done; which I did with a rear out of a '91 Grand Marquis. Put 3.55 gears, limited slip, and a girdle on there. Also got the P72 trailing arms and a rear sway bar from a police interceptor. That woke the car up; despite it being fairly tired at that point. A month after installing the rear; I replaced the front suspension (with parts off of the same '91 MGM). In 2013, I had intended to start the engine rebuild, but work got in the way of that.
 
Oh yeah, I junked that S-10 in 2012 because I failed to get on the ground to inspect the frame and such when I bought it. Turned out that despite having semi-fresh paint; underneath was A LOT of rot; and in the end; I was riding on 2 of the 6 cab mounts (the other 4 crumbled). I bought a '91 Ranger to replace the S-10. In 2015, the Crown Vic started having issues resulting from a failing lower intake gasket. I knew at that point, I had to get a move on with the 351W. Year later, I noticed my Mom wasn't driving the car much. So on July 11th 2016; it took its last trip to the car wash to clean the engine bay and suspension (the 5.0 was oiling everything down at that point). I pulled the other vehicles out of the driveway and as I backed the Crown Vic in, it died. I had just enough momentum to coast to the back; which is where it has been since that day. Unfortunately, I had already started getting aftermarket parts for the 351W build, so it wasn't going to be a pull and replace engine deal. So I gave my Mom my Ranger and got my current 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis for my daily. Then I started having health issues along with increasing demands at work that really slowed things down.
 
After pulling the 5.0 and AOD from the Crown Vic, I realized there were all kinds of issues going on with that car. We are the 3rd owners of that car; and somewhere in between; that car had a mechanic or two that did some hack work on it. I discovered that the car had fender braces at some point; as the mounting holes had broken bolts in them. When I rebuilt the front suspension; I realized that the lower control arms had stripped shock mounts. Also, I had to epoxy the front oil pan plug because that was stripped as well. These things I knew about; what I discovered further was most of the wiring harness plugs were broken; including all of the injector plugs. So I pulled all of that out and replaced all of the broken plugs and severed wires. Surprised that the 5.0 ran as well as it did. After rebuilding the wiring harness; I realized that I should do something with the engine bay. That was the beginning of the nitpicking stage......
 
Nitpicking: removed the motor mounts; cleaned and painted the X-member; later cleaned and painted the front portion of the frame; which lead to cleaning and painting the rest of the frame back to the rear bumper. When I rebuilt the wiring harness; there were 2 unidentified wires that I left alone; later discovered after painting the frame that they belong to the evap canister solenoid. Took all of that down; replaced the solenoid; cleaned and painted the evap canister mounting bracket; and put it back up. Only to take it back down after realizing that at one point, the Crown Vic had a metal battery tray (always thought it was part of the plastic fender). So I got a universal battery tray and installed it; along with the evap canister beneath it. Looked at the plumbing and realized the 30+ year old lines had to go. So I took the gas tank down; mod'd the stock pump housing to hold a Holley 255lph pump (smaller than the stock CV pump); cleaned and painted the stock filter housing to accommodate a TFS filter; and ran a combination of -8an hose (stepped up from the 5/16" pump ports) and 1/2" aluminum tubing for both the supply and return lines. Also ran 1/4" tubing for the evap line. I later cleaned and painted the part of the trans tunnel that didn't receive oil from the 5.0.
 
In early 2017 I had a septa-plasti after my septum collapsed (severe deviated septum) and breathing through my mouth for a year. During that process, I tried to convince my Dad to let me rebuild the engine in their basement; but that was a no-go. So in the spring, I stripped the 351W down and sent it out to the speed shop to be rebuilt. They were busy at the time; so they said it would be several months before it's done; which was fine for me; because I was still very busy at work. So much so, that the engine remained at the speed shop for almost an extra year before I was able to retrieve it. During that time; I asked them to paint the engine since it was sitting there. When I picked it up in the Spring of 2019, I realized that I needed to do more cleaning as the engine was just too pretty to be stabbed into a clean, but aged engine bay. I cleaned the firewall and fenders; then in late 2019, I attempted to install the 351W and Silverfox AOD. Because I bought parts many years earlier; I failed to realize that the combination of the TFS heads and Ford Racing valve covers (and the fact that the 351W is wider and taller than the 5.0) would cause all kinds of fitment issues. I ended up smashing the wiper motor and in the end, cutting the wiper motor box up, in order to get the engine and trans in place. I then painted the fenders and modified a set of Doug Thorley tri-Y headers to fit the CV (by mod'ing, I mean smashing and welding the driver side front primary tube to clear the X-member). I decided to eliminate unnecessary wiring and bundle all of it on the passenger fender. Then I installed a bus bar for the powered additions for the Crown Vic.
 
Oh yeah, that Ranger I gave to my Mom for short-term driving; died in the driveway in the Spring of 2019. Just happened to be that a friend was selling her 2005 Explorer at the same time. So I bought that SUV as a short term replacement (notice the pattern?); but it's very low-mileage vehicle that drives much better than any of the vehicles that we have and ever had. So I figured that I bought myself some extra-time with the CV. It also changed the status of the Crown Vic from daily driver to a fair-weather weekend cruiser.

Then COVID-19 happened; which at first was scary. But as it turned out, gave me more time to work on the Crown Vic. My job had only relocated to another part of this state (Jersey) and work slowed-down a bit. This gave me time to work out several things with the Crown Vic. Which included installing gauges (modified a '94 Subaru center console); finishing the remaining plumbing for fuel; installing the injectors and intake; plumbing in both catch cans; replacing an incorrect water pump (needed an actual P72 replacement) to work with the power steering/alternator bracket that I reused from the 5.0; cleaned, painted, and plumbed the power steering gear; and built the exhaust, which was a fiasco in and of itself.
 
The 3" exhaust back from the tri-Y headers consists of cats; X-pipe; cutouts; knocked down to large case 2.5" Dynomax Super Turbo Muffs; another set of Impala tails; and a pair of 2.5 resonators terminating with a pair of Pypes Trans-Am splitter tips. That was the original plan; but I discovered that I ran out of room for the mufflers which sat under the rear axle despite cutting as much of the system down as I could. So I got a pair of 3" Dynomax 17792 muffs which are a few inches shorter than the other muffs. I discovered even then that I still couldn't run the tails because the muffler outlets are right under the rear axle. So I compromised and dumped the exhaust there; not my original intention as I wanted the car quiet; but since it's a weekend cruiser now; and my Mom likes loud vehicles (there is a funny story with that); I just left it at that. This in turn gave me some of the components needed to do duals for my Grand Marquis. Also, when I went to have the exhaust welded (my neighbors call the township if I do any welding on the property), it warped in the process; so my electric cutouts don't fit. I will revisit that before the 1st fire-up.

All of these little things that I didn't consider to be a problem; became time-consuming issues. Currently installed the BeCool radiator a couple weekends ago; and yesterday after work; I fitted the Flex-a-lite 295 fan. Still working on the bracketry for that; as the radiator has no mounting surface. When I finish with that, I will mount and plumb the trans cooler. Then finish up the remaining wiring; and see what else I missed. I think that's all with this at this point. I may have forgotten something.
 
I do have questions about posting; do I have to accumulate a certain amount of posts before I can start posting pictures? And can I upload pictures from my computer? Or can I only post pictures from a host like Photobucket?
 
That sounds like a cool build. Someone has a stroker Windsor square body crown Vic locally with a blower. I always liked the car
 
one of my good friends has a square body 2dr crown vic on a newer interceptor chassis and a supercharged coyote. I think hes planning on going turbo now so well see. seem like decent platform that often gets over looked. good luck with the build
 
I think I might know who that is; he's a member over at grandmarq.net; think his username is bobcat. I've seen his YouTube videos; if it's the same person.
 
Also, this car escaped death 3x already. 1st was in early 2011 when one of the border (property) trees fell on and rolled off the garage; and set itself up the driveway. Obliterated my Dad's welding rig; beat up my '82 C20; but didn't touch the Crown Vic; which was parked next to it.

The 2nd incident was a few months later when hurricane Irene hit. The river down the street flooded the neighborhood; the water ended in my neighbor's yard; but we still had 3" of water because the ground was completely saturated. I had the car suspended on top of milk crates and OSHA planks. IIRC, it was the time I first started hearing crunching noises from the rear, but couldn't figure out what the cause was. All in all; the car was in the air when we got flooded out.

Then last August; when that tropical storm hit; the twin of the border tree (on my neighbor's side of the border) fell on the garage. This time, it obliterated the back half of the garage before rolling off to the side of it. The Crown Vic was parked in front of the garage because that was where the car ended up when I parked it. If I had put it next to the garage like I had planned; it would have been crushed.
 
Work went limp around noon; so I went outside and cleared the snow off of the Crown Vic; still had about 16" on top of it. Fortunately, it didn't tear the tarp; but I will get a new one anyways as it's 3 years old and getting stringy. Since it was balmy out; I dug out a little work area so I can do a little work on it during the weekend; if I am motivated to do so.

When I came back inside and saw that nothing was going on work-wise; I went into the basement and played with my Wirefy crimper that I got a month ago. Up until this point; I have been crimping with channel locks; and since my hands are not as strong as they were when I was young; I felt it was time to upgrade. After the first test crimp; I have to say that I should have gotten this tool decades ago. Would have made my (hack) wiring jobs much easier and functional. Now I want to learn how to assemble harness connectors so I can clean up the wiring in the Crown Vic.
 
I discovered over the weekend that catch cans should be disconnected and the original hose/lines reconnected during the winter months. I had bought some cheap Amazon catch cans for both my Grand Marquis and my Mom's Explorer. The instructions stated that the catch cans be disconnected during the winter months when temperatures reach the freezing point and below. They didn't give a reason why; so I surmised that any condensation that would normally be burnt/boiled away in the warmer months; could freeze and clog the can during the winter. Made sense to me. So I went out to look at my Aunt's 2008 Saturn Vue (3.6L GM V6); which I had previously installed a catch can and discovered that indeed the condensation had built up, froze, and clogged the catch can. So I removed it and put a spare pcv tube I bought (in case of this type of scenario) in its place for now. So I left the catch can by the furnace to warm it up; that was Sunday night. Yesterday I checked it and the oil/water froth was still in there; so I sprayed Gum Cutter into the hoses to free it up. This morning, I can see a little of it swishing around inside the catch can; but not enough to run out of the push button valve at the bottom. I know this is long winded; but I am just hashing out the process.

The lesson learned: when buying a catch can(s) and you know that your vehicle will be running in freezing temperatures; install it in such a way that it can be replaced with the original hose/tubing. Also, get a catch can that can be taken apart and cleaned. In my case; the aforementioned catch can doesn't come apart; and can only be emptied with the small push-button valve at the bottom. That catch can was originally bought for my Crown Vic; but something about the design erked me a bit; so I rejected it and got another. It worked well though, when I installed it during the summer last year.

To that end; good thing I won't be running the Crown Vic during the winter (maybe just start and run it a few times a month); or even in rainy weather until I figure out and replace the wiper motor.
 
Over the weekend I was going through old pictures and recent pictures of the 351W to find things that can be done inside the house; and realized through the rebuild process that I left the fender relays untouched. So after work yesterday, I went out and took the fender relay covers and mounting bracket off so I can clean and paint them. I noticed that not only did the grease and grime get onto the covers; it had gotten inside and onto the relays as well. I will clean them up next time I am out there. I POR15'd the bracket and it's waiting for Dupli-Color Royal Blue paint. The plastic relay covers will get a thin coat of primer and Rustoleum Textured Metallic black paint. When the weather becomes more favorable; I will spray and reinstall these pieces. Then start getting the other bits and pieces done to this car.
 
Whoa, been a while since I last posted here. Since my last post; I had to start going into work 5 days a week; which slowed down the progress. Let's see, where to begin? I cleaned the relays; replaced 3 of them; and learned how to repair one of the relay connectors. Painted the bracket and slapped it all back on the fender. Moved onto permanently mounting the radiator and e-fan. Then I mounted and plumbed the trans cooler. With the cooling system nearly complete; I started wiring everything up. I moved from the e-fan and moved through the charging system. May and June were spent at work and working on the house, my Aunt's Saturn Vue, and my Mom's Explorer. When I got back to the Crown Vic, I started buttoning everything up. I discovered that my stock trans linkage didn't want to work with the headers. So I'm leaving it off until I figure out a solution. Which will most likely be a floor shifter of some sort. Not really a fan of floor shifters, but it's a Ford and not a Merc or Lincoln, so I can get away with it. Since the end of July, I have made 4 attempts at a 1st start; 3 of which were electrical issues that I am currently working through. My old laptop crashed on the 2nd attempt and had to get a new one; which works much better. Currently, I have power to interior lights and both fuse boxes (Painless box); but no power to the relays and I can't bump the starter through the key. So I am going to put the test light to the wires running from the fusible links and work my way up to the ignition switch. Hopefully it's a bad fusible link. We'll see. Since my pictures are still being held hostage, I can only put a link to the thread I have about this is in the Saturn forum I joined for my Aunt's Vue. It's mostly about the Crown Vic; with some posts (and pics) about the other vehicles we run.

https://www.saturnforum.com/forum/off-topic-10/my-other-project-s-12270/
 
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