What do you think?

Im kinda in a delima here I want get more horses to my 88 towncar, but the body is kinda bad, here is what i was thinking of doing to it
http://www.lincolnsonline.com/tech/00066.html
88 Towncar High Output conversion

Here are some pics of my body:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v380/sobman15/My%20car/?sc=1&multi=7&addtype=local&media=image
^^ Link to photobucket so you dont have to download the stuff
But its something like this
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v380/sobman15/My%20car/majorchippedpaint.jpg
That just bugs the hell out of me. Know what i mean?

The deepest in a car i ever went was replacing my water pump, so all the way to the engine block, i really want to do this, but i really want a car to. What do yall think?

Ah, the eternal question of car modding...do I fix up the motor or the body.

if u are going to keep the car for awhile and can manage the body looking like that, do the overhaul. BUT, if you are planning to sell it anytime soon, fix the body.

Ya, someone told me a easy(?) way to fix the body:

Sand out "all the rust" (you will need paper for metal sanding, get a few grades, maybe from 200 grit to 1000 grit). Sand until you get down to metal (start with the heavier grit and work your way down to finer.) leave no rust crumbs, really got to get it clean.

Then use a wax remover or cleaner to get all the wax off the surrounding area of painted area (maybe 6" or more all the way around the spot) and then treat the metal spot with "Naval Jelly". It comes in a plastic container and its cheap to buy at hardware or auto supply. dab it on the raw sanded metal and it will turn black and seize up the metal from rusting further which is important since you are going to put new paint on. be sure to sand "clean" first with no signs left of rust and so the metal is shiny and also sand with fine grit around the surrounding area and into existing paint that surrounds the area, maybe a couple inches all around removing any left over wax and scuffing the paint. (if you find any rust under the paint , got to sand it clean too) leave the jelly on for about 1/2 hour (just apply the jelly moderately to the bare metal, stay away from the paint)
The spot will turn dark and then rinse it off really good with fresh water. now spray some basic primer, maybe a couple light coats and then when dry do a very light sand

Then carefully fill in with bondo for deeper dents or a glazing compound if your cut/rust/dent is not too deep. the glaze should not be laid in more than like 1/8" deep and it can go on in thin layers also. let dry (about 1/2 to 1 hour) and sand over again with light grit paper to get smooth.

When you "think" it is smooth and level, respray again with some primer and watch for low spots to show and go over with block sander, home made is okay, wrap paper over a block of level wood and touch up more with glaze putty in low spots. the glaze comes in a tube and is cheap to buy ( a few dollars). work with fine grit sand paper till really smooth you will be best off with a block sander so that your work is level, unless working on a curve or edge in the body.

NOW, you need to find up the "matching color" for your car in a spray can, if you haven’t done already. auto supply stores carry stock colors and you can look up your code in the books there for right match. you wont get a perfect match though because of the age of your original paint but it should be close. spray over your work in light coats and I wouldn’t tape off are into a square or anything like that, but do protect nearby windows or chrome. you want the paint to mist onto your surrounding area as you concentrate on your work spot. if you tape off the area you will have sharp edges and paint lines that will difficult to remove later and you wont get a good blend.
after a few coats of paint and it has dried completely, (even overnight), depending on how thick it is on and humidity conditions), go back over very lightly with very fine and "wet" sandpaper (should use like 1000 grit here) to smooth off the nubs and rough spots or possible runs. its okay if your shiny paint now looks scuffed some or dull. don’t worry, the rubbing compound will bring the paint and shine back.

Now comes the "fine" rubbing compound. 3m has a good one. (maybe $15.) don’t use a heavy gritty compound or you’ll ruin your work. now by hand rub all over your area including the surrounding area where the paint misted till the basic shine comes back to the paint and it is very smooth by touch. (start out with light pressure and work circles round and round) this is all about a "special touch" you will develop so you end up getting the whole area very smooth. the compound is meant to take off any burrs or runs in the new paint and also blend in with the surrounding paint so it becomes seamless.

After the compound residue is rinsed off and let dry a few hours so all the moisture is released from the compound you can then...put on some wax over the entire area and buff out. (do the whole fender for example if that is where your spot was). I would do a couple coats of wax. your bad area should now be as matched up as much as possible with the new paint and go un noticed.

This type of work takes time and patience and some trial and error as you develop "the touch". maybe start with a smaller area first till you get good at it. do one spot at a time and then venture out.

*Tip* You don’t ever want any bare metal exposed without using the naval jelly and primer on it out in the open more than a half day or so because it will start to rust all over again pretty quickly so plan your time out.

I think ill try that on that nice chip on my door, then ill do the 5.0 conversion

oh man... brings me back to my 88 ltd crown vic.... 5.0... i miss you


anyway... hell i loved my 88 and it screamed too. do both! restore the body and the engine.... do the body first though cause once there's rust... u needa fix that quick.

Ya, i think the frame was rusted from the shop, because its all orignal paint. This weekend, im going to repair that chip in my door, fix the idle problems, repair my antenna, and fix the window seals. Then if i got time mabey tune up my body some more

I <3 this site

What do you think i should do to get some more horses under there?

i love your "as-is" part in your sig. want more horses....maybe a carriage? do the conversion first, then eveything will be a lot easier.

i love your "as-is" part in your sig. want more horses....maybe a carriage? do the conversion first, then eveything will be a lot easier.
They use that at microsoft.com so the people dont get in trouble
Ill do the conversion, its going to be expensive as hell

With the price of gas, sell that thing, and start with something that gets better gas mileage. Like a Honda.

It does good ~18 MPGish

that is not good....i get about 25mpg and i floor my throttle at least once daily....

that is not good....i get about 25mpg and i floor my throttle at least once daily....


Yes, but consider the car he has... it's a heavy 4 door sedan with a V8. You have a 4 cylinder car that's ment for economy driving.

Your comparison is horribly bad.

Factor in the size of the car, weight, age and power plant... 18mpg ain't bad at all.

Since when is 18 mpg good? That's the reason why our gas prices are so high. IMO, for a daily driver, everything under 30 highway is unacceptable.

Since when is 18 mpg good? That's the reason why our gas prices are so high. IMO, for a daily driver, everything under 30 highway is unacceptable.

WHAT???
Jigga please! I get 24 on the highway....and what uh? uh? come get you some. *puts his fists up in the air and grills you*

^lol.....how much is gas by u musashi btw? thats prob y u say 24 on the high way is good......wanna race to a gas contest? i floor it and u floor it and we see who eventually gets further...

^lol.....how much is gas by u musashi btw? thats prob y u say 24 on the high way is good......wanna race to a gas contest? i floor it and u floor it and we see who eventually gets further...
His car probably has a 30 gallon gas tank. That way GM can advertise that even though the GTO has a V8, it still goes 450 miles per tank. Except they leave the part out where it costs $100 to fill up the tank.

18.5 gallons actually and it takes 40-45 bucks to fill up.
yeah you'd beat me in a gas race.... :frown: I only get 280 miles to a tank give or take.

Gas around here is has been at $2.90 to $3.10 for premium. Depends on where you gas up and at what time.

Since when is 18 mpg good? That's the reason why our gas prices are so high. IMO, for a daily driver, everything under 30 highway is unacceptable.

18 mpg back in the day wasn't bad at all. You're missing the point entirely. I'm not saying the car is a economical car. I'm just saying you're giving it a hard time. You're forgetting the era it came from, the size and weight of the vehicle and it's highly inefficient powerplant. For it to squeeze 18mpg is good.

But, coming from a Honda driver your views on MPG isn't suprising. And considering the Honda S2000 you have is rated at 26mpg highway, also the '91 MR2 is rated at 29mpg highway I find that kinda funny.

yeah, its not like honda ever achieves their epa rating anyways. i have the best fuel economy out of my friends and i only get 25 miles to the gallon highway, and this is out of my friends with honda accords, preludes, sti's, evo's etc etc.

just because a company says it can get over 30 miles to the gallon doesn't mean you can get it to do that. and honestly i'm happy with my fuel economy, i can get 300 miles out of 12.5 gallons.

When they do those epa mpg ratings dont they just put the car on like a big "treadmill" so that there is no wind resistance or anything like that.

they go thru a whole drive cycle and put resistance in the thread mill to simulate wind and everything, but they only go the speed limit on the highway during hte highway simulations.

but the new test are more accurate as they brought the cruising speed up to 70mph.

The S2000 is rated at 26 mpg highway. However, many owners can get 30 and even 32 mpg on the higway. I've never been able to do better than 25, but that's because I can't keep it out of VTEC.

Ill get about 20ish MPG Hi-way, mabey 24-25 after a tun up. They are pretty good cars yall

in my 88 crown vic i got about 20 mpg grannying it.

i get like 23 now in the J30.... not much of a difference for 2 cyl less

what you can do to get more horses in there is port/polish, get some race headers, exaust, and if you wanna spend some $ get some nice internals for the engine. the 5.0 is highly moddable (check out the mustang forum for some great ideas for the 5.0)

Yikes...

My non-tuned, huge cammed 402ci is getting 20+ MPG on the highway. :icon16:

in my 88 crown vic i got about 20 mpg grannying it.

i get like 23 now in the J30.... not much of a difference for 2 cyl less

what you can do to get more horses in there is port/polish, get some race headers, exaust, and if you wanna spend some $ get some nice internals for the engine. the 5.0 is highly moddable (check out the mustang forum for some great ideas for the 5.0)

Ya, my exaust has been on this car for 18 years, in minnesota, and 148xxx miles, its about time to get some new pipes

what is the limits on emissons in MN? does teh car have to be 20yrs or younger/older? if u can id just get a straight pipe going all the way back.

we're in alabama... no emissions...

i'd go flow master straight through and some nice headers

Flowmaster is one of the worst flowing mufflers.

Flowmaster is one of the worst flowing mufflers.
But its on the TV its got to be good right?

well my dad's got em on his f150 and he's got no problems....

but anyway, it's just a suggestion.... if you know something better, contribute....

How about some wide open headers? :naughty:

Flows tend to sound good.

But they will cut a little power over a similiar muffler. Probably nothing noticeable on an average car.