newbie to the crown vic world

[bunnythunderchickn]

I just picked up a '87 LTD Crown Vic. former police car with the carburated 351 c.i. 5.8 liter. I was wondering if anyone knows of any good places to get aftermarket parts for it (mainly wanna lower her a little). Also does anyone know what type of motor they are (windsor or what)? Any info anyone has that they would like to share about these cars would be great. Like I said I am a newbie who wants to learn as much as possible about my new ride.

[bunnythunderchickn]

wow dont everyone help out a newbie at once

[sheebeehuh]

It's nothing against newbies it just that most folks who frequent this site have never Crown Vic's than yours. As such, there's not as much traffic on the "box" models.

As for lowering your car, many spring companies can make custom springs for you based on how much you want to lower your car. You can also cut your stocks springs but that's not always advisable. 20-year-old springs are pretty much worn out and you'd do better to get new ones.

Your 351 is a Windsor and if I recall correctly made about 180hp in 1987 police tune. There are a number of things you can do to get more power out of it but it's a function of how much you want to spend.

How many miles on your car?
What all would you like to do to it?

[Stale Trooper]

Air bags to lower it, that way, you can adjust ride height as desired. Cheapest performace I ever got for the money was to install headers, low restriction mufflers and larger exhaust. After that, performace gets more expensive, especially on the older non-computerized models. Good Luck!

[bunnythunderchickn]

thanks for the replies, and i hope i didnt get anyone worked up with my smart azz comments. As far as performance, thats not really a biggie because the car has so many miles i dont wanna push it (literally and figurtivly) however it does have true dual flowmaster exhaust on it. I guess the other thing i would like to do like that is put a better air filtration system on, however what would you do with the vac. lines on the air housing lid? I wanna lower it about an inch or so, just looks to high from the front. any suggestions?

[03cvpi]

The vac lines on the air cleaner are for the thermostat control for the heated air intake. You could unbolt the thermostat and reconnect the lines and wire tie it to the vacuum port tee behind the carb. If the car already has headers the heated air tube has probably already been removed. If the heated air tube is still in place you may notice a cold drivability problem by disconnecting them. Variable venturi carbs seem to like warm air during cold warm up. If it where me, I'd leave the stock air box on and replace the element with a fram air hog, amsoil EAA or pure one filter and let it go. As for ride height, the police model ltd has 1.2 to 1.5 inches of extra ground clearance built in. unless you want to replace the front and rear springs with something a little softer, it may be hard to change ride height. Air shocks for the rear would be a good idea.