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1985 Ford LTD
Crown Victoria
Limited
(Lady Di)
All Options
2nd owner
40K Original Miles
302 (5.0) V-8 Engine
Central Fuel Injection
Overdrive Automatic

SOLD: 09/11/2016

September 11, 2016 - After finding out that the Sonata does a better job of hauling mobility scooters, I realized I had no reason to keep the Crown.  While it is a very nice car, the main reason I bought it was to be able to take my parents on trips.  The cooling system issue turned out to be a leaking water pump, so before I sold it to a friend in the antique car club who has been wanting the Crown since I first bought it, I went ahead and put a new one in.  You have to take a LOT of stuff of the front of the engine to get to the water pump (above left).  It's been a long time since I have tackled a job like this, but the low miles and good care helped make things go decently.  The drive belts were original and starting to crack after 31 years, so I replaced them as well.  The hoses have been replaced in the past and looked good.  I was a bit nervous with all of the pieces pulled loose, but the car went back together with no left-over parts, and there were no leaks when I started it up.  After getting the cooling system bled out, I took her for a short drive and checked again - no leaks!  My friends came right over and drove her home this afternoon.  She'll have a very good home, and I can spend more time with the 1937 Pontiac and 1951 Studebaker!
August 13, 2016 - I decided to show the Crown Victoria at the 2016 AACA Southeastern Division Fall Meet in New Bern NC this weekend, and even put the Centaur suitcase scooter in the trunk as an added entry.  A detour to Kitty Hawk NC netted a set of 4 additional wire wheels for its stable mate 1958 MGA, and I was very glad of the large trunk.  However, the 100+ heat index and running highway speeds did not go over well, and the Crown Vic showed its Check Engine light on the way out of Manteo NC.  I pulled over and let it cool for about ten minutes, then continued on at 55 instead of 70.  No further issues.  On the way home from New Bern, though, the light came on after an hour of 55.  Another brief stop seemed to clear it.  I think that Stop Leak I put in the system in a failed attempt to fix the heater core (bypassed at the moment) may be clogging the radiator.  I'll flush the system out thoroughly and see if that solved the issue.  On the plus side, the car got 18.5 MPG, and provided a comfortable, smooth ride.  I got a photo of the car in the same location the MG TC had its picture done for the Hemmings Sports and Exotic Cars magazine article.
May 11, 2016 - The throttle position sensor (TPS) came in today.  This was a good example of shopping for parts.  Local auto parts stores wanted $45-$65 for the part.  eBay vendors had the same price range for the TPS units listed for the car.  However, I did a search just on the part number and got the exact Standard Motor Parts TH-48 in the box for $18.99 including shipping delivered in two days.  The TPS sits on the right side of the throttle body - you have to disassemble the choke, but otherwise it is a very simple installation.  Naturally, the factory shop manual did not cover it except as part of total Central Point Injection disassembly.  The important news is that the part went in easily, and the car appears to be cured of the stall issue.  I let it get fully warmed up and drove it with the A/C on, and she stayed smooth, quiet, and running at every stop.  More driving will tell, but I think the car is fixed.
May 8, 2016 - The Crown Vic has been rolling along without incident since her inspection in October, and turned over 40K miles this weekend.  However, today she stopped dead at a stop sign, restarted, then stopped dead the next time I stopped.  I was near an auto parts store and replaced the coil for $30 and about 15 minutes of time.  The car started right up, but died again the next time I came to a stop.  I believe the culprit is the throttle position sensor, which has given trouble in the form of a too-high idle off and on since I bought the car.  The high idle issue is gone, only to be replaced with the low idle problem.  I was able to get the car home by keeping engine revs up a little at stops, so she did not leave me stranded.  Time to get a throttle positions sensor!
November 29, 2015 - With December just two days away and a nice warm day at hand, I decided to get Lady Di's new headliner installed.  While the job was not difficult, it was very messy,  The old headliner fabric was sagging badly, and when I removed the outer trim pieces it fell off completely!  The foam backing had disintegrated, making a less than lovely mess all over the interior and me.  However, I was able to get the new headliner in with no damage and everything worked when I got it back together.  I am very pleased with the results.  It took about an hour of my time and cost $14.99 at the junkyard, but it makes a big difference to the interior.
November 3, 2015 - I decided to give the Crown Vic a good road trip, and rolled up to Mineral VA to visit friends.  It's a 300-mile round trip which she took in stride,. getting about 20 mpg and riding smooth as silk up and back.  The spare wheel cover key came in and fit perfect, and I have the shift indicator part ready in case the jury-rigged part in the column fails again.  The car gets its first rest in a month this weekend, when I take Rodney on an MG Club tour to Lynchburg VA.  Which is where I bought him!
October 26, 2015 - No troubles this morning.  Lady Di sailed through inspection with no further issues, and the inspector had her wire wheel lock key sitting on his desk.  I also found out that the previous owner had used the shop to maintain the car, and that it had been very well serviced.  With over 1,000 miles put on the car in three weeks, she has not used a drop of oil and continues to be a delight to drive.  I located a NOS gear indicator collar on eBay, as well as a spare wheel cover key, and bought them both tonight.  If the other end of the plastic indicator collar breaks, I'll be hard pressed to find a replacement.  And the wheel cover keys are color-coded so that only the specific key (Silver in Lady Di's  case) will work and have not been made in decades.  I feel a lot better having a spare - one for the trunk and one for the glove box.
October 25, 2015 - The Crown Victoria failed Virginia State Inspection because the transmission indicator was not working - I knew it was broken, but did not realize it was an inspection requirement.  Previous inspectors must have let it slide.  When I opened up the steering column, I found that the plastic clamp tabs that provide a stop for the indicator cable had broken off (see red inset).  The part is no longer available new, and every car I checked in the junkyard had the same break.  However, since all it has to do is stay in place, I was able to fix it with a simple hose clamp!  The gears now show correctly on the indicator, so I can take her back and get her inspection sticker.  I can also get her wire wheel hubcap lock key, which the inspector forgot to put back in the glove box.  I just discovered that today - without the key I can't remove the wheel covers to change tires, so here's hoping I don't get a  flat!
October 15, 2015 - I topped off the Crown Vic for the second time and ended up with just a hair over 17 MPG for mixed driving.  That is excellent for a car her size, and pretty much dead on to what she was supposed to get new.  The first tank had been half old gas, and the mileage was only about 14, so this is a noticeable improvement.  And yes, I've put over 500 miles on the car in less than two weeks!
October 14, 2015 - I had checked Row52.com (site that lists cars in all self-serve junkyards in the US)  and found a listing for a blue 1986 Ford Crown Victoria at Foss Recycling in Chesapeake just yesterday.  So I made a long detour to check it out, only to be told that the car was not there anymore - Row52 was incorrect.  Rather than make the trip a total loss, I decided to check Foss out just to see what was there.  And I found the 86 Crown Vic.  Apparently the yard's own records were wrong.  Even better, the headliner was the correct color and in great shape.  This was good news, as I had just noticed this morning that the rear sail panels were just about completely shot, with the fabric falling off the backing.  If you look at the photo above left with the headliner, the two sail panels are the ones that were on the car.  Above, right is a replaced sail panel.  It took a bit of creative thinking to get the headliner in the car and drive it 20 miles home, but I managed.  I also got a good headlight door to replace one that is damaged and a fitted dash cover.  All for $32! 
October 11, 2015 - The first non-raining day that I was also in town gave me the opportunity to take care of the Crown Victoria's somewhat tired vinyl roof.  Originally very dark Navy blue to match the interior, it had faded and streaked to a mix of dark blue, turquoise, and blue-gray.  It was beyond cleaning, but replacement is fairly pricy, and the top was not physically in bad shape.  So I decided to recolor it.  The original dark blue was not available in a vinyl dye, so I took a chance and changed the color to a medium blue I hoped would compliment the blue metallic paint.  It took over an hour to carefully mask off the various trim and body areas, but the results were excellent.  With a bit of touchup using a fine brush, the top looks almost factory new both in color and condition.  The vinyl paint is easy to touch up, and also helps seal the worn surface.  After the top was done I clay-bared and polished the paint (Maguire's Ultimate Polish) and then gave her a coat of Maguire's carnauba paste wax.  She is looking very sharp, and the heater core leak still appears to be fixed.
October 10, 2015 - Constant rain and then the big Hershey meet kept me from doing much to Lady Di this week, but I did manage to get her licensed and insured.  The coolant leak turned out to be some seepage in the heater core, which appears to have been fixed with some Alumaseal.  She had a half tank of bad gas which I topped off with high test and two bottled of Seafoam cleaner.  The car runs great despite the old fuel, but I want to get it thoroughly cleaned out and then change the spark plugs. In the meantime, I got in great owner's manuals and a showroom sales folder off eBay, and then a paint chip chart and complete original owners literature package in the original envelope at Hershey.  I am hoping to get the car cleaned and the vinyl top re-colored tomorrow.
October 4, 2015 - The weather had been bad all weekend.  I got a small window between rain showers yesterday to look at and then buy the car, and then got a couple of breaks today to tinker.  I took her over to RoboWash and cleaned the engine bay.  It wasn't bad, but the high pressure wash did a great job of removing old dirt and grease that had built up over 30 years.  I had the oil changed at WalMart yesterday because of the rain, and replaced what looks like the original factory air filter.  I plan to get the car registered tomorrow and inspected Tuesday morning.  Oh, as a side note - the car only has 35.8K miles on it, not 37K miles.
October 3, 2015 - It seems I don't have to go looking for cars - they find me!  Case in point - Lady Di, a 1985 Ford LTD Crown Victoria Limited.  I got a call a couple of nights ago from a man whose elderly sister wanted to sell her 1985 Ford.  She and her husband bought it new, but it had been mostly parked in the garage since 1996 when her husband passed away.  She was no longer able to drive and wanted to sell the car but did not want to deal with strangers.  Her brother found my name on the local antique car club web site and asked if I could help them sell the car, which he reported having 37K miles on it.  I was intrigued, and went over for a look and test drive this morning.  The car is exceptionally clean and runs and drives like new car.  It has the 302 V-8 with central fuel injection, power everything, recent Michelin radials, and the A/C system has been converted to R-134 and works.  The padded vinyl roof needs to be re-dyed, and there is a slow coolant leak somewhere, but the car is very pretty and with a bit of polish, will look nearly new.  Yeah, I bought it.  It will replace the 1985 Nissan Sentra, pretty much the opposite end of the automotive spectrum that year!

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