This is not the beginning of my project, but rather a way to keep track and allow more experienced forum members such as yourself to assist me with your knowledge and experience!
I'll start with the story behind this car, and continue with a bit of it's history and factory build to my intended build. I will post when I can which may not be often. This project will likely take a few years as I am working on a limited budget with no intention of cutting corners. To those who plan to follow this thread, thank you and as I stated earlier, I will greatly appreciate any knowledge and help you can offer as I go about this build.
The story is quite long and if you just want to see the intent and progress, go ahead and skip this first post.
The Story:
This began shortly before marriage about 8-9 years ago. I'm hoping my wife never reads this as she has a different story about the following being my fault, a part of the married life I guess. Well, during the dating stage, I bought a 1981 Chevy Camaro, base model with a few nice little modifications. Factory V6 was instead an Edelbrock crate 350 with a slight build and custom Flowmaster exhaust mated to a turbo 350 transmission, beefed up rear and custom coil-over suspension.
That car was fast, I could light up the rears by sneezing off the line. Quite unlike most Camaros of that age, it could hang on to the road. And very much like most Camaros, it did not like winter, at all. So I did the right thing and garaged it for the winter, properly, all fluids out, wrapped the engine, covered the car, put it up on blocks, etc... We did need a car so I bought a little p.o.s. Honda Hatch, 4-speed. And to my surprise, my future wife, being the daughter of a mechanic had never driven a manual. Well, after two hours backing out of a driveway and another eight or so driving around, she failed to truly get the hang of it. I figured I could get a friend to eventually try and teach her, but never got around to it.
As luck would have it, we made it through the winter with her gear jumping, nerve rattling bangs and jerky shifts. The Honda however paid the price when the clutch stopped putting up with her and failed. We at this time were into spring and my weekend had been spent de-winterizing the Camaro.
So I had that Monday off already and planned to keep the Honda home and replace the clutch and send her off with the Camaro. If you have ever done a proper de-winterization, then you know to use break in oil right away for the initial run, dump and replace. I had not had time for the replacement and figured to get her to work, I could drain a couple quarts, send her to the parts store for proper oil and finish the job when she came home.
Easy, right? I gave her a piece of paper with the oil weight and type, told her to get to the store right away, hand it to the clerk, play off the woman in distress thing so the clerk would happily pour it in for her, and go to work.
What actually took place was a good friend showing up about an hour later. I already had the transmission on the Honda disconnected as he walked into my garage. Noticing the lack of mobility from my car he said I should probably turn my phone on, something I am notoriously horrible about and get in his car.
He said nothing about why or where we were going, but I had a bad feeling. We were taking my wife's route to work. Out along the highway. I kept pressing questions he refused to answer, until we approached what looked like and accident scene, cop lights flashing, on the side of the 70 mph highway.
The bad news was the Camaro was toast, the good news was my wife was ok and that our insurance would not take a hit from an accident. No accident. But the oil slick I followed from the shoulder to the Camaro told most of the story.
She did not go the parts store. She had ran the engine hard in second gear forgetting the nifty "D" position on the shifter. The eight grand engine was two quarts low on oil, with only 30w break-in oil for lubrication.
Even the cop looked sad as he took my triple A info for the tow, and helped me roll the car a few yards ahead where I could get a look underneath it.
Two rods hung out of the oil pan, the drivers side head had cracked from the concussion, strut bar was bent in a very strange fashion, the lower radiator hose had a piece of I think the crankshaft in it. Pieces of the oil pump rattled out of the pans new gouge. Never figure this on out, but the oil filter was missing, never found, being as meticulous as I am, 100% positive that one was on it. The damage was worse when it finally came home. The front crossmember had bent back along with parts of the frame. One of the back axle was free spinning with a neat shearing sound.
Oh, and the passenger side rear tire was flat.
6-7 years later, adding two kids and subtracting a Camaro:
At this point, I had the standard poor mans work car. An Escort with an amazing 88 HP, and an interior probably designed by the most boring think tank on the planet. 0-60 was long enough to catch a short nap, update twitter, lose and regain the GPS signal three to five times, and hills were a nail-biting snails crawl to the peak.
Needless to say, I was amazed I sold it for even five-hundred dollars. It was in great shape, but still. The decision to sell it was an award for my years of working hard, and my wife sick of my favorite phrase, "It's no Camaro". So finally I was given the green light to get a dream car. I'm not rich, so plan Bugatti was out. Camaro it was...
Until wifely practicality kicked in and we started our struggle. I can afford it I said. It's a sports car she replied. You blew mine up. Get over it, find a family car. Your van is the family car! I'm supposed to be after my dream car!!!
Well months went by of petty jabs concerning my quest for a dream car, when one day, she came to me and said, "I'll give you one rule to follow, any car you can afford, and I will bite my tongue, as long as you follow my rule." I consented thinking this was a victory!
"It has to have 4 Doors."
The "4-Door" Adventure:
Craigslist to this day is a gift very few appreciate. Nickel's Worth, Auto Trader, even E-Bay can't quite compete, in my opinion. So after a few month's of 4-door disappointments, I started browsing BMW's. Research into these expensive german machines quickly brought about the realization that they were really expensive to customize. I would never get my dream out of one. The budget just to maintain one was horrendous, also realized by most of my test drives being plagued by mechanical failures and even a computer reset to german on one interesting test drive.
Eventually this led to my craiglist trolling becoming a daily thing, praying I would hit on a 4-door that I would actually be excited by. At this point, driving my wife's over-optioned Chevy conversion van was becoming a point A to B race to get the hell out of the damn thing before I total it and try my luck at insurance fraud.
Finally I had consented to grabbing a Ford Focus, one of the most basic cars in America, I figured it was at least a step up on the old Escort and I could always turbo it for fun.
As luck would have it, I made a mistake one day by only typing in the search term "Ford" instead of "Ford Focus".
Victory is Mine:
I love the late 60's era in automobiles. The culmination of pre-restriction big blocks coupled with curved lines and innovations like disc brakes, A/C, power brakes/windows/steering and 40 years of aftermarket technology to play with was all blasting through my mind as I looked on at the craigslist ad titled "Old reliable ford car". It was kept simple. "This is a 1968 Ford LTD, all options, 4-door sedan, Black, 390, milelage unknown, reliable."
I researched, and thought back to the first engine I had ever re-built with my uncle, a workhorse 390 FE. That one went into a truck, which I have never been fond of, but when it burnt rubber from all four tires, the impression in my mind was as solid as the engine that did it.
I quickly called the guy. This was Tuesday. He answered right away and told me very little beyond, it's straight, some surface rust, 2-barrel, all original and nice interior. He only wanted $950, preferably cash.
It was however in a town about an hour away, even at speeds I'll press, over a mountain pass. He said however that there was interest in already and he was bringing it over Friday and was going to go down the list until it was sold. I was number seven.
By Thursday morning I had armed myself with a lot of knowledge, about not only what an LTD was, but what the aftermarket industry could provide as well as plans taking shape in my mind. Of course I was ignorant of the fact I was number seven on the list of potential buyers. Thinking hard about a solution to that, I called the owner again.
"Hello"
"Quick question about that LTD, are you driving the car itself out here or towing?"
"I'll be driving it."
"If it makes it out here, you have my word I will buy it, in cash, no haggling."
"I'll call you tomorrow when I get in town, about four or five"
And with that he hung up. I had not been given a solid commitment, but I went to the bank and pulled the money anyway.
The call came at four sharp, he told me where he was and asked if I wanted a test drive. Telling my wife I was walking down to the store, I ran, it was only a mile.
I got there at four-twenty. How I know that was from his puzzled look when I showed up on foot after telling him I was only a mile away. I barely even glanced at the car, I strive to be a man of my word, so asked for the title, filled out the bill of sale, handed him the cash and drove off.
Friday night was a blur, my average speed out on backroads was somewhere around 80, the only reason I came home when I did was because the tire started vibrating and the gas gauge dipped into "E".
The last antic I pulled was the sweet victory over my loving wifes 4-door treachery. I called her from a mile away.
"Hey, where are you?"
"Step out on the porch, I got something to show you!"
"What?"
"It has 4-doors..."
I hung up and looped around for a blind corner approach. I wanted to see the look on her face pretty bad. There she was, on the porch, and her look of relief soon turned into the one that I was eager for. The "WTF" expression she gives when the tables turn.
After climbing out and giving my back a pop, I grinned ear to ear and simply reminded her,
"It's got 4-doors"
The Car:
Quickly I dug up history on the car. The prior owner had received a state transfer title, a 100% valid "lost title" on it. He told me the owner before him had his shop repair a transmission in his truck, owing the guy $950. To get his truck back, he asked if the mechanic would use his classic for collateral until he could settle the bill. The mechanic agreed and never saw the guy again. About six years later, he called the sheriff, went through the records with him and got the title in his name with a fresh copy so he could sell it to pay the bill. All of which brought to my driveway.
Turns out, the car was a custom order. At it's heart, it is a LTD, 4-Door Sedan, All Options, 390 FE with a 2-barrel, Raven Black exterior color and FMX Transmission. Custom options via the build sheet I got from ford stated this:
Tires Resized: 8.15/15 to 8.45/15
Diff Gear Reduced: 3.30 to 2.75
Other Options Added:
Police Opt. Searchlight
3 Connection Accessory Outlet
Interceptor Engine Valve Springs (Damper Springs)
Turns out this was built as a gift for the Police Chief of the town it came out of. Never found out anything beyond that.
So as long winded as this is, thanks for reading this if you did. I like the story and hope it's at least entertaining.
I'll start with the story behind this car, and continue with a bit of it's history and factory build to my intended build. I will post when I can which may not be often. This project will likely take a few years as I am working on a limited budget with no intention of cutting corners. To those who plan to follow this thread, thank you and as I stated earlier, I will greatly appreciate any knowledge and help you can offer as I go about this build.
The story is quite long and if you just want to see the intent and progress, go ahead and skip this first post.
The Story:
This began shortly before marriage about 8-9 years ago. I'm hoping my wife never reads this as she has a different story about the following being my fault, a part of the married life I guess. Well, during the dating stage, I bought a 1981 Chevy Camaro, base model with a few nice little modifications. Factory V6 was instead an Edelbrock crate 350 with a slight build and custom Flowmaster exhaust mated to a turbo 350 transmission, beefed up rear and custom coil-over suspension.
That car was fast, I could light up the rears by sneezing off the line. Quite unlike most Camaros of that age, it could hang on to the road. And very much like most Camaros, it did not like winter, at all. So I did the right thing and garaged it for the winter, properly, all fluids out, wrapped the engine, covered the car, put it up on blocks, etc... We did need a car so I bought a little p.o.s. Honda Hatch, 4-speed. And to my surprise, my future wife, being the daughter of a mechanic had never driven a manual. Well, after two hours backing out of a driveway and another eight or so driving around, she failed to truly get the hang of it. I figured I could get a friend to eventually try and teach her, but never got around to it.
As luck would have it, we made it through the winter with her gear jumping, nerve rattling bangs and jerky shifts. The Honda however paid the price when the clutch stopped putting up with her and failed. We at this time were into spring and my weekend had been spent de-winterizing the Camaro.
So I had that Monday off already and planned to keep the Honda home and replace the clutch and send her off with the Camaro. If you have ever done a proper de-winterization, then you know to use break in oil right away for the initial run, dump and replace. I had not had time for the replacement and figured to get her to work, I could drain a couple quarts, send her to the parts store for proper oil and finish the job when she came home.
Easy, right? I gave her a piece of paper with the oil weight and type, told her to get to the store right away, hand it to the clerk, play off the woman in distress thing so the clerk would happily pour it in for her, and go to work.
What actually took place was a good friend showing up about an hour later. I already had the transmission on the Honda disconnected as he walked into my garage. Noticing the lack of mobility from my car he said I should probably turn my phone on, something I am notoriously horrible about and get in his car.
He said nothing about why or where we were going, but I had a bad feeling. We were taking my wife's route to work. Out along the highway. I kept pressing questions he refused to answer, until we approached what looked like and accident scene, cop lights flashing, on the side of the 70 mph highway.
The bad news was the Camaro was toast, the good news was my wife was ok and that our insurance would not take a hit from an accident. No accident. But the oil slick I followed from the shoulder to the Camaro told most of the story.
She did not go the parts store. She had ran the engine hard in second gear forgetting the nifty "D" position on the shifter. The eight grand engine was two quarts low on oil, with only 30w break-in oil for lubrication.
Even the cop looked sad as he took my triple A info for the tow, and helped me roll the car a few yards ahead where I could get a look underneath it.
Two rods hung out of the oil pan, the drivers side head had cracked from the concussion, strut bar was bent in a very strange fashion, the lower radiator hose had a piece of I think the crankshaft in it. Pieces of the oil pump rattled out of the pans new gouge. Never figure this on out, but the oil filter was missing, never found, being as meticulous as I am, 100% positive that one was on it. The damage was worse when it finally came home. The front crossmember had bent back along with parts of the frame. One of the back axle was free spinning with a neat shearing sound.
Oh, and the passenger side rear tire was flat.
6-7 years later, adding two kids and subtracting a Camaro:
At this point, I had the standard poor mans work car. An Escort with an amazing 88 HP, and an interior probably designed by the most boring think tank on the planet. 0-60 was long enough to catch a short nap, update twitter, lose and regain the GPS signal three to five times, and hills were a nail-biting snails crawl to the peak.
Needless to say, I was amazed I sold it for even five-hundred dollars. It was in great shape, but still. The decision to sell it was an award for my years of working hard, and my wife sick of my favorite phrase, "It's no Camaro". So finally I was given the green light to get a dream car. I'm not rich, so plan Bugatti was out. Camaro it was...
Until wifely practicality kicked in and we started our struggle. I can afford it I said. It's a sports car she replied. You blew mine up. Get over it, find a family car. Your van is the family car! I'm supposed to be after my dream car!!!
Well months went by of petty jabs concerning my quest for a dream car, when one day, she came to me and said, "I'll give you one rule to follow, any car you can afford, and I will bite my tongue, as long as you follow my rule." I consented thinking this was a victory!
"It has to have 4 Doors."
The "4-Door" Adventure:
Craigslist to this day is a gift very few appreciate. Nickel's Worth, Auto Trader, even E-Bay can't quite compete, in my opinion. So after a few month's of 4-door disappointments, I started browsing BMW's. Research into these expensive german machines quickly brought about the realization that they were really expensive to customize. I would never get my dream out of one. The budget just to maintain one was horrendous, also realized by most of my test drives being plagued by mechanical failures and even a computer reset to german on one interesting test drive.
Eventually this led to my craiglist trolling becoming a daily thing, praying I would hit on a 4-door that I would actually be excited by. At this point, driving my wife's over-optioned Chevy conversion van was becoming a point A to B race to get the hell out of the damn thing before I total it and try my luck at insurance fraud.
Finally I had consented to grabbing a Ford Focus, one of the most basic cars in America, I figured it was at least a step up on the old Escort and I could always turbo it for fun.
As luck would have it, I made a mistake one day by only typing in the search term "Ford" instead of "Ford Focus".
Victory is Mine:
I love the late 60's era in automobiles. The culmination of pre-restriction big blocks coupled with curved lines and innovations like disc brakes, A/C, power brakes/windows/steering and 40 years of aftermarket technology to play with was all blasting through my mind as I looked on at the craigslist ad titled "Old reliable ford car". It was kept simple. "This is a 1968 Ford LTD, all options, 4-door sedan, Black, 390, milelage unknown, reliable."
I researched, and thought back to the first engine I had ever re-built with my uncle, a workhorse 390 FE. That one went into a truck, which I have never been fond of, but when it burnt rubber from all four tires, the impression in my mind was as solid as the engine that did it.
I quickly called the guy. This was Tuesday. He answered right away and told me very little beyond, it's straight, some surface rust, 2-barrel, all original and nice interior. He only wanted $950, preferably cash.
It was however in a town about an hour away, even at speeds I'll press, over a mountain pass. He said however that there was interest in already and he was bringing it over Friday and was going to go down the list until it was sold. I was number seven.
By Thursday morning I had armed myself with a lot of knowledge, about not only what an LTD was, but what the aftermarket industry could provide as well as plans taking shape in my mind. Of course I was ignorant of the fact I was number seven on the list of potential buyers. Thinking hard about a solution to that, I called the owner again.
"Hello"
"Quick question about that LTD, are you driving the car itself out here or towing?"
"I'll be driving it."
"If it makes it out here, you have my word I will buy it, in cash, no haggling."
"I'll call you tomorrow when I get in town, about four or five"
And with that he hung up. I had not been given a solid commitment, but I went to the bank and pulled the money anyway.
The call came at four sharp, he told me where he was and asked if I wanted a test drive. Telling my wife I was walking down to the store, I ran, it was only a mile.
I got there at four-twenty. How I know that was from his puzzled look when I showed up on foot after telling him I was only a mile away. I barely even glanced at the car, I strive to be a man of my word, so asked for the title, filled out the bill of sale, handed him the cash and drove off.
Friday night was a blur, my average speed out on backroads was somewhere around 80, the only reason I came home when I did was because the tire started vibrating and the gas gauge dipped into "E".
The last antic I pulled was the sweet victory over my loving wifes 4-door treachery. I called her from a mile away.
"Hey, where are you?"
"Step out on the porch, I got something to show you!"
"What?"
"It has 4-doors..."
I hung up and looped around for a blind corner approach. I wanted to see the look on her face pretty bad. There she was, on the porch, and her look of relief soon turned into the one that I was eager for. The "WTF" expression she gives when the tables turn.
After climbing out and giving my back a pop, I grinned ear to ear and simply reminded her,
"It's got 4-doors"
The Car:
Quickly I dug up history on the car. The prior owner had received a state transfer title, a 100% valid "lost title" on it. He told me the owner before him had his shop repair a transmission in his truck, owing the guy $950. To get his truck back, he asked if the mechanic would use his classic for collateral until he could settle the bill. The mechanic agreed and never saw the guy again. About six years later, he called the sheriff, went through the records with him and got the title in his name with a fresh copy so he could sell it to pay the bill. All of which brought to my driveway.
Turns out, the car was a custom order. At it's heart, it is a LTD, 4-Door Sedan, All Options, 390 FE with a 2-barrel, Raven Black exterior color and FMX Transmission. Custom options via the build sheet I got from ford stated this:
Tires Resized: 8.15/15 to 8.45/15
Diff Gear Reduced: 3.30 to 2.75
Other Options Added:
Police Opt. Searchlight
3 Connection Accessory Outlet
Interceptor Engine Valve Springs (Damper Springs)
Turns out this was built as a gift for the Police Chief of the town it came out of. Never found out anything beyond that.
So as long winded as this is, thanks for reading this if you did. I like the story and hope it's at least entertaining.