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 WELCOME TO THE PANTHER PLATFORM MEGATHREAD But Dr. 14 INCH PRIVATE DICK TWINCHARGED SUPERLEGERRA STERLING MOSS EDITION, What is a Panther car? The Panther platform was designed by Ford WAY THE gently caress BACK in 1979, and have generally been comprised of the Ford Crown Victoria, the Mercury Grand Marquis, and the Lincoln Town Car/Continental. There were minor exceptions here and there, but for the most part these were the major players. HOLY gently caress THAT SOUNDS BORING (or does it??) WHY WOULD I EVER WANT SOME SNOOZY GRANDPA MOBILE? Why, because the Panther cars are well regarded for reliability, cheap parts, easy to fix, and a big fuckoff American V8. Many people these days look down on the Panther cars for being based off of comparatively ancient technology, but for the small but dedicated enthusiast community these shortfallings are often hailed as selling points. Sure, it may be big and heavy and a little thirsty on gas, but I'm 6'2" tall and can move my seat back far enough to make it difficult to drive, and still put people behind me. Typically for the most part, this thread will be covering what everyone thinks of these days when they hear Panther platform, the third generation. Here's the Wikipedia entry helpfully breaking down model and year designations. However everyone's welcome to participate, from early models to late. From Civilian to Police, we're all equal here (cop cars are automatically more equal though). List of helpful links courtesty Leica: Leica posted:http://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm ....Main forum, proceed with caution Other helpful links: Crownvic.net thread on common Panther issues and diagnoses Visteon Coilpacks are European Motorcraft. OEM Performance for a fraction of the price. Rock Auto, for just about everything you could possibly need. This OP will be fluid and updated periodically! See something you think should be in here? PM it to me! I just bought a 2002 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, in Seattle PD blue. As it sits, we have 111k miles, front bull bars, dual spotlights, plastic inner rear bench, no interior door handles AT ALL. The beast has been curbed loving hard, the steering wheel is off about 60 degrees and I need to replace two rims and one tire. But the engine and driveline drive like a new car. The light is fading now, but I just got it home, and more pictures top to bottom will be posted tomorrow. 
INCHI DICKARI fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Apr 11, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 02:46
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Please tell us it was free.
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Mar 1, 2013 02:49
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Oh, sorry. $1400 out the door from a used car lot thats filing all my plate fees and tabs for me. So I dont havr to pay anything else.
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Mar 1, 2013 02:51
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Hell yeah. Sounds like you got a pretty good deal. And because of the fact that parts for those are cheap and everywhere it shouldn't cost you too much to fix the front end.
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Mar 1, 2013 02:54
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Congrats on another car purchase. Hopefully this one will treat you right until you sell it for 3k in 6 months. Downside: PPL will see your cop car and think you're a cop and slow you down everywhere you go. Therefore in the honor of AIness You need a boskuzuku exhaust, giant roof spider, pizza delivery roof sign, old taxi light housing or something so that they know you aren't a cop. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 02:56
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poo poo. That's actually reasonable. You're going to be so bored.
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Mar 1, 2013 02:56
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Yesssssssssss, welcome to the club. I paid $1800 for mine with no bullbar, a busted header panel and grille, and 140k miles and no spotlight. But at least I got the cloth rear seat  Seriously, be prepared to love that fucker. It will run forever, and take any kind of abuse you throw at it. Just don't expect it to be super quick. They've got a good amount of power and from a 60 roll they will move, but they're not exactly the fastest barges out there. Also, I really hope you like being caught behind traffic that refuses to do anything but the exact speed limit anytime you come up behind them. It's usually a 50/50 shot on people forming a rolling roadblock because they're too afraid to speed, or immediately moving over and letting you by.
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Mar 1, 2013 02:58
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To avoid any sort of confusion on the part of people you come up behind, you should put loudspeakers on it and play a certain clip from this when they slow you down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToFErVHAuLQ I doubt new rims will cost you more than $50/ea. any Explorer rims from the same era will fit as well, FYI. Just picked up a set of 5 of these for $200 for another goon's jeep project because the junkyard had a billion in stock and just wanted some of them out of the way. Their list price? $108 each. e: oh, it won't get out of its own way? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VFvzbT4Jb8 You know you want to. 
kastein fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 03:08
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This thing rules. I have never seen a cop car in that colour (detective cars here are brown). What's the paint code? Also get more police steelies (I would run the CVPI steelies + hubcaps on a fox body in my alternate-universe American hot rod). Aren't they built tougher than regular steelies? The cool thing about some CVPIs is that after they've been retired and their rear pee seats removed, they often will slot in the original fabric rear seats which means you have some low, low miles back seat. Unfortunately you still have the pee seat. 
Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 03:09
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You're going to love that plastic bench when you're driving friends home from the bar. And, if you have no friends, you can moonlight as a drunk cab. Looking like a cop car is the perfect rouse.
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Mar 1, 2013 03:12
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Francis Baconator posted:You're going to love that plastic bench when you're driving friends home from the bar. And, if you have no friends, you can moonlight as a drunk cab. Looking like a cop car is the perfect rouse. Nothing to worry about at all, we're all friends here
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Mar 1, 2013 03:27
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Nice find, great price for the mileage. Crownvic.net is your friend, just do lots of searching/lurking and don't post too much. If you have any questions about common issues (there aren't many) I can probably answer them. I have an '02 also. [edit] service the trans ASAP and then every 30k, it WILL poo poo if it's neglected. Applebees Appetizer fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 03:32
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Part of me is sad that you did not buy the v8 swapped xj12, but this should be pretty awesome. I have been tempted for a while to retire my e30 from DD duty and pick up a crown vic....
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Mar 1, 2013 03:34
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That's pretty big and possibly even reliable! Did I end up in the wrong thread?
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Mar 1, 2013 03:42
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I've heard the transmission needs regular servicing, it currently shifts like butter and I intend on keeping it that way. Everything works. I dont know what to do with myself. E: some basic walkaround shots, my phone was running on empty earlier.   
INCHI DICKARI fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Mar 1, 2013 |
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Mar 1, 2013 03:49
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This seems like a wise choice for your criteria. Interior parts (like a rear seat) have to be all over junkyards. How's the engine bay look to work in?
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Mar 1, 2013 03:58
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14 INCH GRANDPA posted:I've heard the transmission needs regular servicing, it currently shifts like butter and I intend on keeping it that way. Everything works. I dont know what to do with myself. Also how did they patch that hole on the rear passenger quarter? Any rusty holes on the roof where the lightbar used to live?
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Mar 1, 2013 03:58
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I just got rid of my '03 CVPI, bought it for $1750 and sold it 3 years later for $1700. Great drat beater cars. There's a reason cops and cabbies love them besides their size. Keep up basic maintenance and they last forever, and junk yards are filled to the loving brim with cheap parts.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:08
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I just located a Vic wrecking yard about 15 minutes away called Taxi King, and someone's selling a security partition on craigslist for a couple hundred bucks. I could use a hubcap and I'll bet they got the wheels I need for cheap.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:11
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Not sure who your parts distributors are, but the KYB monotubes are popular upgrades and are super cheap. Also ADCO sway bars make huge improvements, as well as billet rear upper and lower control arms. Instead of spending money on repairs you can spend it on upgrades  http://adtr.net/
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Mar 1, 2013 04:14
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I suggest you donk it out.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:19
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14" buying a reasonably sensible car 
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Mar 1, 2013 04:24
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Why are there so many options for rear control arms? I've never really thought of that as a wear item on a live axle.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:28
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It's just a popular upgrade because it's one of those areas that improves the car a lot. Any chassis upgrade is going to help big time because these cars are so heavy and floaty. The Heinous control arms are the best deal. In my opinion if I were you since you can get parts at cost, I would rebuild the entire front end with Moog parts, then KYB monotubes, and new springs. If you do that the car will drive like new for relatively cheap. Add a few suspension upgrades like sways and rear control arms and you're riding a lot better than new.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:40
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Nice! Is the chrome grill because it's a slightly older CVPI? I'm used to see that menacing black mesh grill on them.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:45
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I don't know about the grille, except it seems like Seattle PD uses them for some reason. I see cruisers that look pretty close to this, with updated lights though. This is likely what mine looked like in service.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:51
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14", does yours have the Police Interceptor badge on the trunk? If not, it might be a Street Appearance Package. IIRC those came with the chrome grilles and no police badging. The black honeycomb grilles were stock on the P71s after... 2000, I think? Not sure.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:56
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It's definitely had the badge before, but removed. I'll pay more attention but the pictures of the local Seattle cruisers mostly seem to have the chrome grill. I've never really noticed before.
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Mar 1, 2013 04:59
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Hmm, might just be an option I don't know about. Our local Chief of Police has a silver P71 with Police Interceptor badging but the chrome slatted grille instead of the black honeycomb, so... v v
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Mar 1, 2013 05:02
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Just look under the hood, if it has silicone hoses it's a P71. Also an fyi, if the steering wheel feels "loose" especially on rough roads the lower and mid steering shafts are wear items and may need to be replaced. I'm currently dealing with it on my car. Also any parts you need to get from a Ford dealer order through Tousley. http://www.tousleyfordparts.com/
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Mar 1, 2013 05:10
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leica posted:Also an fyi, if the steering wheel feels "loose" especially on rough roads the lower and mid steering shafts are wear items and may need to be replaced. I'm currently dealing with it on my car. Also any parts you need to get from a Ford dealer order through Tousley. You should check for play on all front suspension bits. If it's all tight, the P71 actually steers very well, imo. My 03's tranny started slipping after a season of rallycross, and I was pretty sad when I had to sell it.
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Mar 1, 2013 05:21
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Man, I bet that backseat is nasty. Did you get it from that place on aurora by the Lowes?
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Mar 1, 2013 05:25
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So now it's Officer 14", right?
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Mar 1, 2013 05:33
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Vim Fuego posted:Man, I bet that backseat is nasty. Did you get it from that place on aurora by the Lowes? I got it from a little car lot like right next to Seatac. I've already put 60 miles on it, it's awesome.
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Mar 1, 2013 05:41
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14 INCH GRANDPA posted:I just located a Vic wrecking yard about 15 minutes away called Taxi King, and someone's selling a security partition on craigslist for a couple hundred bucks. I could use a hubcap and I'll bet they got the wheels I need for cheap. Is it in Burien? 98168 zip? I think I used to drive by that poo poo hole all of the time. Most of them are yellow. Devyl posted:So now it's Officer 14", right? Handcuffs are mandatory, but may be in leopard print.
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Mar 1, 2013 05:45
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Devyl posted:So now it's Officer 14", right? 14" Special Detective
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Mar 1, 2013 05:53
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The missing ' in the title was bugging me.  I wonder how similar the front suspension on this is to, say, the Ranger? If it is, not only will rebuilding the front end help a lot, it's also easy as hell.
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Mar 1, 2013 06:07
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I didn't know this, but evidently they made a version that ran on natural gas (Ford pdf)?
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Mar 1, 2013 06:13
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I always thought they aimed the CNG version at taxi fleets? I see a shitload of CNG taxi Crown Vics, but I've never seen a police version.
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Mar 1, 2013 06:24
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 18:42 |
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So you have a cop car. But aren't a cop. Does this mean you're... 14" private dick??
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Mar 1, 2013 06:34
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