"The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123" (mattp123)
01/30/2015 at 10:45 • Filed to: None
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"The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123" (mattp123)
01/30/2015 at 10:45 • Filed to: None | 3
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So since I started that job about ten months ago, I suddenly had some money. And like any good Jalop I spent it on my 22 year old 140k mile hoopty that was my first car. To recap, the car had sat for 4 years and already !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! when it was parked.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
She was a dirty beast.
The wipers have been fixed, it needed some arm dealy that's attached to the motor. But I couldn't find just that part and the whole motor assembly was only like $50 or something, so why not just change the whole thing. I also replaced the multifunction switch which controls the wipers and turn signals for like $20 so now the intermittent wipers and washer works again.
I fixed one of the power window motors with less than $2 worth of ball bearings. I'll get to the others when I care. The bearings and alignment has been fixed too.
But, when a car sits for 4 years, other shit goes wrong. I got some FM out of the radio for a few minutes, then only the cassette worked for a while. Now nothing works at all and I can't get my cassette adapter out of it. The tires either developed flat spots or the steel belts rusted cause oh man the thing would shake. So now it wears some rather ethnic white letter tires from the three stooges Manny, Moe, and Jack. Trip odometer gave up on life. And I'm getting a cyclical shaking at around 65mph. It builds up, then subsides, then repeats. I think it may be related to the grumbling noise coming from the back I hear at residential speeds. Out of balance drive shaft? Bad U joints? Low differential oil?
And the air suspension crapped out on me. Again. So fuck it, it now has coils like some god forsaken peasant-mobile.
Pro-tip: Rubbing compound and Brasso (the really old stuff that is choc full 'o VOC's) works great on headlight lenses.
Justin Hughes
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
01/30/2015 at 10:53 |
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One thing I love about Panthers is that you can usually fix them with a $20 part and some duct tape, no matter what the problem is.
FiST of FuRRY
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
01/30/2015 at 13:40 |
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By the rims you have, I see both of your Panthers are '92s. Ive had two of them. Both needed valve stem seals to cure the oil burning when taking off as evidenced by the plume of smoke behind me.
Also, very important not to forget to change out the overdrive NYLON shifter cable bushing for the upgraded aluminum one! I've toasted the overdrive bands in 2 Panthers thanx to this (3 if you count the one I bought at the auction that was sold to me this way). Once the bushing goes, it fries them immediately. The improved bushing costs about $5-$10 bucks and takes 2 minutes to replace. I believe they remedied it by '94.
You say the white one had airbags? Was it an HPP ( H andling and P erformance P ackage)? Dual exhaust, bigger sway bars, airbags, leather... some even had the digital gauges! The '92 HPP did not come with the deep dish rims and are thus harder to spot.....
I have owned a total of 8 Panthers, with the 88-91 varieties being my favorite, particularly the Crown Vic of that era!
My last Panther was a '97 Grand Marquis that Hurricane Sandy proclaimed... that BITCH!
I miss her so damn MUCH!
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The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
> FiST of FuRRY
01/30/2015 at 14:21 |
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Correct. Both are 92. The white one did have air suspension. It has the thicker sway bars and leather, but it has had single exhaust and smaller size white walls vs the larger black walls when I got it 12 years ago. I could see the old lady original owner not caring and downgrading the exhaust and tires when it came time for replacement. Because cheaper. I never bothered to figure out what differential it has, but it shifts at the same speeds as the blue one and it has TC and not the Trac loc rear end. So I'm guessing no on the towing or HPP.
It does burn some oil. I used to get the blue puff on take off, but that ring seal snake oil has "cured" it for the time being.
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FiST of FuRRY
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
01/30/2015 at 23:22 |
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Hmmm, I don't think shift points/rear end diff. was different on the HPP, but I could be wrong.
And it's EXTREMELY possible that the exhaust, if it was replaced, was indeed converted to a y-pipe/single muffler to save $. I had a neighbor that did that to a CVPI Vic he had, I shamed him heavily for this!
HPP or not, Panthers are cool and need to be kept alive. To think how many were unnecessarily/needlessly destroyed in the "cash for clunkers" catastrophe just breaks my heart!
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The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
> FiST of FuRRY
01/31/2015 at 02:40 |
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Well mine didn't qualify for the cash for "clunkers". Not that I would have parted with it anyway. Perhaps the pre 1992 ones did.
I just so happen to have this laying around...
Seems to imply the HPP and tow package got different rear ratios. Which should change the speeds when the trans shifts, since I assume the RPMs at which it shifts stays constant.
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FiST of FuRRY
> The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
01/31/2015 at 11:45 |
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Good find! yeah, I think regular panthers had 2.73 out back. You can check the tab on the rear end to know for sure. IIRC, changing the rear axle ration doesn't change shift points, it just causes you to reach said shift points faster.