Tell us a little more about what you have going on here. Is it a runner? That battery looks pretty new as does the air filter, assuming it drove into your driveway under it's own power.

 

 

Yes, it runs. I rebuilt the carburator and bought a new air cleaner, it didn't have one. The battery is new too, I also replaced the heater hose.

 

To me the word restoration means one thing - everything else is refurbishing, rehabilitating, modifying, etc. etc. But restoration as the dictionary states means only one thing. It would be what Skidoo could do if he put all of the engine pieces back on his truck that he kept. It would be putting everything back to the way it was originally.

Point being - sliding a crown vic suspension under it or lowering it 4" is not restoring the truck by definition. Just pointing out the idea behind the word restoration.

Chad

 

He raises an excellent point here, I'm inclined to agree. In my opinion (which is worth every bit of what you're paying for it) where you start is identifying your goals with the truck so you can then start coming up with a plan, set some goals, save some money, whatever you gotta do. If you want to perform a faithful factory restoration the factory service manuals would be a great resource to have on hand, start figuring out what isn't factory (the shifter for example) and come up with a game plan. Maybe you just want to fix it up and run it and that's cool too! Far better than letting it rot. Somebody earlier mentioned doing a compression check on the motor to make sure it's in good health which is prudent (even if it is a runner), going over the brakes and suspension to make sure everything is there and in good working order, tires, seat belts, etc. If you want to perform a frame up restoration you will need another car, room to store parts, etc. Having a plan is fairly important. I'll give you an example.

I bought a 92 Mustang that until late last year was my daily driver. I'm not interested in performing a restoration on it but don't necessarily want to strip it and not be able to drive it in the coming months/years either. It's in good enough shape to drive and enjoy but there are things that I want to/have been changing so in the spirit of that I've been making targeted changes as the opportunity arises for me to do so. The power steering didn't work when I bought it, I went in and fixed that and while I was there swapped all the bushings out for polyurethane and replaced ball joints, etc. Thought I blew a head gasket (which in retrospect I think was actually a leaking lower intake manifold gasket) but went ahead and pulled the motor to throw in some new gaskets and install a cam, different heads, etc. These projects have taken the car off the road for periods of time, but I will get it back on the road before too long. By chipping away at the stuff I want to make changes to a little at a time I can still enjoy the car and get it to where I ultimately want it which works for my goals with the car, I have another vehicle to drive while this one is down and the space to store it. If I were trying to build something with a million horsepower or whatever the case may be I might have to take a different approach. If I still needed to daily drive the car then pulling the motor to install performance parts not inherent to the operation of the vehicle as a vehicle isn't prudent.

I feel like that was all over the place but hopefully it helps a little. TL;DR decide what your goals are with the truck and come up with a realistic plan and start doing your research.

 

I want to restore it to mostly original, with exception of the steering, probably wheels, suspension (i want to at least have coil overs in the front), transmission, diff, change to disc breaks, new headlighner, floor, and possibly(if it helps) fuelijection. So bassicly, I want to restore it to looking factory on the outside and inside, but with some modern things to make it safer and more efficient.

 

It's only original once .. when it drives off the assembly line. So it's impossible to restore it to original, mostly or not.

And, be prepared to spend money, lots of money!

 

Well i know i can't get original, but I'm going to try to get a mostly original look with modern safety and some technology(if i do fuel injection). And yeah, lots of money is right, i know this is going to most likely years, but patients is key right now.

 

Yep, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I've been collecting parts for a long time.

Chad

 

Cool so you have an idea of what you're wanting. Not quite a faithful restoration, modernizing some of the components but retaining a stock aesthetic. A lot of guys swap the front suspension bits from 03-09 Crown Vics which nets you modern front suspension, disk brakes and coil over options. There is heaps of information about it on the internet and far from your only option as far as that goes. You have loads of research ahead of you and like mentioned, a lot of money to spend. You may be able to get creative and find some fairly inexpensive ways to obtain parts though. As an example I bought a 91 E-150 that was in a front end collision cheap for the engine (351w), and was able to sell the automatic transmission I didn't want and scrapped the rest to recover some of the investment so the engine ended up being nearly free, save for my time.

 

 

Thanks for the good advice , I just got my 63 Mercury Last fall and defintely want it running through most of the recreation . Mine isn't original as it has a Buick 430 Motor and Auto Trans now , they came with it . Original was a 223 with a 4spd . I am suprised how well it rides off road , went a couple times through the winter , not to far though . Thanks

Dewdrop East of Kamloops BC

Kamloops Lake

 

I had a 69 Buick Wildcat with the 430. It was no slouch with 350hp and 475 lb ft of torque. Gas stations per mile was it's drawback.