1971 Plymouth Sport Fury GT Brogham & U code Super Comando

It was less than year old so the insurance covered it 100%. In Calgary there was a factory trained body shop owned by one of the big Ford dealers and they replaced all the damaged trim, hood, trunk lid and 'pulled' all the dents. The car was completely repainted. I drove the car until '06, gave it to one of my kids who drove it until '12 when it was sold. At 18 years old the paint was still mint with zero flaws. Interestingly that body shop is now owned by a group of dealers, Ford, Mopar, GM and a few imports. They are still the best.

Those cars are great; run forever and are cheap to repair. The last traditional American car with V8 and RWD. Did yours have high mileage? I currently drive one with 363K on the original engine (you'd never get that out of a Mopar)
 
Those cars are great; run forever and are cheap to repair. The last traditional American car with V8 and RWD. Did yours have high mileage? I currently drive one with 363K on the original engine (you'd never get that out of a Mopar)
I only had about 150,000km (about 94,000 miles). A lot of them were used by taxi companies and it wasn't unusual to see cars with 600,000km (about 375,000 miles) with only a valve job.
 
The last Crown Vics were capable of over 500K miles without an engine rebuild, as I have ridden in many taxis with that many miles on them. Probably had to rebuild the trans a couple times though from what I was told by the drivers. They are probably the best used car buy on the market. Sure, you have to pay more for fuel than a Honda, but these Crown Vics will go forever without significant problems compared to any other car I am aware of. You can pick up a decent one with less than 125K miles on it for around $2500 and then just drive it seemingly forever. Ford's best car ever from a durability standpoint - maybe better than any other car made. Relatively big understressed V-8 and solid rest of the car.
 
The last Crown Vics were capable of over 500K miles without an engine rebuild, as I have ridden in many taxis with that many miles on them. Probably had to rebuild the trans a couple times though from what I was told by the drivers. They are probably the best used car buy on the market. Sure, you have to pay more for fuel than a Honda, but these Crown Vics will go forever without significant problems compared to any other car I am aware of. You can pick up a decent one with less than 125K miles on it for around $2500 and then just drive it seemingly forever. Ford's best car ever from a durability standpoint - maybe better than any other car made. Relatively big understressed V-8 and solid rest of the car.

Mine's a 2000 (Lincoln TC, retired cab with 363K) It burns very little oil and gets fantastic gas mileage. It's truly a great car. Had to have a couple of ball joints replaced and the rear end rebuilt but that was pretty cheap in a taxi garage. + I really like the styling of the rear section and the door handles which resemble 1950's refrigerator handles. Unequivocally, the cup of my happiness is filled to its very brim.
 
I really like my Mercury Grand Marquis. '10 with 55k miles. It's just a Crown Vic with leather interior.
 
I really like my Mercury Grand Marquis. '10 with 55k miles. It's just a Crown Vic with leather interior.
Yes the Grand Marquis is a very nice car. and yours is barely broken in at 55K. I think there will be interest in the Panther platform in the future, when there is nothing else left. This being said, I'm joining a CV forum.
 
Umm more Critterness less CrownVic ness lol, Need car **** fix D! How about a quick picture montage of what it was to what it is today?
 
Umm more Critterness less CrownVic ness lol, Need car **** fix D! How about a quick picture montage of what it was to what it is today?
soon :p
Paul took the head down to where he had the heads redone and they took the stuck valve out with a simple tap...they then grabbed another new exhaust valve and slipped it into old guide no issues...
they changed that valve guide anyway with a new one and double checked both heads and was just the one valve
 
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Derek, I must tell you that even though I have not visited here much over the last year and have done so even less after the software change, I did remember this thread from back around the time it began and have caught myself up on all the progress over the last while this past week. I must salute you for wanting this car done right and also Paul for his skill and perseverance in doing it right. It is simply outstanding and the effort put into all the details is remarkable. Well done!

I particularly enjoyed the posts about the interior restoration and the effort to find the right shade of dye and paint. Seeing the finished result took me back to my dad's '71 Monaco that he bought new which also had the same shade of gold interior and that same vinyl top as you have. Ours was painted Y9 Dark Gold Metallic which went really well with the interior and vinyl top colors. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

At this stage I am waiting for the debut and all the pictures I hope will be posted here. Congratulations on a tremendous car and best of luck!
 
soon :p
Paul took the head down to where he had the heads redone and they took the stuck valve out with a simple tap...they then grabbed another new exhaust valve and slipped it into old guide no issues...
they changed that valve guide anyway with a new one and double checked both heads and was just the one valve
Squirrel Died.gif


No big deal!
:lol:
 
I haven't started posting with abandon like I do on the DryDock, but I have been following this thread with great interest.

Derek, I am so very inspired by your project, and by the quality of Paul's work. Not only that, I have learned a great deal on the dos and don'ts of this kind of endeavour, which I will be applying to the restoration of my Monaco.

For those here unfamiliar with me and my cars, the Monaco is a 1966 Canadian 2 door hardtop 440 4 speed. Special ordered in Calgary Alberta with all kinds of cool options... yada yada. Bill knows and has seen the car. From all I've been able to gather, the car is likely a one of one in Canada.

Not many know that I was recently "prompted" by a very minor fender bender to tear down the car and start the ball rolling... and once it started rolling of course it snowballs... fortunately I've been collecting NOS and pristine used for decades, so I've all kinds of goodies stashed... I won't go into details here, as this is Derek's thread, but suffice to say, progress is excrutiatingly slow since I am attempting to do what Paul is doing so beautifully. Budget and time are the two major factors at play here!

Derek - you're efforts to document here what you're doing are truly commendable and so helpful. I know you will love the car when you get it back, and I hope to see it for real soon...

You mentioned that there is to be an unveiling at Dobalover's place, and I think he lives in Ontario possibly? Anyhow, please let me know.

In regards to the discussion about the radio... first off, your car, your choices. End of that discussion. However, if you decide in the future to go the "original" radio route, there is a guy here in Toronto whom I swear by. Reasonable rates, and as detailed in his work as Paul is. My AM FM Search tuner sounds GREAT restored to factory original. He put in an input jack and toggle switch (hidden the the ash tray) for MP3 and Sirius/XM etc. Works really well. He does the high powered modern guts conversions too, but he doesn't really like them.

I can provide you his contact info if you want.

Anyhow, way to go Derek (and Paul for such fabulous work). I look forward to meeting you one day.
 
You mentioned that there is to be an unveiling at Dobalover's place

Close Ross but not Cochrane Ontario - Cochrane Alberta we get confused with them all the time lol. Umm have you some pictures you could post in another thread perchance?
 
Lol... it's not often I can get to weekend shows being a pro musician... I'm always working!

That's the car that is going to be in the C body invitational at Carlisle.
 
being a pro musician

Holy crap you are....nice to meet you sir! Love Benny and the boys. Big Swing music was a regular feature growing up in my house. Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller etc. Mum plays Clarinet and the wife is a Flutist so we appreciate good music.

Sorry Derek have to keep this thread on the first page somehow....lol

PS: Ross say Hi to Zappacosta loved his stuff in the 80's!
 
Welp customs fined me $704.10 us...about 1k can funds...guess it's better than the 20k they wanted....what a fu......ing pain
 
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