Was talking with my uncle who just bought a new to him van he is extremely smitten with but it leads to a problem with too many vehicles in the yard and he is looking at selling his 83 P71, really has me intrigued so aside from a lot of fox body things can be used could I get away with an awesome road bruiser?
Can I make an old P71 a good challenge car without a metric E36 M3 ton of reverse engineering?
if it's a crown vic nothing fox works except generic ford engine bits. if it's the smaller LTD you get the fox body stuff.
In reply to patgizz:
Got ya, I know nothing of these early ones but the price and condition is extremely tempting, just need to know more.
if it's the fullsize Crown Vic, then it's probably got a 302 with Ford's worst idea ever for a carburetor on it- the variable Venturi.. also, i don't think there was very much special on the cop cars compared to the civilian versions back then beyond a bigger radiator and alternator.
I got nothing for you on an 83. Mine was a 90 with a 351. PDs could choose between a EFI 5.0 or a carbureted 351. HP was the same, but the bigger mill made more torque. At the time I bought it in 94, I was driving a lot and wanted something easy and cheap to fix.
I shoulda thought about gas mileage. After the first couple of months I ran the numbers and found I was averaging 9 mpg on mostly rural 2 lanes at around 60 mph. The car was clean and well-kept (seemed to have been a K9 unit) but must have needed a tune up, right? In went new plugs and wires, etc. The next two tanks averaged 10 mpg. SMH.
A couple of odd things: 1) The front was a 45/45 deal with split center armrest, IIRC. When you sat square in the driver's seat, the steering wheel was offset to the right, toward the center of the car. I got used to that. 2) That was by far the most tail-happy car I've ever driven. Not in a fun, steer the car with your right foot kind of way, either. More in a spooky, always-light-in-the-rear kind of way. I never got used to that.
Throw away the stock 2 barrel and intake. Add performer rpm and a holley, adjust detent so it shifts correctly and enjoy.
I drove a bunch of 85-89 police Crown Vics when they were new (company cars), but I can't say anything useful about gas mileage (company cars.) However, the police package WAS more than just a rad and alternator. It included (at least) a PS fluid cooler, heavier-duty frame (I think), wider/stronger wheels, and an upgraded suspension. I've got period brochures somewhere if anybody's interested. I remember you could order them with silicon underhood hoses, alleged to be virtually fail-proof. How they would stack up in the classic "today's Honda Accord is faster than yesterday's [Corvette/Ferrari/whatever]" scenario is another question: ours only had the 302. That said, they gave good service in a tough environment, and they were hard to kill.
JtspellS wrote: Can I make an old P71 a good challenge car without a metric E36 M3 ton of reverse engineering?
FWIW, I know that everyone likes calling the last Panther car that is a police package a P71.
But the name is the internal program name for that last panther chassis as the police car.
So old cars are not P71's. They were called something else.
Here's a story that's sorta relevant:
Back in high school, two kids in auto shop were arguing whose big Ford sedan was faster and more powerful. One kid had a 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis with the 5.0 with multiport EFI, while the other had a 1988 Crown Vic Police Interceptor former detective car (his dad was a cop) with the carbed 351 Windsor. One day, the argument heated up and bubbled over to the point that, as a class, we needed to know whose was more powerful: the modern EFI car or the old tried and true carbureted car. The only way to solve this was a head-to-head sumo-style shoving contest between the two beasts!
After school, in the school's secondary parking lot (far enough away to raise hell on occasion), We lined up the two cars nose to nose. Then, another kid discreetly bleached the rear tires on the cars (still not sure why the kid had bleach, but he did!). When we said go, they both floored it, and the person that could push the other car backwards would win the contest.
After the smoke settled, and there was A LOT of smoke thanks to the bleach job, The carbed 351-powered Crown Vic won.
Based on that, I'd get one with a 351. 
So to bring this up again, the person that was supposed to take it for free (yes FREE) did not follow through and now is looking like it will end up in our garage (if it will fit.)
Thing is with the Dieselgate buy back for my GF's car we are really actually entertaining the idea of her daily driving this car (she is only 5 or so miles away from work) though it will need some work I would still like as much of a crash course i can get on these so we are not going completely blind in to it.
Really simple and reliable. I had a 84, and an 81 marquis 2 door. The only thing changed on my 84 was the intake and carb. The variable venturi is crap and you have to adjust the detent to run anything else so i went holley. Id freshen the fluids amd drive it. There isnt alot to go wrong with it. They ride great.
patgizz wrote: if it's a crown vic nothing fox works except generic ford engine bits. if it's the smaller LTD you get the fox body stuff.
When I had my 91' Marquis I was able to run a set of fox body shorty headers and h-pipe on my car without any fit issues. Made a custom rear section from there.
There used to be a lot of information on http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/ for the old boxy crown vics. 79-91.
Why am I guessing that this is a 302/C4 package that's already had the carb swapped for who knows what because the factory variable venturi unit wasn't all that reliable? OR it got a four barrel Motorcraft job because cops didn't get saddled with the VV units.
You girlfriend really wants to drive an early-80's cop car as a daily driver? That's pretty cool, or, she doesn't really understand just how underwhelming this thing is going to be. That's my 2 cents.
pres589 wrote: Why am I guessing that this is a 302/C4 package that's already had the carb swapped for who knows what because the factory variable venturi unit wasn't all that reliable? OR it got a four barrel Motorcraft job because cops didn't get saddled with the VV units. You girlfriend really wants to drive an early-80's cop car as a daily driver? That's pretty cool, or, she doesn't really understand just how underwhelming this thing is going to be. That's my 2 cents.
The long and short is it's my uncles old car that has been sitting for years and they just got a new camper van so my aunt is giving him an ultimatum, now they just want it out, the reason for her to want to drive it is we are taking the buy back from VW so we can save money once again.
Also she is just as frugal as I am with cash so free is a very strong word for her, she is also less then 8 miles from work.
As far as I know with the car it is still 100% stock with the E36 M3ty stock carb, he took pride on keeping it stock so hopefully that will show through elsewhere in the car as well.
All good reasons. I bet the folks here could help you brew up some low dollar improvement ideas. If it does have the VV unit I think there are some factory "normal" carbs that swap on pretty easily. Good luck with the project.
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