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Where's the LTD now? This chronicle gives you the 411. Updates are in reverse chronological order.

Hi, Last night we bought the old girl from a guy in Woodinville. We bought her to take the engine out & put in a truck...& send her to the car crusher! I kind of feel bad now! Should there be an ending to the adventures-maybe even a funeral? What do you think?
-Dawn

So ... on Sunday, March 17, we went to visit the LTD. She'd been stored outside for quite a while and had an impressive patina of natural grime on her. Unfortunately, these will be her last few pictures before she donates her engine, but we were delighted to see her one last time ... hopefully we'll get some pictures of the engine transplant too!

What's this in the Buy & Sell?	Yup, it's the LTD all right!
Kurt talks shop with the new owners	Official air filter inspection ceremony
Kickin' it old school	Keepin' it real
Pulling off a souvenir	Where the LTD's 460 is going...

Stay tuned ... more pictures to come in April!
 

I want to tell you that I saw our faithful friend the blue LTD up in Totem Lake.  Where?  At a gas station; where else?  I was not able to go back and chase the guy down, because traffic and barriers had me trapped.

The person getting in appeared to be a 20-something white male.  How did I know it was our old car?  It's the only one on the planet that is blue, faded, and sporting early 70s Buick hubcaps.

Kurt
http://kurt-clark.bellevue.wa.us

Well, it's gone.  The LTD has driven down the final road, piloted by a person who really needed it.  Here's the story: 

Jessica had driven the LTD to The Wooden Cross Church for their upcoming auction.  The car was sitting in the parking lot for a couple days.  As a man passed the church in his old pickup, the truck's transmission gave out. The man walked up to the church to use the phone and saw the LTD sitting there with a For Sale sign inside.  He asked to take it for a spin, and promptly returned to offer $50 MORE than the asking price.  Papers traded hands and the LTD was on its way. 

I must admit I'm sorry to see it go. Once repaired, the car was a dream to drive.  Big comfort--even with gas prices nudging towards $1.70/gallon--it still in.  The most important thing here is that the LTD was needed, in a way that we had all hoped to need her but were unable to do.  Had I the necessary storage space, I would have taken it back.  Had Jessica also been in possession of another parking spot, she would have kept it too.  But sometimes you just have to say NO to having more stuff; and for all of us the LTD had unfortunately been labeled "more stuff."  It's sad: by June I will have enough storage for 10 LTDs, as my wife and I are building a house and shop on 5 acres.  Maybe at that time I can sneak another one in behind the barn......

This message was pasted to the windshield of the poor LTD in Jessica's parking lot.  The apartment complex was threatening to tow the poor wagon away if it didn't move!  So, back to Surrey North it went on a wrecker. The starter was replaced, and now the car sits secretly in a parking garage -- somewhere on the Eastside.  I'd tell you where it is, but that would be lame...

Big things are happening for the big wagon.  Stay tuned!

See the latest pictures

Word on the street is that the car is being offered to a 16 year-old Hockey Player.  This oughta be a hoot!

[In a message to Kurt, Jessica writes:]

"Our beloved LTD is peacefully resting at our Apartment parking lot under some tall pines.  As much as Reed and I enjoyed our few weeks with him, we must move on in our lives.  So, the LTD was replaced (though, it never really could be) yesterday with a Toyota Camry.  We were back and forth  most of the weekend on what to do. We came to the conclusion that we need  two very reliable cars as our schedules become more hectic with each passing day."

"We may see if our neighbor kid would like to have the torch passed on to him or maybe the LTD will be donated to a good cause.  It was an awesome vehicle.  I wish we were handy with cars, perhaps then the LTD would still be with us.  I am sure it's not starting is a small problem to fix but we don't want to become too acquainted with the folks at Surrey North."

A coworker asked me some time back if I could help her find a second car.  Nothing special, just something that she could have around as a backup rig.  Naturally I told her about the LTD.  Hands were shaken, and keys were passed.

Now the LTD is back on the road, thanks to the friendly folks at Surrey North Automotive.  It's a smooth ridin' machine, according to new owners Reed and Jessica.  "3 trips and it's off to Chevron" is their battle cry.  Regardless of the abbreviated travel range, the car is said to be performing its duties with the utmost reliability.  Complete detail of the final fix are somewhat sketchy, but they did include a brand new distributor and some rewiring.  The happy couple have made it a point to visit family and friends in their new car, all of whom were impressed and green with envy.

[In a message to Kurt, Jessica writes:]

"Just wanted to let you know the LTD is all better for the time being.  It made a successful journey home and now has successfully escorted Reed to work.  Reed said it was like riding on a cloud!!  It sure puts out a stinky cloud of exhaust when we start it up!! I'll let you know what the mechanics actually did to the vehicle.  I believe they had to do some rewiring and something with an electrical box?  I left the printout at home.  The good thing is we only had to pay 250 bucks because of how long they kept the car…I like this."

Jessica went to pick up the LTD from Surrey North on Christmas Eve.  They had replaced the distributor and driven it around for the better part of an hour without any stalling.  So far so good!

As of January 5th, they still have the car.  After Jessica paid, she went to start it and the car just cranked and cranked and cranked.  Sound familiar?  Yeah, sounds familiar to me as well.  The mechanic is now stumped, just like I was.  Now I know that I wasn't going crazy.

Jessica states "Not sure when they will get it back to us.  Supposedly they are swamped and do not have very many people to work on the vehicles. Soon we hope!"

Ye verily; sweet dreams, little LTD.

Yesterday the LTD was dropped off at Surrey North for analysis. They checked over the work I had done and called Jessica back.

"It needs a distributor and a few vacuum leaks plugged.  By the way, we love the car."

Looks like she's getting resolution easy! 

I am pleased to announce that the LTD has a new and excited owner: Jessica.  Jessica is a coworker of mine who was looking for a second car.  Her budget was $1000, and was excited when I simply gave her the title.  She has been made aware of all the car's anomolies and "beauty marks."  Of course, for website sake, we will be photographing a creative "trade" and making the formal exchange some time soon.  As always, you will be updated.

So, from here on in, Jessica and her husband Reed will be fighting over who gets to drive it (upon repair of the mystery stall) as well as updating you with their own experiences with the LTD. 

Congratulations, Jessica!

Well, I've had it; after investing time and money into the wagon I have come up with no solution.  I don't regret all the work I've done, because it's always fun to try and figure out a puzzle.  However, this puzzle appears to be missing pieces.

The stalling is a very elusive problem. Today's project included replacing the alternator (a 40-amp wonderwire) with a 70-amp remanufactured from Al's. Cost: $40. Once installed, it looked so beautiful with its painted bracketry and clearcoated aluminum sleaves. I even attached it to the waterpump with a genuine Grade-8 bolt (for those in the know, that's like using a Pentium III to run DOS 5---overkill). I started it, drove it to the gas station, pulled into my driveway and left it running while I went inside. 

When I came out it was still running. Then it simply died. I managed to get it started again, and this time it ran for 3 minutes before stalling again. Then it wouldn't start. Oh well; back to square one.

At this point I'm pretty well stumped. Short of the carb and voltage regulator, I think I have replaced everything. I did relocate the voltage regulator to a panel near the battery. Prior to this it was buried behind the battery and headlights. It was not wrench friendly. I am still willing to consider the vapor lock thing, but nothing is pointing to that as a culprit. I am going to route a metal line from the fuel pump up to the carb and see if that helps. If this continues, I might have to convert it to standard point-type ignition to see if I'm just missing something in the electronic ignition. A mechanic friend says that era of Ford electronic is not too hot.

So here's the tally, as of November 17:

Ignition control module 
Air filter 
Fuel filter 
New rubber fuel line 
3 cans of carb cleaner 
Distributor cap 
Rotor 
Coil 
Spark plugs 
Upper radiator hose (twice) 
Lower radiator hose 
Thermostat 
2 gallons of anti freeze 
Oil filter 
5 Quarts of 15w/40

My dad joked that sometimes even free cars aren't worth it. I wouldn't quite agree; sure, it's frustrating that I haven't found the trouble yet, but it's still fun trying to chase it down. Just be thankful that you didn't have to rely on it as a daily drive anymore!

I guess that old habits die hard; what was will always be. The LTD's penchant for stalling continues. Luckily, it was at the top of my street and within "neutral distance" of my driveway. Here's the story:

On Friday, I decided it was time for some repairs--upper and lower radiator hoses, thermostat, oil change, etc. I've had the parts for awhile, just waiting for vacation to come around (I don't go back to work until the day after Thanksgiving). The day was not off to a good start when I trimmed the top hose too far. Then one of the thermostat housing bolts snapped off in the manifold. With those two incidents, a two hour job turned to six. A trip to Al's got another hose. A trip to Eagle got a whole slew of drills and taps to make a new hole. Finally all together again, the car started and ran without coolant dribble. I did some diagnostics, timing and the like, and then hopped in for a joy ride 'round the subdivision----and eventually coasted home.

Our car club had Adopt-A-Road cleanup last on Saturday, so I ran the scenario past the president and others. As usual, talk of Vapor Lock came up. It's still possible that fuel could be boiling in the line running across the manifold, but it's not the likely culprit since the carb will shoot gas if you step on the throttle. The rubber line that I ran from the fuel pump to the carberetor retains heat more than metal line. I'll bend a metal line....on another day. Back to the story....the club president had an idea and a suggestion. He said the same thing happened to him on a truck. Turns out that the alternator was getting too hot and shorting out. Once he replaced it the stalling quit. Hey, I'll try anything! He even had a 100-amp Motorcraft alternator to give me.

So that's what I've got going on right now. Yesterday I disconnected the battery and unbolted the alternator along with its bracketry. The brackets are now clean with a fresh coat of semi-gloss paint. I ran a tap in the bolt holes and clearcoated what didn't get semi-glossed. The new alternator is considerably larger than the pansy-girlyman 60-amp that came out, so we'll see if I can make the 100-amp fit. If not, I'll get another alternator that's dimensionally smaller. I'll let you know how things come out. We'll fix it! I've got some pix that need developing and will send them your way when I do.

Hairbrained Scheme #1: Weekend Drag Racer---Other members in my club expressed an interest in putting together a car that we could drag race, to promote the club and utilize the experience that each of us has with cars. Well, the LTD might just fit the bill. It's got a 460, a beefy automatic, and a 9-inch differential. It's got true dual exhaust (with a catalytic convertor only on the driver's side--that's why your emissions test was so close to failure). It's got truckloads of character. All it needs is a name. I've been thinking of "Shopping Mawl" or "Strip Mawl."

I worked on the tailgate yesterday, trying to figure out why the "swingout" works but not the "drop."  Now the tailgate doesn't open at all.  Woops.  I have to climb in there and figure it out  At least the window goes up and down! You should have seen the condition of the distributor cap and rotor; I'm surprise the ignition even worked!  Seems to be running nicely; haven't had it stall........yet.  I'm staying within walking distance of home, if you know what I mean.

LTD is currently living a life of leisure, with a fresh tune up, hoses, oil, ignition module, and fuel hoses and filter.  My neighbors like her better than my Chrysler.

The problem appears to be solved.  There is a part called the Ignition Module bolted to the fender; it is prone to heat problems, i.e. older boxes will work sporadically (or not at all) when warm.  LTD's appeared to be the original.  So, martyr that I am, I replaced the box in the pouring rain with little kids looking at me from inside church.  After a little starting fluid down the carb, Vroom! I drove it home, shut it off and then fired it up about 3 minutes later.  It started again.  The battery was a quite low so I put it on a charger before I went beddy-bye. Next step: filter time. Oil, Air, Fuel.  Then, a big engine bath at the car wash!

Things are going well with the LTD (aka "Big Duke").  My neighbors actually like it; they say it looks better than The SuperSalmon! I drove it to church yesterday morning....it's still there.  It wouldn't start after the service; it just cranked and cranked and cranked.  Oh well! So Sherry had to take me home to grab another car to get to work.  I think I've figured out the problem.  I'll let you know later. Boy, that thing's powerful!  And smooth too.  It's a genuine joy to drive. Going through withdrawals yet?