2007 CVPI - making the move from Texas to Europe

Hi all, new member here and new owner of a Crown Vic.



I've always wanted a Crown Vic ever since first laying eyes on one in the movies, but living in The Netherlands they're not exactly a dime a dozen. Hey, some people have Lamborghinis or Ferraris as their non-plus-ultra dream car, mine just happens to be a big ol' practical sedan that's built like a tank. Could be worse, right?



But that's enough about me. This is my car, and I've had it for a little over a week. It's a 2007 Crown Vic PI with a Romeo engine, 3.55 limited slip rear end, and a great big stonkin' spotlight on the A-pillar. Just the way I like them.
From my limited research I've found that this is an ex-Texas PD car, likely from Jefferson County or Clute, seeing as how having a dark blue cruiser is fairly rare. It also has an TXDOT inspection sticker on the windshield (expired in 2010.)

From Texas it made its way across the ocean to Germany, where it lived as an unplated parade car for a while, before the previous owner imported it from Germany to The Netherlands. The previous owner used it as a daily for a bit before parking it, at which point I swooped in and bought it. Was I looking for a different car? No, I've got an Opel Vectra which is just fine, but I couldn't resist. After a bit of haggling this big softie was all mine.

Like I said, I've had it for a little over a week, and I intend to fix up all the little things that are wrong with it, make it into a bit of a project. I don't think it ever got much love in its time as a parade car, and while the previous (Dutch) owner meant well, he wasn't much invested into the car. Mechanically its fully sound, but there are little things all over the car that need mending, and that's what I'm here to do.



So the plans:
- Fix the ABS light
- Get cruise control working. The PO installed a TC/MGM wheel but couldn't find a Ford dealership willing to turn it on in the computer.
- Fix the floppy spotlight
- Figure out what's going on with the radio, as it seems to have a mind of its own.
- General upkeep of the interior and all the trimmings.



Some of these things I've already tackled, but more on that in the next post. I'm trying to basically do a project per post, keeping this nice and organized.

Alright, first up, the ABS light. Not only do I hate it when there's random lights flashing at me, but it's also a safety thing. This car is going to be my daily (Oh lords the fuel bills!! ), and since my wife is also going to be driving it it needs to be safe.



When I bought it the ABS light was on. A great haggling point, as the previous owner had no idea what it was or how to fix it. Before buying it I did my research, and came across a post on here stating a very small, but rather significant fact:

The ABS unit is a Bosch 5.3.

While this doesn't seem like much, it meant that instead of having to find someone who would want to repair an alien American vehicle, all I needed to do is find someone who would repair ABS modules, and tell them it was from a Ford Mondeo or a VW Passat or something mundane. Problem solved.



I removed the ABS module, carefully taped up all the connectors and mating surfaces, boxed it up and sent it off to Some Guy Somewhere From The Internet. (Aren't they the best?) In a world-shattering record time of 48 hours including shipping both ways (!) I got the fixed module back. Installing was, in the best Haynes-manual fashion, the reverse of removal, and lo and behold...



... no more ABS light! (And yes, I also switched the counter from US to metric to prevent having to do weird miles-per-liter calculations at the pump.)

Oh, and another thing I like to do whenever I buy a new vehicle (aside from titling and insuring it that is)...





...deep-clean the heck out of it! Also note the neighbor's Jag S-type looking all sullen as it's no longer the largest car on the block. :P

Hell yeah! Stick it to that Jag!

from New York where we also like our dark blue cruisers.


I've dealt with Some Guy Somewhere From the Internet before nad not had good experiences, though.

Pull the mat and clean. Dust and muck gets underneath.

Did that. It was dusty, but not horribly disgusting. Also nice to see a completely rust-free floor. (Top and bottom!)

When I got the car it came with a radio. One of those generic 1-din radios that's neither here nor there. I'm not much of an audiophile, so as long as it can make some noise and play sounds my phone makes when trying to navigate me somewhere I'm generally content.

The Crown Vic was a working vehicle, so I never expected much in the way of speaker quality, but I quickly noticed that they sounded really bad. Like, exceptionally bad. I chalked it up to Ford simply not installing the best of speakers and put it on the bottom of the fix-it list.

However, a few days ago I took the liberty to take out the radio while fixing something else (having the trunk popper always be active instead of only on the key), and noticed.... well... a giant mess behind the radio.



Apparently someone had hacked off most of the wires from the original Ford plug, to which they had butt-connector-crimped a set of their own wires, presumably leading to an aftermarket radio. Someone else then cut off THAT plug to the aftermarket radio, and crimped on his OWN radio harness, and incorrectly at that. Both rear speaker were wired together to the front right channel, front right was wired to one of the rear channels, and front left was MIA altogether.
Some people...

Since reusing the original Ford connector wasn't an option anymore, I got a set of ISO plug pigtails. The Crown Vic is a simple beast and there's no computer interface or CANbus or whatever going to the radio, just 4 sets of speaker wires, some power leads and a ground cable.



Here is the situation after I soldered (with an actual soldering iron!) on the ISO plugs. Compare that with the previous picture. I left the Ford connector in there as it holds a set of audio grounds (?), and a 12V hot-at-start lead to keep the radio alive during cranking. ISO has no provisions for that so I guess I'll just deal with a brief off-period of the radio as the car cranks. With the current 1-din standard radio that's not an issue, but I'm eventually planning to stick a 2-din Carplay-capable radio in there, and I don't know how much that thing likes restarting.



For now there's a 1-din radio from the great mighty stash of leftover stuff in there, as the radio that came with it was a bit junky. This radio was left over from the work van, as I stuck a nice Carplay-capable radio in there. Somewhere in the next six months I'm expecting the van to be swapped out for a new one as the lease ends, at which point I'll take the Sony 2-din that in that thing and stick it in the Ford.

Now that all the speakers are connected the way they should I found out that three out of four work. The driver's side front speaker is blown, so I'll have to source a replacement for that. Either I'll junkyard something out of another Ford (6x8 inch speakers are fairly common), or I'll go all Mr. Moneybags and swap out all of them for a nice aftermarket set. Not sure yet, like I said, I'm not much of an audiophile.





Also, it pays to do the research. Ford uses fairly non-standard wiring colors for their radio plug. Working that out in advance and figuring out what is what and goes where makes soldering on an ISO plug fairly straightforward. (Save for the fact that I don't have a portable soldering iron and had to lug out my desktop iron along with an extension chord...)
If anyone is planning to do the same, hit me up for above document. I've compiled a bunch of information and figured out what each radio wire does, and where it needs to go on an ISO plug.

Wow, best n00b post in a long time! Welcome. Beautiful shots, nice intro.

Stick around.

Thanks! And I plan on holding on to this car for a long time, so I'll be around.

So a couple of days ago the wife returned with the Crown Vic from an early evening errand run.

"Babe, that new car of yours is nice and all, but why didn't they put a light behind the headlight switch? That's, like, the one switch you need in the dark."
"...They didn't?"
"Nope. Fumbled around trying to find that darn thing for ages. Why they couldn't just put it on the sticky-outy thing like normal cars..." *goes off and mumbles something about American cars I dare not repeat here*

So I Googled, and quickly found out that:
a) there absolutely should be a light behind that, that
b) apparently always blows out on every car, and
c) is fairly common.
....
c1) at O'Reilly's, Autozone, and a whole host of other stores we don't have here.

Ah. Harumph.

More Google'ing ensued and it turned out that the bulb in question is a T5 Type B Neo-Wedge. Aside from sounding like something out of Akira it also turned out that the bulb was used in old pinball machines. And there was exactly one shop in Germany that had those bulbs in stock, and sold them for....well... I could fill up the big Ford about halfway and still have change from that amount of money.

Fortunately, I happen to have a whole host of LEDs kicking around (because I endurance-race 1:10 scale RC cars), and a soldering iron I'm not afraid to use. A warm-white 180 degrees 5mm LED was quickly sourced from the Stash o'Stuff, along with a fitting resistor for 12V. (My RC cars have an onboard 5V power supply, so some maths were required) If I can't have an incandescent bulb, I can at least approximate one with LEDs, right?

Today on my lunch break I popped out the headlight switch from the dash (seriously, I love this car. It's SO EASY to work on. My previous car required a half-disassembly of the dash to get to the bulb for the heater controls), and found a charred bulb holder along with a nearly black bulb. I snapped some reference pictures and unfurled the bulb from its holder. The LED was quickly soldered in, even if I had to move the resistor to the rear of the holder. Bench test!






(Don't worry, I covered this up in some shrink wrap after I confirmed I didn't snap anything off while wrapping and folding the legs.


It might look vaguely green-ish in this pic, but I can assure you the LED is a nice warm white. I know there's a green filter in front of it, but didn't want to take the risk of there being too much color difference between it and the rest of the dash....


... which there fortunately isn't. Also, my camera completely missed focus on that pic, but it's too cold to go out and snap another one so....

All in all, a fun little project that made the car a little more livable for my wife, and cost nothing because I had all the bits kicking around.

Up next this weekend; replace the blown front speaker with one from the junkyard (keepin' it real here!), figure out why the front right window won't roll down all the way. (I'm guessing someone used bolts that were too long when replacing the window regulator), and blow out the EVAP system with compressed air to make fueling the car a whole lot easier.

All in all, a fun little project that made the car a little more livable for my wife, and cost nothing because I had all the bits kicking around.

Best kind of project!

Alright, did some things this weekend.

First up was why the car is slow to refuel. There are a LOT of threads here regarding that topic, and most seem to point towards the fuel vent solenoid being the issue, and that thing merely requiring a good clean, along with blowing some air back through the EVAP system under the tank.

Since it was mostly dry this weekend I felt comfortable crawling under the car, and messing with the system. The nuts came off the two captive bolts well, after a bit of soaking in some WD40, and I quickly had the solenoid off and apart. It was quite clean though.... Gave it a spritz of contact cleaner and compressed air regardless. I grabbed the air line, and blew air out the right hand hose (which seemed to just vent to outside air), and out the left hose into the tank. The last hose gave some resistance when blowing into it, but air was coming out of the tank according my dad who was perched at the opened fuel cap. Soooo.... all good?

Next job; the front right window wouldn't roll down all the way anymore. A small thing, but y'know, it's annoying. It'd only roll down halfway before coming to a slow stop. I figured the window regulator was on the fritz, but noticed it had been replaced at some point due to a missing trim panel behind the interior door handle. (If anyone has a spare, hit me up!) So I removed the door panel, which much to my relief, has exactly 0 clips that shatter, instead opting for reusable 7mm and T30 bolts. Go Ford!


Yep, someone has definitely been in here before. However, the window regulator seemed fine. When testing the window I noticed a wiring loom pulling tight as the window went down before going "POINK!* and stopping the glass.

A quick rummage around in the door found that the loom belonging to this plug was going THROUGH the glass track, instead of AROUND. As the glass came down it'd catch the loom, and stop. Ugh, Previous Owner, why are you like this!

Anyway,unplugged it, looped it around, and stuck it in place with some tie-wraps.

Done.

Also note the aftermarket speaker. The car came with a pair of these. The left one was blown, and I wasn't suspecting that someone had swapped these bad boys in, so I just bought a replacement Ford speaker at the local junkyard (rear Ford Ka-speakers apparently fit, who knew!) Ah well, temporary fix, and at least I'll get sound out of all 4, even if the front is now lopsided.

The left door panel came off just as easy as the right went back on. Seriously whoever designed these things is a GENIUS. They hang on their own giving you ample time to sort out the hardware, and the door handle latches into a little metal 'finger' so there's no faffing about with door rods or (like my previous car) trying to loop a cable around a tiny eyelet while holding the panel up. And I still love the fact that 0 clips got busted doing this.

Anyway, while the left panel was off, I snapped a few pics of the DDM. I plan on adding RKE at some point and wanted to know if the DDM could handle that.



The Internet (well, you guys, mostly. The information here is GOLD!) tells me that this should be the port for the antenna. If so, it should be a matter of finding an antenna + cable set, and code it in using Forscan. Right?

There's a Town Car in a local junkyard, would that car have the relevant hardware? And where would I find the antenna and cable to plug it in on that car?

Oh, remember the speaker I pulled out of the left door? It's quite dead, but...

...heck yeah it lights up!

Regardless, I have 0 use for blown speakers, so off to the trash it went. I'll get a decent set of 6x8s at some point, but for now I'm content just to have noise coming from the door again.

Oh, and a lot of people ask me if it'll even fit on a normal spot....

... can confirm the first 12 feet fit really well. Then there's 3 feet hanging out over the sidewalk, and the last foot sticks out into the road. But the first 12 feet fits very well indeed!

You can almost hear the turbo-diesel EU-spec Rangers going "Not one of us."

So I've been trying to find a Ford dealership willing to have a stab at turning on cruise control on the Big Vic, with little success. Most either hide beind "Ford won't allow us to do that." or "A Crown-what-now?"
Yeah. Fine. I'll take my money elsewhere then.
I called one I got a good referral to, and decided to change my approach.

*RingRing*
"Hi, Ford Broekhuis Harderwijk, how can I help?"
Hi. Gooney here. Question. Do you guys have Ford IDS on a laptop?
"...yes?"
And coupled to a VCM?
"We do. What are you trying to do?"
Excellent. I have a weird exotic Ford that needs some IDS time.

I was quickly patched through to the head repair bay guy, who apparently thought it;
a) was hilarious that someone would have a Crown Vic as a daily, and
b) was totally up for giving it a try. If only to see the thing in real life.

So I downloaded the instructions on what to do in IDS to enable cruise control, and set out this morning have the brain of the Big Vic poked at.

Upon connecting it quickly drew a small crowd, and we found that indeed IDS would see and read the Crown Vic. We enabled cruise control and Smart Unlock (because I am me, and I will absolutely lock my keys in the car at some point). The previous owner already added a (rather out of place-looking) Town Car-wheel with CC-buttons, so on the way back....

.... awww yisss! That light has literally never been on in this car.

When I bought the car the previous owner (who has had it for nearly 4 years) told me that he could never find someone to enable cruise control on it, nor could he find someone to repair the ABS module.

Within a month of owning the Big Vic I have fixed both.

Me: 1, PO:0

And I think it's worth repeating; the DIY information on the Panthers is so unbelievably well-documented. Seeing all of that spread out here (and in other places) is one of the factors that made me brave enough to buy this car. So thank you for that. Truly, thank you, kind people of the internet.

6x8 speakers are pretty universal in late Fords. I still have a pair that I took out of my Ranger back in 2003 I'll send ya for the price of postage. Why did I save them? Might come in handy some day!

Your door-panel service is the envy of all Box owners. It's about a half-hour job to get one panel off, and another half-hour to get it back on, assuming you can find all 20 of the screws you took out.

Enjoy your weird exotic Ford!

RKE can be added to DDM. Or, go to junkyard and find an LX or MGM DDM which will have RFE already programmed in. 2006 is not wired for trunk release. While at the junkyard, snag the DDM connectors from the LX. You will notice a purple with yellow wire that is not present in the 2006 CVPI DDM connector. Note the pin location and move pin over. Splice that wire to the purple with yellow wire in the trunk release button and you get remote trunk release. I did this with 2008 and it worked fine.

Too bad you are not local. I would trade a vinyl charcoal black steering wheel for your LTC. Steering wheels are easy to remove. Don't use a puller. Put a few drops of power steering fluid on the hub and let soak for a few minutes. Pulls easily by hand. Anyways, if your new head unit will accept steering control input, you can add a wire to to the clock spring connector to enable the controls.

If you are still in the USA, think about adding Autolamps.

https://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=4123414#Post4123414

Hey, you never know when you'll need stuff. What kind of speakers are we talking about here? Because I've got a spare Ford speaker from the junkyard, but would like to get a decent (and matching) set of front speakers in there at some point.

Also, be glad that even on the box-Panthers it's still all bolts. On my previous car the panel was held on with breakable plastic clips that would either snap in half (the good option) or snap the panel behind it when pulling on it (the bad option).




Yeah, I'm very much not local. And haven't been to the US in at least four years. Was planning to go last year, but then The Big Event happened and all non-essential travel got cancelled.

So let me get this straight, so I know what to get from the junkyard:
- Cable set that plugs into the right hand side of the DDM
- Antenna unit to plug into the end of that cable set (See pic HERE)
- Extra set of either plug going TO the DDM so I can usa a pin to wire in trunk release to my existing DDM plug. (LHS plug or bottom plug?)

Is that correct?

Are the DDMs in Town Cars the same? Can I use the antenna and cable from an LTC or do they need to come from a CV/GMQ? Because I know where to find a trashed LTC, but a CV/GMQ is a little more difficult.

Along with a set of remote fobs and a Forscan-capable adapter of course, but those can be snagged from eBay/Amazon, from the comfort of my own chair.

I did not have to deal with antenna as 08 has TPMS so DDM is already wired to the antenna. IIRC, antenna is located in the passenger C-pillar. It should not matter if the antenna is installed in the door which would simplify wiring. Antenna should be the same.

Not sure about DDM. Should be the same. Grab all DDM connectors from LTC as source for pins to install in your connector. Look for purple with yellow stripe wire. That pin and wire will be missing on your connector. I made a thread about RKE with photos a while back but can't find it now.

Found RKE info. Note position of purple with yellow strip wire in gray connector and splice to door trunk release button. There is also some antenna info.

https://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3281442

I did that when I was wiring in my passenger seat. Course I figured it out before I put it back together.

Thanks! That makes the hunt for what I need a lot easier.

Next time I've got time to swing by the American car-yard I'll grab the things I need. The TC there is balanced rather precariously on top of something, so I'd rather get it all in one swoop than having to piece it together over several trips.

If you ever feel like you have no idea what you’re doing at your job, take into consideration the following:



Three junior techs at the local alignment shop were scratching their heads about why there are no alignment values for the rear wheels of a Crown Vic. After a little while I took pity on them and invited them to look under the car and explain to me how they were planning to adjust anything in case they’d actually find the relevant values.

Much hilarity ensued.

All’s well that ends well though. The Vic got aligned, many selfies were taken with the car, and I got a nice discount on the alignment. I’m not complaining.

They're Ford factory speakers. I took 'em out after about a month, back in 2003. I'll double check to make sure they're 6x8 and not 5x7. Honestly, aftermarket speakers are a lot better, unless you're doing a 100-point concours restoration.

Thanks for looking. I've got a decently matched set in there right now, might go for 4 of the same aftermarket speakers at some point.

Also, UGH! Junkyards right now are frustrating. There's a junkyard nearby that deals in American cars, which this being Europe means it's decked out like a '50s diner, with a pink limo on top of the administrative building alongside a bad fiberglass Elvis. Anyway, since COVID is flaring up again here, it's operating under different guidelines. There are no people allowed on the yard itself, and you have to call ahead to reserve a part. I've had a videochat with one of the employees where he's shown me that there's an '06 LTC there with all the bits I need to install RKE on my Vic, but they haven't got the time to remove the parts... They're so backed up with assignments like this they just don't have the manpower for small stuff like this.

So now I have to wait, and I'm not good at waiting.

Haven't posted an update on the Crown Vic in a while. I'd been feeling under the weather for a bit, somehow getting the first head cold I've had in two years and that just sapped the energy right out of me. Plus, with the weather turning from the nice-fall to the rainy-and-miserable-fall I haven't felt like going outside and turning wrenches on the car.



However, parts kept rolling in. First and foremost, a center console. With the Crown Vic being an ex-cop car there's no center console between the seats. It came with one stuffed in the trunk, but that was...well.. not all that great. Very utilitarian, and mostly for hanging radios off of.

Doing a bit of research told me that Crown Vics fit Jeep consoles really well, and that there are a couple of companies doing consoles for Wranglers and such that are popular upgrades for Vic owners. However, with The Big Event being far from over, getting one was difficult. The factory website told me they were all out of stock, Amazon had none, and even the other random Far-East resellers showed no stock.
That is, until I emailed a local Jeep-parts place on a whim. They had a couple, and at a very decent price too. Thank you Jeepparts.nl!
I reused the mounting bracket from the cop console, and in she went. Fits really well, and looks almost factory. Also, it's DEEP. So much room for misc junk! 😃



Another much-desired retrofit (by my wife, mainly) is Remote Keyless Entry. My car (which we've decided to name Burt, btw), is an '07, so some parts were required. Mainly, the antenna plus associated wiring, and a spare Driver Door Module-plug, as you need to add a pin to make it all work. A local junkyard had an '05 Lincoln Town Car, but with 'rona wasn't allowing anyone on to their yard. One month later, and he calls me up to say I have to buy the entire door wiring loom, and that he's cut the antenna off. Mind you, this isn't a bad thing, as it allows me to make my own pigtail harness to place the antenna in a good spot, plus I've now got a MILLION pins and plugs as spare for when I decide to add other stuff down the road.



Anyway, some soldering later, and I've got an antenna ready to go. All I needed to do was pull the door panel off, stick the antenna in, wire up the DDM, and program the whole thing.

And then it started raining, and didn't stop raining for like a week or two. Ugh...

Fortunately we've got an underground car park nearby, so I 'borrowed' one of their spots and set to work. Getting the door panel off is easy (smack it real good) , getting it back on is the hard part (smack it ever so slightly, but still real good). Some faffing about later, and I've got it all in the door. Antenna stuck somewhere out of the way, DDM pinned correctly, wiring tied away. No pictures of this because it was cold as heck, and some Karen apparently called the supervisor so I had to hurry a bit.



Back home I recoded the DDM (which involves doing complicated stuff and converting from decimal to binary and back again. I could not have done it without the guides on here! Thanks!), and lo! It all worked! I got some cheapie remote fobs off of eBay, and to my surprise the junkyard guy included the fob from the Town Car when I picked up the door harness. All three programmed without a problem, and everything works. And yes, that includes the 'Honk-Like-Mad'-button, which I absolutely will not abuse at inappropriate times. xD

Also, I managed to squeeze 10L/100km (1 op 10, or 23.5MPG) out of it. Which with current fuel prices is not bad at all. Makes it almost economical to run.

Great job with RKE install! Now you have the option of not adding TPMS, lol.

Eye spy Medium Dark Flint steering wheel in a Charcoal Black interior. One of these would be the ticket.

You sir, have a lot of steering wheels.

The color difference is actually far less than the photo shows. It's quite close to the color of the seats. It's more the random wood trim that irks me. (To the point where I might wrap the center strip in something similar)

Crap, I'll be your huckleberry on one of those wood trimmed TC wheels with the full SWC's! My sport has Medium light stone interior, which I think is one of those two on the right and center top row.

Shoot me a PM

Remember where I said earlier that whomever converted my CVPI back to civilian duty actually did quite a neat job? I'd like to retract that statement, or at the very least append to it.

The lower power point/cigarette lighter didn't work, nor did the upper lighter in the ashtray. A few days ago I took the thing apart to see why not, and it turned out that the wiring behind there was a mess with crimp connectors all over the place. I untangled it, and found at least I could make the top cig lighter work again with the correct plug. The lower one was MIA... When behind there I noticed a couple of cut wires coming out of the engine/underhood loom in the pax kickpanel area. I did a probe, and found that the pink one provided me with switched 12V. I soldered on an extension, ran that over to the power point and found.... I did not have the correct connector. So close!

In my Stash O'Stuff I have 2 USB-to-12V adapters. The kind that mount in the dash. So I took the 12V port out, and stuck one of those in, figuring if I'd need to start doing my own wiring I might as well wire in something I'd actually use. Let's be honest here, all we ever use the 12V ports for anyway are to charge up 5V USB gadgets. Wired it to the pink wire, ran a ground to the factory ground point in the pax kick panel area, and we're all good.

Today I figured I'd run a 12V to the trunk area too. I've since acquired the wiring diagrams and saw that the pink 12V cable should extend down the side of the vehicle to the trunk, giving me a convenient point to build upon. From aformentioned Stash O'Stuff came a dual 12V+5V USB extender thing, that I figured I'd hardwire into the switched 12V power in the trunk for a cooler or something nice. So I climbed into the trunk, armed with a multimeter and a flashlight, and found...

..nothing..

All the PI-spec wires to the trunk-area have been cut, aside from the large always-hot 12V point on the right side. Which, of course, I could tap into, but I'd like it to be switched. Which is now not an option anymore. Damnit!

Of course, all the 'normal' stuff is present, and all the lights work, but it looks like they cut the fun stuff when they converted it back. I tried following the pink wire to the trunk from the front, but it seems to be cut at the plug before it even enters the wiring conduit past the B-pillar.

Guess I'll have to source a bunch of wire, and run a new one myself... Is there a convenient way to get to the trunk? Up past the rear seat?

More updates!

Above I said I found nothing while looking for a switched 12V going to the trunk. Well... I didn't look hard enough. In the wire conduit running on the pax side going to the trunk I found a cut pink wire that gave me a good 12V. I crimped on a new length of wire, ran that to the trunk, and stuck that in...


.. this. A 3D-printed box containing a 12V-to-USB-plug from the spares box (the same as I mounted in the dash), and the old cigarette lighter plug from the dash.



I know, don't use those screw-in connectors, but I don't like using crimp connectors and I really need to invest in a mobile soldering iron. It works, and I designed a little nub for the terminal block to hang from, so it's not flapping about.

The box is screwed into the body (and gets its ground from one of the screws) using two already-existing holes. I hate drilling holes in a body, but if they're already there we might as well make use of them.



One day, future generations will look at this picture and wonder why I'm driving around with a supply of medical mouth masks in the trunk.... one day....

Anyway, if any of you guys want that same box and lid, and have a 3D-printer, send me a PM and I'll give you the .stl-files.

I've had my driver door panel off countless times fixing stuff and installing options. The trick with installing panel is to remove the handle first so you do not have to align the handle to the latch. Makes installing the panel easy.

I just got into Forscan myself. None of the youtube videos I looked at tinkered with As Built format. Used one of the many Hex to Binary converters to finish configuring my Message Center instrument cluster. If you have not seen it, google search "Forscan Panther spreadsheet" for more options.

And another (unsolicited) tip... Fantastic you got the complete door harness. Pins are very easy to extract from the connector. Use a bamboo kabob stick to release the pin. Works every time.

Photos of Crown Vics cruising in European cities are always welcome.

You’ve got Grand Marquis side marker lights.

And is that a Dickey’s BBQ cup.. lmao


Welcome aboard.

What a great build/project. It’s got to be awesome having a unique but recognizable car in a place almost no one else has one. So cool.

Forscan is a great tool. I make it a point to get the proper diagnostic software for any vehicle I own. When I had my previous car (an Opel Vectra C) I got Opcom, for my bike I've got GS911, and now Forscan for the Crown Vic. Just resetting one service light on the BMW GS made the adapter pay for itself, and that's not counting the fact that I can do the same for my wife's BMW F700GS, or my dad's K1200RS.
..
But that's motorcycle stuff, and we're here for the Panthers.

And yes, I'm very happy with the whole harness. I plan on sticking a 2-Din radio in there with proper steering wheel control support, and hope to reuse some of those pins to complete the plug underneath the column so the radio remote buttons on the wheel continue to the radio.



Actually, I think they're Marauder lights. Not sure though..

Fun fact: side repeaters are required here by law, and the side marker light is being used as a side repeater along with the blinking turn indicator on the front.

Also, one of my reverse lights is not a white bulb but a red bulb, and it's hooked up to a separate switch on the dash to provide a rear fog light, another requirement to pass road legality inspections. I'll get some pics of that too.

And yes, that is a Dicky's cup. A souvenir from our last trip to the US.



The reactions I get are great. No-one has a clue about what a Ford Crown Victoria is when I tell them, but then I just say that I've got that one generic police car from every Hollywood movie ever, and they just go "Oh those!"

Getting it insured was fun though. Not a single insurer had the option online to select a "Crown Victoria" under "Ford", so to get a quote I had to call them and explain just what the hell I just bought. At my current insurance it had to be added to the system manually, which means that on paper I now have a...
*pulls out insurance papers*
..
------------------------
Make: Ford USA
Model: Crown Victoria
Type: Police Interceptor
------------------------

Normally it would say something like
------------------------
Make: Opel
Model: Vectra C
Type: Z18XER GTS
------------------------

so not having an engine code or whatever on there as a type is sure to freak out some people.

I got checked for papers and alcohol when driving home from the inlaws over Christmas. This is normal, and something they do just about every Christmas. The cop took one look at my papers, and then was far more interested in the Crown Vic, asking me if the spotlight still worked (yes), if it had any sirens or lights (nope, and even if it did I wouldn't be telling him), and if I thought it would outrun his cop car. (Probably...)



I have so many pictures of the Crown Vic simply Just Not Fitting In.


I mean, in front it's fine, but in the back...


... yeah, no.


Let's just say I don't really lose it much on parking lots.


Narrow streets are a challenge though... The right wheels are right up against the curb, and it still sticks out. The Suzuki Swift to the rear is completely overshadowed.


And here's a snapshot of it with my old car, aformentioned Opel Vectra C GTS. Great car, but...mostly bland to drive... and a fragile (to put it mildly) electrical system. CANbus + biodegradable wiring and plugs = you're gonna have a bad time.

Those cheeky Americans are melting the planet again, lol.

I’m not so sure the Marauder and Marquis side markers are any different. If anything, the Marauder markers may be factory tinted. Perhaps someone else will chime in.

& yeah, I was going to ask about that. So what’s the deal with the rear turn signals? I recall something about European vehicles requiring amber turn signals; and that several European imported 2004+ Crown Vics had to be switched to the ‘98-‘99(CVPI)/1998-2003Civillian) rear taillights because they had the amber cut out for the turn signals. I can’t remember if that was for all EU vehicles or only the United Kingdom?

And what the hell lol ..a red fog light on the back is required by law. Interesting.

Oh, and those pictures are cool.

Thanks. Have another one of the Crown Vic fitting into the car wash like it was meant to go in there.


Like a glove

Anyway, yeah, turn indicators. By law, turn indicators are required to be amber or white in the front, and amber in the rear. Our cars do not have that option.

HOWEVER! If a car has been previously legally registered in another EU country, the Dutch DMV is required to honor that registration and register the car. This is to make sure that, say, a French car with yellow lights can legally drive in The Netherlands on Dutch plates.
Loophole though; German TUV allows for red turn indicators in the rear, which is why most American cars are first imported into Germany, taken through TUV, and then put on German plates, making it a completely legal German car, same as a new Audi or Mercedes bought locally.
That 'German' car (often with the German plates still in plastic in the rear set) is then taken to the Dutch RDW (our DMV)and its German papers are easily converted to a Dutch registration. I'm quite positive this is how my CVPI came here, as I still have the red turn indicators in the rear.

Front turn indicators are another fun topic though. Dutch (and German, AFAIK) law states that the side repeaters must be visible from 6 meters (20 foot) behind the front bumper, and 1 meter (3 feet) away from the side of the bumper. IE: exactly where another car would be when changing lanes. A Crown Vic does not have side repeaters, nor do the front turn indicators shine sideways far enough to be of any use.



What most American cars have is a cheap side-repeater stuck to the fender (or something), and they only stick that on for the yearly inspection. The rest of the time the wiring is tucked away safely and the lights are in a glove box or something.

What the person converting mine did was quite clever; they converted the side marker bulbs to flash with the turn indicators, while still functioning as side markers through a dual filament bulb. It meets the legal requirement without having an ugly aftermarket stick-on side repeater.

See a video HERE.

On the subject of a rear fog light; having one is a legal requirement here (and in other EU countries). So the Crown Vic had to have one. What most other importers do is stick a cheap bolt-on rear light under the bumper, wire it up to a switched 12V and a separate switch in the cabin, done. It's ugly, but it passes inspection.


Look under the left side of the bumper of this E150. There's a very aftermarket-looking rear light, that's the rear fog light. This is how most American imports have it.


Now compare to this. (Yes, I put the car in reverse just to illustrate that one of the two backup lights still work.) One of the white bulbs has been replaced with a red bulb, and wired to a separate switch on the dash. I looked, and unfortunately the original wiring has been cut so I can't restore the original configuration if I ever wanted to.

Brief update. When I bought the car it came with one heated mirror, on the right side. At some point in its life the right mirror got damaged, someone replaced it with a heated one and came to the conclusion that it would plug right in and work.

Well, after a lengthy debate with eBay’s global shipping program I’ve managed to procure a heated left mirror, balancing the whole thing out again.

Some wrenching later…



…and there’s a left heated mirror too. Btw; I still needed to replace the mirror cap when I took this picture. That has been done after cleaning it up a bit.

So this spring I'm looking to do a small service on the Crown Vic. This is my Rockauto shopping cart, and kindly ignore the strange valuta because I ain't American. :P
And yes, everything is Motorcraft because I'm that kind of dork, and also Motorcraft stuff was the same price as brand-name third party and so I figured that OEM-stuff was the way to go.

I'm planning to do:
- Oil change + filter
- Air filter
- Fuel filter
- Spark plugs
- Brake fluid flush (not in the shopping cart, I'll get some DOT3 locally as needed)

Things I won't be touching because I see no need to:
- Engine belt; the current one is 6 months old after the old one started squeeking. Not planning on touching that thing for at least a couple of years. Same with any guide rolls or pulleys and what-have-yous.
- Windscreen wipers; they seem fine, and easily replaced at the side of the road if they do go bad.

Things I'm on the fence about and you guys' input on:
- Coils; the engine runs fine, doesn't misfire and starts on the first crank every time. Are coils considered consumables or just replace as needed?
- Transmission fluid flush/refresh; The trans shifts fine, the fluid is a nice red color, doesn't smell burnt and there are no weird noises coming from the trans. The car has done about 135k miles, and I don't think the trans has ever been opened. A matter of 'if it ain't broke..'?
- Coolant flush; the current coolant in it seems clean, doesn't smell, and the engine reaches and stays at operating temperature well. It's been changed at least once in the past when a new radiator was fitted. (Not under my ownership, but the radiator is clearly cleaner and newer than the rest of the car and I don't think you can change the radiator without losing all coolant)
- Related to that: Water pump and thermostat. See above. Is that preventive maintenance on these cars? I've only had European cars up to this point, where a timing belt, water pump, and thermostat was required every Xk miles, but I see no reference of either in any maintenance guide for the Crown Vic, or indeed anything with the 4.6 2V modular. They have timing chains, right? And those chains are basically considered a lifetime thing, right?

Maintenance plan looks good to me. Ford maintenance manual is available online if you haven't gotten it already. Ford coils are not fragile (unlike German coils, lol). Same with water pump. Monitor for weep and for shaft play. That's it! Impeller is metal so no chance for breaking (unlike German water pumps, LMAO).

Interesting. I've never seen a Grand Marquis/Marauder corner light used like that. Would the marker light not be in compliance in its OEM configuration?
[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/7GcFFMGkTUM?t=349[/video]

6 meters back and 1 meter to the side. Interesting.

For traditional ignition systems, I always replace ignition coil(s) when doing tube-ups;

However, in regards to COP, I’ve been told that unless it is having issues, leave it alone. I’ve followed that advice for years now as I’ve had mixed results replacing COP when not particularly needed.

Water pump should be fine — you may want to keep a spare thermostat around, though.

Nice write up. I have enjoyed following your work in this thread. Clearly you have some skills. With the narrow streets, at least you’re still driving on the right side of the road.

Gotcha. Leave the water pump be, since it seems absolutely fine. And yeah, on most European cars the water pump is considered a consumable and has a service life. Some longer than others, but I've replaced a fair couple on my cars over the years, usually along with timing belts. (A case of the While You're In There's)




Probably not. I'm thinking it's just not visible enough from further back. I'm fine with how it is, even though you get the weird side-effect of the lamp still acting as a cornering illumination light, just amber-colored and intermittent.



Spare thermostat. Thanks. Added to the list.



The roads are fine, it's parking lots and (especially) parking garages where I get into some literal tight spots. Usually I try to find a spot that has either nothing behind it, or is back-to-back with another spot so the Vic's big ol' booty has a place to stick out without needing to have the nose poke out of the row.
We call them 'pull-through spots', a term we picked up on our first US trip with a rented RV. (In Dutch, a 'pull-through' is something rather unsavory and probably best done not so much WITH a motorhome but rather IN a motorhome. )

Also, I noticed a bit of weeping around the output shaft of the transmission. I'll be monitoring it to make sure it doesn't make a sticky gooey mess (something-something 'pull-through'-joke) and I'll order an output shaft seal. The very smart people of the internets tell me it's not very complicated to replace, and can be done in your driveway with ease.

Remember a while back I said I had the only Crown Vic PI in probably a very wide radius? Guess I was wrong!



A friend tipped me off about a restaurant that had a couple of (and I quote) "Yank cop cars" out on display, and that I should totally check them out. Also, the food was good.

And then Covid hit and everything closed down.

Well, since last week the restaurants are opened again, and I made a reservation for me and my wife, and let the restaurant people know I'd be bringing my own cop car, and if they'd allow a couple of snap shots.

When we arrived they indeed had two American police vehicles, a late '90s CVPI and a early '10s Dodge Charger Interceptor. The Charger was parked near the entrance of the parking lot, and the Crown Vic near the front door. Both were fully lit up to celebrate the reopening.

The restaurant is themed after the movie Road House (Random, I know) and therefor, followed this generic Americana theme when it came to the food. We had ribs and steak, and a milkshake for a desert. Everything was amazing. Boy did I miss going out to eat.

Anyway, after we paid up the owner got chatting with us, and wanted to see just what kind of vehicle I'd brought. So of course I pulled out Burt and the good camera.



Photography ensued.



Turns out there's a group of individuals who cosplay as American police officers for events and fundraisers. They're called the Dutch American Police Department and I've just been added to their Whatsapp group. Apparently I am now fully Shanghai'd into their next event. Ah well, should be fun!



Fun (?) fact about that white cruiser; it's an original NYPD CVPI, and one of a group of surviving cars to respond to the terror attacks of 9/11. This actual car was parked outside the Pentagon on a pedestal for a while before being sold to a private collector in Austria. That collector then sold it to the restaurant owner, who uses it for charities and as a gate guard of his restaurant.
The car still carries the memorial text on the rear window that it got while parked outside the Pentagon.

In other news; I finally updated the Crown Vic to a radio made in the last couple of decades.

As you've probably seen in a couple of my photos, Dutch parking spots aren't exactly engineered for a vehicle with the...presence... of a fully-fledged full-size Crown Vic. Normally I laugh it off, and try to find a different spot somewhere a bit more roomy, but it's getting to the point where sometimes, there are no other spots.

Well, over the last couple of weeks I've been steadily gathering parts to help with that. A radio capable of displaying a backup camera signal, a camera of course, a bunch of wiring, the Metra dash kit so you can fandoognle a 2-din radio into a 1.5 din hole, and of course a LOT of courage to stick a Dremel in the dash and hack away plastic.

Today was a nice sunny day, and so...



Enter the chaos.

First order of business... sticking in this unholy monstrosity I cobbled together while 'working' from home. (My job consists of hours of looking at data punctuated by moments of sheer terror)



What it is you ask? It's 2 pins soldered to a stereo jack, along with a ground strap.





And they go in here. (The twisted pair) You see, the radio I bought has support for steering wheel controls. Better yet; it supports the ability to program certain resistance values to functions. And since Burt's Town Car/GMQ steering wheel has a set of radio remote control buttons that, internally, are nothing other than a resistance ladder, that means I can make more buttons do stuff!

Ironically, making buttons do stuff is pretty much my job. But that's not important right now.

The stereo jack goes into the rear of the radio, with the 2 pins corresponding to the left and right channel on the plug, with ground being the reference to measure resistance against. Pin 1 picks up the values of the Vol +/- buttons and the Next-button, while pin 2 picks up the value of the Temp +/- buttons.

Both pins came from the door harness I bought earlier, and the stereo lead came from... I dunno... a broken pair of headphones I think? So, free, essentially. Love it when it works out like that.

Anyway, back to the chaos



Since I had to run a wire from the front of the car to the rear for the camera, I needed a bit of room to work. Fortunately, the rear seat comes out really easily, and there are plenty of holes between the cabin and the trunk to sneak a wire through. That wire was then fed through the inner panels of the trunk, up to the rear valance, where the camera lives above the license plate. Its cable runs up to the license plate light, where I notched a small opening to pass it through to the interior. A bit of sealant there should keep the water out, while still allowing for future removal in case the camera goes kapoof.


(Yes, I still need to find a second rubber stoppery doodad)

The camera has a postive and negative, and from the cable running to the front another red wire is attached to provide a backup signal to the radio. And since someone cut the left backup light to turn it into a rear foglight, that was the perfect spot for it. I tied both cables into the black/pink wire that used to go to the backup light so it would now both power the camera and send a 12V signal to the radio to indicate the car being in reverse and...



... hey presto, no more guesswork when parking. (Also note the neighbor's Jag, muttering something like 'bloody yanks' and 'crumpetbiscuits' while glaring at Burt)

The radio itself needed a bit of Dremeling to fit. Specifically, the top ledge needed to get removed from the aperture. Nothing to it but to do it, and one deep breath later...



... the radio was in.

Way back when I first got it I sorted out the wiring mess behind the radio, and soldered in two ISO-plugs for power and speaker leads. These plugged into the radio harness easily enough. I fed the microphone wire through the A-pillar down into the radio cubby hole, along with the stereo remote lead coming from the steering wheel. The antenna simply plugged in, and because the Metra kit doesn't allow for an easy removal of the radio once it's in I also plugged in 5 RCA plugs just in case I'd ever want to add an external amp and/or sub. I tied the 5 RCA leads away behind the glovebox.

Overall this wasn't too difficult. It was rather fiddly to snake the cables through the dash and the trunk panel (my hands are SO messed up right now :P ), but everything went together smoothly. The only snag is that the radio somehow refused to receive DAB+ radio, despite having an adapter plugged into the antenna to splice out DAB+ and FM. FM works well for the time being so... ?

Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I announce to you that today, Burt has passed its yearly roadworthy inspection. (The "APK", similar to the British MOT).

There basically were three points that the tester didn't like.
- The headlights were aimed a little low. I knew this going in, as I assume the last time they were aimed the trunk was full of stuff and the car sat different. Easy fix, if a bit fiddly.
- One of the exhaust tips rubbed against the frame slightly. Not a failure point, but something that should be rectified. I'll get it up in the air this summer at my parents' place and fight with the hangers a bit
- The VIN wasn't permanently attached to the car.

The last one was the most time-consuming to fix. Yes, Burt has the VIN on the cowl behind the windshield, and of course on the sticker in the door jamb BUT! none of those places are considered valid for the APK. The door jamb sticker is a but a sticker and therefor, not permanently attached, and the tag on the cowl is invalid because
a) It's riveted to the body instead of stamped in, and..
b) it's riveted to the body. In Europe the chassis of the car determines the identity of the vehicle, and with 99% of the cars that means the unibody is fine to carry the VIN. However, with a BoF car the CHASSIS has to carry a VIN too. Which it doesn't on our Crown Vics.
Fortunately my local garage is a body shop too, and they had metal die stamps on hand to stamp it into the frame. If anyone asks, behind the right front wheel is now a surprisingly clean spot, where the VIN has been stamped.

Also, doing the sniffer test was fun. The car had to stand there for a minute and run at 2500 RPM as the computer did its thing. The sound was...glorious.

Making progress. Backup cameras are a nice luxury and you get spoiled by them fast.

As for the VIN thing.. seems kind of ridiculous. Out there your license plates are for life correct? Like I know when Brits sell a car the license plate goes with it.. and the same plate stays with the same car forever, I thought it was the same concept all through the EU.


Oh, and interesting about the NYPD Vic.. I was told NYPD dismantles and/or parts out their patrol cars once they’re taken out of service.

The license plate stays with the car for the rest of its life until it either gets scrapped or exported (in which case it'll get another plate from a different country, obviously).

The issue the tester had was that while the body of the car had a VIN, the frame did not. And there have been cases of people putting newer frames with updated drivelines under old bodies, thus claiming their 40 year old Range Rover as a classic (with all the tax and insurance benefits) while underneath it was a 10 year old car.
In the case of Burt the tester said that while it was highly unlikely that the frame would ever get swapped, it was a possibility and so the VIN had to be on a permanent part of the car. And thus, that meant having to punch in the frame number and covering it with a bit of grease to prevent rust from making it fully unreadable 10 years down the line.

That NYPD cruiser probably got saved from that fate as it was one of the first responder units to the attacks of 9/11, and sat on display in the US for a while before coming across the pond. It was very cool to see both cars together, especially with the cruiser fully lit up.

When the parking permit for someone's street says "No vehicles over 6 meters" and yours is 5.5 meters long.





Technically, the wheelbase is still inside the parking space. If it fits, it it sits!

Also note, Burt's nose is pressed tight up against the houses on the side, unlike the compact cars next to it which left at least 1 meter of space in front of it.

With the weather today suddenly all kinds of nice I decided to tackle another project on Burt.

When I got the car I noticed that the paint in the rain channels next to the trunk had worn down and peeled off. I suspect it has something to do with Burt's Texas roots, probably having large quantities of sand dumped on top of him which then washes off the next time he got a bath, running in these channels and slowly eroding away the paint. Or Ford just uses [censored] paint, I mean, this is the company that brought you Ford Peelformance White after all.

Anyway, the bare spots never bothered me much, but the spot welds started to show signs of surface rust. Before this would spread to other parts of the body I decided to tackle it. Earlier this week I applied some rust converter on the spots, turning them nice and black, prepping them for paint. I removed the taillights, took off the weather stripping around the trunk, and masked off anything I didn't want to spray.



I might have overdone it a bit with the masking but hey, better safe than sorry. Also, I tried to follow already present lines and folds for the edges of the masking tape.

Motip makes a Ford LK (= Paint code) duplicate, but I didn't give it much hope, seeing as how the catalog listed it as being exclusive for a Ford Transit from the '90s. I figured close-enough is good enough for the inside of the trunk, and grabbed a can. Turns out it's a REALLY good match. Near the top of the trunk I blended the original paint with my handiwork and you damn near can't tell where one ends and the other begins! Go Motip!

Anyway, enjoy these Before & After-shots. Quite a neat little side-project that made a lot of difference. (Oh, and ignore the orange rotating beacon stuck to the inside of the trunk lid. That's something for another day)

It's the second one. Mine's never been near the desert and it's the same way.

This summer I'm planning to do some service on the Vic. When I bought it back in October of last year it had a fairly recent oil change, and while most of the consumables looked up to at least a decent standard I figured better safe than sorry.

I started ordering parts, of which the first batch has come today. Most of this is just basic consumables like fuel filter, oil filter, air filter and spark plugs, I also got a set of new brake pads just to have them. I think the pedal travel is a bit on the long side and I'd like to flush out the old brake fluid (hence the bottle of DOT3) and see if that does anything. If it doesn't I'll have a new set of pads ready to go. (And if that does fix it I'm sure it'll require brake pads at some point in the future).
The little green box, meanwhile, is an output shaft seal for the transmission. It's weeping a little and I figured that while I'm under there I might as well pull the driveshaft and do the seal.
Oil is still on its way, btw.



And yes, it's mostly OEM stuff because it's pretty much the same price on RockAuto, and I'm a dork like that.

Motorcraft supplies! Burt is getting the spa treatment.

Saw your post in the other steering wheel control thread which got the brain working. Radio controls are carried on a signal wire with each button having a separate resistance value. Climate control signal is carried on a separate wire. If Climate buttons have discrete resistance values, the two wires can be spliced so that your Sony sees all buttons. This should work in theory. Pretty sure you have thought of this as your initial post on this topic cleared a lot of fog.

Button resistance values in Ohm:

Next: 0.43
Vol +: 0.20
Vol -: 0.08
Temp +: 0.38
Temp -: 1.68

Next and Temp + may or may not be too close to be recognized as separate.

I work hard so my cars can have a better life. :P

The Sony is actually kinda clever in that it will recognize 2 distinct wires, ergo me wiring up a stereo-plug (L+R+Ground), which I wired to the two pins on the wheel. From memory I wired the +/-/Next-buttons on Left, Temp +/- on R, and ground to...well..ground.

Also, good going on getting the actual resistance values off of the wheel! I got similar values while testing to see if the clock spring was fully wired to the buttons (sticking a probe in the relevant plug and reference to ground) but didn't think it would be useful to relay the actual values to this topic.

Oooh, dual signal input! Yup, inline resister is easy. Liking the Sony more and more.

Those Sonys are great radios. I've got its predecessor (The XAV-AX100) in the work van and it's been a solid unit. I got this one as it has DAB+ (FM is slowly dying here in Europe), and is a bit quicker to boot and fire up Carplay.

Soundwise it's good, though I've yet to hear either unit through good speakers. The stinky work van has VW's finest bargain basement cardboard speakers in both doors, and Burt has a mismatched set of Ford OEM speakers from the junkyard, and a single(!) off-brand speaker. I've been meaning to get a set of 4 good, matching composite speakers, but on the list of Stuff To Spend Money On, it comes in WAY BELOW making sure Burt's oily bits are happy and catching up on any required maintenance.

One thing I did find out is that unlike the XAV-AX100, the XAV-AX1000 and -1005DB do NOT have Android Auto. If you want AA, you'll have to spring for the -3005DB (or find a NOS -100). I have an iPhone so I'm safe, but my wife rocks a Samsung and wasn't very happy to find out it doesn't do the fanciness with her phone. It'll connect to Bluetooth just fine, allowing her to fling music to the radio and make phone calls, just not through Android Auto.

The wife and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate our 6-year wedding anniversary. Thankfully the restaurants are still opened despite Covid-related concerns.

There's a place down in Arnhem, about an hour away, called the Roadhouse. We've been there before when they had their grand re-opening after lockdown, and had two police cruisers out on full display, lit up and all. Tonight the two cars were parked fully dark on the parking lot in front of the restaurant, but I still couldn't resist lining up Burt for a quick snapshot on my way in. I mean, it's not often you get to see these three cars in close proximity.

And it's nice to know that while you're in there having (a rather excellent) dinner, your car's outside in good company too, right?

So as you all know, Burt, being a Crown Vic and one of the last true full-size sedans, has a giant trunk.

It's also really deep. There's a well of sorts in the middle that the cops use for all manner of things, but mostly as a large, segmented storage area. I don't mind it as much, but my wife has issues lifting things in and out of the trunk because she pretty much disappears over the lip of the rear bumper due to smolness.

Ford originally sold both police trunk packs and civilian trunk organizers to help fill the well cleverly use that space, but both are obviously unobtainable here. From what I've gathered the civilian trunk organizers are rare even in the US, let alone getting one over here.



So this Easter weekend my dad and I got working on making something ourselves. We essentially made a small table, with two wings to fill out the (very) irregularly shaped sides of the hole.





Today I took a trip to the local junkyard to find some carpet that would color match to the trunk, but obviously found nothing that resembles Burt's sun faded sorta-kinda-grey-blue-ish. So a black mat from the rear of a Ford Focus wagon it was. Another issue is that the well in itself is wider than the trunk area of most cars, so a bit of creative cutting of the mat was required. The mat lifts up as one complete section, revealing the wooden subfloor underneath.





It's not perfect, but it should hold things in place, and has allowed me to get rid of the two plastic containers previously situated on the shelf above the gas tank, clearing up that space for more storage and/or my spare wheel again.

I was thinking about doing something like that myself, but I never get around to stuff like that.

So, with summer finally hitting I've taken Burt to a car show. Every year Circuit Park Zandvoort organizes the American Car Sunday which, you guessed it, is a Sunday filled with American cars.

Through Facebook I got in touch with the Politie Voertuigen Groep Nederland (the Police Vehicle Group Netherlands), who were going down there with a couple of cars, and Burt being an almost-cop-car, was cordially invited to come along.

There was a static show, obviously, and we did a parade lap with all present police vehicles. Of course, since this was all on private property, the cruisers went full code three. For the first two laps we gingerly followed the pace car, but eventually the lead car in our group (A beautiful CHP Fox-body Mustang) was waved past, and a game of Cops 'n Robbers started between the Mustang and the three Vics. (Actually, more like Cops 'n Also Cops, but you get the idea)

Here's some footage I shot that day, including an onboard lap courtesy of my wife holding her cell phone on the dash:

From patrolling the mean streets (I guess they're mean?) of Jefferson County TX, to waiting at the IKEA to be filled with a bunch of stuff Mrs. GooneyBird deemed necessary.

What a life this car is having. :P

The car spent a week away from home getting undercoated. Here’s hoping this will keep my rust-free Texas car a rust-free Texas car for the foreseeable future, despite being a million miles away from the Lone Star state, and surrounded by road salt every winter.






Everything that's black has been coated, first with Fluid Film (a sort of sheep wool fat), and then with an agent to make it a bit tougher and resilient (and black). I carefully masked off everything that I didn't want/needed coated, like the aluminum bits and the brakes and such.

Unintended side effect: It now smells of wet sheep. I've been told this olfactory excursion is temporary and the smell will soon return to the usual whiff-of-hot-sand-mixed-with-'90s-Ford aroma Burt carries around.

Some roads are.....

... a challenge.

Burt seems more at home in the more rural areas of The Netherlands.


... ahhh, much better.

Last week me and Mrs. GooneyBird took a trip to Berlin in Burt. From our doorstep, Berlin is about 750 kms away, so a decent 7 hours of driving. Of course, that's assuming you stick to a normal speed on the Autobahn....
...Yeah...

I learned that Burt is limited to about 130 MPH, and will reach that speed with surprising ease considering the girth of the vehicle.

Anyway, the pictures. I'm not gonna bore you with a bunch of pics I took of Berlin, but here's a couple that included the Vic.


This is the Avus rest stop, named after the Avus race track. Parts of this street circuit are still visible, though very much off access to the general public. The rest stop is at one end, near where the giant curve to turn around would start, with the former control tower in use as a hotel and restaurant.


A Texan car in front of GDR-era Plattenbau
Our hotel was situated in a former East-German Plattenbau (= modular prefabricated) building. These things are an expression of Stalinistic brutalism seen throughout the eastern part of Berlin. Most people today think they're horrible and outdated, but I like them, their concrete tiled facades having a charm all their own.


Can you just about hear David Hasselhoff singing? The Brandenburger Tor is another landmark Berlin tourist location, and one of the cold war icons as it sat in-between two Berlins. Nowadays, it's just another pretty building to look at for tourists.

Bonus pic!
I met up with a new friend in Berlin, and he said that it would never fit in a parking spot on his street. Proved him wrong!

(And yes, that's me.)

Had a rather productive weekend, if I may say so myself. I've been steadily gathering parts to give Burt a well-needed service, and after all the hard work this guy put in on the Autobahn and in Berlin, a well-deserved spa-day followed.



I did:
- oil + filter
- air filter
- fuel filter (and boy was that necessary! I think that might have been the original filter in there!)
- spark plugs
- transmission output shaft seal, as the old one was weeping a bit and making a mess of the driveshaft and the underside of the trans tunnel.



Two out of eight spark plugs were in hand-tight, so I got to those just in time. In the '90s, Ford just couldn't get spark plugs right it seems, and while I have the engine with the least destructive mode of failure (Looking at you here, 3V modulars...), they can walk out completely and eject themselves at speed. All eight of them came out without a hitch, and the spark plug wells were dry, needing nothing more than a quick blast of the air line and a vacuum. All new plugs went in easily and were clicked to torque.

I also removed the wheels to inspect the brakes, and found the rear brakes to be at ~25%, with the fronts a little better but not much. I have new pads, but couldn't get the rear calipers back in. Combine that with the disks looking worse for wear, and I'll probably look into 4 disks and (rebuilt) calipers sometime soon.



Oh, and I found out why the AC was lackluster lately. The drier/accumulator is cracked. I ordered and installed a new one, and had the system recharged. It's been two weeks and the AC is still holding steady. This weekend I might give it a quick walkaround with a UV light, see if there's any leakage anywhere.



I'm honestly surprised it held up during our trip to Berlin. I could poke through the bottom with a flat-blade screwdriver!

So: Brake parts are on their way. I ordered 4 rotors and 4 rebuilt calipers to complement the 2 sets of new pads. When they arrive it'll probably be too far into Fall to do anything, but I'll stick them on next spring. To be continued.

Nice job Gooney! Vmax with 2 loose plugs. That could have been a problem. First time doing plugs on Burt? It was a relief when I successfully pulled plugs in both my cars. I've seen over-tightened plugs pull threads.

Yes, exactly! I was surprised the car ran as well as it did with the two loose plugs in there. It was the first time I did plugs on the car, yeah, and I'll make a note to check them for tightness every oil service. I torqued them down according to what I found on Youtube (WJ Handy Dad is a GODSEND!) and hope that that's somewhat correct. I've seen torque values all over the place for those things, so I just sorta went for a happy medium with them.

And yes, I'm glad they all came out without a fight. The threads in the heads are fine, and the new plugs felt good going in (I do the first 2-3 rotations by hand, feeling how the threads are. If they feel gritty, out the plug goes and I'll try to clean it up a bit. An old trick I learned while wrenching on my first vehicle, a 50cc two-stroke motorcycle/moped.)

Unpacking party!

SoCalSam sent over a care package for Burt, and a bunch of parts for a friend of mine.


Link for scale.


For me, a center seat belt, engine beauty cover, a keyed trunk release button for in the door, 2 coat racks for in the back, and a whole bunch of small plastic clipperdoodles that always break when you disassemble stuff. (Or were just plain missing from my car)

And because there's always people needing stuff, for a friend I got:

An LCM, a steering wheel with cruise control buttons, a jack...

.. and door rubbers. (not pictured)

Because I had a slow day at work (and had half a day of working from home), I had the lock on my desk and was fiddling with it. After a bit of head-scratching I got it to work with the Ford's key..


.. and fished out the wiring. I used that plug for the remote trunk popper, so I had to modify the wiring a bit to piggy-back off of this plug, but other than that it was plug-and-play.

Oh, and of course...


.. I threw the beauty cover on. Simple mod, but it tidies up the underhood area so much!

I'll try to find some time this weekend to get the rear belt done. That weirdly improvised lap belt is annoying me as it flops about on the rear seat. I'll keep you guys updated!

Hello kitty! Must be getting a sniff of USA, lol. Happy to help Burt be the best she can be.

Re-keying the door button was something I did not have to do, good to know it can be done. The switch looks to be sealed with no easy way to pull the lock cylinder. I think the switch operates on three wafers.

Yeah, there are only a couple wafers in there. The unit is (mostly) sealed, but seeing as how I also play a scale model maker on the internet, I have a collection of very small picks and tools to open it up. Still, I left some marks on it when opening it up.

In related news, a friend of mine showed up to get some parts I got him, leading to this... unusual scene in my street:



This is his '11 CVPI ex-LA Sheriff Department. He got it mostly stripped from its equipment, and is rebuilding it to be exactly like it was while in service. He does charity runs with it, and has the car for hire for use in movies and tv shows. It's about 90% complete, missing only a couple of lights to be completely accurate. Very cool to see the contrast between Burt (being completely civilian) and his car in full dress.

Meanwhile, the neighbors:

All that's missing is a perpetrator.

Never turn your back on Burt. I swear that car just summons other Panthers nearby. Yesterday we had a Black & White cruiser show up, today at a local car show I look away for ten seconds and this happens:


:P

The black CVPI and I are in the same Facebook group, and we agreed to meet up. While there we saw the white Gran Marquis circle the lot the show was held at, and so we cleared a spot for him next to our cars. The GMQ was owned by an American, who brought the car over himself, after buying it in (Where else?) Florida and driving it there for a while.

The thing was an absolute creampuff, having been babied by the proverbial blue-haired Ethel who used it to go to the shops and back twice a months.

Also, fun fact! I thought Burt was the only car with the rear foglight cleverly hidden in one of the rear backup lights.


Nope, turns out there are more people out there who do a good think before just slapping on a generic rear foglight and calling it a day.

Another part SocalSam sent me was a center seat belt retractor and belt. Why, you ask?



Because German law states that the center belt may not be a 3-point, but rather, must be a lap belt. So someone had cut off the center belt..



., and turned it into a lap belt.

Now Dutch law doesn't give a hoot about what kind of belt you have in the center, as long as it's safe and secure. Which a 3-point is, very much so. (What do you mean, EU law is one?)

So after a bit of spannering..



Much better.



It's the little things like this, I tell ya!

Why is the CV so popular in Europe/German? I continue to see people over there posting videos on Youtube with them.

Seeing our cars getting restored makes my day!

I blame the cat. Shifty little dudes are always up to something. :P



Thanks. It's nice to see that every little thing you fix/mod/replace actually makes a tangible difference. (And unlike my last car, things I fix STAY FIXED!)



First and foremost, I think it's a cultural thing. Due to Europe being quite influenced by American pop culture, most '80s and '90s kids grew up watching COPS, Die Hard, and other action shows and movies set in America. And what vehicle is on-screen BY FAR the most on these shows? Yep, our Crown Vics. This seemingly ubiquitous tradition 3-box sedan is always in the background, doing powerslides on narrow streets, slamming into stuff, catching fire, or getting launched into a hovering helicopter. And while the bad guys drive a high-end BMW, Audi, or Japanese sports car that we can easily purchase here, that unsung hero of our childhood is always juuuust out of reach. And what's unobtainable makes desirable. We want what we see on TV. What a General Lee-replica is for people from the '60s is, is an A-team replica Chevy van for people from the '70s, or a black Trans-Am with a red scanner in the nose for people from the '80s, is a Crown Vic for us late '80s kids.

Another factor is the familiar-yet-unfamiliar character of what a Crown Vic is. It's 'just' a large sedan, same as a Mercedes S-klasse or BMW 7-series. But this is different, this is a rugged, nearly-indestructable vehicle that's easy to maintain, doesn't use fancy electronics that are sure to break in 15 years time, and sounds like a proper muscle car (...with the right exhaust. And keep in mind our frame of reference for what a sedan sounds like is a straight four turbodiesel.)

You have to keep in mind that these cars here are very much exotics. Just as you (as an American, I presume) can go days, if not weeks without seeing a VW Golf or Audi A4, you just don't see a lot of Panthers around here. I'm on a Dutch Crown Vic Facebook group, and there's 25 of us there. When I look up "Crown Victoria" in the national license plate database I get 34 results.
Let that sink in. There are 34 Crown Victorias built between '92 and '12 in the entire country. There are slightly more Town Cars due to them being popular as stretched limos and the fact that they were imported legally and sold new here for a while. How many Grand Marquisses (Marquii?) I hear you ask? 8. And Marauders? 0. There are less than 10 Panther Mercurys in this country. That's how rare these beasts are.

It's not just Panthers that get a fanbase, either. There's a whole half-ton pickup truck subculture (because a 3/4-ton and up require a commercial license here), I've run into people who are really really into pony and muscle cars, and closer to home; there's a GIANT GM B-body club in Germany that occasionally does events with the American Cop Car Owners Club of Europe (which, coincidently, is the most awkward acronym ever...)



For me personally, a Crown Vic Police Interceptor has always been a dream car. I saw them in movies and tv shows growing up, and they have a certain easy 'coolness' to them. They're big and brash, but at the same time they're modern and slick enough to still function as A Car. (unlike something like, a '60's Caprice or something). I love the sounds they make, and how surprisingly well-adjusted to European roads they still kinda are. They're big, but no bigger than a delivery van like a Sprinter or Transit. They're not exactly economic to run in the same way that a turbodiesel Golf is, but I've had WAY smaller cars with similar fuel mileage.

Plus, most, if not all of these cars have heritage. Mine was a Sheriff's Department vehicle in Texas. That white Grand Marquis in the picture above was owned by the proverbial white-haired old lady who used it to meander to the Bingo every Friday-night. Gods know what some other Crown Vics have done and seen. You don't get that when you buy a 3-year old just-off-lease BMW 5-series.

I just read through this entire thread. It's FANTASTIC. Especially the track time on the American Car Day event! Your car sounds great; does it have the factory mufflers on it or have they been replaced? Also, I'm sending you a message regarding that little 3D printed box and lid for power outlets, as I have access to a 3D printer.

Please continue to share Burt's adventures here!

Thanks! I like build threads. It sorta feels like you're just peeking over someone's shoulder in the garage, helping them do whatever it is they're doing. I'm on a couple of other forums (motorcycle stuff and RC cars), and I love reading these big epic build series threads there too.

Burt's not stock anymore when it comes to exhausts. Someone at some point bestowed a set of Magnaflow Catback exhausts on the car, and they sound AMAZING. I'll have to get a proper exhaust clip of Burt, but [urlhttps://youtu.be/bKhMKWAscGM?t=129]HERE'S[/url] another Crown Vic with the same exhausts on it. They're deeper than stock, and a little louder around 1500rpm, but at highway speeds they shut up and all you hear is the wind noise. Plus at idle to about 1100rpm they're nice and mellow, which is great for around town.

Before....


...and after.


It's the small things that matter. These little nets came off of Aliexpress, and give me a little more quick storage at/near the center console.

So over the last couple of weeks I’ve been down with the sickness (oh-a-a-a..). I first caught a decent head cold, and just as I was working that out of my system my wife came home with ‘a cough’ and we both tested positive for COVID a day later… So that was fun….

Anyway, before all that I dropped by a friend’s place and picked up a front license plate bracket he had ordered for me. Up until that point Burt’s front license plate was held in place by two self-tappers drilled (off-center!) through the front bumper, so the plate wasn’t just hanging down instead of pointing dead ahead, it was also off to the left.

I took the front plate off, and found that fortunately all the screw holes would be covered by the bracket, ánd that the two holes for the bracket were already in the bumper cover (it was a Texas police car, and TX requires front plates). I also had a license plate frame I wanted to use.



I had to modify the bracket slightly so the plate frame would sit flush. Easy job for the dremel. And then I had to go out and get a rivet gun, as there was no way I’d be able to get access to the rear of the bumper cover for nuts, and I don’t think self tappers would hold.

Anyway, layer one; the bracket:



Followed by layer two; the Dutch license plate, which I mounted using 4 nearly flat headed self tappers. (Also, US-spec Dutch plates are a weird size. They’re nearly the same width as a US plate, but much shorter):



“But why did you mount it in that weird spot?”
Because of layer three, the frame. This frame was a gift from my wife, and I wanted to use it on the rear but couldn’t due to the weird size of Dutch license plates. Ergo, the front. This is why I dremmeled off the two lips holding the bottom of a normal plate.



“Why is there Velcro on the side of the frame?”
At car shows and other exhibitions I mount two Texas license plates on the car, because that looks a whole lot cooler than the regulation Dutch plates. On the rear two easily accessible bolts hold the plate on so I just swap them out, but on the front I had to get creative. Ergo; two Velcro strips for layer four; the Texan plate:



I’ve done a couple of other things to the car, but those will follow in their own post.

Look, a bunch of cars you guys have never seen before!


Starting from Burt, going clockwise, there's
- Burt. See literally this whole thread.
- Opel Corsa D OPC (a 200hp turbo track-prep'ed one, to be exact)
- Volvo V70 wagon
- Mazda 3
- Volvo V90 wagon
- Volvo XC90 Hybrid

Since next year I've got a track outing planned I wanted to get the brakes sorted. Burt's brakes work in that it eventually slows down, but it's not exactly confidence-inspiring. Last fall I tried changing the front and rear pads but found that at least one of the rear calipers was rusty to the point I wasn't confident the bleeder screws would still move, so I spent some money at RockAuto and got:


- 4 rebuilt calipers
- 4 new flexhoses
- 4 new coated rotors
to go along with the 2 sets of Powerstop pads I already had.

A friend works at a Volvo garage and said that every Saturday they hold a sort of free-for-all where mechanics are allowed to work on their own stuff, and he wanted to check out (and drive) Burt, so in exchange he did the brakes. Fine by me, saves me laying on my back in the cold, wrestling with a breaker bar that fouls on the ground.

We bled the brakes and kept pushing fluid through until it turned nice and clear. It started out with coffee, then turned into dark tea as the lines cleared, through morning pee yellow, and eventually nearly clear. Took about 5 quarts of brake fluid to clear the system but hey, brake fluid is cheap, crashing your car isn't.

Next on the list; on the way back Burt developed a severe case of the Wacky Wiper Syndrome. *Sighs* I took apart the wiper cowl, cleared it out, but since there literally came a stream of water from the plug the board on the motor is fully cooked. I've tried rescuing it with WD40 and a lot of shop towel, and I've got it to the point where it'll sorta-kinda work, but only on High, and the wipers won't park anymore. Also, it randomly engages the washer fluid pump so I disconnected that for the time being.

Currently our mail delivery guys are swamped with Christmas presents, so in the new year I'll order a wiper motor and get that done. The annual safety inspection is due late March and the wipers and washer fluid are an inspection point.

I like the color of that car. You don't see it often.

You ever get the feeling you’re somewhere you really shouldn’t be?



Like 3 Panthers from Texas, Florida, and Illinois respectively just casually chilling out on Dam Square in Amsterdam.

I kinda got caught up in a YouTube thing. I’ll post the vids when the YouTubers I worked with post their content.

Oh, and did we get away with parking our cars in what is very much a pedestrian zone?



The cops showed up about 5 minutes in, took one good look at the three wannabe cop cars (well, 2 wackers and an old lady’s car), realized we weren’t causing any trouble, snapped a couple of pics with the B&W and were on their way again

Skip to 10:17 to see the runup to above picture.

Also, for anyone who is curious about what it takes to import a Panther to The Netherlands, give this guy a follow. He's imported a white Grand Marquis from Florida and has documented the entire process.

Panthers are looking great!

So, update on Burt. The big guy just passed his annual roadworthy inspection. Initially it failed it on windshield wipers being dry-rotted and streaky (and I had new ones IN THE TRUNK! I suck...), and after a new set of wipers it passed with two advisories:
- Right side ball joint has about 1mm of play. It's still within passing specifications, but will probably need replacing.
- Minor seepage on the right front shock.

Shock is an easy-enough fix, but I have no idea how to replace a ball joint without a press or something... I'll need to look into that in the coming year.

Another mod I did, because I found it online from a decently reputable source: an extra ground lead going from the bottom bolt of my alternator direct to the negative post of the battery. Supposedly it should help with the coolant leak issue, in that it prevents the engine grounding THROUGH the coolant, causing electrolysis from forming crystals. I dunno, it sounded plausible and this is maybe 8 dollars worth of cable and 10 minutes of work, so...?







(Hotdang I need to clean the engine bay. That thing is dusty!)

You might want to ground the radiator, too. Heater core if you're doing it anyway, but I wouldn't pull the dash apart just for that. But with aluminum heads there's going to be a certain amount of electrolysis/galvanic corrosion that's unavoidable.

Glad the big guy's good to go for another year

Good one, I never thought to ground the radiator and heater core too. I assumed that by grounding the object where the issue presented itself the most (near the water crossover) it would hopefully mitigate the issue a bit longer.

It's funny, before I stumbled into that Youtube video I never heard of anyone doing this, and now every time I tell/show someone they're all like "Oh, but that's fairly common", like it's some well-guarded inside joke or something.

Anyway, car show season is about to kick off here. I've booked some time this weekend to wash and wax Burt, make it look its best. Pics to follow, obviously.

Extra grounding never hurts but I think intake manifold will not benefit. Coolant crystals are an issue for intake manifolds. Some will get trapped in the gasket channels and dry out forming crystals which over time grow and split the plastic. This occurs at the deck gasket and also crossover gasket where the crystals will split the plastic housing from the top. This is crossover gasket channel showing coolant crystals which are pinching the ring gasket.



This is the other side crossover gasket channel with o-ring removed.

I searched for how to ground the radiator and/or intake but could not find any information on doing this. Being many people are very knowledgeable about our cars, how does one do this. By this I mean where are good connection points to do this?

I saw those great photos in your thread, Sam. They're the first I've seen that actually show the problem, and highlight a probable cause. Like I said, I have no idea if the extra ground will do anything (anecdotal evidence seems to suggest so, but is just that; anecdotes), but it doesn't hurt anything other than your wallet and possibly knuckles when you slam them into something. I figured it's worth a shot.



I'm not sure if there are any good spots on the radiators themselves to ground them.... I'd try maybe soldering on a cable? Or try to find a clean bolt and pinch an eyelet to it like I did?

I grounded mine with an eyelet on the fan shroud screw, short length of wire to another eyelet on the core support. I'm sure your electric fans have a good mounting point somewhere.

I realise I've been quiet for a while, but there just wasn't much to report. I've been to a couple of car shows with Burt, and other than that the big guy's just doing what needs to get done. I helped someone move (large trunk!), got into an impromptu drag race with a Fiat Punto Abarth (won, but only because he agreed to do it from a roll), and contrary to popular believe, I even washed it a couple of times.

Does your temperature controls on your steering wheel also operate your radio or do only the Next and Volume +/- work?

I have an Atoto head unit I am trying to control with my steering wheel controls, but the radio only recognizes the Next and Vol keys.

I brought an Awsc-1 interface hoping to remap the temperature +/- keys on the steering wheel to radio controls but I am having no luck. I did add the additional pins into the clock spring harness in slots 4 and 5. Do I need a ground? And which wires from slot 4 and 5 goes into the Awsc interface? I am getting confused I think.

The Temp-buttons do Forward/Back on the radio.

How to do this depends on the radio I guess. You need two pins from the clock spring. One for the Next and Volume-buttons (those originally went to the radio), and one for the Temp +/- buttons. Both need to go to separate(!) inputs on your radio.

In my case, my Sony radio accepted a stereo 3.5mm jack plug, with the tip being signal one (radio buttons), the middle ring signal 2 (the temp-buttons) and the lower ring is ground, Ground went to ground (doesn't matter where, it's a reference for the radio), the two signals went to either pin on the clock spring of the car. The radio is capable of looking at both inputs and combing a value with an action, which I can program. My Next-button activates Siri/Voice Control, for instance.





HERE is more information about how my Sony wanted the inputs. I did not need any further adapters.

I don't know how your AWSC interface works, or if you can use two signal inputs with that thing at all. What I do know is you DON'T combine both pins on one wire, that won't make for clean values for the radio to work with.

HERE is a post by Socalsam about the different values the two sets of buttons put out over the pins. Keep in mind that the Next and Vol+/- values will ONLY go over one pin, and the Temp +/- ONLY over the other, as they originally went to two different parts of the car.

GREAT thread!

Funny, my wife and son both drive Volvo S60's. Hers is a 2016 T5 Premier FWD. His is a 2018 Inscription AWD. She had a 2001 S60 2.4 NA previously that got rod knock. We donated it to Kars 4 Kids in last year.

Oh look, a Vic in its least-natural habitat; the Nürburgring Nordschleife.



The 'ring is a tough track on cars. Especially two-tonne sedans that were never meant to do any of this. Regardless, the Vic held up well. I think I took two years off of the front tires, and the brakes got a bit hot and bothered, but other than that it's fine.

It's funny when you're at WOT, going 80MPH up the hill after you pass Breidscheid, V8 at full chat, barking glorious sounds, and you casually get overtaken by a 911 doing at least double that. And up ahead you see that same 911 doing a decent slowdown into a corner you know you don't even have to lift for at your current speed.

Maybe it's not a big deal over there. Oh, I'll just pop over to Germany and drive the Ring. But that's just awesome.

It's still kinda a big deal. Sure, the 'ring is about four hours away from my doorstep, and so technically I could be there every other weekend doing things with cars, but it still holds a certain mystique for those 'in the know'.

Also, I made a highlights-reel:


And for those of you who want to see the whole lap:

So on the way back out of the Eifel mountains the weather turned and we needed the heater, after having run the AC for the entire weekend.

And then I found that it was stuck on cold.

Oh.

Oh no.

*sigh*

Cue the music!



Yep. Blend door actuator. Interestingly enough, the motor had died! The gears were fine. Fortunately, in a rare moment of foresight I had a BDA already in stock and on hand. (Past Me was clever!), so out with the old....



... and in with the new.



As you can see, I used the method of snapping off the old one, and cutting an ear on the new one. This worked well, and I left the rear bolt slightly loose to act as a mounting post instead of as a fastener.

So, how did it go? Surprisingly well, actually. From start to finish the whole proces took me about 4 hours, and I took my time. The most time was actually spent wrestling with the two bolts in the rear of the air vent. Once I got those out, I set to work trying to tackle the three impossible bolts.
The front right one is easy, and that one got out without a hitch. Front left is more difficult, but with a good, flat, ratcheting wrench you CAN get it out. The rear one though...oof. I can see why people pull the dash for it. I could feel it, I could MAYBE turn it by hand if it was loose enough, but getting a tool on it was impossible. And forget about ever getting it back in its hole with a new BDA in front of it! I decided to not lever out/pull the dash, as that would be more work than just going Full Ape on it, and break the tab. That was about 10 seconds, after which I levered out the old BDA and had good access to the rear bolt.

Snipping off the ear on the new one was easy, and the new one went it fairly easily. The rear bolt was snugged up a bit, and the front left went in with a combination of a magnet on a wrench and blue tack to keep it seated in the ring. Front right, again, was easy.

On the subject of in-car audio I've always been on the side of "Well, as long as it's better than me singing to myself, I'm happy" and never really looked much into it. However, recently someone offered me an amp for a good price, and so I had to give it a try.

I got a wiring kit for one on Amazon, including 15 feet of ISO extension cable (so I could plug into the car's existing harness), and of course the amp itself. It's a fairly basic Sony unit from the mid '00s, but hey, worth a shot, right?

Anyway, I needed a place to mount it, and I didn't want to the umpteenth Panther-guy to drill into his fuel tank, so I got some wood....



... and made my own mounting board. I mounted this to the rear bulkhead, with some spacers to allow clearance for the fuel pump module wiring there and so I could hide my own wiring behind it later on.





I loomed up the power wiring and made a neat little harness that plugs into the amp at one end, and the Police Power plug at the other. The amp has a 40Ah fuse, and that point is fused at 2x50Ah so I figure it should have more than enough oomph to handle the load.



The blue remote turn-on wire is spliced into my trunk 12V power socket (powered by the red wire in this picture). That's on a switched 12V source (as is the headunit) so it should turn the amp on and off with the ignition.





Here you see the amp wired to power, but not to signal yet. With the board being black, and the spare wheel covering most of it, it almost looks factory.



I ran 2 RCA cables down the left side of the car, loomed in with the ISO extension wire that plugged into the existing harness behind the radio. There are two conduits running the length of the car on either side, near the rockers. The right one already carries power, so I stuck the signal and speaker wiring in the left one. The trunk has a couple of pass-throughs, so I stuck the loom down one that ended up near the amp...



... and done! There's a chrome trim panel to hide the wiring.



I have to say, it really woke up the Pioneer TS-A6880Fs that currently live in the doors and on the rear deck! The sound just seems more detailed, I guess is how to describe it? The amp has little markings on where to set the gain in relation to the pre-amp out, so I just matched that with the 2V outputs of the radio, and it seems just fine. At lower volume the sound is still good, whereas before it would just sorta taper off.

Oh, and don’t get me started on full volume. Oh boy. I put on some hearing protection, grabbed my DB-meter and drove out to a place I wouldn’t be disturbing anyone. Using the amp of the headunit the meter would top out at 98dB, and the sound would be distorted at that volume. With the amp? 108dB and it would still sound clean. Damn. That’s impressive. Now, I haven’t bought the amp just so it would go loud (for one, I don’t drive around wearing over-ear hearing protection), but it’s nice to know it can.

All in all, very pleased with the outcome. I now realize what I’d been missing using the headunit as an amp.

I love this thread! Glad to see you're enjoying the car, and been able to take such good care of it. I also had a good laugh with the nubrugring lap. :3

First of, I'm a doofus.

So yesterday, on my drive home, I noticed the rear window defogger not working. "Hmm..." I said "..that's annoying. I'll look into it this weekend."

So today I got to work. First port of call; the fuse box. 2 fuses. Both were fine. Fuse 107 got 12V, and 24 did not as it was switched by the switch on the dash. I turned the ignotion on, tried again. Same result. Hmmm... broken switch? No, must be wiring somewhere. Started tracing back wiring, but all of it seemed fine up to the big plug going into the cabin. The plug that I also saw when I was doing the blend door actuator a couple of weeks ago.
...
Wait a minute.

Yeah, when I did the BDA I forgot to plug in the rear defogger switch. Derp. Plugged it back in, fixed.

Also, last weekend I went to the north of the Netherlands, for another car show. We (the Dutch Crown Vic-club) were invited, along with a club for old American cop cars, to show up and make some noise.

So we did.

And I got to do something that was on my bucket list for the longest time; actually USE my push bar to push something. One of the elderly Vics started overheating and pissing coolant while waiting, eventually stumbling and stalling because of the coolant that just went everywhere, and why would I get out and push a 4400 pound car, when I've got my own car that can do that for me, sitting right there?

So, in Europe Halloween really isn't much of a thing. Which I think is a complete shame, as I'll take The Addams Family over any sappy Christmas movie any day.

Anyway, there was a local car show last weekend with Halloween as theme. So me and Mrs. GooneyBird only need the slightest excuse to dress up as something-or-another, and so we decided to dress up the car and ourselves in MIB cosplay.

First order of business, how to make Burt look like an MIB staff car? Well, it's not a box-Vic, nor is it black, but with a borrowed smoke machine and green LED....



... you can get halfway there!

I propped the trunk open with a bungee chord and some foam blocks to make sure the smoke would billow out, and on the dash I had a bunch of MIB-related trinkets I quickly 3D-printed. I had the ticket light on to provide some (red) light in the interior, and of course, my wife and I....



... hung around the car, pointing the Noisy Cricket at people and generally hanging out.

Looks awesome.

With the weather here turning into what we call winter (but really, is fall for the rest of the world), that means there's a new enemy on the horizon.

Moisture.

Every fall/winter, all the seals on the cars get a workout as we battle the cold, damp weather. I've noticed that the doorseals on both front doors were a little on the meh-side of things. The passenger side was flattened severely, and the one on the driver side had a couple of tears in it running all the way down. After a good rain shower there'd often be water standing on the inside of the door, running out through the little drain holes onto the rockers.

Well, some clever eBay-shopping later, and we've got functioning door seals again. Another benefit is less wind noise while driving, and of course that satisfying *thunk* when you shut them.

https://youtu.be/NRp8ZHuv4nQ

Maintenance mode is on!

So car-show season is around the corner again, and Burt needs some maintenance done. It's been 5500 miles since the last oil change, so that was due, with some other small items.



We did:
- oil + filter
- drained the radiator and refilled with with fresh coolant. I'll repeat this process a couple more times in the coming year. The coolant that came out looked okay, but it was more of a peace-of-mind thing
- Replaced the oil cooler lines, as they were weeping both at the crimp, and in the bend
- Fuel filter
- Air filter

I also found this....

... one of the valve cover grommets is leaking. I'll have to look into how to replace it, and if I can do with the valve cover on, because I don't really fancy taking it off and possibly causing more leaks.

Guess I'll have to get one of these.

Gooney, you happen to have part # and estimated mileage of the failed oil cooler lines? I have been doing failure analysis for this part and would like more data. To those who care so far I have determined failure is due to the hose being too heavy duty, which puts torsion in the aluminum fittings beyond plasticity. The type of hydraulic hose the aftermarket uses should have steel fittings if there is no loop to relieve torsion stress.

They looked to be the original lines to the car, so the part number should be either 3W7Z6A715AA, or F8AZ6A715AA, from what I can tell online. I threw the old one out already or I would have copied it over.

The car sits at 255k km, or 158k miles, and it's an '07. It saw active duty until late-2010, then it sat for a while, was used as a show car for a while by the previous owner, and now I put on about 8000 miles per year in daily usage.

Gooney, First car looks great! Thanks for the info. I am waiting for my current part to fail for a failure analysis then be posting all my results in a pdf document. I eventually plan to make adapter fittings at work to convert to AN fittings without having to tap the housing or oil cooler. I made the mistake of throing away my factory cooler lines before I knew of failures so I could not do material analysis on the motorcraft part. I believe they have a higher strength fitting material and lighter grade hose.

I'll keep you updated on how the new hoses perform.

I installed Dorman hoses, but immediately replaced the O-rings with nitrile o-rings from 'the stash' as the included o-rings looked a little dry and suspect when I pulled the new part from the box. Possibly they'd been sitting on the shelf for a while, but since returning them over a set of o-rings seemed a little superflous I replaced the rings myself.

For completeness of data: My hoses leaked at the lower crimp (the one on the cooler) on both hoses, and one of the hoses had spring a pinhole leak roughly midway where possibly something that got kicked up from the road nicked it.

The SKP hose had o-ring diameter at minimum size of tolerance and flash from molding was still apparent. I replaced them, add in their o-ring groove was oversized with every dimension out of tolerance, they did not have enough o-ring compression to seal very long.

My buddy at work is now a CNC programmer, we will come in on the weekend sometime and crack out some nipples that either have an AN fitting, or a raised barb to use a more flexible oil hose.

I drive an American car in a metric country, so you'd expect a couple of hiccups here and there, and usually this is not a problem. Aside from the car being 20% too big to be compatible with narrow, medieval-style streets in large cities it's quite managable. It's LHD, like all other cars in my country, so aside from the size it's fine.

I mean, Ford actually took the time to make a KMH-ring in the speedometer, so you don't have to do anything to make it APK (MOT) legal. And with the pedigree my car has I found that the speedometer reads incredibly accurately, as opposed to my other vehicles which have always been off by a wide margin.

Except that somehow Ford misprinted the KMH-ring to not match up with the (accurate) MPH-ring. I'm not sure if this is intentional, but the KMH-ring lags behind the MPH-ring.

I sketched out some common EU speed limits:
Red line = 31 mph/50kmh (little bit under)
White line = 50mph/80kmh (little bit under)
Blue line = 62 mph/100kmh (little bit under)
Yellow line = 81 mph/130kmh (little bit under, but getting close)
Purple line = 124mph/200kmh (Someone dead on the money)

Conclusion, the only place where the kmh-ring is correct is in Germany. 😂