I may have a panther problem

They're multiplying!

Let me know when you want to get rid of the frame of one.  I need one to build my hat car.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

This one is nice enough that I might take the drivetrain out of the Beulah (blue) and put it in Casper (white). I would definitely sell you whatever I don't use but remember that these are all back in Missouri now. 

singleslammer said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

This one is nice enough that I might take the drivetrain out of the Beulah (blue) and put it in Casper (white). I would definitely sell you whatever I don't use but remember that these are all back in Missouri now. 

What year is the new one? Swapping the drivetrain is a good idea. The platform was improved quite a bit in the later years of production, with rack and pinion steering, watts link rear suspension, aluminum front subframe, etc. 

singleslammer said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

but remember that these are all back in Missouri now. 

If it gets to that point, we can figure something out.
Ideally I would like to have my first Challenge be in a Crown Vic and do fun-runs in a packed car where the driver is just causing all the passengers to be bonking helmets, but if there isn't a drivetrain in the car that might also be fine.  In that case maybe I'll get the LS4.9 running a little sooner.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Just for the viewers, 03 and newer had the hydro formed frame, aluminum front crosmember, watts link rear. And I know the P I heads (performance improved, btw. Cops got same engine as all) but I think some came earlier. 
Few years later went to DBW, that I'm not sure is an improvement

03 up wheels are same bolting, but went to a lot of offset. Few years after got 17" (ilo 16" in 03, except Marauder)

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Since my Merc is no longer a cream puff, I MIGHT be able to get that past The Financial  Manager. 
She WILL demand it is still able to be a DD afterwards!

It has a legitimate FMV of $1200, even though I have less in it, in reality. 
Her cousin borrowed it while looking to replace her damaged car... to her co workers to lunch... several had never seen a car that would legally seat 6 people. 
I like the fully loaded helmet knocking plan!!!

The new one is a 2010. It was purchased to donate it's chassis to the blue car so I get all of the suspension upgrades for cheap. However, there are so many things wrong with the interior of the blue car, and the paint is shot, I might just sell it as a roller and keep the drivetrain for the new one. 

Or put the 2010 drivetrain back in Beulah to sell?

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

If I can find a transmission that matches the chassis for cheap, that would work. 

singleslammer said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

This one is nice enough that I might take the drivetrain out of the Beulah (blue) and put it in Casper (white). 

I need you to publicly recognize that parking lot build shifter bracket is "drivetrain parts".

In reply to nocones :

Yes, it is and will stay with that shifter until the car leaves my hands. 

Yeah, I am sadly going to have to say that Beulah (blue 1994) is likely just going to donate its drivetrain and then get sold off. Whether or not that goes into Casper (White 2010) for the Challenge, not sure. Caspers auto drives great in 1st and 2nd but when it goes to third it just free revs. If I can get it to hold 3rd, I will likely just keep it auto for the challenge. Anyone have anything other than "rebuild it" that might be more challenge friendly budget wise?

Well, that might be easier than I was originally worried. Looks like there is a piston that can be replaced by removing the valve body that has the same basic symptoms that I have seen. Easy enough to check. 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/100635-1998-f150-transmision.html

Some updates. 

Beulah has a new ECU. Apparently the Mark VIII ECU drops right in and it does run better now. However, the head clatter has gotten worse though. It also feels way down on power so I am guessing that one of the lifters is completely done. Nice thing is that apparently I can change this stuff with the cams in place. That is going to happen after Casper gets some attention. 

Casper is up on the lift and the parts just came in to swap out that piston that keeps the tranmission from engaging third gear. Fingers crossed. I found a set of manuals in the basement stash (Thanks Paul) and will be tearing into that this weekend. 

I don't even remember the details but check out the "J mod" while you're there.  Sounds like something even Ford endorsed doing and folks swear by it.  

In reply to ClemSparks :

I was going to say the same thing! The J Mod really woke my old P71 up. It's the rare mod that increases performance, reliability, and is almost completely free 

Well, I got the pan off and the magnet is FULL. Like soft and hard to find the magnet down there covered. That doesn't help my theory that the piston is cracked. That might be true too and I will stay the course but I am certainly concerned that 3rd is still screwed. 

I read somewhere that a lot of the J-Mod upgrades were taken care of with the later transmissions. I will keep researching. 

If it makes you feel any better...that's how I would describe what I found in the pan of the transmission on my white crown vic a couple years and several thousand miles ago.

Update time! I changed my mind again (blame Gumby). The white 2010 (Casper, ironically now dead) is donating its frame to the Blue 1994 and its drivetrain to my Town car eventually. Much progress was made yesterday. 

I got all of the body to frame bolts out without any issues. Started getting as much of the wiring harness out that I need to. While trying to bleed out brake fluid the bleed screw broke off so that was fun. Then I had the idea to just leaf the master cylinder attached to the frame. 

Then I got the hood, core support, and fenders pulled. It was all pretty simple once I took the wheel well liners out. 

At this point I am chasing wiring and need to determine if the fuel system needs to come apart. Then body off. My wife is going to love this!

I will need to get a FMV on a good running 2010 4.6l with 160k miles and a core 4R75E that will be self traded for my lincoln. I suspect that I can zero this out pretty easily but still think that I should get a ruling on this. 

You're welcome!

On the drivetrain recoup, just sell to yourself using an average of prices on car-part.com to determine FMV. No rulings or trades needed.

Well, that makes it easy. Around me a 4.6 Flex Fuel motor with similar miles is around $700 on average. Call the trans core $100, I dont need to sell much more to max recoup. 

So the bulk head forward is completely disconnected from the body except the steering. Next is getting it back in the air to see what lines are on the body vs the frame. I am hoping that most things are frame or fairly free floating. 

I have every intention of bringing Beulah to the Challenge and may even drive it there if I have a month of it together to make sure it drives okay. 

Got most of the fuel lines disconnected over the weekend. Managed to dump a bunch of gas on my FSM. All the body bolts and a broken brake bleed because of course.