Crown Vic/LTD Frame Swap Question.

fishtank · Post by **fishtank** » October 31, 2006, 9:15 am

In reference to the Nova subframe post, I have a few questions about the Crown Vic/LTD frame swaps:

1. What years work on a short slick?

2. How much is required to make this work? Body mounts, steering, etc...

3. Will and 84 Town Car work?

I have a Town Car that would make a great donor, but if that won't work the Crown Vic sounds nice.

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » October 31, 2006, 10:26 am

I've never done the swap but I can tell you that the 84-88 Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Town Car are all based on the exact same chassis, and any one would work. Crown Vics and Grand Marquis' up to 1990 would work as well. The Town Car changed body styles in 1989 I believe, so I'm not too sure about that one.

But yes, the 84 Town Car will work.

jakdad · Post by **jakdad** » October 31, 2006, 11:54 am

Some of the older Towncars had rear air suspension. Not sure what years or if it would matter.

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » October 31, 2006, 1:30 pm

Same goes for the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis (my '87 had it). It was just a load-levelling system with an air bladder inside the shock that helped compensate for the soft rear springs.

Crown Vics with worn rear air shocks turned into taildraggers when they were loaded down. It's easy to replace them with standard shocks though. I just used some cheap $20 units and they worked fine. I've heard Bilstein HD's work well too.

mikecarson · Post by **mikecarson** » October 31, 2006, 6:28 pm

My 88 donor was a cop car, has sway bars front and rear, no air shocks. Dunno how fast it will be, but I put in the 140 mph (calibration certified) instrument panel in it. Need battries for the camera, got a few things to post pics of.

I'm using the CV column, need to shorten it 4-5 inches to get it in a good position for the u-joints. I channeled the body, (tho you could narrow the frame a couple inches), cut in the step is about 1 inch, and about 6 inches into the cab corner. The cab corner cut might be a bit deep, but I haven't closed it in yet, so that's subject to change. I also took a pie cut from that forward cab mount, to get some clearance.

http://groups.msn.com/Slick60sPics/64f100oncrownvicchassis.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=415

http://groups.msn.com/Slick60sPics/64f100oncrownvicchassis.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=416

http://groups.msn.com/Slick60sPics/64f100oncrownvicchassis.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=427

http://groups.msn.com/Slick60sPics/64f100oncrownvicchassis.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=418

http://groups.msn.com/Slick60sPics/64f100oncrownvicchassis.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=610

MattsIASlickShop · Post by **MattsIASlickShop** » October 31, 2006, 6:39 pm

DO NOT - DO NOT - DO NOT EVER try to use the frame from a 70's LTD with the steering box to the rear of the front wheels. NEVER - walk away from it shaking your head and don't try to get around the wheelbase problem. It is a different wheel base from a Slick for a reason: it is to deter you from wanting to do it!
Now, an 80's or 90's Crown Vic is a great thing, go for it.
Matt

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » October 31, 2006, 6:50 pm

See?

Johnny Canuck wrote:Wheelbase and steering locations are key to making this work under a SHORT slick. Matt, the moderator of this forum found that out the hard way.

chop · Post by **chop** » October 31, 2006, 7:33 pm

I have an 87 Crown Vic here in middle Ga, minus the motor, trans, driveshaft, and radiator. You can have it if you come and get it...need tires and wheels too.
Chop

CMenard · Post by **CMenard** » November 1, 2006, 10:04 am

MattsIASlickShop wrote:DO NOT - DO NOT - DO NOT EVER try to use the frame from a 70's LTD with the steering box to the rear of the front wheels. NEVER - walk away from it shaking your head and don't try to get around the wheelbase problem. It is a different wheel base from a Slick for a reason: it is to deter you from wanting to do it!
Now, an 80's or 90's Crown Vic is a great thing, go for it.
Matt

My 65 Short is on a 73 2 door Gran Torino chassis and drives great. Just drove it to work today 52 miles one way. 351C 2v and an AOD I installed work great together.

It has the steering to the rear and is a 114" wheelbase. The bed is just moved forward to center up the wheels. I've just finished making new cab and bed mounts on a subframe within the Torino frame. I also rebuilt the rear section of frame to include a 65 Mustang gas tank.

I did notice that mine isn't as low on the chassis as your truck though Matt. Plus it uses most of the Torino floor and firewall. I didn't put the truck on the chassis I bought it like that. I've just been working my way through the truck fixing things starting with the bed mounts, cab mounts, and gas tank. Next is to get rid of the Torino steering column for an Ididit unit as well as a complete rewire of the truck. Flooring the bed and adding airbags are also on the list for this winter.

I've got a 4 door 74 Torino at the house so I can get the 351W out of it. I had to swap rearends in my truck and needed another Torino housing. The car the PO used must have been hit hard because the 9" housing was bent. The 4 door cars are 118" wheel base and wouldn't make a good swap for a short slick.

Curtis

The Big M · Post by **The Big M** » November 1, 2006, 10:28 am

mikecarson wrote:My 88 donor was a cop car, has sway bars front and rear, no air shocks.

My '87 has front and rear sway bars too. But the cop cars had stiffer springs and shocks and bigger rear drums.

Not sure how fast a 351 Vic is either, but I do know that a 5.0L Grand Marquis tops out at about 100 mph. :wink:

fishtank · Post by **fishtank** » November 1, 2006, 5:06 pm

Chop I might take you up on that offer.

Is this as simple a swap as it seems? What's the hidden gremlins in it?

Do you have to channel the body? Are you talking about a full channel (floor cut loose) or just a channel around the frame rails?

There has got to be more than fabing body mounts and making a column fit.

What about brakes? Will a booster/master cylinder from a disc/drum truck be sufficient for the Lincoln/Crown Vic brakes?

I know it's alot of questions, but this seems like a great swap. Classic looks of slick with the ride of a Lincoln. It doesn't get much better than that.

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » November 1, 2006, 5:26 pm

And, they corner llike a go-kart. Ask me or Garbz Jr or Foodstick about that sometime. Bit has done 2, Foodstick 1, kid 1, , and Mike Carson is in the process right now. Did you call Bit? his number is in the Nova thread.

I saw a wrecked RCMP cruiser on the news about 6 months ago. Wish I knew how to get my mitts on that.

chop · Post by **chop** » November 1, 2006, 7:21 pm

I don't know about the swap, I just have the chassis and body left over from pulling the motor etc out for the 36 coupe project.
Chop

mikecarson · Post by **mikecarson** » November 2, 2006, 6:23 pm

I posted links, hit them for pics of mine (in work)

Post by **Greg D** » November 2, 2006, 6:35 pm

Mike, you have a pic of the frame without the cab on it? Kinda wonderin about narrowing just the section between the suspension turn ins on the frame. Might even be able to mix it with the stock truck frame to make mounts easy.

mikecarson · Post by **mikecarson** » November 2, 2006, 6:56 pm

I'll try to get a couple pics this weekend, got the cab off right now.

I imagine you could use the truck frame, weld it in like you're thinking, then cut the outer rails off. I thought about doing that, myself. But this was easier from my point of view.

Post by **Greg D** » November 4, 2006, 11:24 am

The way you did it IS much easier, I just don't want to mess with my step wells. I still like the 04 crn vic crossmember but I can get a whole running and driving (read as donor driveline + alot of useable stuff) 80s crn vic for the same $ as the 04 crossmember. Has anybody thought of doing a subframe swap from a mid 90s crn vic? It should have the same frame rail width as the 03 up car which would make it the same as a Slick frame.

Truckfarmer · Post by **Truckfarmer** » November 4, 2006, 1:07 pm

As much as I liked the ride and feel of Lance's (Foodstick) Unibody with the Crown Vic frame, I did not like the fact that the bed area was useless because it was cut out for the rear suspension. Maybe you could mate the truck rear frame with the CV front end to solve this problem. But then you are back to installing a subframe which takes lots of work and can go wrong so easy. I am still a believer of the Volare', Aerostar, or Jag.

mikecarson · Post by **mikecarson** » November 4, 2006, 1:51 pm

I'm working on an "upper" floor, with a hinged cover kinda like a station wagon. Spare and tools in the bottom, along with hidey holes for stuff forward of the wheel wells, and the top will be usable. If I need to carry a couple sheets of drywall or plywood, guess I could put a couple blocks in the rear portion to level it up. Not that I plan to carry more than a couple of lawn chairs and a cooler.

I'm also trying to talk an old farmer out of a short 64-66 styleside trailer. Lower it to match the truck, and have enough carrying capacity to suit me.

mikecarson · Post by **mikecarson** » November 5, 2006, 3:13 pm

Here are some pics with dims.

[albumimg]905[/albumimg][albumimg]904[/albumimg]

And a couple of how I am getting the CV column in it. Had to shorten it 4 1/2 inches.

[albumimg]908[/albumimg][albumimg]907[/albumimg][albumimg]906[/albumimg]