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CVPI Questions...

Outlaw

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jul 24, 2009
19,609
16,068
Johnsburg
I'm looking for a Crown Vic P71. Always wanted one and have been itching for something different. I'll keep it for a month, get bored and make a couple bucks when I sell it.

What are the most desired years? Obviously newer the better, but is there a certain break in years where there was a significant upgrade? I've heard '05 but have never found a definitive answer as to why. Interior refresh was '06, but that's all I know. Anything mechanical? Motor, trans, etc that was changed?
 

ajdereicup

Measly little 4.6 2v in a boat
Oct 30, 2012
5,234
261
Lombard
Lets start with the simple shit. 03+ cars have a different suspension and frame setup. (Mustang rims after 05 IIRC are direct bolt ons for the 03+ cars without spacers). I think it was either '04 or '05 where they got the 80MM MAF setup similar to the Mercury Marauder setup although not the exact same. (I think they kicked out a little more power with it). I think that's around the same years when they went with the electronic throttle body instead of the one connected with a cable. I think all the 2000+ ones have the 4.6 PI engines (SOHC 2v) where as the ones before then had the 4.6 NPI engines (still SOHC 2v). Also I think it was in 04 when they fixed the problem with the crappy timing chain guides and the soft axles (some of the affected cars did have the parts replaced/repaired and I think they marked it on the timing chain cover and the axle housing if they did so look for these if its an 03-).

If your looking for better gas mileage you may want to swap in a rear end from a Civi car because they tended to have better gearing for mileage. Or you can do a 6 speed swap like a member here did and you should be able to get amazing gas mileage.

When you go to look at them make sure to look at inside of the bottom of the doors (like open them up and look up at the bottom of them) because they like to rot out there and try your best to see behind that black plastic trim piece that goes along the bottom edge of the body behind the door. Try and kind of look over the wiring because some departments hack up the wiring when uninstalling or even installing their equipment and at least for me I HATE wiring issues. Make sure the holes in the roof are plugged good because you don't want those SOB's leaking into the car ruining it. And make sure there's no nails around the gas tank from equipment installed by a department previously. You might want to look for a federal agency unit or one from out of the city so it won't have had as rough of a life. And remember it's not just the mileage on these cars you need to look at the idle hours too because it causes wear on it also.

Any specific questions feel free to ask me and I can also look up the specific years on what I was telling you instead of just what I'm thinking the years are from my memory.
 

Outlaw

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jul 24, 2009
19,609
16,068
Johnsburg
Lets start with the simple shit. 03+ cars have a different suspension and frame setup. (Mustang rims after 05 IIRC are direct bolt ons for the 03+ cars without spacers). I think it was either '04 or '05 where they got the 80MM MAF setup similar to the Mercury Marauder setup although not the exact same. (I think they kicked out a little more power with it). I think that's around the same years when they went with the electronic throttle body instead of the one connected with a cable. I think all the 2000+ ones have the 4.6 PI engines (SOHC 2v) where as the ones before then had the 4.6 NPI engines (still SOHC 2v). Also I think it was in 04 when they fixed the problem with the crappy timing chain guides and the soft axles (some of the affected cars did have the parts replaced/repaired and I think they marked it on the timing chain cover and the axle housing if they did so look for these if its an 03-).

If your looking for better gas mileage you may want to swap in a rear end from a Civi car because they tended to have better gearing for mileage. Or you can do a 6 speed swap like a member here did and you should be able to get amazing gas mileage.

When you go to look at them make sure to look at inside of the bottom of the doors (like open them up and look up at the bottom of them) because they like to rot out there and try your best to see behind that black plastic trim piece that goes along the bottom edge of the body behind the door. Try and kind of look over the wiring because some departments hack up the wiring when uninstalling or even installing their equipment and at least for me I HATE wiring issues. Make sure the holes in the roof are plugged good because you don't want those SOB's leaking into the car ruining it. And make sure there's no nails around the gas tank from equipment installed by a department previously. You might want to look for a federal agency unit or one from out of the city so it won't have had as rough of a life. And remember it's not just the mileage on these cars you need to look at the idle hours too because it causes wear on it also.

Any specific questions feel free to ask me and I can also look up the specific years on what I was telling you instead of just what I'm thinking the years are from my memory.


You're a champion. I'm definitely looking for '03 or newer, and would prefer an '06+ due to the fact that they had a factory tach (small thing, but, I'm very picky) I don't really care about gas mileage. If it does better than 18, which I know it will, I'll be happy. The wheel thing is good to know, if I end up keeping one, I'd like to throw the new Taurus PI wheels on it with the stock '04+ center caps. I think it'd be a subtle difference that would really make it cool. Oh, and Ironically, Jeff, If I can find one by Wednesday, It's going to Nashville, Alabama and possibly Florida next weekend.

These Wheels
39130504006_large.jpg


With this stance
mmwith20blackbullitts.jpg


So I guess my criteria is;

-2006+
-I really want black, but I'll take a clean white one as well. (original paint, matching door jambs, etc)
-Never a cab
-Under 175,000 miles

To which I will be;
-Adding a front bull bar (If it's not there still)
-Tinting windows
-Swapping wheels out for Taurus CVPI's
-2" drop
-Exhaust
-Taillight tint
-Transfer stereo stuff I've got laying around into it.
-Center console
-100 shot (fuck it, right?)
-Enjoy

If I could find a cheap black Marauder bumper with the foglight assemblies, I would definitely pick that up as well.

Not concerned about bolt on power, I was discussing it with some friends tonight and decided if I had an unlimited budget (which I don't, thus this would never happen) I would get a junkyard Navigator 5.4 and 4r100 trans. Rebuild (built bottom end) with stall and a gear. Throw a blower on it and go to town, and swap in some Town Car seats. Running 11's with a ghetto lean sounds like it would be absolutely hilarious.
 

Outlaw

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jul 24, 2009
19,609
16,068
Johnsburg
i usually like to find them around 80k miles or so.. so by the time they hit 100 i can sell them and make a hefty profit after cleaning it up.

I'm going to check out that blue one in Crystal Lake. A bit higher mileage (120k) but, it's still fucking clean with a new trans and stuff. Plus it's navy blue, better than a boring white one. I'm not going to pay $3,250 though lol.
 

ajdereicup

Measly little 4.6 2v in a boat
Oct 30, 2012
5,234
261
Lombard
Alright lets go over all this and hopefully I don't miss anything.

1'st the tach. You can get a MM gauge pod (but they can get kinda pricey) or a column mount gauge pod for a tach. IIRC it's fairly easy to toss them on these cars. I forgot which year exactly had the freakishly huge headrests but just a heads up the old more normal sized ones don't just slip in I think you need to make new holes for them IIRC. That is if the massive headrests bother you. (I've heard from some people they don't feel comfortable but never sat in a panther with the newer style ones yet so not sure).

You don't want white. They had problems with the white flaking off and I'm not sure if they fixed that problem in later years or just didn't care still. Black'll be harder to keep clean but will be nice. Or you can go with Michigan State Police ex PI cars. I LOVE that blue.

Like I said about the idle hours make sure you look at that. A car can have 76k miles and have more wear on the engine because it sat there idling for a hell of a lot longer then one with 156k miles. There's some kinda ratio around that converts the idle hours to miles driven but its a rough estimate.

For the drop air bags or springs? The CVPI's had springs all the way around the Civi's have airbags in the rear that self leveled (hence why you see plenty of LTC's and other civi panthers riding around with the ass on the ground because the bags leak and they left it and it over worked the compressor blowing it usually). Detroit springs have up to a 1.5 drop (might be able to get a 2 from other places). But there's a difference in the springs too. They have the drops for Civis and for PI panthers. The PI panthers sit up higher naturally with the stock springs (all the better to hop curbs with) whereas the civi ones sat a little lower. So if you do order the springs keep that in mind. The PI and Civi springs both can go in either type of panther no problems (except the civi's with airbags you need to convert those to springs first) but they'll just sit at different heights.

Exhaust. Be prepared to pay a nice chunk of change if you want headers for these cars. I paid $700-800 for a set of just headers for mine off a guy trying to get rid of them. They have OBX setups which are the cheapest (thinner SS tubing IIRC) Kooks setups (midrange) and Stainless Works (which costs an arm and a leg). And if you do go with headers be prepared for a fight in the engine bay. They can have bolts break off in the heads the oil dipstick tube snapping in half egr vents getting stuck etc. But not everyone does. So if your just going for sound probably leaving the exhaust manifolds as is then play with the rest of the exhaust. And you can cut out the 2nd set of cats (these cars have 4 cats total) and still pass emissions no problems because the o2 sensors are before and after the first set of cats not after the last set of cats.

Center console. You have a few options here. You can go with one of the police style ones, the Marauder/Sport/LSE ones, the continental one and I think theres a couple other ones that fit in there pretty good. Some of those have floor shifters some don't which adds more fun to it (it's not that hard to change it to a floor shifter I think)

Nitrous? Fuck yes on these motors. The guys are running it on them and getting damn good time at the tracks. Think they run anything from a 75-150 shot on stock motors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kwd41bx4uo

Marauder bumper. 1st some Marauder owners will give you shit for this (others wont but like I said just be prepared for some potential hate). 2nd they're usually not cheap. Can fetch $500 no problems for those bad boys.

Blown 5.4? Lightning swap. They do those but you have a little problem with hood clearance. So cut hood or large cowl is needed.

Badgeless grills aren't hard IIRC. You grab a donor from the junkyard. Cut out some of the honey combs. Cut out where the Ford emblem was. Then plastic weld or epoxy the honey combs from the donor grill into place and sand it to blend it in. Then repaint. (Don't forget parts for these things are easy to find in junkyards around here)

LS swap. There have been a handfull of people that have swapped LS engines into panthers. Pretty kick ass but need to be able to fabricate. But frees up plenty of room in the engine bay.

Finding one down south. Can be done but some places the prices go up on them because they don't have an assload of them around. Around here all the police have used them the taxi companies regular people etc. There's tons of panthers around here so with supply and demand there's tons of them and the demand isn't super high. Most just use them as reliable beaters it seems.

Blue one your going to look at seems pretty nice. The floors are dirty but they're rubber so easy to clean that up if you want. Chrome grill's are meh on these cars usually and it's the same for on that one. Need to paint that mofo body color or change to a honeycomb.

Oh and before I forget Jmod that bitch whichever one you get if its not already done. Cheap way to make it shift better and helps the tranny live longer. (Basically a homebrew shift kit figured out by the guy who had designed the tranny. They kept slowly opening up the holes in the plate as the years progressed but still they weren't as large as they could be to flow enough fluid to make nice firm shifts and help the tranny last longer). Only cost is the tranny fluid, filter, and drill bits if you don't have them. And time.

And that dropped Vic is kinda what I've been thinking of when I get rid of the winter beater and wanna find another panther. Bag it, then sand all the paint off and clear over the bare metal. Rat rod the shit outta it. A buddy of mine gave me the idea of the bare metal and the whole projects growing in my mind. Massive tips out the back with spark plugs and all to shoot flames, painted steelies, mexican blankets over the seats, etc.



If any of you ever meet me in person don't get me talking about panthers. I tend to ramble on and on.
 
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