Back on the Forum with a new wagon

Hello All,

I haven't posted for a long while, but have lurked once in a while over the years. I sold the '89 Olds CC that I signed up here with, but recently bought an original owner '78 Ford LTD Wagon and have been working on bringing it back to life after 10 years of it sitting. Since it has a few body issues, I picked up a 77 wagon for parts. Ahh, another Winter project. The '77 has a very clean, straight body with a poor interior. The '78 has a really nice interior and solid body with more options. Both of these cars run exceptionally well.

I'm very much looking forward to restoring the '78 and participating in some of the many interesting discussions here on this forum.

Jeff

 

Welcome back!

 

back. Good luck with your project. Be a participant not a lurker.

 

back Jeff!

 

Welcome back Jeff!

 

Welcome back! Sounds like both wagons are fine candidates for restoration! Have fun.

 

Congrats on the wagon - let's see some pics of this fine ride!

 

WElcome back. I'd love to see some pics of the two of them as well. Sounds like you'll be busy this Winter. Keep us updated.

 

Back.

 

Thanks everyone for the welcome. Here are some photos of the 78 LTD...

 

Nice find for sure. It looks to be in great shape; I couldn't see any body issues that you were talking about and you're right; the interior looks mint.

 

The worst parts of the body are the rear bumper and the right rear door. The car was sideswiped on the passenger side and the door is pushed in. The remainder of damage is limited to paint scuffing, a mangled wheel opening molding, and some scratches. The rear bumper is all rotted out on both sides (behind the wheels). The rest of the car is very clean and solid.

The '77 that I acquired recently is from the South and has almost no rust anywhere. Its passenger side floor has a slight perforation where water must have leaked in and sat under the carpeting. The left rear door also has a small rust hole toward the rear lower corner. The interior on this one is in pretty sad shape.

Both seem to be laser straight, unmolested cars, with no major accidents. The '77 has a damaged right front fender where someone hit it just behind the parking light, so it will need another fender.

Both cars have the 400 2V engine/C6 transmission. The '77 has an open 2.47 rear end with drum brakes and the '78 has a 9" 3.00 traction-lok rear end with disc brakes. If I keep the cleaner car ('77), there will be some major swapping involved.

 

The rear in the 78 is one hard to find, and quite valuable piece, especially with Traction Lok. Great find, and extremely rare on a 400 car. Most of them were ordered with the tow package, and most of those cars had the 460. It would be sort of neat to see the deluxe Marti report for both cars, and see just how rare they may be.

 

back...and nice yacht

 

Thanks Rev.

I figured that the disc brake rear end was pretty rare. I have a copy of the original dealer sales form for this car and it was ordered with the towing package. One of the things that appealed when I was considering it is the Class 3 hitch that it has. It's all outfitted with heavy duty springs, wiring, oil coolers, etc.