LTD
LTD
| BACKGROUND: Virtualgaz's Ford LTD station wagon was privately imported to Australia new in 1976 to be used as a hearse. Cheaper than stretching the home-grown Ford XC Falcon 'wagon and then changing it to the luxurious sedan Fairlane or LTD trim, this option was adopted by a few budget funeral directors in Australia prior to the demise of Ford's 'Fullsize' range in 1977. The generous lines of the LTD easily accommodated a coffin once the rear seat was removed and the base specification and on-road presence was considerably higher than that of an XC Falcon. Full colour-coded interior, coil-sprung rear axle, air-con, electric tailgate window, feather-light power steering and a huge displacement V8 were all standard. |
| HISTORY: Cobbled to RHD with a series of brackets, levers, linkages and wire upon arrival, the LTD spent 16 years serving around ten Queensland budget funeral parlours pausing only for a repaint in the mid-80's from the original silver to battleship grey. What happened between 1992 and 1998 is a mystery. After being reported stolen and then being recovered 4 years later, the car was de-hearsed and re-registered to a private lady owner by her brother. This guy clearly knew very little about owning and running such a magnificent Dearborn classic. He ran it for 2yrs, denting most panels and somehow 'losing' the original front seats and rails which he replaced with 1970 Valiant ones. The LTD then stood for 12 months while he pondered scrapping it, selling it or selling just the engine. Finally, by sheer luck, it came to Virtualgaz - the ad read "1978 Galaxy station wagon $3000" - and its tortured life ended. 150,000 miles so far. |
| STATUS: A limited rolling restoration with the onus on turning back the clock of low-speed lugging, multiple owners and the small amount of bad maintenance it endured. The Fullsize Ford LTD wagon is a rare and overlooked classic with its land-yacht characteristics, thirsty V8 and barge-like dimensions. It might be 19'x7' wide, weigh nearly 3 tonnes, have more chrome than your average shopping mall, a bootspace wider than most cars are long and the turning circle of The Queen Mary, but this car alone is the proof that it's almost impossible to kill an LTD. |
| Black LH | Low Nose |
| Black RH | Hood Badge |
| Black nose | Black RH low |
| So here's the LOG BOOK so far... | ||
| JOB / PROBLEM | SOLUTION | NOTES |
| Whitewall tyres not easily available in 70 profile (as per rear pair) | 75 profile on front | Cooper Trendsetters 235x70x15 rear, Khumo's on front. Then Nankang on rear (thicker white wall) |
| Valiant sedan seat set badly fitted (illegal) | Ford XC bench seats front and rear | Vehicle already registered and complied as a 6-seater |
| Door mirrors are LHD angles | pack out with hard foam behind glass to extremes | Ford never made a RHD LTD so mirrors, bonnet release (passenger side), foot parking brake (far RH) and column shift (interferes with upper fascia) are all in strange positions |
| Rear wheel bearings impossible to source in Australia AND axle shafts have broken 1mm shims to pack out non-original wheel bearings | make the axle shafts fully floating with 4mm pressed collars and Chev truck open roller wheel bearings | shafts were ground down and hardened collars ground to suit the new inner bearing dia. |
| windscreen wiper arm linkage broken | finally find ball-joint pivot nuts to suit | commonly used on carburettor linkages |
| no brake pedal rubber | join two Falcon ones for correct length | Roadworthiness only requires 'a non-slip covering' on the brake pedal |
| interior light cover missing | use a plastic Falcon one although too small | original was a magnificent chromed affair |
| interior light door switches all missing | Ford Fairlane ones fit | wiring still lost in bodyshell |
| foot parking brake has no release lever | rig up remote trigger from old bicycle cable | foot operated parking brake is next to accelerator |
| PRINDL no worky | make a bright pink pointer and glue it to the column | Roadworthiness requires 'a means of indication' for P,R,N,D,1,2 |
| Wipers no worky | clean and repair the enormous switch | wipers have groovy intermittent setting and even groovier 'slow park' when switched off so the blades disappear under the bonnet line |
| need previous proof of registration to apply for re-registration | contact Police for 'stolen' details | Funeral directors and previous owner very evasive of the car's history |
| no fuel cap | Falcon one fits | at last an easy one! |
| front indicator lens holed (D5AB-13215-AB) | repair with polycarbonate | Rear red (US) turn signals were changed to brake and tail lights while the reversing lights now serve as orange turn signals (rather small!) |
| wiper water jet pipe split | repair with 'heat-shrink' | . |
| elec tailgate no worky | rewire button | straight switch - no relay |
| sidelights no worky | clean up and replace globes in holder | not standard US spec |
| rust holes in 2 door corners and rear wing | kill rust & bog | very little corrosion with being in the sun all its life and locked up for the majority |
| no compliance plate | engineering sign off & plate | can now be registered after a RWC |
| rear number plate light no worky | clean up fitting after years of neglect | two lights original but one has been replaced with a towing wiring plug |
| distributor cap scrap | Bosch | The original Duraspark elec ignition has been replaced with Aussie Bosch parts including the guts of the dizzy |
| emissions air pump seized | remove | all emissions gear removed as ADR's require them only after 1978 |
| air filter black as coal | replace | closest available for this pan is a V8 Holden one |
| main beam headlights no worky | rewire switch which was shorting out through body shell | the floor mounted foot switch has no fuse but one of the many 'fusible links' within the main harness |
| oil black as your hat | 6 litres GTX | looks like 'you-know-who' tried jacking the car up by the sump - need panel beating (or a chrome one!) |
| brakes pedal 'fades away' after 3 seconds of pressure -
leakage between the two chambers in master cyl. |
master cylinder bored and sleeved - 1" stainless i.d. | Classic this one - previous owner told me that all the brake linings had been replaced just before he took it off the road because his brakes failed completely one day. |
| hydraulic lifters rattling | 16 new ones at a mere $5AU each | carbon build up around base inhibited easy extraction and had to re-use valley gasket (D5AE-9C484-AC) |
| fuel pump leaking around bowl crimp (common) | new one | the 400cu" has the 351M block so a 351Windsor or Cleveland fits |
| Fascia clock no worky and shorted out | transplant battery operated bedroom alarm clock innards and fingers until new one is sourced (broken spindle, coils and points) | 12v clock coils had been shorting for years but never troubled the fusible link (no fusebox fuse). After being unplugged, many of the fascia components worked better and the the clock bulb came back to life no it wasn't being shorted out! |
| Paint resembles surface of the moon in parts | spray putty to fill cracks and black acrylic aerosols until bare-metal respray in 20?? | the grey paintjob was far too thick in places and as a result, 1-2mm cracks and crazes spread on all horizontal surfaces over time |
| rear end has nasty 40mm MDF as floor and trim | replace with 6mm ply and finish with custom arches and carpet | the rear of the car rose 30mm when all the MDF was removed! |
| tailgate seal = marzipan | truck spec replacement | no hope of finding a new one - or the failing upper door seals (no frame) |
| sun visors missing | Ford XD Falcon ones bridge most of the gap | original ones had vanity mirror and light |
| Aeronutronics push button radio no worky | complete rewire | 12v feed has green/yellow wire! |
| radiator cap brown | introduce coolant for the first time and change hoses | universal hoses - 26" each |
| thermostat housing corroded (D7AE-8594-AA) | Cleveland chromed one as replacement - 90deg bend but ok with univ hoses | drill out for after market WATER TEMP gauge sender (no gauge fitted as standard - what supreme confidence!). There is an 'engine' light though on the dash |
| no jack | XC jack just about lifts one corner | bumper bar lifting eyes but the RH front one is behind the licence plate! |
| sway bar link bushes flat | replace with polyurethane ones (red) | same as XC falcon |
| rear shock absorbers rattling | replace upper mounting rubbers | old air shocks fitted but stems too long |
| sway bar/chassis bushes split and gouged | replace iwth polyurethane ones (blue) | (D2OA-5484-FA) Same as Mitsubishi Pajero |
| upper trailing arm bushes flogged out | MOOG ones sourced through specialist | old ones had to be drilled and smashed out - *caution*
new ones uni-directional (MOOG 62638 - Clevite silent bloc) |
| knobs on interior door handle winders cracked, missing or yellow with age | fabricate hardwood ones and fit to old winders | stain to match fascia wood |
| auto tranmission last serviced 80,000 miles ago | clean bill of health + selector shaft seal changed | C6 auto - service kit common |
| power steering high pressure line weeping | new hose fabricated by mobile technician | pricey but easier to remedy than a Pitman Arm seal (as initially suspected) |
| nasty CLUNK from transmission when brakes applied | brake shoe bottom adjusting wheels both loose | initially suspected diff, then UJ's, then transmission, then upper trailing arm, then body mounts - how embarrassing |
| double roof rack (for wreaths and flowers) fitted then 'lost' | XC 'Wagon one fits | holes left on roof where the double was |
| left hand front door release handle loose | re-tighten two bolts | replaced foam which covers release hole |
| LH door glass not sealing properly - guide becomes loose | re-position the mis-alignment (due to door slams) | original grease replaced on all moving parts |
| LH door casing clips loose | repositioned | cardboard casing is showing signs of old age |
| Alternator brushes worn | shaped new ones to fit | Alternator since replaced with Bosch 60amp (including internal regulator) |
| single wrong exhaust to be replaced | dual system fitted | 11metres of 2 1/4" pipe required |
| electrical system quirky | body earth added to improve electrics | slight improvements |
| Horn stopped working | mount had fatigued and snapped off | clean up surrounding area |
| cooling fan cowling loose | fixing holes fractured, huge cable ties utilised | drilled mounting holes in cowling |
| Battery tray showing corrosion | Kill-rust application | |
| radiator holed LH side | solder hole with rad out (brass sides) | a bolt on the condenser bracket rubbed through the side of the radiator |
| radiator mounts showing corrosion | 'Kill-rust' applied | rubber mounts due for replacement / fabrication soon |
| front brake pad squeal | removal and capture dimensions for re-line | glaze up a treat during the summer |
| not only will it look fantastic, a front sun visor will scoop air in through the frontwindows | centre stay fabricated to eliminate flutter | the roof plan is basically the same as an XB or XC Falcon. The centre and side mounts are custom made in SS and fasten throught the A-post (padded under the trim) |
| rear wind deflector to clear dust off tailgate window at speed | can only be fixed with extensive relief to the inner roof skins | the 70's Fairlane visor has a slightly more curved profile but the gap is taken up with the rubber gaskets (x5) |
| flasher unit burned out due to a short in the rear wiring | Tridon HD12v units still plentiful | RHR indicator wiring found the jack handle and heated it up nicely! Now I don't worry about the harness 'fusible links', cuz if that dain't melt one, nothing will! |
| getting fed up with having to use GM paper air cleaner elements | go mad and set up the 2V with a K&N high flow pan. It was meant for a 351W but fits fine | unbelievable difference in pick-up and general zip! Gear changes also even smoother. Re-routed the breather pipes down the side of the transmission. Must be the best bolt-on goody ever - on hard acceleration I can now actually hear the litres of fuel splashing into the carby... |
| front shocks well sloppy | Pedders off-the-shelf pair after the usual 'show-and-tell' | upper mounting holes worn |
| front wheel bearings due perhaps? | standard procedure for a change. Rotors getting thin | the top of the outer races were badly pitted to the indent of the rollers after being out of service for an extended period. They were almost rusty! |
| rear axle LH bearing fails and leaks past seal into drum. Could almost feel the rollers grinding! | grind off the old shim and FKC 'RW901R' bearing pressed onto axle shaft with retaining ring. Axle housing needs opening out to take the OD | the old shim was nearly destroyed after about 500miles of driving on it. Looks like the case hardening failed from being too tight a fit? Lots of metal in diff. Strangely, the RH modified set up remains perfect after 18,000miles |
new spare part images
| upper control arm bump stop | lower control arm bump stop |
| tie rod end - outer | tie rod end - inner |
| Pitman arm | ball joint - top? |
