Minor "customization"...

[RC]

What would be an approximate cost to remove the chrome piece and plug the four holes it attaches with and repaint the hood? Would it be difficult to get a decent match on five year old paint?

Would cutting down the chrome piece to just the Lincoln logo be difficult? The honeycomb grill insert in the upper righthand corner of the "without" pic is from a Denali grill and would be used to replace the chrome slats in the stock grill.

Any thoughts?

http://users3.ev1.net/~rlcarver/with.jpg

http://users3.ev1.net/~rlcarver/wo.jpg

[Desert Stallion]

Interesting idear. Would take some molding and fiberglass work to make the emblem blend right, and I'm not too sure I'd like the honeycomb look since I'm kinda fond of Lincoln's toothy grin, but I could be wrong.

[Jon90LSC]

RC, is your car regular white or pearl white? If it is just white, I would suggest maybe painting the molding or powder coating it. That may actually be cheaper than doing the hood, and would match the contour of the grille better, IMHO.

IIRC, the grille pops out of the Town Cars pretty easily. You might want to pull it out and look to see how hard it would be to make the insert. Be careful, the grille is about $200. The upper hood molding was only about $75, last time I checked. There are also 2 hood moldings, one with a black emblem, and one with red.

[RC]

It's regular Vibrant white or whatever they call it. Those grill inserts are available on ebay for around 60 bucks from an aftermarket manufacturer. It includes the slats, the chrome frame and spring mount stuff behind it.

I'm seriously considering getting one of those and the Denali grill and removing the slats and fitting the Denali honeycomb (maybe painted flat black). If that works out and looks as good as I hope, I will take the chrome piece off the hood and head for your shop Jon. :D

Seriously, I'm not asking for a "deal", what would be the normal charge to weld or plug those four holes and re-paint the hood? I may give this idea up real quick. :eek:

[Jon90LSC]

RC, I think it would be no trouble to keep the paint in the hood only (no need to blend). It would run about $290, all in. Have you pulled the trim yet? I am thinking the grille will stick out without the trim on there, but I haven't touched a Town Car since May.
-EDIT- I just remembered that the hoods are aluminum. I don't have any way to weld it here. The $290 would be to paint the hood after the welding. I could panel bond some plugs from the rear, but you would see them on the backside. I did that on a Roadmaster, and it worked great. I actually used pennies, as that was quicker than making sheetmetal patches.

[ February 16, 2004: Message edited by: Jon90LSC ]

[RC]

That's actually pretty reasonable. The "penny plugs" work for me because it would be easy to revert to stock in case the next owner isn't overawed with my Harley Earl impression. I would keep the original grill and chrome piece just in case. smile.gif

I was thinking I could use the Denali grill to bridge the gap that taking off the trim would cause. The original slatted grill would stick out but I could adjust it with the honeyconb to make it look natural.

Tapping the top of the honeycomb over about a 1 inch pipe would give it just the right curve to blend in.

Let's do it this summer! :D

[Jon90LSC]

RC, the pennies don't come back off!! I used the bonding agent we use to put quarter panels on with. That was about 4 years ago, and they are still holding strong! Anyhow, I would probably have the car for two days, whenever you are ready.

[pro-five-oh]

When I was looking for another Mark VIII, I was seriously considering a Town Car just so I could do this to it. Right on RC!

Paint that top section body color and then try painting the center fins in the grille black, I think that might look fine. No need to hack up the grille and get a honey comb behind it.

While you're at it, have Jon paint the Taj Mahal looking thing around the rear license plate.

My plan was to get a black TC touring sedan, paint the chrome hat on the hood, the Taj Mahal thing, paint the back up lights so that only the functional part would show, and cut the headlight lenses off(re attach them later, of course) so I could paint the chrome headlights black (like a 1999-04 Mustang)

If I found it, that would have been a WICKED Town Car. smile.gif

[RC]

I saw a black '98 TC on ebay that had the chrome part of the headlights painted black! It was terminally cool, I wondered how they had done it. I wish I had saved the picture.

I think it'll look much better with the chrome piece on the hood gone, much cleaner lines and with the honeycomb, it'll be very "business like" up front. The honeycomb will replace the slats, not be behind them.

There's a guy around the corner with a black Touring, it is a truly a sinister looking machine :D The Touring has black slats in the grill as part of the package.

I think I'm going to have a pretty nice TC when I get finished. Super chip, flowmaster, K&N, ceramic pads, rear sway bar, little bit of a custom look, very nice!

Welcome back and how was the wedding?

[ February 17, 2004: Message edited by: RC ]

[Steve Moran]

I look at the two pictures and all I think is, "EWWWWW! It looks like an un-marked police car."
I think the grill mods are a must, something will need to be done with the aeria around the head lights. :eek:

[pro-five-oh]

Hey RC, can you "modify" the headlights on that top picture to look like the 1999 Mustang style? (replace the non-functional chrome with white or black)

[Jon90LSC]

The headlamps are sealed capsules. The only way to do it right would be to tape off the outside and paint on the lens.

[pro-five-oh]

Unseal them with a rotary tool, paint them...then reseal with epoxy and/or silicone. ;)

It all depends on where the seam for the lense/headlight body is. If its too close to the outside, it may not be a good idea. You'd have to test on a spare lense, of course.

[ February 19, 2004: Message edited by: pro-five-oh ]

[Jon90LSC]

spare lens is about $300. Some Town Car lights had the same condensation problems as the LS headlamps had. I have never seen one hold out water very well using silicone, but of course that was usually a customer made repair. Just hate to see someone ruin a set of headlamps and be out all of that $$$.

[RC]

I'm not good enough with photoshop to do it to the picture.

The black one I saw was a bad pic but the "look" was good. The silver plastic part of the headlight was painted black and the chrome reflectors of the actual lights were left alone.

Jon is probably right from a practical point of view. The painted lights look good but can you live with it every day, will it leak, form condensation or have to be resealed every 6 months...? I may be too lazy to deal with that one. :D

[Jon90LSC]

on the brighter side, if you do paint the inside, they come out with 2 clips if you need to reseal them again. smile.gif