Welcome to my 1997 Ford LTD.
I've had this piece of Australian automotive luxury for around 2 years now. I upgraded (unfortunately) from a 1971 ZD Ford Fairlane. The old girl had sadly been lost to the red cancer... Rust! So it was time to get into a more recent and reliable car. Here it is...
It's a 97 LTD 5.0L V8. 4 Speed automatic. Mocha foam in color with cream and tan leather interior. It's got all the options you could want. It came standard with Electric front seats, electric mirrors, electric windows, cruise control (comes in handy in Australia), trip computer, auto levelling rear suspension, speed sensitive power steering, 7 speaker Premium Factory Audio System and automatic climate control.
So far the mods that I've had done on my ride have been somewhat basic. I'm not a huge fan of big thousand dollar custom stereo installs or having a car lowered to the weeds with big rims that don't match the look of the car. I love a car that's understated, a car with subtle changes that can make a huge impact. I'm obsessed with brakes. I love the look of huge brakes filling up the void of space in wheels (AMG Mercs have this to a fine art). Sorry but I have yet get big brakes on my girl. It's in the mix though!
Well enough chat, down to business.
Like I said just some basic mods have been carried out on my car. The first thing I upgraded as soon as I got this car was the air filter. I installed a K&N Panel filter into the factory air box (the factory air box flows well, so "If it aint broke, don't fix"). I cannot believe the difference it made. Lower fuel consumption, small increase in power and the engine now runs a lot smoother.
The next thing on the list were tyres. Out with the 205's and in with some Firenza 225's, apparently, remember it's apparently, these tyres footprint are actually the same as 245's due to the tread pattern extending slightly over the firewall width. I have compared to other 225's and they ARE wider but I doubt they are equivelant to 245's. I'm not complaining they grip like buggery!
I'm not sure why they do this, but, Ford Australia always seemed to make their Fairlanes/LTD's sit up like a 4WD and put in soft suspension components to make it handle and feel like a boat on the open seas. So I had it lowered 1.5" and had gas touring shocks installed. The transformation from a boat to a highway devourer was incredible. She handles quite well and flat. Took her for a drive along the Great Ocean Road and she didn't miss a beat.
Engine/Performance wise, once again pretty basic. I've only had a 2½" custom hand made exhaust from the cat back and Hi-Tech Headers installed. But those mods have unleashed quite a deal more power. :)
Interior. Well considering that it's fully optioned nothing much has been changed. Except for the stereo. The factory unit had seen better days. The right rear channel for some reason decided to short out. So I removed the factory audio system and replaced it with a JVC DVD head unit with a 7" LCD Monitor. LTD's premium audio system came from the factory with a 150W amp which was replaced with a 300W Audioline Amp. The location of the factory amp was on the inside of the boot/trunk on the inside of the rear right quarter panel. The new amp was relocated to a better and cooler position, mounted on the back of the right rear passenger's seat.
In the parcel shelf there are 2 x 6" JVC 3 Way 300W speakers, a Venom 8" subwoofer. In the front doors there are JVC 6" 250W 3 Way speakers. Which will be replaced with component speakers sometime in the future.
