I would second that, mid 20's mpg, smooth cruising, good power, few problems other than cooling module on the shroud. Parts available. Ford rep told me the only reason they quit making them is the manufacturing lines wore to the point it was not cost effective to keep going.
If it weren't for the fact Police used them as a multi-purpose tool, we probably would not had to hardly work on them.
Right, well now you understand why my 'silly' public brainstorming has gone in the directions it has. :^) I already have a Chevy Caprice with a 5.0L that's about the same as the crown vics. 23mpg highway is okay, i've heard of diesel swapped ones getting 31-32mpg going 75mph everywhere because they're pretty aerodynamic. Towing 5000lbs with a trailer package no big deal, it's the official rating with the tow pkg.
My extra bit of crazy was wondering whether an ALH might work in there... because part of the same swap adapters that could put an ALH into an S10 minitruck would put one to that Caprice, still a small block chevy bolt pattern afterall. Then imagine the underhood room to work on things too!
The frontal area of a Caprice multiplied by coefficient of drag (9.54 sq ft for a 92 wagon, tho mine is a sedan) is actually a little less than an S10 (10.7 sq ft for a 92 Blazer) so I might argue it's a better tow option than an S10, plus I already have one, and so I wonder why not just shove an ALH into a Caprice if i'm just as serious about shoving one into an S10 or Tacoma?
Or maybe do that first and work out the bugs before eventually finding a nice S10 then reusing the trans adapter and all that?
In one of the other threads I think someone opined maybe I should look at the Mercedes OM6x6 type diesels for a swap if I wanted to stick one into a Caprice or light pickup. It's just i've researched those too and they aren't really much cheaper than a VW TDI. Rebuilt ones still cost north of $5k, used ones are maybe $1200-1500 when I see TDI's for $1500 all day in the junkyards, performance upgrades are certainly no cheaper for an OM6x6 and will cost thousands to safely raise sustained power there... it's a 50% larger displacement but it's older, cruder, and seems no better.
