Don't Hate! '99 Taurus SE

[NickS]

Here's my '99 Taurus SE. Not much but I love her. I'm a Ford nut, and I've always had something for Taurus'. Don't ask why, I don't know either, but I love the way they look.

This is my third car. My Parents bought me a '97 Altima GXE with 98,000 miles back in May of '08. I got my license in June of '08 and put about 4600 miles on it by the time I sold it in late September of '08 for $3100 (paid $2800!).

I saw a '00 Monte Carlo LS on Craigslist for $3k and impulse bought it. It was nice, had a tint, moonroof, premium audio, keyless, etc. 101k mi. By December I had already put a ton of money into it and it was falling apart. I had to replace a wheel hub and the lower intake manifold gasket went. Then the MAP sensor, and a plethora of other dumb stuff. Sold it for $1400 to a mechanic on Craigslist on February 5th. Put about 4800 miles on this one. February 7th I found this car, the Taurus on Craigslist for $1500 with 120,028 miles. Talked to the owner, turns out hes a Ford guy too (owns a stripped/built '68 Cougar he takes to the local strip). Most preventative maintenance was done (tranny fluid changed at 50k, 100k), new starter, new alternator. I was sold! February 8th I had her registered and insured.

As of today, there's 104,368 miles on it and all I've had to do was plugs & wires (they were original ), and the driver side ball joint. So today I spent about 5 hours cleaning the outside and changing the oil (I changed the oil when I first got it, so yeah I was a bit over ). 5 quarts of Motorcraft 10w-30 Synth. blend and a Motorcraft filter @ walmart = $19.48!

Here's the plans for the car, since I plan on keeping it for a while.

Engine
SCT Xcal 2 & a tune by NESHO in Mass.
-This is a someday kinda thing, when I feel like driving out there and when I can drop the money for a dyno tune. Plan on getting it tuned for 87 octane but you never know. Will change timing a bit, firm up shifts, change shift points, remove governor (thank god), etc.

1.7:1 Rocker Arms
-Gets you about 11-18whp depending on the car, and is cheap around $350. A few places sell them online for the Vulcan 3.0L, and they just bolt right in.

Larger Throttle Body
-This is a maybe and a someday.

Suspension - as of now, just going with new OE style parts. I was thinking of Monroe Sensa-Trac struts and Eibach springs but Eibach discontinued the Gen3 Taurus lowering springs (1.4"F 1.3"R) so they're hard to get.

Springs, Struts & Mounts
-4x Monroe Quickstruts will take care of that and will return handling to OEM.

Ball Joint (Pass. Side)
-Might as well get it done since I did the driver side already.

Endlinks
-The stock sway bar endlinks are plastic so I'll be installing some Moog metal ones.

Sway Bar's & Bushings
-Might swap to SHO sways but I'm not sure. New bushings are required if I do.

Tie Rods
-They're worn out and original so new inner & outer tie rod ends.

That's about it so far. Taurus' have a lot of negative camber from the factory (so much that some people get the strut plates welds drilled out so they can get it aligned "right" for more even tire wear). That helps with handling, so I won't need to touch that. It already handles pretty damn good as it is, better than my other two cars and better than most of my friends' cars.

Misc & Aesthetics
Brake Bias Plug
-The rear brakes have a variable bias. When the car nosedives and the rear end lifts under heavy braking, the bias is shifted to the front and visea versa. The bias plug you can install stops this and creates more balanced braking system. If you have ABS (I do), this is fine. Idk if I want to though because with the system as it is, any understeer I do get I can erase by getting on the brakes to make the tail tuck in or if I get too happy, kick out a little.

Paint
-With some of my graduation money (this summer), I want to get the car repainted the stock color to return that metallic shine and I want to get the one small spot where the paint is bubbling over the driver wheel well patched/fixed. Some of the clearcoat is getting thin in areas too. It will look gorgeous freshly painted.

Wheels/Tires
-In addition to the wheels/tires I have now, I want to source out 16" SE Sport wheels and wrap them in Yokohama S.Drive summers for the summer.



Rear Disk Conversion
-I want to pull the whole rear knuckle for both sides from a donor car at a junkyard and outfit them with Brembo blanks and Hawk HPS pads.

Front Brakes
-Brembo Blanks and Hawk HPS Pads

Door Tweeters
-Pull factory door tweeters from a junkyard because in '99 they decided to put fake covers there to cheapen it.

Mach Audio RCU
-Mach "Radio Control Unit" that goes in the trunk for better clarity/more power.

Heated Mirror Swap
-Explanatory.

SHO Seat Swap
-Also explanatory. These, but in good condition.



AUX Tranny Cooler
-These trannies run HOT. This extends the life greatly.

MACH1 Front Lip
-With minor modification it fits and looks great. May also slap on some Gen4 Sideskirts.

This is all over the course of a year or two. That's also if the tranny holds, which it should. It's perfect right now, but they're known to be weak.

Here are some pix I took today, of how she stands right now. Washed her up