Barkentine's 1993 Taurus Project Car

[Barkentine]

Today is a "NTD" (New Taurus Day). Got bitten by the Gen II bug when I spotted this 1993 LX on Craigslist. The seller clearly stated the engine overheats. But the car is still a good value, imho.

The second time I went to look at it, I bought it.

I'm going to do the "Good, Bad, and Ugly" thing again.

The Good:

-It's a Ford Taurus, and an LX to boot. 37K miles on the odometer. No 100K digit. So I'll take the seller's word that it's 137, 000 miles.

-It does not need a paint job like the "Brown Beater" (Sorry "B.B., I used the paint job money to buy the LX). There is not a single Wally World ding or scrape on it anywhere. And the clear coat is still shiny.

-There is no damage to the body and no rust. (This is one of the reasons I moved to South Carolina, minor reason, but still a reason. A local car here can last a lifetime without rust.)

-Interior is black (yes, BLACK) leather seats and in very good condition. Door panels are near perfect.

-The headliner does not need to be replaced.

-It has the console shifter, which is slick to use.

-The dash is not cracked.

-All the lights, turn signals, headlights, wipers, chimes, radio, power door locks, power windows, power mirrors, power drivers seat, etc. all work. I have not tried the keyless entry yet.
A little curiosity that came with the car is a Ford cassette tape with music on it. The tape may have come with the car. It still looks like new. I plan on trying it sometime. (Was this to entertain the new owner as he/she left the car lot?)

-Owners manual and Ford build sheet were found in the glove box.

-Still has the OEM floor mats (again, black carpet) and are in very good condition.

-The trunk looks like it has never been used. Not even any lint or leaves.

-Door seals, trunk seal, all very good. No water leaks detected.

-Has 4-wheel disk brakes, anti-lock.

-Alloy wheels, OEM Ford.

-The engine compartment looks very good. No signs of half baked repairs, stripped wires, etc. It looks all original and fairly clean. Except where the squirrels left their stash of acorns. I hope they didn't chew on some wire....

-Engine starts instantly and runs fairly smooth. No bad noises.

-Came with a new battery.

-THE A/C WORKS......COLD, quiet. Does not even seem low on freon.

-The trans fluid needs changing, but it's not that dirty brown. What little I have driven the car, the trans seems to be fine.

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The Bad:

-It's not a 5-speed manual.

-It needs tires. The ones on it are down to 3/32", but fairly even wear, if these are the tires that were used on it. I found documentation in the glove box on General Tires and Michelins, but what the car came with are Firestones???

-The engine (3.8 Essex V6) crankcase has coolant mixed in the oil.

-The car overheats and blows steam out the tail pipe.

-It probably has a blown head gasket, and it could be worse than that, like a cracked head or cracked block, or all of these. If need be, it will get another 3.8 Liter long block.

-The cylinder heads are aluminum. I was not aware the 3.8 used those. IMHO, aluminum heads on a cast iron block is not as desirable as iron and iron, or aluminum and aluminum. Alum and cast iron have different rates of expansion that plays havoc with the head gaskets.

-The lower body trim moulding in front of the front right door is pulled away from the body a bit. It looks like it could be snapped back into place. I'll get to that some time. There is no damage or scratches to the body in that area, so I don't know how the moulding got like that.

-The leather should probably be treated with something to preserve it.

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The Ugly:

-The OEM alloys are really too plain looking. I thought they were wheel covers at first.

-Other than the wheels and the coolant in the oil, it's not an ugly car, inside or out.

-The carpet needs to be vacuumed.....

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That's it for now, but more to come. I may not work on the car as quickly as I did the Brown Beater. The Beater is doing well and does not need to be replaced.

[radioflyer]

Looks like a nice car you have there. I like that color. I wasn't aware gen 2s had a black interior option. I've seen a black gen 1 lx with a black interior once before about 13 years ago in the jy. Haven't seen one since.

[Barkentine]

r.f.:

I've already been informed that that is an unusual option. I'll scan the Ford build order and post it. I think it lists the black leather.

I think this car is worth fixing. I just hope gets reasonable fuel economy. I suspect it is not going to be as good as a 3.0.

[The White Falcon]

Build sheet is a definite plus! Is it the detailed build sheet with production figures, or the basic?

Yeah, that's one of the reasons Mr. Essex eats headgaskets, or so I've heard-the iron block and aluminum head don't play well together.

[sheila]

Barkentine, the suspense is killin' me! What'd you have to pay for this 93 3.8 project?

[Spaceman1200]

The molding on my Taurus did the same thing, The retainers that held mine in place just rusted away lol.

[sousa632]

Looks very clean. I'm interested in how much you paid as well. I'm wondering if it might just be a failed LIMG and not a head gasket. I'd pull the upper/lower intake manifold and see what it looks like.

[DN101]

It's good you covered up the license plate number so that you can keep it super secret.

[Bull Geek]

Originally Posted by DN101

It's good you covered up the license plate number so that you can keep it super secret.

Some people don't want to post it publicly on the internet, what's the big deal? His choice. When did you become the license plate police?

That is definitely a cool find. 1990-1993 Taurus/Sables had option for black interior. Wasn't seen again until 2000-2007. Barkentine really looked like he scored big time with this car. Nice looking car, good luck!

[radioflyer]

Yeah with all the identity theft and crap going on these days I'm not surprised when I see someone blackout their plate when a car is posted on the internet (smart move if you ask me and this is the internet after all and you just never know). And when someone does so, it defiantly does not hurt my feelings.

Barkentine, do you have any pics of this black gen 2 interior? I'd love to see it, I can't say I've ever seen a black gen 2 interior.