March 22 marked just about three weeks since I last took the Taurus er, Raging Bull, out for a spin. That little trip involved a wheel alignment and two new tires. Both of those things were very much needed. It was supposed to be the first of several repairs to get the car into fighting shape for Radwood Philly 2020. Obviously that’s not happening anymore. So it’s time to take stock and re-calibrate. Looks like this Taurus is sheltering in place, just like I am.
Originally, the road to Philadelphia would have seen the Taurus get four new struts and some other minor fixes to get it capable of making it to PA and back. Not exactly cheap, but this car is worth it. So much so that it needed a name. Technically, it already had one, via the previous owner: Ms. Cougar. I can see it. Is this Taurus a sexy older woman able to seduce much younger men based on her ravishing good looks and outgoing personality? Probably. But that name wasn’t my call. That being said, I can’t just throw tradition out the window. So henceforth my 1986 Ford Taurus LX shall be formally known as Ms. Raging Bull. Or Raging Bull, for short.
Why name a car after a movie I’ve never seen? I guess it’s a fighter, right? This bull is raging against extinction. First generation Taurus and Sables of every shape and size aren’t exactly common anymore. Generally, the ones that are still around tend to be later iterations. We’re talking 1988 or later models. It’s no secret as to why that is the case. Any make or model, even in 2020, comes with its own set of gremlins to work out. The Taurus was no different. I have to imagine the number of 1986 LX models still plying America’s roads are quite low, possibly in the single digits, and they’re probably not in terribly great condition either.
Raging Bull is a bit different. A little rough around the edges, but overall in great condition. Which is why I figured the Taurus needed to be taken out for a bit. Unfortunately, the car will not go beyond my neighborhood for the foreseeable future. With everything going on, the Taurus can remain extremely local until later in the year. There is no silver lining to the current situation, but without any car shows to attend I can hold off on big ticket items and keep as much of my wallet intact as possible.
Since the car sat in the garage for three weeks, I did have to jump it. That was a bit unexpected because I had been in and out of the Taurus several times and the interior lights were working fine. In any event, I was glad to have this battery pack/jump starter handy. I originally intended to use this in case I was out of state and the battery died, but it worked well enough and the car started right up. There are plenty of “real” jump packs you can buy for not much money but those don’t really serve a dual function. With an 18,000 mAh capacity, two USB ports, and a whole bunch of adapters for laptops, I can use it as a regular charger between the times I need it to jump the Taurus.
Once I started the car and moved it outside, I finally figured out that the Taurus is leaking coolant. Quite a bit of it actually, as you can see in the video. Fortunately, oil and transmission levels are at full. Based on my observations, it seems like the hoses that connect the water pump to the radiator weren’t installed correctly.
I do have some evidence as to why that might be the case: there is a box for a water pump in the trunk that contains some old hoses. Either the previous owner did the work themselves or they had a friend to help. Or maybe they just took it to a shade tree mechanic or something.
You can see some of the coolant trickling down in this screenshot I took.
I have plenty of coolant on hand to fill the tank up so I’m not really concerned about the Taurus being low. The main problem area is all the coolant pooling on the bottom of the engine and around it. I’ll have to deal with that eventually.
There’s also these nice scratches all over the hood, roof, and trunk. This might be the most aggravating issue for me because I failed to spot them before signing off on the delivery paperwork due to the car being filthy from its cross-country trip.
Fortunately, while they’re numerous, they didn’t pierce the clearcoat.
There’s also this plastic front bumper extension that got damaged by a previous owner. That’s actually a pretty easy fix assuming I can find a decent replacement: a couple of screws and it comes right off.
Here’s another issue: the Taurus is watertight but two of the doors are misaligned. Here’s the driver’s door.
And here’s the rear passenger side door.
I just finished re-reading Taurus: The Making of the Car That Saved Ford by Eric Taub. One of the later chapters details the initial production run of the Taurus, which started at Chicago in January 1986. My Taurus was manufactured in May of 1986. That almost certainly makes it a Job #1 build. According to Taub, early models suffered from ill fitting doors. Coincidence?
As for the interior, there aren’t too many issues. All the lights work just fine. The power antenna goes up and down but the radio gets nothing but static. Not a big problem, especially because the cassette deck and stereo work perfectly fine. A bigger issue is the control for the electronic cluster. It’s completely dead. The cluster itself works just fine though, and the distance to empty kept adjusting itself to account for updated gas mileage figures in light of a newly filled tank.
While there are issues to sort out, it was really fun to take the Raging Bull out for a spin. The struts absolutely need to get done but it drives well, especially with the new tires and fresh alignment.
Some minor good news is that despite some initial snafus, State Farm did approve the Raging Bull for their classic/antique car policy. And in the long run the historical plates will save me money on registration costs.
Speaking of the historical plates, there is one notable difference between them and the plates I have on the Focus. Can you see it?
As for future plans, I do intend to spend some time detailing the car. The leather is in great shape but it is dirty.
Several people recommended Lexol to me. When the weather gets warmer I’ll give it a shot.
It’s hard to tell from the pictures but there is a thin layer of dirt on all leather surfaces except the driver and passenger seat. The armrests have it too.
There is also a tear on the driver’s seat. I’m not sure there’s anything I can do about that though.
I also plan on tackling the vinyl and plastic areas in an effort to clean them up a bit. Although I’m not sure they really need it.
I got this stuff for that task.
I also purchased some light compound in an attempt to get rid of the exterior scratches.
I’m actually going to test the compound out on the Focus before I use it on Raging Bull. There’s still some paint transfer that might buff out. I also need to buy touch up paint for both cars, because the Taurus has its fair share of chips and missing paint. If anyone can tell me how to acquire touch up paint on an older car like the Taurus, let me know in the comments.
And before I do all that I’ll simply wash it by hand. Part of that will involve cleaning the dirty alloy rims. I look forward to seeing if this wire brush can cut through the decades of dirt that accumulated in all those small holes.
Overall, taking the Taurus out improved my mood considerably. Especially because it allowed me to recreate this photo I took of my 1989 Ford Taurus wagon back in 2003.
Who knew that 17 years later another first generation Taurus would occupy the same spot, albeit temporarily? And that the Taurus would eventually jump start my automotive enthusiasm? Or that we’d be in the current situation we’re currently facing? This has certainly been an eventful year so far.
For now, the Raging Bull will practice social isolation, but not from me, or the Passat, for that matter.
Anyway, if you’ve got any advice for me regarding the Taurus, please share them in the comments. Thanks in advance!
Glad to see you enjoying your new (old) car!
When a car comes to me with a name, I always honor that. In the case of this car,”Ms. Cougar” seems a much better fit than “Raging Bull”. This Taurus for sure has a Mrs. Robinson-like quality about it, and not a Jake Lamotta tough guy presence. And Bulls are male, so Ms. Raging Bull doesn’t make a whole lot of sense! But it’s your car, so you get to call it whatever you wish.
Too bad about Radwood!I hope you get to take it out and drive it soon. Couldn’t tell from your video where the coolant leak was coming from. Maybe the new hoses were not clamped on right. Or maybe they never fit right, which is why the owner held on to the old ones.
This Taurus design still looks amazingly fresh after 24 years. The conservative aero look has worn well, with the fairly large windows giving far better visibility than the gunslits that manufacturers moved to. Many nice, thoughtful interior appointments as well, even on the more basic GL model. The decontenting would come later. Repair parts should be plentiful and hopefully you can keep The Bull on the road for years to come.
34 years! Oh my.
There is nothing to do on an old car but focus on one issue at a time. For me it would be that coolant leak. Is there something about Fords? My most nagging coolant leak problems have been on Fords – the 5.0 on my kid’s MGM had a million coolant connections and it seemed like every one of them gave us trouble as we replaced all the ancient hoses.
And this is why “modern” cars with tightly packaged transverse engines will have trouble getting traction as hobby vehicles – jobs like this are far, far worse than they would be in older designs where you had a little room to work.
Door fit in an old car can be tricky. It is probably possible to slightly loosen the hinge bolts and work that door into a better fit. However, the 35 year old rubber seals have gotten used to the way the door is now. Moving it may fix one problem but cause another when the gaskets no longer seal tightly somewhere around the door.
Door fit can be tricky in a new car, too. Anytime I’ve replaced the seals (because of an accident or vandalism) they never seal as good as the original ones. They always let air in and whistle.
Recently when someone tried to break into my Traverse using a coat hanger they chewed up the rubber door seal pretty good, but they didn’t get in. Instead of replacing the molding, I decided that I was better off putting duct tape on the seal.
Edward, your Taurus tale warms the heart. Drove a beige 89 with whitewalls as a company car in 1990. Great car as much as I tried to hate it. Not a real chick magnet for a single guy in his 20s, but is was very comfortable and ran very well. The year before my girlfriend ordered a highly optioned Sable in Rose Quartz. Geez, that car was stunning! The deep brown cloth interior had seats with air pump lumbar supports. Wow!
Google around for touch up paint. I found a supplier a while back (cannot remember the name) that had colors for many years and models. They had it in small applicators and spray cans.
It’s hard to tell from your pictures but how near is the source of the leak to the thermostat? I ask as I had reason to replace a thermostat recently and did not do a spectacular job in removing the old petrified gasket. Getting it back together revealed a leak as everything could not set properly. Like what I had to do, you may need to take it back apart and clean (scrape) the hell out of everything. Then use some gasket maker (I’d recommend Permatex) when putting it all back together. Also it could simply be a matter of a loose hose clamp as from my experience they generally need to be tightened after the engine has ran for a while.
Since you have some time on your hands these days, this will be a great time to fix some of those smaller issues. Coolant leaks are the pits but I don’t think it’s going to be a huge issue to overcome.
On the paint – Because of the car’s age, I doubt you will find any decent touch up for it. Any of the old genuine Ford touch ups found through the dealer have surely dried/thickened beyond usability.
It will be a bit pricey, but your best option is a auto paint supplier. Some of them will mix up a small quantity for you (you may have to buy a quart) and a can of lacquer thinner or enamel reducer (depending on whether they recommend enamel or laquer for touch up work.) You can then mix a bit in a small glass jar.
The thinner/reducer will slowly evaporate and it will thicken up, so you may need to add more the next time you go to use it. The clear should be available as a Dupli-Color product at any Pep Boys or such.
The alternative is to find something close from the Dupli Color rack. This should be both easy (because there are so many grays out there) and hard (because even the closest will be just a touch off). Keep your eye peeled for modern cars that are very close in color to yours. Park next to them in the sun and compare. For little stone chips and such, close should be good enough. If you want exact, see above. And even with exact, it is not unusual to get some color variation because of fading on your car and because of changes in formulas/pigments used in modern paint. Good luck!
“your best option is a auto paint supplier”
I did this for my ’94 Ranger in Medium Aubergine Metallic, $50ish shipped got me a can of spray paint and a good sized touch up pen/brush, matched perfectly.
Having a auto restoration shop over 50 years, for a perfect match, hopefully one of your parts stores has a paint section, they can do a spectro-analysis of your paint, matching for aging and sun fade etc. I painted my ’63 Electra convert in 1971, after wrought iron lawn furniture damaged the hood (too long a story) I had the anaylisis done, which matched the original custom mix with pearl included to perfection. On mine I removed the gas filler door to get matched. On the interior, you can use a dishwashing detergent like Dawn, pour an inch or inch and a half into a spray bottle, fill with water, to mix turn bottle upside down/right side up slowly several times, use a soft bristle brush to scrub cleaner sprayed on seats in foot to foot and a half squares, to be thorough, overlapping slightly, wipe off with terry towels, same on door panels (can use toothbrush in tight areas) on the dash I scrub the top with vinyl treatment instead of cleaner because of possible sun damage, same with the rest of the dash, using q-tips in tight areas, on vinyl on door panels, treat with vinyl treatment, also do not use cleaner on the steering wheel, scrub and treat it with vinyl treatment as cleaner can damage the wheel. On all leather, the best treatment I’ve found is Harley-Davidson Liquid Leather Care, pour into your cupped hand and work into seats and all leather, on mid to dark leather Feibing’s Neatsfoot oil can be used, but the H-D oil works in completely, the Feibings may need wiping down with microfiber. Carpet, use a bucket and large sponge, work damp sponge on foot square areas using wet and dry vac to suck water out, windows should be left down 24 hours or so if not driving with heat on. Use a medium compound with buffer on low-medium speed doing 2×2 foot sections, overlapping, keep buffer relatively flat, do not use edge, to avoid paint damage, after the first buff, with damp towels wipe residue off, if it is available in your area get KLASSE WAX usually in a red container, then buff the car again using Klasse (also buff windows both times and avoid buffing rubber on trim, bumpers, etc) the Klasse buffs to a high, long lasting (usually 9 months to a year) swirl free shine, for absolute protection do a final hand wax with microfibers applying to 1/4 of hood, roof etc. If the clear coat on wheels is damaged, once clean and dry can be sprayed with clear auto paint, vinyl or rubber treatment can be used on any exposed rubber. When the Taurus was new the local Ford dealer had us aligning doors, in many cases the window frames were not curved right (door fit, but frames too far out) if the entire door is out too far, loosen the door jam striker, and adjust in, the amount needed to have the door flush, then if the window frames are not flush, put the window down completely, rear windows need to be out of frames. wrap the end of a 2×4 with cloth,placing the 2×4 between door and jamb, hold door in that position (may take two people) place hands at upper corners of window frames using a pushing motion (almost a bouncing motion) this will slightly bend the window frame inward. try a little at a time checking frequently by closing the door, checking alignment until flush. When new there was more than enough leeway for the windows to go up and down in the slightly different angle. Also be sure to buff headlights, tail lights. the wheels you can use a bottle brush through the holes, also may need aluminum wheel cleaner, which has a mild acid, do small areas, use rubber gloves and eye protection, do not let it dry on wheels, you may need to re-clear after dry. Think I covered most. on THE PAINT MIX YOU CAN HAVE A COUPLE OF SPRAY CANS DONE, PLUS BOTTLES WITH BRUSH APPLICATORS, (sorry, the cap stuck) Good Luck
Keep plugging away, Ed. The car looks great, and the silver lining to the lower bumper crack and clearcoat scratches are that you can be a little less worried than if it were pristine. Buff em’ down, put a nice coat of wax on it so it glistens, and from twenty feet away you probably won’t see a thing in most light conditions.
All of the minor cosmetic projects you have on hand will be very satisfying to complete, but get that coolant leak addressed sooner than later. I’d be wanting to cruise around with my new prize in the spring sunshine, but that party could be crashed by an incorrectly installed hose giving out suddenly on the other side of town.
Agreed. This car is in the perfect space of daily driver friendly fun classic. Buff/polish/protect to a reasonable degree, but focus on mechanical reliability. My ’96 4Runner is in a similar state.
I have done two of those lower bumper valances on first-gen Tauri. On one, the part was still available from Ford, on the other I had a body shop search for a used one nationwide. Both were easy work. I painted them off car before installation. Mine were not attached with screws but with push pins. The ones I broke were easily available at the auto parts store, Dorman-branded.
Here in Ontario http://www.chipfixx.ca can make any color you need, you just need the color code from body plate. There must be similar outfits in the States.
There should be a paint code on the build sticker, most likely in the driver’s door jamb. You can take that to a napa or carquest and they should be able to mix you up some touch up paint. The stores by me can put them in aerosol cans or by the pint/quart/gallon
What a nice looking car. It amazes me how modern it still looks even parked next to the Focus and Passat. Ford certainly got the styling right. Someone who does not know cars would not point this out to be a 34 year old car.
To emphasize your point, when the 1961 Lincoln Continental was introduced, the 1948 Lincoln Continental was only 13 years old, yet it looked like it was from another Era. This is best exemplified by the movie “What Ever Happened To Baby Jane”. This was one of the best automotive choices in a film ever.
That brush won’t work on the wheels that well. You need a long cone like brush that can be pushed into each snowflake opening of the wheel. How do I know? My 626 has similar snowflake wheels and they were dirty when I got the car. Needed a special cleaner and brush to get inside each opening. These are a PIA to clean so best to stay up on them rather than get lazy.
PaintScratch. com can do touch up paint for the car. Unless you intend to paint you will need either a paint pen or a 1oz. bottle of paint or both like I do.
https://www.paintscratch.com/
Select your color by selecting other models. Taurus isn’t a separate listing.
https://www.paintscratch.com/cgi-bin/select-color.cgi
Here is where I got my brush. It was the small one.
https://www.autogeek.net/daytona-mini-wheel-brush.html
The cleaner I used. My wheels were DIRTY with brake dust. Took the wheels off to work from both sides.
https://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-uber-wheel-cleaner.html
The non-fire end of a paper matchstick torn from an old-fashioned book of matches makes a really nice applicator for spot touch-up. Of course, a book of matches may be harder to find than a tiny brush these days.
Second what tbm3fan said. Have had good results with paintscratch many times before. On the wheels, you may also consider a cheap battery power toothbrush to get into the sides. I generally just use Simple Green, though if the grunge is built up, you may have to get more aggressive. If they are uncoated or the coating is mostly missing or discolored, a can of Bar Keepers Friend and an Oral-B/ spinbrush will keep you busy for a weekend.
One cleaner I use on cars and all over is LA’s Awesome (yellow) cleaner that is only a buck at Dollar Tree. Just be careful using it on fabrics, but it is great on wheels, as a degreaser, etc. Can’t beat the price – buy the bigger bottle without the sprayer and pour into a better one.
I’ve ordered some touchup paint in a spray can from this place a couple of times:
https://www.automotivetouchup.com/touch-up-paint/ford/1986/all-models/
The problem that you may run into with ordering like that is just the age of the paint. It may look great, but from the formula of the paint your car may have aged the paint and it might just be slightly off from the “forumla”. I experienced that when I repainted my Tempo GLS.
When I had the rear bumper painted for my first Mustang, at the body shop they took the formula and put a small spec on the adjoining panels to adjust the color int he sunlight. Doing it this way the color ended up being a perfect match. Might try that.
Very nice story…
Re the historical plates, I’d say that apart from the NEW YORK name, the state outline, and the color, the rest is different. Numbering code is different, as the historical one has 2 alfa-5 number format while the regular one has 3 alfa-4 number. The historical says “Historical” in place of “Empire State”. Finaly, the historical looks printed while the regular seems embossed. Am I right?
Yup! You got it! The historical plates are printed.
Is the difference in the license plates that the Taurus’s historical plate is flat, while the Focus’s plate is embossed? It’s hard to tell from the photo… just a guess.
I blew the license plate pic up as much as possible and can’t really see any notable differences, other than the obvious number layout. Embossed or printed? Perhaps, but not easy to see that.
So, what say Edward?
Thanks for sharing! I was an elementary school kid when these came out but was still riding around in them until the early 2000s. Lots of good memories. I noticed the ‘speed alarm’ button; I don’t recall seeing that in other cars at the time. I certainly didn’t have it on my Escort Pony from the same year. My friends used to say the Pony had power engine as its only convenience feature.
For your paint issue, try drcolorchip.com. I’ve used it to touch up my ’88 Mustang with great results.
A good investment:
Weathertech fitted floor liners (or similar)
http://www.weathertech.com/ford/1986/taurus/floorliner-digitalfit/
Ed – Great that you are preserving what is a very significant example of design history.
This was an absolute game changer that still looks handsome today.The first gen Taurus has aged better than the facelift of it, IMHO – I love the slightly lower rear wheel arches and general feeling of solidity to the surfacing.
Of course, you now need a fist gen Sable wagon to accompany it!
I rhink you will be surprised at the amount of people who will flock to this at a car show whilst ignoring Lamborghinis, Ferraris and other exotica. I certainly would!
I completely agree with Huey. This is a historically significant vehicle, cementing the end of the malaise era and triggering a design, fit, and craftsmanship race.
That Taurus is so clean! Keep up the restoration work! Man, still bummed I can’t find that 86 LX Taurus Wagon.
Keep up the search! I check the internet at least once a day for one.
Been doing that and will not give up anytime soon! Found an 87 GL wagon a state away from me as well as an 87 GL sedan so I still have hope my 86 LX wagon will show up!
Wanted to also show you the 86 LX wagon I found last year I was so close to buying. What could have been…
Here’s another one.
And one more
A tooth brush and Meguiar’s® Hot Rims Wheel Cleaner is the best way to go. I used to work in a detailing shop a long time ago.
Glad to see the old girl bring some delight! Keep in mind, that one leak-prone area for that otherwise bulletproof engine is the timing cover gasket. The water pump may have been changed, thinking that was it. But you might just need that $4 gasket…and all the labor that goes with it. Good luck! (Proud Taurus owner myself. Put 326,000 on a ’90!)
Well on my Sable, with a Vulcan engine the water pump is on the right and the thermostat on the left where Ed mentions his leak. As far as changing out the water pump I can say it is a easy job now. Have done it three times and the toughest part is just cleaning off all the old gasket from the engine half.
It’s getting harder & harder to tell car sizes apart these days. The Focus is a compact and the Taurus is a mid-size, yet when parked together they’re almost the same length & height! I think this is happening with ALL cars now; well, whatever counts as a “car” these days (i.e. the 2020 Escape). It’s not like in yesteryear when you could park a VW Beetle next to a Ford LTD and clearly decipher the size difference. There is no “standard” car size anymore–IF there ever was.
Nice to see you’re still enjoying working on the Taurus in spite of the coronavirus outbreak. By the way, what happened to your ’89 Taurus wagon?
It was 15 years old with about 190k miles on it in 2004. It was rusty and I had already spent a lot of money keeping it in decent shape. The heater core blew and it just didn’t make sense to get it replaced. I gave it to mechanic and presumably he junked it. I replaced it with my 1997 Sable.
What a great car, and what a great choice to preserve it now! It may be another 15-20 years before the general public begins to really appreciate it as an antique, but by then good luck finding one. I went through this when I bought my ’79 Monte Carlo fourteen years ago – at the time it was mostly just an older used car, and only recently has it started to be appreciated by anyone other than myself. But if I didn’t buy it when I did, I probably never would have found one in this kind of survivor condition. The first generation Taurus is a very historically significant design, and it is amazing how modern it still looks. If I was going to preserve a 1986 anything, a Taurus may well have been my choice too. Keep us posted on the updates!
That’s a lovely car and great to see you giving it a home, love, care and attention. So nice to see once popular everyday cars preserved and appreciated like this. As others have mentioned it is a design that really has aged well indeed and was restrained and almost elegant in comparison to other cars of the time on the US market (and indeed European offerings too).
To me, the styling of the Taurus was so good that maybe in some way Ford tried to translate it onto the European Mk3 Granada/ Scorpio (Merkur Scorpio) certainly frontally if not for the hatchback? But then perhaps was the Taurus borrowed from the 1982 euro Ford Sierra? Whatever, the Taurus was the best looking in my UK centric eyes! The global Ford aero look, where did it start and fInish?!
This car also brings back memories for me of my first trip to the States (Florida) in ‘87 as an eleven year old, our rental car was a Taurus LX sedan in a light blue with blue grey velour interior (paint was a non-metallic that euro Fiestas, Escorts and Sierras seemed to be offered in). Seem to recall it was very comfortable and solid and Dad liked it a lot (his own car at the time in the UK would have been an ‘85 Ford Granada Ghia X with a Cologne injected 2.8 V6) we did have an issue with the Taurus cutting out though, not so bad in a parking lot or side road but when it cut out when crossing a two lane highway Dad took it straight back to the rental desk and they gave us an identical car (same colour) that ran fine for the rest of the holiday!