Batboard

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/slfd111/album?.dir=dbe8

Heres some pics from the install we did on a few Taurus cars last week.
Lightbar is a custom cut down Patriot bar, 2 TIR3 in grill, 6 strobes - 4 rear (Rev light and red tail light) 2 front. UHF POS for the wig wags, an HFS295 for the siren, and another pair of TIR3s on in the truck lid for when its open. A Jotto Desk 16inch console, with external cup holder and our own floor plate to match the factory Ford bolts. (we removed the forward folding factory console but kept the arm rest in place) Had to deal with a nightmare headliner issue since its glued in place to get the bar and the antennas in, but with some work and going slow we didnt have to replace it, it had a few crinkles in it, but it was an ok thing for the dept to live with rather than pay an additional 385.00 for a new one. Overall given the cost factor and the needs of the dept the job went good and met their budget needs. The Cast speaker designed for the car which mounted up in the front ground spoiler area worked out great and projects excellent. The car is on state bid here in NY at a really cheap price so chances are we may see a handful more - not sure about the rest of the country though. by the way the extra speaker on the side of the console is for the incar monitor for the pryamid repeater. (UHF to LowBand.) Recycled Maxtrac LB, and VHF M1225 complete the package.

It looks really good!

I especially like that you retained the factory armrest, since that is one department that I have always felt Jotto Desk is lacking in (their armrests just don't "do it" for me.

I don't know that I'd want to be using a Taurus for a squad car, but it looks like you came up without the best way to make it so.

Oh sorry, forgot to say they are chiefs cars for a fire dept - their option was to buy one Tahoe or 2 of these cars for the same price. They felt that 2 vehicles , even if not 4wheel drive, was a better option.

And really, who knows of a Chief who takes his or her prescious command vehicle "off road"?

Nice job!

So.. Ford actually glued the headliner to the roof?!

Regarding the trunk antenna, is that a standard NMO or "thick surface" one?

there is a tread a bit further down about the headliner and the final details if you want to hear the entire story as we started this, but yes, they actually have a "wing" that goes up and into a groove in the roof line that is then glued. Took an extra hour plus per car to do this without damage.

For the LB antenna we used a Maxrad Part from Tessco # 441304 which is listed as 3/16 - 1/4" thick mount. This is what we call the middle size. We use a different one for even thicker mounts such as on a fire apparatus.

This weeks Project is a 4 door F350 chiefs truck that we are almost done with. Will post some pics when its finished as well next week.

An '06 with a cassette player?

How did you do the armrest? Did you have to cut it off?

In the '02 the armrest is attached to the flip-out piece. I'll have to see if I can find mine and take a look, because I'd love to have the armrest back.

LOL . I didnt even pay attention to the fact that it was a cassette.. LOL. Its a state Bid car so I guess its the basic sound system available possibly? not sure..

As for the Arm Rest ,, Yup, just cut the left and right support arms where it attaches and as you can see in the one pic posted thats the end result. Remove the bottom support plate and you have the factory Bolts to use for a floor plate. We used a piece of 1/4" plate, cut it to size, made the needed holes for the console and to match the ford bolts, painted it with some bed liner ( the kind for the back of pickup trucks) and its matches great.

awesome install

How did the hideaway strobes work out? I haven't been too impressed with their performance in the newer lights that have the faceted reflectors and clear lenses.

100% TOP NOTCH WORK.

Nice to see a Taurus that actually had room for a decent console. Only Taurus installs I've done have been sneaky pete cars with equipment hidden in the factory consoles.

We had several staff cars for the FD that were old body taurus (2001) which crammed Toughbook CF-25 in Kodiak docks, Spectra, MCS200 and Code V-CON in a custom console built by the city mechanics.

Talk about a TIGHT fit.

Damn Nice! Two Thumbs Up.

The thing that i like the most, and some may say i'm silly, is that you kept the stock armrest. I know, stupid huh. But i think its a nice detail rather than buying and bolting on a aftermarket armrest made by the companies that make the consoles.

Plus, its a money saver. Maybe that's why i like it so much, i'm a cheap you know what.

This was a fun project to make work, since it wasnt the norm. When I spec a vehicle I think of it as me having to drive it. As a past Volly Chief in a busy dept with tons of traffic to contend and deal with, I think of it as a user and what comforts I would like to have.

Your definitly right on keeping the factory arm rest. I havent found a aftermarket armrest thats as comfortable as the factory ones yet.

as for the stobes - We used a the Whelen 90watt kit. the location of the front bulb worked out great giving both forward and reflection off to the side. In the back the white reverse area is completed separate from the red brake lights - so on this car it worked out pretty good. I will say this. anytime we have used less then the 90 watt kit the customers have commented on them. Our biggest issue on a personal basis has been trying to get all the plastic shavings from inside of the headlight assembly, as most of you know it static charged and sticks inside the lens. Especially on the Fords. Our newest trick has been to use a dull hole saw blade, go very slow and basically melt our hole in, this keeps the shavings to a min- otherwise is a plastic tube attached to a vac.

Next Project should be done on Monday - Pictures to be posted.

I use a shopvac attached to the hole where the stock bulb goes in while drilling. Afterwards I pressure up the housing with compressed air while the shopvac is still running. Does a pretty good job on the shavings, but sometimes you just can't get them all.

Looks awesome.

Are the head lights double walled where you installed the front strobes?

yes they are doubled - we used S30HACP , the rubber grom helped alot.

Very nice install, I am hoping the owner was happy, I have owners that wanted more.

JustaBuff - how did you get the glued headliner down??? These have always given me a major headache. I have had to do several of these Taurus vehicles and hate working on them due to the glued headliner issue.

ESDA20 wrote:And really, who knows of a Chief who takes his or her prescious command vehicle "off road"?

You havent met my chief.

That is a really nice install. In our cheifs vic he got a bench, so they had to go with a vertical console on the hump. It looks kind of similar to your setup.

Fineshot1:
what we actually did ,, inch by inch was slowly pull the liner down in the areas that we needed to get to. then with long thin arms of one our techs, reached to get the mounts, bolts, and cables in place. In advance we secured authorization from the customer in case this didnt work to replace the headliner. We did 2 identical cars like this. there were a few small creases that I dont know if they came out or not since being in service now 2 months. the cust was willing to live with them VS buying a new headliner .

as for being happy, the cust was very happy with the end result. they got 2 cars for the price of the normal SUV. and for them this was important due to budget restraints. they run 5 chiefs in this particular town, and like most volly depts in our area each one gets a vehicle.

JustaBuff - thanks for the tip - thats exactly whay I have had to do. I was wondering if you folks have any special tools that help you out with this unusual problem. I use a putty knife and some very wide bladed screw drivers to pry the glue strips off of the roof but I have short arms so this issue gives me a major headache....fineshot1

same exact proceedure - 4inch wide putty knife with a bit of a sharpened blade...