LTDMan's '87 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (Big Red) *DUW*

[Mr. Land Yacht]

I like that sway bar mang...looks REALLY nice.
that color...Canyon Red...that's the same coloras my dad's Mark V. lol
nice tires, too.

[LTDMan83]

Big Red is now Legal.

Finally got Big Red legalized and ready to drive on the road. The title in now changed over into my name, and I did the whole Registration/Insurance/Tag/Inspection deal on my day off friday. She passed the safety inspection no problem as well, luckily we don't have emissions testing here. Now, I can finally drive her on the road legally!

I live in the country, so I'm gonna be going out and tearing up some backroads tonight. :evil: I should stay in tonight and go to sleep for work tomorrow, but this car is just so fun to drive, I can't resist.

[87gtVIC]

How did it turn out? Any kills? lol

[LTDMan83]

It went great, she really is gonna be a great DD/Sleeper.

No Kills yet...hopefully there never will be any. Although the fiberglass Header Panel on this car is at least Twice as thick as the LTD CV one is, so it could probably take a good hit without cracking.

The deer usually head back into the woods here around March, and don't come out in force again until late fall. So it is pretty much safe to haul ass through the country, right now.

[Lincolnmania]

they dont hold up well to deer ask yucatech
lsc turbines are an option maybe?

[LTDMan83]

A Few Updates...

Still working on the slicktop conversion right now, but I have been working on a few other things at the same time, to break up the monotony of all the bodywork. Enjoi teh pics!






Engine Updates:


Scored a rust-free set of '86 Dual Heater Pipes from the junkyard awhile back. Painted with a rust-resistant Red base coat, and then top-coated with Canyon Red Metallic. I applied the CR Metallic heavily at the visible front sections of the pipes, and faded/blended the paint with the Red base towards the middle, so that it looks like the piece is changing color, from front to back.




Installed. Of course the paint chipped off the hex head that screws into the lower intake, but I touched that up afterward. Long duration, high rpm runs seem to annihilate heater cores from what I've heard, so I'm gonna need to fab up, and install a restrictor on the inlet side of the heater core, before I change out the governor. Next on the list.






Since the ECM still needs it to run correctly, I also relocated the EGR Position Sensor, to the rear of the engine, where it will not be visible, and offend the eye.



Didn't have to modify a single wire to do this, which is the way I like it.




With that, I am done in the engine bay for the most part. Still a few miscellaneous things to do, but the HO Engine runs excellent, has plenty of power, gets decent gas mileage, and doesn't burn or leak any oil. The Mass Air EFI system runs perfectly, with no weird quirks or strange behavior, even despite the lack of a VSS signal, and gives a pretty damn quick throttle response. So, I'm gonna leave it alone for awhile and just drive it.




Interior Updates:


Scored a Full set of near mint Woodgrain Armrest inserts, with my favorite woodgrain (the 90-91 Oak Style grain). Only a few light scuffs on the rear inserts, the front ones are mint.




Also took the time to Polish the Chrome handle inserts to a Mirror Finish.






Installed.




Scored a near mint DS Power Window Switch Panel, and Installed.




Also found the Marquis specific Trunk Carpet backing, I needed for my trunk.




Installed. Came from an '90 Marquis, so the 2 middle mounting points had to be moved inward to fit the '87.




To prove that it does indeed work with an HO engine, and a running a Mustang Mass Air ECM, some shots of the Tripminder in action during a trip to the junkyard, and back. MPG and Gallons used figures aren't far off from what I've been calculating. Trip ODO is dead on with the mechanical one, on the speedo.









Major changes are coming to the interior, very soon.







Next up, I will have pics from the ongoing Slicktop Conversion saga, and some pics of the first of the major changes that are coming to teh Interior.

Stay Tuned.

[packman]

Nice!!! I've been wondering what to do with mine for the longest.



Packman

[87gtVIC]

Cool. So that metal heater pipe is 86 specific?

[Bowman85merc]

Cool. So that metal heater pipe is 86 specific?

yea, i was wondering that too, because i have been thinking about doing a custom copper pipe thing to get rid of those ugly black hoses, but if one came stock with them, ill just clean them up and paint them like u did lol


btw, your gonna love that midnight canyon red metallic, my merc is teh same color cant wait to see the slicktop prcess

[LTDMan83]

Nice!!! I've been wondering what to do with mine for the longest.



Packman

Thanks! I'm not sure exactly what your referring to though.

Cool. So that metal heater pipe is 86 specific?

yea, i was wondering that too, because i have been thinking about doing a custom copper pipe thing to get rid of those ugly black hoses, but if one came stock with them, ill just clean them up and paint them like u did lol


btw, your gonna love that midnight canyon red metallic, my merc is teh same color cant wait to see the slicktop prcess

Yes, the Dual Heater Pipes were a 1 year only piece for Box Panthers, only on '86 EFI 302 boxes was it available. Not sure why, because it seems like a good design, and I've never had one leak on me. The ones which come from a poorly maintained cooling system, and are rusty on the inside, could cause some leak problems though. Some TB's and LSC's had a slightly different version of the dual heater pipes for some of the EFI 5.0L model years, maybe they could be made to work as well.

Something I think would look really good, would be to install the '86 Dual heater pipes, and then use 3/4in Braided Stainless Steel Hose in place of the rubber heater hoses. This is what I plan on doing eventually.

I'm Definitely lovin the Midnight Canyon Red Metallic color.

[87gtVIC]

Now i have to add that heater pipe to the list of things to get at the next yard visit. lol

[87gtVIC]

Hey what size wrench would one need to remove that hex nut on that heater pipe?

[LTDMan83]

Hey what size wrench would one need to remove that hex nut on that heater pipe?

I used a Monkey Wrench, because I don't have the correct sized wrench in my box.

One thing to keep in mind when pulling one of these in the JY, is that without taking a torch to it first, and heating it up, the hex head on these things takes an extreme amount of force to remove from any engine that it has been on for awhile.

I was alone in the JY, and without a torch to loosen it up, when I pulled mine. With only a MW and a Pry-Bar, and I didn't have the strength to get it loose by myself. Luckily there was a random black dude walking by who saw me struggling with it, and offered to help. With his help, I was able to get it off, but it took both of us pushing with all our might on the Pry-Bar to loosen it. We almost pushed the entire car off of the rims it was setting on, in the process. If I would have had even a small butane torch with me, I could have gotten it off myself, no problem.

[87gtVIC]

ok, cool thats good to know.

[87gtVIC]

Brandon I think i have a ford part number for a heater core flow restrictor.

# E7VH-18D406-AA

It was put up on a mustang site for a fox body. I dont know if it would work but you could look into it.