I call it the Monolith. I have plans for it.

[87gtVIC]

Nice find on the website. Good price too.

[ootdega]

Thank you for your kind words. I'm not sure what else to say, so I won't make it awkward by dwelling on it.

The Mountaineer project is going to have to be put on hold for now, simply because I don't have anywhere to work on it. None of the possible solutions went anywhere, and I'll fist fight an elephant before I go through my stepfather for anything again. I'm going to salvage a transmission and rebuild it myself, just to get it back on the road. I don't really have a choice. I also need to get it done rather quickly, within a month or two.

My budget is about 2 grand.

The local yard has a 1990 LS. I'm gonna grab that one. I'll have to remove it myself and drag it a quarter mile uphill, but again, no choice. It also has the same color interior, so I could yoink quite a few things out of there. Door panels, speakers, and back seat at least (the front seats are gone). I might do that first. Different dash of course, so no dice there.

There's also a Town Car and a Mark VII, if I need a plan B.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious about removing a transmission by hand, especially since I will have very little help. Depression is also kicking in pretty hard. It's already mashing my short-term memory into a thick paste. This whole week has just been me making a clown out of myself.

The Sentra is now three different colors, and things in the engine bay don't quite fit how they used to. I will leave how that happened up to your imagination. It's currently missing an inner fender, which is currently in the mail. That happened when it beached itself on the snow. Twice. I have named it the Maximum Shitbox. It runs fine now, though. It's doing its best and I can't bring myself to fault it for that.

Anyway, my time for the foreseeable future is primarily going to be spent researching how someone like me can possibly get this done.



I'm not looking forward to it.



In other news:

https://www.topsonline.com/model/Landau_Vinyl_Tops/Mercury/Mercury_Marquis_And_Grand_Marquis_-_1969_thru_1991.html

Look what I found!

[gadget73]

trust me you aren't the only person that knew everything once upon a time. The older I get, the dumber I is.

Sounds like that Sentra is a turd. Got a can of gasoline and a match? That'll fix all of it's problems.

[sly]

some of us remember when we were young dumb and full of cum and know that the ignorance will get learned out or they'll bugger off with their pride... and besides... patience on the internet is easy. You throw out what you know and let the person decide for themselves whether to listen or not and then go wash your hands. Remember... you get what you pay for. And with a bunch of other folks that own the same cars, you're going to get wrong answers sometimes along with all the right ones.

[Tiggie]

Sounds like life is throwing you some lemons. Hope things turn around for you. Won’t hurt to make a thread on the Nissan so maybe we can give you some pointers. I say “we” like I know what I am doing... I don’t on a Nissan but maybe I can learn too.

[VicCrownVic]

It seems to me that most people can't or simply will not admit their faults. I remember well the threads you're referring to. I probably stayed out of it since I am not exactly an expert on much, and also I'm not much for confrontation or debate.

Hopefully things pick up again for you so you can get both the Sentra going and have fun with the Mercury again. It sounds like it might be some time until that becomes reality, so for now don't let it get you down. Keep telling yourself you'll get there eventually, and eventually you will. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks your timeline ought to be, it's your timeline and as long as you can keep a positive attitude I think a positive attitude can help you make the best decisions to reach your goals.

[ootdega]

Hey, this has nothing to do with the car; I just wanted to put this out there while it was on my mind.

I want to thank everyone here for putting up with me when I first showed up. I was clueless, stubborn, arrogant, and too ignorant to know it.I came here to preach when I should have come here to learn. You all were inhumanly patient with me and did everything you could to educate me. I honestly want to edit my signature to include "if anything I say conflicts with someone else here, listen to them," but I can't figure out how to do it again. Plenty of other places would have banned me and plenty of other people would have blocked me, and they would have been justified. So, to everyone here, thank you.

After several years and hundreds of hours of research, I know a lot more now and generally know exactly what I'm talking about. Or at the very least know enough to know that I don't know what I'm talking about. Much of that is due to you lot. I know I will likely never outgrow my reputation, but I kinda deserve that.



In terms of cars:

The Sentra has been severely misfiring, nothing I have done has solved it, and I am out of money to fix it with. There have been times when I swear it was running on one cylinder. I had it scanned, and all it told me was exactly what I already knew. I even guessed the right cylinder just by feel. So I'm grounded until I have money again and can get the mechanic to figure out what the freezing hell is wrong with it, because I have no idea; it could be just about anything. The driver window no longer stays up, either. Copious amounts of Gorilla Tape did not solve it. It did tear some of the paint off, though. Not that I care; the paint is utterly shot anyway. I'm now suspicious that the door frames are made of cast aluminum, though.

I have replaced the fuel pump twice, once with the original assembly and then replacing the entire assembly. I've also replaced the spark plugs and the driver side axle. I have a thermostat, muffler, midpipe, exhaust gaskets, and window motor laying around that I can't use yet.

Here's hoping I have enough money to fix whatever it is. It's gonna be two weeks either way. Hope it doesn't rain!

On a side note, driving the thing makes me much more irritable than usual. I don't know why. I get a lot more angry in it than I do in any other vehicle. Maybe I'm just not Japanese enough.

The Mercury no longer starts because I killed the battery. The battery Les Shwab gave me was way too small, so it died too. So did the replacement. I told them it needed Group 65. They outright ignored me, to my face, and gave me Group 36. I got the one with a hilariously long warranty, but I honestly just haven't given enough of a damn to replace it. Again. Partially because the Sentra has decided it also wants to die. I can sympathize. I only even went to Les Schwab because my mother offered to put it on their account. I know they have no idea what they're doing.

[87gtVIC]

Good luck with whatever come your way man. Hope things turn around for you.

[ootdega]

It's been a long time. Oh well.

I don't remember if I've already mentioned this or not, but the car no longer moves. I flushed the transmission about a year and a half ago and that bricked it. It will technically move under its own power, but it goes thunk thunk thunk and the transmission doesn't care what the engine is doing until it hits 3rd gear. Reverse is fine. It now also has an undersized battery because I left the lights on after I let it run for a while one day. Then I locked my keys in the trunk when I was going to jump start it, and everyone who I had given my spare keys to had lost them, because of course they did. The lock is also apparently impossible to pick. I had to get my landlord involved to get it unlocked, and get my mother involved to get a battery, and apparently Les Schwab only has the undersized battery.

I drive a 2003 Nissan Sentra GXE that I inherited from my grandma. It's not pretty, and it's a lot harder to drive, but it works.



I found someone on YouTube named 1fastgranada who has done exactly the project I want to do, to a 1978 Granada. I worked up the guts to ask him how he got everything to work, because he has both the transmission and the speedometer working.

He was extremely helpful. He gave me all of the rest of the information I needed.

Basically, all I need to do is use a 1997 computer and that solves all of my problems. I will be able to use the tailshaft VSS natively, the 70mm MAF sensor will also work natively, the VSS has a gear drive directly on it for a mechanical speedometer cable, and there is no PATS.

The 1999 wiring harness is identical to the 97, so that won't be an issue either and I shouldn't need the 97 shop manual.

Literally the only variable at this point is getting the dash lights to work properly, and since I have every single piece of official literature either physical or digital ever published for both vehicles, that should go relatively smoothly. I've asked one shop around here that can do it, and they really weren't comfortable with the wiring and said they would need $4000 to be confident. Which is still a lot less than I was expecting. They referred me to someone else who I haven't talked to yet, but they are at least in town.



The problem is I still need to get the differential rebuilt. I have all of the parts, but I still need to get the axles done. I've been constantly having to put that off for two years.



The other problem is I can no longer physically do any significant part of the project myself. I now have a herniated disc in my back that even impedes basic daily tasks. I got it just by sitting in my computer chair. Just sitting there minding my own business, my back goes kerchunk and a week later I start having severe back pain that never goes away. It's managable now, but I still have to basically revolve my life around it.

So now I have financial, circumstantial, and physical barriers to this project. But at the same time, the project is getting more and more necessary as the back problems become more and more invasive. The Sentra's suspension and steering are much, much stiffer than the Mercury, and the brakes are somehow worse despite being half a ton lighter and having large 4 wheel discs with factory ceramic pads. There's no ABS either. It jackhammers my back, it's difficult to stop, it wears out my arms, it's cramped, the A/C stopped working entirely, I just...I hate it. It keeps getting more problems, while the Mercury has very few things left to go wrong.



So I have no idea what I'm even going to do anymore. My life has only been getting worse. My best option at this point is a loan, which I'm not even opposed to anymore, but I have no credit. I have absolutely no one else who can assist me in any way. I am 100% alone in general, let alone for this task. Even if I could hold a job, I can't do labor anymore, so finding one is even less likely. I have even had professional assistance in finding one in the past, and even they came up completely lost.



...Well, the one out of three that didn't log hours they didn't work and run off with the money, anyway.



At least I know how to do it I guess.

[ootdega]

I would honestly rather keep the original gauges. Stuffing all that black in there would clash really hard with the rest of the car. It's also a can of worms I really don't want to open. Getting it to work properly would probably require retrofitting practically every sensor on the car.

If I can get the speedo and the warning lights to work, I will be happy. As far as I understand right now, few (if any) of the warning lights go through the ECU, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get them both working. This was just an idea to have another possible option. The VSS, speedo and warning lights are pretty much the only things I'm not 100% sure on what to do with. Everything else should be a pretty straightforward bolt-in affair.

It looks like the only reasonable solutions for an electric speedometer would be to retrofit the hardware and reprogram the ECU (if possible) or re-face the gauge. The latter is probably expensive.

I think I'll just stick with the speedo cable. Get a 7 tooth output shaft and a 16 tooth gear, it'd be close enough. Should be able to get both the gear and the VSS in the housing. If not, maybe one of those mechanical converter boxes.

[Tiggie]

I would suggest finding a shop that specializes in speedometer service. http://www.bobsspeedometer.com/1/120/index.asp Is one I found.

You are planning to use the Mountaineer wiring, right? I'd very much consider fitting the Mountaineer cluster into the Merc if possible. You'll pick up a full set a gauges if it fits the opening.

[ootdega]

Okay, this is going to be a strange question, but bear with me.

The Mountaineer's speedometer has the same 180 degree sweep as the car, but it goes to 140 instead of 85.

So, if I took the hardware out of the gauge cluster and stuck it into the speedometer in the car, would I be able to reprogram the ECU to use 85 mph for the full sweep?

I've seen Grand Marquis clusters that go to 140, so I could just slap it into one of those, but I doubt I would ever find one.

[ootdega]

All the replacement connectors I see on RockAuto are 2-wire. But I'll be sure to take pictures of everything once I've removed it. I'm going to just take the whole differential to be on the safe side.

Dunno when that's going to happen yet. Just bought the power tools today.

[sly]

Take a picture of the rear mounted VSS and post it if you can. If it's a 2-wire, it's an easy hack. If it's a 3-wire hall affect reading a tone ring... it'll be more a PITA.

[ootdega]

Well, one of them is calling bullshit on being able to tune it that way, but doesn't explain why. The other response was from someone who seems to think these sensors are a lot more complicated than they really are and basically sounded like he was throwing a bunch of technobabble in a blender.

Either way, it's really difficult to Google, but I was able to find a few mentions of it being possible. Both for entering static values into the tuning software, or getting your hands dirty with some math and changing the pulses per revolution/mile.