1997 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

[rezwrrd]

After seeing the truck hubcaps in your sig pic this afternoon, I left a visitor message on your profile... but dang! those Sable hubcaps look pretty good too. If I ever get tired of the center caps on mine, I'm going to have a hard time deciding which idea to copy.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Took the Marquis is at the dealer. I thought the front end was about to let go today as I was leaving downtown. I got a loud clunk with every bump the driver's side wheel went over. The dust boots have been torn on the ball joints and sway bar end links for some time, but they were kept greased, however it was only putting off the inevitable. 150K of service, good enough, now for the front end to get freshened up.

Now I'm waiting for an estimate...

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Bypassing the Ford dealer for some stuff. The $800 for ball joints + alignment was bad enough. Parts are cheap, labor isn't.

TecNickal offered to help me with getting the rest of the work done at his place, so that's the plan for tomorrow. For now, this is what's up:


Current list:
-KYB Gas-A-Just Front/Rear Police shocks
-Moog Box Body front sway bar end links
-Moog Rear Box Wagon cargo coil springs

Waiting to arrive:
-Moog Front Aero coil springs

The car is essentially going from worn out granny suspension to something a little more heavy duty. It won't be the same, that's for sure.

[88Vic]

Need some alloy wheels for better performance, you can get decent tires on HPP wheels. Not sure I think any wheel looks better on these cars than HPP wheels, maybe LX Sport wheels but HPP has an older look to them and 16" tires are cheaper.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Need some alloy wheels for better performance, you can get decent tires on HPP wheels. Not sure I think any wheel looks better on these cars than HPP wheels, maybe LX Sport wheels but HPP has an older look to them and 16" tires are cheaper.

I've got a set of 17" '96 Cobra wheels that are awaiting tires. Those will be going on the car come summertime. I got them for a really good deal and I don't see myself picking up any more sets of wheels. I have my original 15" alloys still stacked off in a corner.

[jaywish]

You probably should get the car aligned again after the new springs and shocks settle in. Maybe at 500 miles after install.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Wrapped up the last of the suspension work today.

Overall, these were the things replaced:
Upper/Lower ball joints
Front sway bar links (using older Box style ones)
Front/Rear KYB Gas-A-Just Police rate Shocks
Rear Springs (Now using Moog 8649 ones)



Now there was a funny bit that was hit when the springs were changed out the first time. I ordered variable rate wagon cargo coils (Moog CC819s) thinking it would stiffen up the ride and be useful for heavy loads.

Instead the car became half racecar/donk conversion.

^^^
For the record, before those got swapped out, the rear bumper stood 16.5 inches from the ground. Talk about clearance.

So today my replacements for the replacements came in. These are constant rate sedan coils (Moog 8649s) that were originally spec'd on 1979 Mercury Marquis Brougham. Strong enough to be supportive with load, but soft enough to carry the car smoothly.


The wagon coils will be going to TecNickal for one of his wagons. They should work properly there! I didn't use the new front springs since everything leveled out in the nose (right front sag disappeared for now) and seems to be fine. I'll be returning those since I don't need them now.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Drove a good bit today. A friend and I went to Atlanta to go to a Micro Center for some computer hardware, but we couldn't catch a lucky break.

-Leaving Augusta, we found traffic.
-Halfway there, the rear tire found a nail.
-Enter Atlanta, traffic.
-Driving in Atlanta was fine.
-Leaving, more traffic.
-Return trip home, we needed gas, but a good number of stations were closed. We managed to make it to Thompson to refuel with 3 gallons left.

Regarding the tire, as we were going along, the rear end got a little vibration and then I heard something like a helicopter, and after noting there wasn't one, I stopped the car. I went to check the rear and heard air hissing out. The sidewall was lumpy before it went completely flat, so I think there are damaged cords. So much for that tire.

You can see two lumps near the top:


That's some nail:


Full Size Spare:


I will say I'm glad I carry a full size spare and floor jack. It made this task a breeze.

For now, I put one of the alloys with reasonable tread as another full size spare, just in case. This little incident has prompted me to accelerate readying the 17" Cobra wheels, since if I'm getting a set of tires soon, it will be for those.

At least all of the nonsense didn't stop me from enjoying the trip. Atlanta looks really nice in the evening. Shame I couldn't get more pictures.

[miamibob]

I also carry full size spares and mini floor jacks in my 3 cars. Good thing is you got there safe and back the same way. The other stuff can be dealt with.....

[Kodachrome Wolf]

1.25" and 1.5" hub-centric adapters are now en route.

Gotta get some decent tires for the 17s now. Tires Plus is running a deal on the Affinity Touring tires right now (what I currently have), and 235/55R17 is pretty close to stock size. That should be more than reasonable for an everyday driver.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Adapters have arrived.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Been kinda slow doing things with the car since my last update. It went to and from Carlisle and took Second place in its category (1969 and Up Full Size Mercuries). While I was there I met some members of the various Panther forums, including GMN's pantera77. I also had some electrical trouble that kept knocking out the interior stuff before I left PA (radio, dash lights, etc.). Sorted that issue and everything has been solid since.

Some shots while it was at Carlisle:




For some stuff that's a bit more recent, I scored a full set of splash guards today. They were fairly rough looking but I got them cleaned up real nice considering they're almost 22 years old.


I went ahead and did the rear guards this evening.

I had to attempt an eyeball setup since I was having a difficult time finding any type of part number for them to get a installation guide. I did eventually find the info I needed after all was said and done, apparently Ford calls for them to be mounted where they're 6 inches from the ground, -/+ 0.5 inch. I got them both mounted at around 6.75 inches just working on using photos on the internet.






They should work fine given the setup. I'll do the fronts later since those will require some drilling into the lower fender lip. I plan to get some touch up paint and silicone to put in the holes once they are made (trying to prevent any corrosion; the North Dakota donor car didn't have rust at the screw points if that means anything). I really didn't want to put holes in anything (was considering just trying to use 3M double sided trim tape), but it seems like anyone who has ever put these guards on has used screws.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Just finished replacing the rear window regulators. Left rear door had previously had its regulator replaced and the shop used nuts and bolts instead of re-riveting the regulator again. I wasn't as lucky with the right rear door as it was OE. My punches I had ordered failed to arrive today so I look a crappy Philips head screw driver that had a rounded off head and used it as a punch instead. It worked well and got all of the rivets punched out, even the ones that went through the glass.

Failed regulators:



Replacement AC Delco regulators:



The AC Delco ones cost a bit more than the Dorman ones, but I've heard some meh reviews on the Dorman ones, so I opted against those..The AC Delco regulators also included a baggie with all of the necessary replacement flange bolts, lock washers, and nuts, which was nice to have prepackaged.

Now the rears work properly again! They haven't been useable in around 2 years. I just never bothered to fix them since rarely anyone rode back there.

Tomorrow or Friday my left front regulator and motor should be in. That'll be the last window that needs repair and I'll have all four working again.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Just an update:
Not much has been going on with the car. I've just been driving it to and from school, so I'm adding up miles like I do every semester. A few weeks ago it got a new idler arm since the old one was shot and was playing hell with the alignment. That chewed up one of the front tires, unfortunately.

I decided to save money so I just ordered a pair of replacement tires, one for the worn tire and the other for the punctured tire.

Fresh Firestone Precision Touring tires:

[gadget73]

If the idler arm is bad, check the pitman arm. They usually wear at about the same rate.