1997 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

[gadget73]

If you really want to feel a mismatch sometime, find someone with 92-94 4.6 car that has a 2.73 rear. Narrow ratio trans, no low rpm torque, and stupid tall gear. Talk about lame acceleration but boy do those things have long legs. 100+, no problem, but leaving a stop light you could get passed by an old woman in a Jazzy scooter.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I haven’t really driven any nPI car with 3.27s. The 3.55s do certainly get the car right up to speed, but I haven’t seen how it does on the freeway. It does feel more spirited and doesn’t need as much accelerator to get it going. Even though it only winds up to 5200 RPM, you can really feel it pickup right above 2K and it pulls steady right up to the top. I feel like any more gear would be pointless in that car.

The 3.27 in the wagon is ideal for it. It could top out the 85 MPH unit, but it’s happier at 75 or less. 65-70 gets best MPG in it, however.

[BigMerc96]

See, I think the 3.27s in my '98 are about as steep as I would go on an nPI. Even with me having swapped to a PI intake and '99 ARA3 P71 ECU. The nPI engines just don't have the top end power to rev as high as quickly as they do with 3.55s and they have the low end power to leave the line just fine with the 3.27s. With the 3.27s the car just effortlessly and undramatically accelerates from 0-whatever the speed limit is. I still think the 3.08s are best for how/where I drive, but now that its finally running correctly I'm starting to like the 3.27s more. However, in your situation starting with 2.73s, I would have done exactly the same thing and went for 3.55, anything less and it would seem like a waste of time/money.

Nothing can ever be as much of a mis-match as far as gearing as my buddy's old '91 Wagon. That thing had a very tired LoPo in it with 3.55s (tow package car). So it would shoot off the line stupid quick, but just as quickly fall on its face by 15mph and when it would upshift it would start all over again. On the freeway? forget about it. That thing could barely top out the 85mph speedometer and was really only happy at 65mph or less.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

It's been a while that anything major has happened with this car! It just keeps on doing what it does without much fuss.

Anyway, I still haven't done anything with the air ride swap. Still got all the stuff, just haven't started yet. One of those "need to be motivated" jobs, plus its not a necessity. Nevertheless...

Some cool stuff has happened. With the help of folks here at GMN, got the JBL system outfitted with Aux a few months back. That's been super handy. Fitted up some new, larger sway bars. Tossed on a '95 CVPI front bar and '01 GMQ HPP rear bar. That was an awesome upgrade over the little rear bar and stock front bar, the car rides considerably flatter through turns.

Today the car finally got outfitted with 3.55s. I left it as an open differential since this car still has the early Traction Assist package that's tied into the ABS system and it can't be switched off through conventional means, and that function still works fairly well. The timing of getting everything redone was perfect, as the right rear axle seal had just started seeping a good bit and the axle had gotten a lip on it. I guess for almost 215K, that's not bad considering it seems people have had issues earlier. I was also able to get the parking brake shoes refitted as the passenger side delaminated from the backing plates a while ago.

All the work was done by an 89 year old gentleman who's been doing automotive technical, racing, and field work for decades. As far as I'm aware, since I wasn't able to be present for the whole project due to work, he got the carrier setup with nothing more than paint marks, a dial caliper, and feel. There's no whine, no weird noises, or anything of the like, just quiet. He's done a few rear axles for the man that recommended him to me, so I felt more than comfortable with him doing the work.

This evening I swapped the speedometer gear out since the old 2.73 gear was still fitted and was reporting 45 MPH actual was 60 MPH on the speedometer. I also installed my '97 P71 ECU for the correct shift scheduled. On 2.73s, that computer would shift early, and could be in 3rd around 25 MPH and OD by around 38 MPH, so it'd bog. The civvy computer worked okay-ish with the 3.55s, but was late to shift and stacked them really fast. 1-2 was closer to 25 MPH, 3rd came in around 40 MPH then promptly fell into OD. Now it behaves as it should, plus I get the benefit of slightly higher RPM shifts along with a more aggressive downshift logic. On the nPI 4.6, I'd say this gear set is rather good for its power band.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Once again I’ve made a mess. Shocks, brakes, and a wheel bearing. Always had a slight shudder with the brakes up front, localized to the passenger side. Full brake jobs never made it go away, it always came back. I found play in the hub assembly that I couldn’t detect with the wheel fitted. New Timken bearing seems it’ll do the trick. Decided if I was tearing everything down, it was getting brakes. Fronts still looked good, but I had a set around. Rears are throughly worn, so great timing. Front shocks are certainly worse than the rears, and their bushings are all toast.

Should go down the road comfortably once everything is done. Got a trip coming up in February, and as much as I would like to take the ‘87, I feel more trust in the ‘97 at the current time, plus it does better as far as interstate gas mileage is concerned.

[gadget73]

Thats why I have what is on the Conti. No whitewalls that I could make myself spend money on seemed to exist, and the Sumitomo tires were reasonably priced and rated well. Can't say I have complaints about them.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Replaced the worn tires today. Got some Kumho Solus TA11 225/70R15 tires. Plenty of grip and they do not feel like they have as much sidewall flexing like the Firestones did. I went with these because they had very good reviews on TireRack so I figured they were worth a shot. The white wall may be gone, but the extra benefits of a wider tire with better compound is worth the trade off.

Plenty of tread:


Back on the base model look:


I also got the shop to take the one good Firestone (about 60% tread) and have it mounted for the wagon’s spare. The wagon had a 23 year old Michelin that looked okay, but would not be trusted outside of maybe just letting the car sit on it.

All in all I now have a nice new set of matching tires, a new spare for the ‘97, and a good spare for the ‘87.

[DerekTheGreat]

Shoulda got a Curt hitch, made in America. Not sure about Reese, probably Meh-Hee-Ko.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Finally installed a receiver. Been meaning to do this for a while.





Install wasn't that bad. The slowest portion was drilling the 1/2" holes for the bolts closest to the bumper. I used the jack to hold the front portion against the frame after bolting the rear up so I could easily drill the holes. Then I let it down some and loosened the back a touch for final adjustment and to make it easier to get the front bolts aligned. The only tools I needed was a drill with a 1/2" bit and a 3/4" wrench.

Apparently Town Cars have it rough; the instructions were showing to remove the factory hangers and to use a separate kit for the rear exhaust hangers that attach to the receiver itself. No such issue on CV/GMQs, though.

I'll be picking up a transmission cooler and a flat 4 brake light plug-n-play harness soon. Hopefully I'll get started on installing my air ride swap once I get done with this semester. That'll give me more time to work on that project since it'll be an involved process.

[DerekTheGreat]

Definitely sounds like you saved yourself by paying attention to what was going on behind you.

This. Congrats on being aware and reacting to the situation. My butthole typically puckers when I'm in traffic that suddenly comes to a stop as I look in the rear view mirror, prepared to try and veer off.

[87gtVIC]

Definitely sounds like you saved yourself by paying attention to what was going on behind you.

[Mainemantom]

Glad that you were not hurt and the car was not really hurt.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Could have been worse. Good end result. I have to ask why did they run into you?

Traffic was slowing down for a red light and stopped somewhat quick, so I was a bit harder on the brakes myself and came to semi-normal stopping distance (I felt I was a touch close) behind a Focus. The Hyundai had a gap, but like me, probably didn't expect to stop as quick, and the distance closed relatively quick. I looked back and saw it coming (they were hard on the brakes), so I let off the brakes, started cutting the wheel towards the turn lane, got on the gas and took the bump. If I didn't let off the brakes and turn into the lane, I would have been pushed into the Focus. If I stood on the brakes, I think the damage would have been worse. There was a truck behind the Hyundai that dove into the turn lane to avoid striking the Hyundai when I got bumped, so I figure this was the better of the options. I really need to get a rear facing dash cam. I've got a forwards facing one, but obviously all you have there is audio.

The car did two funny things after that. 1.) The wipers just came on. Didn't hit the MFS, they just went straight to Low. I had to turn them "on" by the switch, then back off. 2.) The bulb for the left signal indicator on the dash stopped working until I was almost home, then started working again like nothing happened.

[87gtVIC]

Could have been worse. Good end result. I have to ask why did they run into you?

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Tossed in a fresh set of NGK spark plugs, then drove down to the salvage yard.

Got bumped along the way:












Really nothing too bad, but of course I said some inappropriate stuff inside the car right after it happened. The bumper did exactly what it was supposed to, and definitely surpassed its 5 MPH rating. I let off the brakes right and tried to get moving into the center turn lane before it happened so that helped a bit. I'd estimate speed around 10-15 MPH.

When I saw how minor it was, I wasn't too worried about it. The other driver and I swapped info and got back to our days. I've got no hard feelings against them. Shit happens and this was really minor.

I broke out the rubbing compound, polish, and wax and cleaned the area.






The cover already had scratches from luggage and such having brushed up on it, so I'm not really concerned. It looks fine unless you're right up on it. No sense in filing a claim on that.