Buyer's Remorse (AKA "Hideous") - Giraffe's 1990 Grand Marquis LS

[gadget73]

Harbor Freight sells them fairly cheap. Mine has lifted a lot more non-engines than engines though. Damned handy piece of equipment to have around. Last use was extracting my toolbox from the back of my truck and then lifting the top box into place. I've used it to hold doors while changing the hinge pins, it was used to swap the oil tank for my furnace too. Makes a handy painting rack too.

[Giraffe]

I think my course of action will be to replace the pan gasket as best I can and procure an explorer motor for a future swap.

[Giraffe]

Did a little work over the past week. Put ten more gallons of distilled water and a few more of 50/50 through it. We'll see if the heat stays hot.

Also pulled out most of the interior so I could give it a really good vacuum. I didn't really find anything worth writing home about; I did find $0.35.

I noticed when I was flushing that a couple of the lower intake bolts had loosened, so I removed the upper and re-torqued the lower bolts. Sometime during the flush I started getting fluid out both tailpipes. This was when there was still straight water in it, so I couldn't tell if coolant was getting into the cylinders, but I bet it is. In any case, there's no coolant getting into my oil, however, there is a dripping water sound coming from somewhere around/in the engine every time I shut it off (like someone pouring a shot glass into a bucket of water). I've looked all over for external leaks and couldn't find any. I'm starting to wonder if I should have surrounded all the water passages with sealant when I was changing everything out?

There's a Mark VII at the junkyard. I'm starting to wonder if I should just pull that motor and be done with this one.

[Giraffe]

Pictures. I installed all new cap/rotor/plugs/wires and ended up ordering a new ignition coil as well since the old one is so corroded that the wire won't snap onto it. The cleaned up distributor cover will be going back on once the coil arrives and is installed.

[DerekTheGreat]

Yes, snatch up the HO engine from the VII as well as the computer & fuel pump. Also pilfer the JBL goodies if it has any, they make great replacements for factory "premium" crap that your car probably has. If your car has the black premium amp, the JBL stuff is a direct swap and provides a noticeable upgrade in sound.

[Giraffe]

I'll check the amp. I assume it's mounted under or inside the dash?

[87gtVIC]

You do nice work. It makes me feel good when one takes out the interior for a good cleaning.

[Tiggie]

Looking better all the time. I'd say you saved this one from destruction. Certainly grab that Mark Computer if it's an HO car.

[gadget73]

amps live in the trunk of a Mark VII. Its mounted to the bottom of the shelf behind the seat. The black one is the JBL, the silver is the standard premium sound.

[DerekTheGreat]

A lot of times you can tell if it's got the JBL stuff by looking at the speaker grilles; JBL stuff will have a "Ford JBL" logo that faces the rear window whereas the standard stuff will have "Premium Sound" on them. That's always my tip off, I think Mark VII's also have a cover over the amp & rear speakers. You'll most certainly want the rear JBL 6x9's, those are hard to beat soundwise without spending considerable money. You'll have to take the four screws off the top to get at the tweeter & midrange speaker wiring to disable the mid range as they have foam surrounds which will most likely have disintegrated by now. Rest of it will work great, especially the bass.

Check your car first though, I think on CV's & GM's the premium sound amplifier lives in the trunk just behind the driver's side rear speaker. Show us some pics so we can verify what you've got.

[DerekTheGreat]

Wow, shipping aside, they don't get much cheaper than this: ($25) as most yards charge at least that for one.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Audio-Am...RYYECB&vxp=mtr

I'm used to seeing them at this guy's price: $(150)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-1992-Li...JYI3xz&vxp=mtr

This is what those JBL rears look like:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Ford-198...1V~1np&vxp=mtr

[Giraffe]

Gonna take a crack at solving my coolant-in-the-exhaust issue this weekend as well as replacing the oil pan gasket. Until then, I purchased a few other minor items.

A new oil cap to replace the crusty original.



Got my hands on an old school Hayne's manual which has been added to the collection.

[Giraffe]

NO MORE LEAKS!

I replaced my oil pan gasket yesterday. This wasn't the first time I've done that gasket with the engine in the car; first time was on my '86 Mustang GT. I was under no illusions about how much clearance I would have. However, (almost) everything is easier the second time around, so everything went fairly smoothly. The only hangup was when three of the plastic locators from the Fel-Pro kit snapped, one of which snapped clean off. I ended up using a masonry drill bit (only one I had long enough to to get in there) to remove most of it. There was still a little bit stuck in there preventing the bolt from engaging the threads. I finally came up with the idea to force the rest through with a punch. Thankfully, all of the 5/16" thread bolts on the pan are not blind holes. The punch did the trick; I ran a tap through it afterward just to make sure everything was good, and the bolt went in with zero problems. Started it up while still on stands so I could get a close look while running and no more leaks, no more drips!

Pictures.

The new ignition coil I ordered arrived today. Installed it and added an extra dab of dielectric grease to all the contacts. Hopefully no more corrosion for me! And because I like a stock appearance, the cleaned up distributor boot went back on. I also installed an actual gasket on the throttle body. I think that might have been the source of the coolant that was getting into the engine. There was still a bit of water coming out the tailpipes after it had been running a bit, but no coolant smell. Probably just condensation. I didn't hear any dripping when I shut it off this time.



Up on jack stands again. What is this, a turbo car?



Old gasket out, and everything buttoned back up and leak-free. Didn't take as long as I thought. It would have been completed in one day had it not been for me fumbling around with the plastic bit that broke off.



I can FINALLY start daily driving it. I can also clean up my driveway.

[gadget73]

Looks like a one piece. Those typically only fail if people over-torque them.

The gasket under the throttle body was missing? There is coolant in there, so a missing gasket could definitely make it eat coolant.

[Giraffe]

Looks like a one piece. Those typically only fail if people over-torque them.

The gasket under the throttle body was missing? There is coolant in there, so a missing gasket could definitely make it eat coolant.

It was a one-piece. It was leaking on the rear driver's side. You can see in an older picture I posted how it was sticking out quite a bit on that end. You can kind of see it on the bottom left side where it's sitting on the ground. The new one is the Fel-Pro permadry.

I had pulled the throttle body gasket off before when I changed the top end gaskets. The old one came out in pieces and I didn't have a new one on hand, so I just used some RTV. Looks like it was inadequate. Lesson learned. When you don't have a gasket, just go buy it. RTV doesn't cut it.