Eric's 1989 Yellow Grand Marquis

Hello fellow forum members,
I just joined a few days ago after purchasing a 1989 GM. I was originally looking at the newer body style CV and GMs, but noticed a few of the "boxes" listed and liked the body lines better, plus being older, I figured they would be easier for me to work on myself. The problem was that the "boxes" were priced much higher, but the next day one popped up on CL for $2200. This was still not as cheap as the newer ones as there appeared to be some decent ones around $1200, but I'm judging by small images and by what the ads read. I know from experience that the car always looks better in pics than in person. Supposedly this car has always been garaged and has 65k miles. Again, who knows, the odometer could have rolled over and I'd never know. I managed to get a ride and go look at it. It has a few weird rust spots, one of which is just under the vinyl top, which I know vinyl tops are notorious for causing rust, and a few others here and there. The one just under the vinyl top line seems to be almost through, while the others are surface rust. I'm not sure of the proper name, but the radiator cradle has been painted white, which seemed weird. The paint in the door jams and around the inside of the trunk looks a tad strange as well, like it has been repainted at some point, but I can't find any overspray on any of the trim. I test drove it and it ran and shifted fine, so I made an offer and got it for $1900.

The Bad:
The rust spots mentioned.
Radio works but static-y and only dash speakers work. If I wiggle the fader and volume knobs the volume goes up. I don't care that much about a stereo, so not that big of a deal to me, just as long as I have something.
Drivers side door lock is gone... probably broke and fell into the door.
The light bulb in the drivers door has fallen as well and is behind the carpet on the lower door panel. The bulb gets hot and am a little worried the carpet could catch fire.
The seats are leather and in bad shape. This kind of made me question the 65k miles, but I am in FL and every Ford with leather that I have seen down here has seats in similar condition, regardless of mileage.
I have not owned a Ford in a long time, but on GM's the trans fluid is red. The fluid looked more brown... did not smell nice, but I would not say it smelled burnt either, lol.

I am a truck guy, but since I am in FL by myself, I needed a spare vehicle in case of an emergency and for when I do repairs on my truck. I am slow, so repairs can take me a week or 2, lol. That being said, my plans are to just to make it as reliable and fuel efficient as possible. I was disappointed that there are no gauges in this thing. I will plan on adding gauges at some point as well. Here is my to do list:

Change out all fluids with synthetic for fuel economy.
When I have time scrounge junkyards for better seats and a radio.
Fix the lock and light bulb in Drivers side door.
Tune up... runs fine, but the wires appear to be original (could be wrong)

Open to suggestions and anything else that I should do for reliability and more MPG.

Here's a few pics:

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