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The Colon aka Lady Starstruck --> 1988 Colony Park by bnw
Ah, Dacia... A car manufacturer devoted to building only the cheapest and most soul-sucking cars available.
Cars that you don't even want to be a passenger in.
1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, "Maisa"
1995 Chevrolet Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"
Well, Duster is not _that_ bad, if one buys it as a company car. But buying it for a private use... its price is comparable to a mildly used, larger car. Like, dunno, any kind of a mid-class sedan, 5 years old. Or a station wagon...
Sad to hear we cannot decode those codes right away, but I will try to find a similar paper in the Country Squire.
In the meantime. The summer wheels (actually all-rounders) are forcing the car to tremble around 55 MPH. The first thing to do is to weight them... and as I need some tires for the CV, I decided to get myself a set of Cooper Trendsetters, with narrow white wall, for ~350 dollars per set. Not bad pricing, and I hope they will be a good choice. Getting whitewalls in EU is not that easy, and this 350 dollars is actually the price of a set of eg. Dunlops. Now I have to wait until the mech gets them switched.
Some time ago, @mainemantom pointed a nice MGM users manual on ebay out to me, and after nearly a month, I got it:
Already learned some new thing, eg. how to use that damned car jack...
A nice photo from an unexpected winter as a finish.
Glad the seller got it to you. Did you use that Ebay Global shipping program ? I am enrolled as a seller. It is very expensive for the buyer. A month getting to Poland isn't to bad. I am still waiting for a package from Ohio . It has been three weeks. It is stuck somewhere. Manual looks good.
Ah, Dacia... A car manufacturer devoted to building only the cheapest and most soul-sucking cars available.
Cars that you don't even want to be a passenger in.
First of all, the trendsetters arrived. However, they were not from 2019, as advertised, but from 2018. It took me around 4 days to get a reply from the company - they are eager to lower the price by app. 25 dollars, or I can send them back. As 25 is moreover the price for a tyre change, I decided to go with the first option. And boom, here it is:
I guess they look just like they should. I also found an old NRAO bumper sticker somewhere in my papers, so I put it on the bumper:
At the moment I am waiting to get the wax so I can polish the car, finally. The mechs tested the airco, and it looks like there are no holes inside. However, the compressor was short-cycling all the time. It does not start now, but the temperature is once again around 0 Celsius... How much R-stuff should be put inside? Maybe there is just not enough...
Just to let you know it's alive and well.
It's now used a lot to haul the stuff from the storage to our new home. And damn, it fits well into the landscape!
The last weeks have been very busy, and they were busy also for The Colon. The size of the cargo space makes it a sensible vehicle to pack one's stuff while moving from one place to another...
The roof rack provides a clean and simple way to haul straw cubes...
And you can put as many as 55 poles inside...
As far as the grass is not very wet, packages containing parts of the fence can be hauled, too.
I am going to have to clean it during the weekend + apply some wax. It is going to have the front part of its exhaust refurbished next week, plus, hopefully, AC repaired - one of the lines broke, and apparently it is bent under an angle so atypical for EU made cars that the company that services airco units cannot put in their machine...
I have also ordered a large package of suspension, and steering parts last week. They should arrive at some point next week.
The worse thing is the general problem of handling on slippery roads, especially on mud. Is there any way to improve that? Any contact with a grass can end up in a slide... the tyres are brand new. I suspect that the worn out rear shock absorbers are one of the reasons. If I would like to revert the car back to the original, so Monroe Air Leveling system, what parts do I need? Shocks + coils + rubber "supporting" gaskets to place under the onboard compressor? Is it possible to buy the air lines as well?
Or maybe I can convert nivomat shocks from another car, maybe?
Perhaps it should be renamed Mercury Villager. Or Mercury Ranch and Farm LS Jurassic Loadmaster. Or something like that. Is food from a hearse soylent green?
Good news:
--> the exhaust went through the overhaul and the car does not produce farting sounds anymore;
--> the airco is operational, not as good as the one in 760 (goes down to 11C at the vents, 760 reaches 6C), but I am happy with its performance nevertheless;
--> the annoying engine dying on reverse have been fixed;
--> after a lot of turbulence, the parts are on their way and are expected to arrive tomorrow/Tuesday.
The worse thing is the general problem of handling on slippery roads, especially on mud. Is there any way to improve that? Any contact with a grass can end up in a slide... the tyres are brand new. I suspect that the worn out rear shock absorbers are one of the reasons. If I would like to revert the car back to the original, so Monroe Air Leveling system, what parts do I need? Shocks + coils + rubber "supporting" gaskets to place under the onboard compressor? Is it possible to buy the air lines as well?
Or maybe I can convert nivomat shocks from another car, maybe?
As far as grip, I can't remember if your car had a traction lock on the rear axle or not. Take a look at your door sticker if it's readable and let us know what it is. Common codes are M, Z, E, K. These are traction locks in 2.73, 3.08, 3.27, and 3.55 ratios respectively. The non traction lock axles are 8, Y, 5, 2 in that same ratio order. You can also look on the axle tag if its still there. A 3.08 would be "3 08" or a 3L08 if traction lock.
I ran chains on my 88 in the winter. I suspect you'd like it to be a little more streetable than that. They do make mud tires.
As far as the air leveling system, it's a matter of the shocks, compressors, lines, and then the electronics which includes a ride height sensor. I do not know much of the system but there are some knowledgeable people here.
1990 Country Squire - weekend cruiser, next project
1988 Crown Vic LTD Wagon - waiting in the wings
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