LTDMan's '87 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (Big Red) *DUW*

[LTDMan83]

Thanks Guys.

Very nice work! I wondering will you change the blue interior soon?

Thanks. As soon as I find a Mint Blue Interior in a junkyard box, if I happen to get that lucky.

that looks nice, i love the look of those seats, i kinda like the blue/red contrast in the interior as it is tho lol

But to make the slick-top procces +312232321 easier would have been to use " 3M General Purpose Adhesive Remover" i used the spray can of it on the sides, and poured the jug on the top...the stuff just scraped right off with very little effort.

And how easily did those under-dash covers go on, i have some wires that keep on falling down, could you show more pics of how they look from the drivers/passengers view, please

But I cant wait to see more updates on this

Thanks mang. I think the Blue on Red is a good color contrast as well.

I bought Lacquer Thinner originally thinking that it would take it off, which it wouldn't. After that I didn't wanna spend any more money on it, when I could just power strip it all off for free. Only took about an hour to do the entire thing. I'm very experienced with the grinder, and have a very light touch with it, so I didn't remove much base metal in the process.

The 90-91 under dash covers fit just like the originals did. I will get some more pics of the DS and PS for you.

Damn, that sure is gonna be purdy...you'll probably have the only red with blue interior Merc that looks straight from the factory.

Questions for you...

Do you have any pictures of filling in the front antenna hole? I'd like to remove that one day, and would like to see your process of such. Unless I overlooked them here, I don't remember seeing any other than the hole.

How easy is it to remove the seats? I've got a gray interior and have been considering Town Car seats for a bit...

Pics of the Front Antenna Hole being shaved are coming soon. I'm planning on welding in a Stainless Steel patch piece into the hole, using a technique I learned awhile back. I will get pics of the process for you, or anyone else who is interested.

I could use Fiberglass, but I just don't trust Fiberglass for filling holes, especially ones where the backside will be exposed to moisture.

The seats are pretty easily removed. The Front Seats are held in by, 2 15mm bolts in the front, 2 15mm nuts in the rear, and 1 Torx Head bolt holding the Seatbelt to the floor. The Bottom of the Rear Seat, is removed by pushing in on the front part of the seat (were the passengers legs would be), it will then unhook, and can be pulled out. The Back of the Rear Seat is held in by 2 Torx Head bolts on each side, after those are removed you press in and pull up on the seat back to release it from the 3 hooks, which are holding it to the Package Tray area.

Switching to a blue interior is a good plan. After the exterior of the car is painted red, you could add white pinstripes. The colours of the US flag brought up this idea

Good Idea That is actually the plan! Big Red had White Pinstripes from the factory. I'm planning on having someone replicate the factory pinstripe job after paint is done, only it will be actual paint, instead of vinyl decals. Big Red will be Red, White, and Blue!

And have fun removing another entire dashboard again.

I'm not holding my breath for finding a 79-87 Grand Marquis with a Mint Blue Interior in the junkyard, So I most likely will be dyeing the original dash Blue. I can dye it with the dash still in the car, just have to remove the Dash Trim and Instruments, Upholstery, etc..., and mask everything else off. All these dashes were dyed from the factory, none were actually cast in the colors that they are. No reason it couldn't be done again, using a good adhesion promoter beforehand.

[Jason_GMQ91]

Painting for exterior:

maybe can switch to White paint? or silver paint? or navy metallic paint?

[LTDMan83]

Big Red had White Pinstripes from the factory.

Not sure what I was thinking earlier, Big Red had Dark Red Pinstripes from the factory.

I am gonna go with White Pinstriping after the re-paint though.

Painting for exterior:

maybe can switch to White paint? or silver paint? or navy metallic paint?

Nah, it wouldn't be right to paint Big Red any other color than what she came as from the factory, which is Midnight Canyon Red Metallic. I have seen a few other boxes painted in the same color, and they are gorgeous when seen in person out in the sunlight.

[packman]

How well does the underdash carpeted trim fit? I have access to a few 88-91 Panthers in the JY I go to, but I wasn't too sure if the under dash padding would fit on an '86 box CV.



Packman

[LTDMan83]

could you show more pics of how they look from the drivers/passengers view, please

How well does the underdash carpeted trim fit? I have access to a few 88-91 Panthers in the JY I go to, but I wasn't too sure if the under dash padding would fit on an '86 box CV.



Packman

They are the exact same pieces (only carpeted), so they fit exactly the same as the originals did. Here's a couple more pics so that you can see the fit for yourself. The DS one is covering up a serious amount of wiring, including some of my own.

[packman]

Awesome!!! I'll get right on finding a clean piece. Thanks LTDMan83!!!



Packman

[Bowman85merc]

OOoo...Those do look nice !!! I'll go look for some next week.
For some reason, my '85 didn't have them, prolly lost sometime in the past, oh well. lol
This will be the second thing i get, thanks to you

[LTDMan83]

No prob guys.

I still have a few more nice Factory Upgrades waiting to install on Big Red as well. Eventually the available Factory Upgrades will run out though, then it will be time to get Custom.

[Grand Marquis GT]

You need a trunk luggage stuffer now!

[87gtVIC]

You need a trunk luggage stuffer now!

Que ?

[LTDMan83]

I believe he's referring to the Towncar's Trunk Muncher. You push the trunk lid down onto the latch, and it pulls it the rest of the way down for you. The only practical use I can see it having, is if you have your trunk so stuffed with luggage that you can't close it on your own, or for an old person who is too weak to shut the lid on their own.

It wouldn't serve any practical purpose for me, as I would never pack my trunk so full of stuff that it wouldn't close, and as is my deck lid will close with a stiff breeze.

[87gtVIC]

Ahh.

[packman]

I believe he's referring to the Towncar's Trunk Muncher. You push the trunk lid down onto the latch, and it pulls it the rest of the way down for you. The only practical use I can see it having, is if you have your trunk so stuffed with luggage that you can't close it on your own, or for an old person who is too weak to shut the lid on their own.

It wouldn't serve any practical purpose for me, as I would never pack my trunk so full of stuff that it wouldn't close, and as is my deck lid will close with a stiff breeze.

Wouldn't cramming the trunk lid on top of an overstuffed trunk deform the trunk lid? My friend with the Ford Tempo back in the day did that after putting 2-10" and 2-12" subs in the trunk. He leaned on it to get the lid closed onto the bandpass boxes. Then I think the bass from the subs further ruined a good trunk lid (not to mention broke his rear deck and door windows).



Packman

[LTDMan83]

It definitely could, if whatever you where trying to close it on didn't have any give to it. It probably would work if it were only stuffed full of cloth luggage filled with clothes, which would have a lot of give. Ever see a car with a shit load of bump dents in the trunklid? That comes from people slamming the lid on a full, junk stuffed trunk. If I ever needed to carry that much stuff with me, I would just buy a truck.

Redonkulous amounts of Bass can also literally shake/vibrate a vehicle into a complete POS over time. Since I hate Massive amounts of Bass I won't ever have it in any of my cars.

[Mr. Land Yacht]

I love the Town Car seats mang! great job!