My 'new' 2003 Grand Marquis.

[marquisman]

i used to ask that question as a kid lol. then when they ran the rauder commercials a couple times, i thought that was the coolest thing. i loved how the cheap cars moved away from the rauder when it parked.

[SVT98t]

Your 03 wil handle much better than your previous Panthers. It does have the revised front end, included rack and pinion steering.So it will feel much more responsive. And they just rock.
Good deal mang! Rock on!

-ryan s.

ps.- usually anything that is stealth, tends to be black. Just my opinion.

[Piece-it pete]

And rock it does! Got a good drive without the SO. Roomazoomzoom!

Yeah I guess stealth is usually black. But I know from my 97 (a dark bluish green) (or greenish blue) (never could tell which) that cops don't look twice. They're good blenders. The 85 TC, that's a different story...

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Thinking about it yesterday (yes I need a life ) I remembered a newer Towncar commercial - perhaps from around 2000? A BIG black guy gets in a TC, and goes, yes! yes! yes! Because it was big enough.

Pete

[watchdog]

I don't even remember commercials for the Marauder. I didn't know they existed until after production ended. Most of the commercials that showed the general F/L/M lineup didn't even have the full size cars in them. I dont suppose its a surprise to anyone that sales were dismal to private parties.

Here they are...

1.


2.


3.


And here are a couple of Grand Marq ads.

1994


1998

[thunderbirdlver]

Nice! I love my 03 too! When I went to 17 inch wheels and lower profile tires, I noticed even better handling and it's more planted. Great for surprising ricers on back roads

[87DeuceVic]

That ad is badass!! I am glad Mercury acknowledged how sinister and tough the Marauder looks. Move aside little white-good imports :smirk:

[Piece-it pete]

Tbird, that is really nice! I get a little further along on my 85 and I'll be doing upgrades on the 03

I did pull the front door panels saturday, installed new speaks, cleaned and lubed while I was in there. Simplicity rocks. And the factory stereo really isn't too bad, upgrading the speakers really made a difference. Looking forward to replacing the rears.

On a sour note, the LCM is on the fritz again (it was bad when I test drove it). The dealer did buy me another off Ebay. When I looked at it it did look like someone had worked down there, a couple clips off etc. I should have it today.

The front plate holder I bought from Tasca is the wrong one too.

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Got the LCM, install it tonite if it's not raining. Looking through the vents, those little black things in there are REALLY the headlight relays? Sheesh.

Pete

[sniper308]

Nice Panther but a few more pics will like more :camera: like.. Interiors,engine bay,trunk,undercar,front,rear, so far.

[Piece-it pete]

Soon, very soon, a nice weekend and I'll get pics

Talking about the LCM with my neighbor, we figgered it's got more computing power, just for lighting, than my entire 85. Seems likely anyway.

Last nite was cold rain, hoping for tonite, but we might get the same again.

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

The LCM is a snap to change.

I've been accumulating parts for a 4 wheel brake job and thought I'd share my take on the parts I've received. The rear brakes look original, the front has a slight pulse on the pass side. Change'em all, hopefully this weekend, plus clean/lube/inspect everything, and change the stabilizer pins.

Front pads, FRICTION MASTER Part # MKD931, $10.40 + frt, Rock closeout. Pleasantly surprised, they look like good pads and have the extra metal/adhesive shims. I might buy a spare set.

Front rotors, Centric 'Premium' 12061072, $49.79 + frt, Rock. I didn't cheap out because I had cheap front rotor problems with my 97. Even at $13/ea it just ain't worth it. These look good, and are coated before machining. They are quite thick, the thickest rotors I've ever seen. Hope they last. These hubless rotors feel as heavy as the hub'ed rotors on the 85! Bigger brakes ftw!

Rear pads, just some NOS Bendix 'titanium' off of ebay, $20 del'd. Rock does have some cop duty rears up for $20 +frt but these seemed like a good deal.

Rear rotors, bought off some guy on ebay selling a bunch of NOS drilled and slotted zinc'd rotors for various vehicles. Knew I was taking a chance but $35 for the pair delivered... Anyway kinda sad. The drilled holes DO go through the vanes. Ah well, they're rear brakes anyway Should last a year or two at least. I hope.

Cop duty new raybestos hardware front and back for around $13 +frt total, Rock. Wonder how much at the local store? Rock appeals to my inner pollack They should give me an additional 1% every time I say their name. Perhaps a larger banner ad here?

Pins! Rear, DEEZA CVL610 'improved, stronger version', $2.17/ea! +frt, Rock (cha-ching! I wish lol) closeout. I bought 4. I've had good experiences with Deeza upgraded parts, I had recurring problems with my front links on the 97 until I used theirs. I was putting the fronts on hold till I could cough up another $50 for them, but driving it Monday I heard a squeeking in the front end. So I bought a pair of super cheapies ($14 ea delivered from ebay) as a stopgap measure, which I hope means a year but I'm not holding my breath. Junk parts ftl.

I've had it taking tires off every weekend so I think this time I'll have it all done at once. Yeah right I'll get the front and rear sway bar sizes while I'm doing the brakes, get the correct Energy bushings next! Got a t-stat and tranny filter for it too as the onceover continues.

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Done! In yesterdays actually-too-hot weather.

Total 6 hours. Took my time, cleaned the heck out of everything and lubed everything in sight. Also had the pleasure of my neighbors' 10 year old boy as assistant for a while, slows ya down but I don't mind. Now he knows how disc brakes work

The good news was that even though the hardware and slide boots were about needing changed nothing was rusty or seized. The bad news is, I might not be an old man but I'm sure not young anymore. Little sore today.

The front stabilizer kinks are interesting. To get the top nut off you need to pull the rotor (which I was doing anyway). It's buried enough so you have to use a socket, so you can't get anything on the end of the pin to keep it from turning. I ended up using the tierod pickle fork between the spindle and knuckle on the link, and pulling it towards me to keep tension on it while wrenching.

I'm kinda paranoid working around all that aluminum, I feel like I'm going to damage it. Super cool though.

To squeeze the front calipers two c clamps would've been nice, squeeze one piston down, move to the other, while you squeeze that one the other one comes back out!

Oh and the back calipers just squeeze right in, no screwing in or worse yet screwing in while squeezing.

The rear links were the biggest pain and the cause of my soreness. Easy enough to get the recip blade on the top, but on the bottom with the tops cut the sway bar itself just wanted to flex back and forth with the saw (I forgot to measure the bars, d'oh, but the back one is very small). Fought that sucker with muscle. I need a lift and torches.

Result: stops very nicely, and the pulsing is of course gone. Seems to ride tighter. Still with the squeek in the front end though, all original ball joints and tierod ends...

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Almost forgot - on the front brakes, they have those little bumps on the pads that keep them in the cylinders. I just removed the caliper bracket and pulled the whole thing off.

One thing I couldn't figure out, see the two little bits on the lower right corner of this pic of the front brake hardware:



Look like bits of tubing. I couldn't find them anywhere on the brakes. Any idea what they are?

Pete

[sly]

caliper pin bushings maybe?