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My 1989 Grand Marquis GS sedan "Ebyt"

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    Being four years deep into metal and paint work on my 68, I can say that getting the professional to do the job is definitely the way to go if you want it done fast and good if you can afford it. That price is very reasonable if they are doing the rotisserie.

    Sounds like huge progress. Looking forward to future updates.
    1990 Country Squire - weekend cruiser, next project
    1988 Crown Vic LTD Wagon - waiting in the wings

    GMN Box Panther History
    Box Panther Horsepower and Torque Ratings
    Box Panther Production Numbers

    Comment


      Was able to swing by the shop yesterday and touch base. Rear glass and power steering pump went in easily. Tires, alignment, fluid flushes, and final assembly (front clip, digital dash, etc.) are all that's left. Friday can't come soon enough.

      Four years! Man alive, that's patience if I've ever seen it. Last I remember, you were welding on new quarter panels for that fastback. Give you credit for going all in and doing it right as opposed to hack jobbing it like I commonly see on first gen Mustangs, F bodys, etc. Best I ever read about was a '69 fastback with a taillight panel made almost entirely of bondo. Yummy!
      '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
      '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
      '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

      Comment


        Making a piece that large out of filler actually requires some talent. Could probably make a lot of money creating fancy-ass cakes with that sort of skill.
        86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
        5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

        91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

        1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

        Originally posted by phayzer5
        I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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          @gadget73: https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...ect-Kate/page3
          Pages 3 and 4 both have some documenting of exquisite hackjobs that had to be undone.

          In unrelated news, Ebyt's in the home stretch now. She's at an affiliated alignment shop, awaiting that plus likely tie rods. The only final assembly related stuff that didn't get done from earlier was the digital dash- many of the wires don't match and without an EVTM it's a slow, tedious, semi expensive process. Can't afford it this year- between storing Cherry's frame over the winter, saving for Eva's chassis swap early next spring, Ebyt's alignment work, and storing Ebyt over the winter, there's just too much going on to splurge on a luxury like the digital dash. Should have her back in action around the 11th or so.
          Last edited by Hearsesrock427; 10-03-2018, 06:10 PM.
          '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
          '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
          '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

          Comment


            She's back, and better than ever. Least from a pure handling & braking perspective..... turns out she didn't need tie rods, just some quality time on the alignment machine. I miss the digital dash but I just couldn't afford to get it all reinstalled this year. Whatever, at least Ebyt drives and handles like a dream! The 255/50/R16 summer tires are noticeably better than the 245/50/R16 all seasons I was running before. Thing just puts the power down and scoots. On dry tarmac she'll do donuts but not without a ton of "persuasion". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTszxGINZpE&t=0s

            Was able to yank more of the vinyl top earlier. Am onto the center tiara bar roof trim, which means partial headliner and dome light removal. Have consulted some threads via search and it seems pretty easy. Just go slow and don't bubba it. Will consult you guys if I get stuck anywhere. Attached pictures are from yesterday before additional slicktop progress.

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            Last edited by Hearsesrock427; 10-10-2018, 10:58 AM. Reason: Added pictures
            '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
            '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
            '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

            Comment


              The music choice....lol Have fun!
              ~David~

              My 1987 Crown Victoria Coupe: The Brown Blob
              My 2004 Mercedes Benz E320:The Benz

              Originally posted by ootdega
              My life is a long series of "nevermind" and "I guess not."

              Originally posted by DerekTheGreat
              But, that's just coming from me, this site's biggest pessimist. Best of luck

              Originally posted by gadget73
              my car starts and it has AC. Yours doesn't start and it has no AC. Seems obvious to me.




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                @87gtVIC: Haha! You know it, can't think of a better period correct song for controlled oversteer. Am hoping for some rain one of these nights so I can do a proper drifting/donuts compilation.

                Got distracted and did not get to dropping headliner for yanking trim and vinyl top remnants. Whatever, such is the price of automotive ecstacy. Just came back from 244 miles of mostly rip roaring hard driving and hard cornering. Am able to take turns 3+ miles per hour faster with the summer tires versus the all seasons. Ebyt turns in sharper, holds on longer, and breaks away smoother. Tried doing some donuts/long drifts after the tires were warm and she just wouldn't let go. The grip was unbelievable. Borderline bullshit levels of adhesion at times.... she felt like a zero turn lawnmower, right up until the rears finally began to break loose. And even then I had to be practically standing on the gas. Was slow, predictable, very easily corrected. The amount of good feelings this car generates is absurd. Lateral Gs have to be close to, if not more than, 1 lateral G on a skidpad.

                And to think there's more on the table even beyond that. With the aforementioned plans for handling upgrades & weight savings next year, I think we'll gain another 2-3 miles per hour in turns.

                Have some of the best still images from earlier! Click image for larger version

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                '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
                '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
                '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

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                  More fun was had since last post. Got the headliner dropped and re-glued. Turns out the spray on adhesive I used is either pretty crap or I just didn't hit the area to be re-glued with enough of it? Headliner has a small sag in the back near the rear window, but it's coming out again next spring/summer for the roll cage and chassis bracing so I'm not losing sleep over it. It'll get some quality upholstery glue job done then. Will stock on some wear/replacement items for next year over the winter, namely a steering box and HD straight rate rear coil springs. Will also have all fluids flushed and the steering shaft lubricated come spring. Between that and finally getting the digital dash reinstalled, I think Ebyt's future is going to get a lot brighter. Here, have some favorites from end-of-driving-season photoshoots;

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                  Last bit of antics before parking her inside for a long winter's nap!
                  https://youtu.be/2OfqdUhJvTk
                  '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
                  '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
                  '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

                  Comment


                    Stocking up on parts to hit the ground running come spring. Little odds and ends like window lift motors, exterior temperature sensor, etc. Maintenance comes first, followed by performance improvements. Roll cage and chassis bracing will likely happen in late August/early September.
                    '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
                    '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
                    '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

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                      Shops will not do the 2G-3G due to liability in modifying factory wiring. Who is liable if the car catches on fire ? If the owner does the job, owner takes full responsibility.
                      They also do not want to troubleshoot any problems. They just want to use a scan tool, r&r parts and charge plenty of money and beat the book to do it.

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                        Originally posted by Mainemantom View Post
                        Shops will not do the 2G-3G due to liability in modifying factory wiring. Who is liable if the car catches on fire ? If the owner does the job, owner takes full responsibility.
                        They also do not want to troubleshoot any problems. They just want to use a scan tool, r&r parts and charge plenty of money and beat the book to do it.
                        Already has 3G; got that done in 2016. Explained the extant of upcoming work including digital dash to the place and we're on the same page with plans. It's just a matter of testing wires one at a time and matching them to harness. Not difficult, just tedious. Some stuff will be done under flat rate (replacing rear coil springs and lubricating suspension parts, for example) but a lot of the work is being done hourly due to the more custom nature of it.

                        First round of work is maintenance/checks focused with a few fun things added for good measure. Ebyt won't go under the knife until May 14th or so. Everything else, from new rear coil springs to some standard maintenance stuff, should be pretty easy. Will report back after the first major round of work is complete. This is going to be an awesome driving season!
                        '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
                        '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
                        '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

                        Comment


                          @mainemantom: You called it early. The main place I dealt with in 2019 was horrible. They cut tons of corners and set the car back more than they helped her. Got billed for shit that was never done (fluid flushes and such), and billed premium money for obviously incomplete or incorrectly done work. Sucks having to seemingly learn everything the hard way but I know what to look for now. Big thing is remembering how the car felt and the condition it was in before getting work done. Learning to troubleshoot helps too (i.e. engines need vacuum, fuel, and ignition to run properly). That and just really grilling people. I'd rather be an asshole who doesn't get taken for a ride than someone who's constantly rolling the dice at his cars' expense because of getting excited and overlooking things. The time to be chummy is after a good business relationship is established. And even then, always have your other hand ready to tighten the leash if it comes to it. Sucks to have to operate that way but it's the way of the industry. Lots of really shitty, shady, scummy characters out there. Hope they all get their just desserts in the end but that's wishful thinking seeping in....

                          ANYHOW, here we are with the beloved maroon beast! There was some other stuff dating back to early days with the car that came to a head earlier this year. Biggest was AOD lost overdrive, and then started slipping really badly. This all stems back from a really bad "rebuild" done in 2014. (You should've seen the pan. Metal shavings everywhere from blown out servos). You know how it goes. Cut corners, even if they weren't entirely your fault, always come back to bite you. Finally found a place that was competent, and they did a really good job on the rebuild. Been around a bunch of AOD based transmissions and Ebyt's now is up to par.

                          BATTLE PLAN 2020:
                          -Fresh alignment (had pass side pitman arm replaced last week... perhaps my hopping of train tracks at 53 miles an hour earlier this month had something to do with that?)
                          -Reshim driver side rear body mount & realign/remount rear bumper (cut corner from 2019)
                          -Fix misfire/stalling/surging idle (another cut corner from 2019, likely ignition or timing related from their botched "tune up". It's definitely not vacuum; brake pedal is super firm and bites at the top of the travel).
                          -Check belt tensioners, fix intermittent squeak on startup or when driving through rain (likely a 2019 cut corner)
                          -Fix power steering getting extremely heavy when going from lock to lock hard. (yet another cut corner from 2019. fucking asscunts.)
                          -Additional chassis bracing & boxed rear control arms (going to get quotes and details from places this week and see how far out they're scheduling)
                          -Custom roll cage (already found a place that can do this specialized work)
                          -Fresh alignment (a must, because I'll have much lower center gravity, improved torsional rigidity, and change in weight distribution!)
                          -'90+ fuel tank assembly swap so I can use a correct fuel sending unit (so my digidash's fuel gauge won't read wonky and backwards; '90+ stuff won't bolt on to '89- fuel tanks)
                          -Add correct temperature sensor so my digidash's temperature gauge reads correctly (2019 cut corner).
                          -Check stereo & amplifier wiring. Have a scratchy sound at certain volume ranges. (the final 2019 cut corner to my knowledge)
                          -Replace ignition switch (wear item, to be expected eventually on these cars)

                          Yuck! Almost all of that is redoing stuff that wasn't done correctly in 2019. That's what happens when you run and gun without sufficient knowledge/background in dealing with shit. You get careless from excitement. You miss things. You overlook things. And you get burned. So please learn from my mistakes. Don't let your passion take complete control because I guarantee people will take advantage of it. I plan on having the stuff outlined above done by the end of September.

                          Money permitting nice-to-haves if above is complete:
                          -Complete trunk muncher/power pulldown delete (have almost everything removed and the latch is bolted up correctly to work in the interim but I want there to be no trace.)
                          -Carbon fiber driveshaft
                          -Custom delrin bushings where applicable (found a place that can handle it, just comes down to time and money)
                          -Wing window delete (FINALLY?!)
                          -Window channel & dew wipe replacements
                          -Redo exhaust from the headers back (midpipes and tailpipes sit way too low; only thing I'm keeping are the tips)
                          -Body work! (weld the trim holes shut, all 110+ of them. and more!)
                          Last edited by Hearsesrock427; 07-19-2020, 06:57 PM. Reason: Added things to nice-to-haves
                          '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
                          '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
                          '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

                          Comment


                            Another necro thread revived! Sweet.
                            1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                            1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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                              Stuff is getting done, just not in the order I expected. Trunk muncher delete is done, alignment is done. Frame shop had a good look at everything today and found that the KYB Gas A Justs were wasted. Guess they aren't what they used to be! Difference in ride height in the rear is from coil springs- not from body mounts or shims. All that explains the random floatiness feeling that wasn't there back in 2016 and intermittent tic of weirdness when carving corners. So I'll order Bilstein HD shocks from ADTR and heavy duty rear coils (as opposed to the civilian spec ones that somehow ended up on the car after the body swap; yay for yet another 2019 cut corner) from Summit Racing. Shocks will be here next week; springs are delayed by at least a week so I'll just have this small suspension upgrade done in two steps. I expect a 3 mph gain in corners when it's all said and done.

                              But what about getting the rear control arms boxed and have extra boxing plates added to the frame? I could possibly swing it money wise and time wise. And it'd be really cool to see- frame shop is willing and able to get it done. But I'd much rather address some other wear items. Namely this ancient, decrepit engine bay wiring. I really hoped to squeeze another year out of it but it's gotten to the point where I can't start Ebyt without crossing posts on the starter solenoid. In weeks prior I could just wiggle a couple wires around the starter solenoid and around the battery and it'd it work fine. Chassis grounds need to be cleaned as well, would explain some intermittent issues (extended cranking, part throttle stumbles, rough idle, and misfires) that have cropped up and don't seem to care if Ebyt's cold or up to operating temperature. I'll have an ignition tune-up done seeing as how I'll be close to the 30,000 mile mark when getting the engine bay rewired. Goes in for that plus HD shocks upgrade, checking the belt tensioners, power steering, and ignition switch on the 14th- should have her back sometime around the 23rd.

                              Fuel sender will get done sometime in September- found a place that can replace the "guts" of your sending unit so it has the correct ohms/resistance for say, a digital dash. http://www.tristarrradiator.com/ Much easier than swapping a fuel tank and filler neck assembly! This small but useful fix will probably be the last thing I get done before parking Ebyt. All other listed work from the battle plan has been pushed back to 2021.
                              Last edited by Hearsesrock427; 08-07-2020, 02:18 PM.
                              '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
                              '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
                              '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

                              Comment


                                Tires rotated & valve stems checked, chassis wiring grounds cleaned, starter solenoid replaced and start circuit wiring replaced. Runs better, cranks a gazillion times faster, and I don't need to use the screwdriver. Some of the intermittent tics have gone away too, though I still get a small hiccup every now and then. Probably engine bay wiring related; there are still some really crusty wires and connectors that need replacing. Still waiting on backordered rear coil springs. Shocks are going on next week after Operation Steelside.

                                Have some select pictures from 2019! Click image for larger version

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                                '89 Grand Marquis "Ebyt", '85 Grand Marquis "Eva", '94 Caprice "Kira"
                                '84 Town Car "Stacy", '79 New Yorker “Anita", '93 Town Car "Kelly"
                                '80 Mark VI "Allie", '94 Grand Marquis coming June, '79 LTD-S "Oksana"

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