Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Thanks for everything! '85 Colony Park "junkyard restoration" build summary

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Thanks for everything! '85 Colony Park "junkyard restoration" build summary

    PROJECT 85

    Figured I'd catalog the build of my '85 wagon—or at least the highlights—especially now that we've decided to sell it... (D'OH!). I got it primarily for my wife since she's more often hauling our three kids, but now she's ready for something a bit more modern with heated seats and (working) air conditioning.

    This site has been an invaluable resource over the 4 years, so thank you for that.

    December 2010
    Needed a second vehicle and was looking to avoid a minivan if possible. Stumbled upon a 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis Colony Park LS on local Craigslist for $1000. It had been side-swiped on the driver's side (and hit in the rear, I would later find out). A half-assed repair job (lots of bondo and brown spray paint in lieu of woodgrain) — wasn't pretty but the price was right and it ran strong. I had talked the guy down to $900, but when I went to pick it up, the driver's door handle mechanism had come loose so I couldn't even open the door! I told the guy either he could fix it and I'd come back later, or I'd knock $50 off and fix it myself. So I climbed in through the passenger door and paid $850 for an '85 Merc with 85K miles.



    First order of business: new stereo system. Pulled the stock speakers from the front doors (had to fix that latch mechanism and replace lock motor) and instead put a pair of 4" speakers in the dash, 6x9s in the back, new head unit with aux input, and ran an amp back to that little compartment in the rear. Dash was cracked badly so I found a custom fit dash cover in dark brown to match and cut some holes for the speakers. Already an improvement!



    As the "waggin'" aficionados will attest, I came to find out that locating these old-skool station wagons in junkyards isn't a common occurrence. Luckily the front half of the vehicle (inside and out) is the same as the Grand Marquis sedan, which is way easier to find. That said, I got lucky... twice.

    July 2011
    The local Pull-n-Pay had a '91 CP LS (along with a couple of box sedans). Subsequently I was able to pick up a replacement header panel, LS fender plus cornering lamp, headlight bezel, turn signal, and matching center caps from a GM. I figured this may well be my only chance to get a quarter panel, even if it wasn't perfect, so before leaving I pulled all the interior plastic panels from the rear door back on the driver side to get it ready for surgery later in the week.

    After a rattle-can makeover to the header panel (from black to brown), my car was already looking better.



    So back I went, returning to the junkyard with 2 sawzalls, 5 batteries, and a pack of blades (did I mention I'd never done any body work before??).



    A few hours and $60 later, I had a big ol' chunk of donor steel which would sit in my garage for a couple of years, waiting for the right time for this massive undertaking. In the meantime it didn't look too bad from the passenger side.



    March/April 2013
    Luckily the local Pull-n-Pay puts their inventory online, so I would check fairly regularly for any box wagons — ding ding! Another Colony Park! As a bonus, the yard was having an annual "two for one" sale, so I went a-scroungin'... my driver seat had seen better days for sure, so I was on the hunt for some replacement seats. I didn't have high hopes, as the majority of post-80s vehicles have black, gray, tan, or even red interiors, so I was super stoked to find some dark chocolate brown leather seats in pristine condition from an '84 Chrysler New Yorker which matched my interior! I also grabbed a pair of extra Turbines (with studded snow tires), matching center caps, all the exterior wagon woodgrain moulding, and the luggage rack for good measure since the woodgrain was in better condition than mine.




    September/October 2013
    Fall was in the air and I figured if I didn't act now, it would be at least another 6 months before it was warm enough to have any motivation to work in the garage. First step, I wanted to strip off all the paint and see what I had to work with. Before that though, it was time to mount the replacement fender. (I'm sure my neighbors were thrilled to see this parked outside, bringing down our property values. )



    On a super tight budget, I was able to work out a trade/barter with a local sandblasting business that needed a website, so off the wagon went for media blasting, along with my extra pair of turbines and the donor quarter panel from the '91. This is what came back:





    This was definitely the "ugly" stage where even I was embarrassed to drive it (no way my wife was gonna get behind the wheel).

    They had taped all of the seams/openings so the plastic media wouldn't get inside, which meant that I had a lot of work to do now to remove the remaining 3/4" strips of paint around all of the doors, fenders, hood, tailgate, etc. with a grinder.

    With bare metal and winter on the way, I was committed now.

    {PART 2 to follow}

    #2
    LET THE FUN BEGIN

    My neighbor, who at one time had owned a body shop, had previously told me that "all I needed to do" was re-skin the quarter panel — find a donor, drill out the spot welds, peel back the sheet metal, then do the same on my wagon to remove the damaged sheet metal and weld 'er back up! He made it sound fairly straightforward (did I mention I've never done any body work before?). I suppose it was a good thing I was so naive, because had I known how much work it was, I probably wouldn't have even undertaken this project.

    October/November 2013
    Drilling out spot welds (felt like thousands of them!). Tedious. Repetitive. Necessary. Thankfully my dad owned an air chisel, which was super important once I was finished with the spot welds to separate the outer skin from the infrastructure. Score one for power tools.







    leftovers:


    A quick trip to the glass shop to have the quarter glass carefully removed. Now it was the moment of truth—the point of no return—there's no going back once you take a cut-off wheel to your sheet metal!




    first test fit! ...not too shabby.


    ...some fine tuning and a quick trip to Harbor Freight to get an air flange tool (for the D pillar — overlap instead of trying to butt weld), and voila!


    clamped in place:


    The media blasting had revealed some bad rust in the passenger back corner where the spare is stored, so figured I should make an attempt at my first-ever patch panel repair, using sheet metal from the original (damaged) front fender...





    (Yes, I'm a total newbie welder, too! After MIG welding this, I decided to pay a local shop $100 to spot weld the quarter panel in place for me)



    (Sprayed bed liner on the interior side to provide further protection.)

    Another trip to Harbor Freight for a stud gun, to (try to) pull the lower driver's door back into shape (along with most of the the tailgate, which was previously under an inch of body putty it would seem!).


    December 31, 2013
    Spent a *ridiculous* amount of time over a few weeks, adding putty here & there and sanding all of the filler I had to use (and could've used even more, but I was over it by then). I should add that I had decided to not re-use the exterior trim pieces (or the luggage rack), so I had to fill all of those holes for the moulding clips.

    This was the last day of the year — next stop, paint!


    {PART 3 to follow}
    Last edited by sinistral; 11-24-2014, 01:13 AM.

    Comment


      #3
      Good god. That's determination. Looks great man, glad you're giving full effort even though you said, body work isn't your strong point. You're doing a great job.
      __________________________________________________


      1985.03 Crown Vic. Coupe "CVGT" Build thread - china whirlybird, burnout machine.
      The only 6 speed box on a late model frame.

      Originally posted by SVT98t
      It has air ride. I've disabled it since I've been jacking it up and down.

      That is how you're supposed to jack it.

      Up and down.

      -ryan s.

      Comment


        #4
        Wow! Can't wait to see the finished project! You're a lot braver than I am.
        Nick


        Past: 1967 Continental convertible, 1987 TC Cartier, 1996 TC DAE & Signature, 2002 LS V8, 2006 Zephyr, 2010 MKZ AWD, and many more.....
        Current: 2010 F-150 Platinum Supercrew 4x4
        Wanted: 1967 or 1969 Contnential sedan
        Only in my dreams: A Continental Mark II

        Comment


          #5
          Impressive undertaking. The things you will learn can only help in the future. What a perfect vehicle to learn on. And the final result ought to look great.


          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

          Comment


            #6
            Thanks for the comments...

            So here are the three seams for the quarter panel swap: door sill, C pillar, and D pillar (wrapped around to tailgate).



            Mocking up bracket fab'd to mount the Chrysler seats (was able to incorporate the orginal Merc power controls, too).



            Before & after (what an improvement, eh?):



            I was going back & forth about how I wanted to finish the car... at one point I considered leaving it bare, rat-rod style, and take what little money I'd invest in body/paint and soup up the motor a bit. That idea (thankfully) didn't last long though, so it was a matter of color and trim. Keeping with the DIY theme (and limited funding) I thought I was gonna paint it myself... however I soon realized that was a bad idea for a few reasons: 1) I've never painted a car before 2) though I was willing to try, folks who know better told me it wasn't a good idea to learn on a car this size, as the paint laid down first would already be drying by the time I got back around to it (not a good thing apparently) 3) I didn't have a space big enough, as this beast barely fits in my garage with only a few inches to spare, so I couldn't walk around with a spray gun if I wanted.

            Knowing that this wasn't gonna be a show car, I went to the discount auto paint chain Maaco to see what my options were. I thought that light-ish green from the Toyota Prius would look kinda cool on this car, but the price was gonna go up significantly to paint the doorjambs, engine bay, tailgate jamb, etc.. So that decision was made for me: I'd spray it the original Sand Beige just like it left the factory 30 years ago. I really wanted to do a two-tone (dark brown below belt line to match the interior) but again the checkbook dictated otherwise.

            January 2014
            Here is the first photo shot after picking up from the paint shop (notice all trim still removed):



            Last edited by sinistral; 11-25-2014, 09:31 PM.

            Comment


              #7
              Unless you really know cars , you would be hard pressed to realize that those seats aren't original. They are comfortable too. I had a lot of seat time in an 86 Fifth Avenue with those tufted pillow tops and always loved how comfortable it was.
              2020 Volvo XC90 T6 Momentum (Ice White / Blonde)
              2022 Ram 1500 4x4 5.7 Etorque, Built to Serve Edition, (Granite Crystal / Black)
              Past Panthers
              1989 Grand Marquis LS (Cabernet/Grey), 1989 Lincoln Town Car SS (White/Blue), 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis Ultimate (White/Black)

              Originally posted by Lincolnmania
              if its got tits or tires it's bound to give you trouble

              Comment


                #8
                ALMOST DONE

                I briefly considered replacing the woodgrain vinyl, but wanted to do something "different". And I wanted to use real wood.

                March/April 2014
                At first I thought maybe some flooring slats or wood paneling, but then heard about rolled veneer with 3M backing:



                Rather than the typical location in the middle of the body profile, I wanted to have the contrast along the lower bodyline — especially as that would help hide my inexperienced body work to repair the bottom of the driver door and tailgate. So I ended up buying some Cherry veneer and Walnut stain and made some patterns from paper for the pieces I'd need. Several coats of a waterproof varnish later, and I was ready to try out my idea.



                In the meantime I took another pair of Turbines to get media blasted to match. Afterward I sprayed several coats of a clear plasti-dip on all 4 wheels to provide some weather protection since they were no longer clear-coated, and sprung for some new all-season radials



                As I mentioned, I had decided to not replace the exterior moulding... which was kinda a shame, since I had some nice pieces now (in fact two complete sets, though one not-so nice).



                Again to do something "different", I thought a panel wagon look might be cool. Unfortunately, the veneer didn't come with the 3M backing in this larger size, so I had to use contact cement (which started to bubble up in the heat)...



                ...had potential, but it really cut down on visibility (safety) and made the wagon pretty dark; plus the kids didn't like it since they couldn't look out when sitting in the back. So "plan B" was something a bit crazier — flames!



                ...I cut these out, but never ended up putting them on, as I realized they didn't really go with the "look" of the car at this point (though I've tucked 'em away for some future "project").

                In the end, something a bit more classic (I hope):



                Last edited by sinistral; 11-26-2014, 12:37 AM.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Wow....that turned out great!

                  Really nice job!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I like the picture taking you did. Wagon turned out very well. I really like those seats !

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Looks really good dude! That's a ton of work you did. I really like the real wood accent on the bottom. You guys are really going to sell it after all this?

                      How happy have you been with the Maaco paint job and how much did it set you back? I did my own paint over the summer to the front half of my car. Painted when it was too hot and now the hood has cracks in the paint so I'll have to do it again in the spring. Not too expensive to do it yourself either. (Just really time consuming)

                      '78 LTD | '87 Grand Marquis | '89 Crown Vic (RIP) | '91 Grand Marquis (RIP) | '94 Town Car (RIP) | '97 Town Car (RIP)

                      Comment


                        #12
                        (edit: double post b/c of "server busy" messages...)

                        '78 LTD | '87 Grand Marquis | '89 Crown Vic (RIP) | '91 Grand Marquis (RIP) | '94 Town Car (RIP) | '97 Town Car (RIP)

                        Comment


                          #13
                          That's great! Most would have junked it/drove as is/or derbied it. Nice to see it brought back to where it should be.

                          It would be hard for me to let something like this go after all the work put into it,.
                          1990 MGM: $50 E7 heads, HO cam, Holley SysteMAX lower intake, HO upper intake with an Explorer TB. LSC ECM. Lincoln logs into stock dual exhaust. K&N drop in air filter. Wide ratio AOD, 2400 converter with a 3.08 one tire fire out back. Car is less slow now. Then there's the '92 Beater. Dual 2.25" exhaust with shiny tips. Rumbles nice. Super slow. Burns oil too.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Time to call it good

                            THE FINAL TOUCH

                            A subtle, dark brown pinstripe (thin double) along the belt line to finish it off.















                            Overall I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

                            FAMWAGN junkyard restoration is complete (at least by my hands)... thanks to lots of help from friendly people on this forum. Hopefully somebody else will enjoy it for years to come.

                            Thanks for following along.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Thats one of the best looking wagons on this site. I applaud the amount of time, patience, and effort that went into it. If I had time and put effort into it, I'd still have my merc.


                              '93 T-bird
                              '03 Silverado ECSB

                              Missed:
                              '88 Mark VII
                              '86 CV

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X