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1997 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

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    Originally posted by Tiggie View Post
    New lights make such a huge difference. I’d say that’s good oil pressure as well. How many miles were on it when you bought it?
    Don’t quote me exactly since I’d need to find the title to make sure, but I think the official mileage was 111,896. I usually just round and say it had 112K when I started.


    My Cars:
    -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
    -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
    -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
    -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

    Comment


      New lights can change how a car looks for sure.
      ~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.




      Comment


        Where has the time gone?


        It's been 10 years since I got this car! I'd argue it has served me quite well over the last decade. I've driven it further than the original owner at this point (I am the second owner of this car). The mileage is around 227,700, so I've logged just a few hundred miles short of 116K since I got it in 2011. It's definitely not as pretty as it was years ago, but I'd argue its held up reasonably well with time. I've had to resolve to a pragmatic view that I cannot keep it exactly as it was when I first got it, but I can do my best to keep things orderly and presentable. I certainly have no plans to let it go at this point; I honestly want to see how far it will go, then build it back better if I can.

        Don't really have any super current photos of it, but here it is a few weeks ago with all the other Panthers that come around:


        Just in case anyone forgot, the Town Car is my roommate's car and the Crown Victoria is a friend's car. It was left here at my place to get major chassis service and a tune up before it went into daily driver service.


        My Cars:
        -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
        -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
        -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
        -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

        Comment


          Finally got some time to work on this car and take care of some preventive maintenance. The front end got a terminal creak in it a few weeks ago that sounded like a clapped ball joint. I hit all my grease points which helped a bit, but I checked my service records and it's been ~80-90K since it got ball joints fitted. Sounds like short service life, but there's plenty of trash roads I've just thrown this car over as the years have gone on, so I'm to blame on that.

          I opted to get loaded upper and lower control arms fitted, so not only was the ball joint concern taken care of, but also that addressed the 230K on the front bushings. They were quite worn, so this was a great time to get everything done at once.

          Got the alignment done up and had the shop run the camber just a little positive (~0.2*) since the front end still has to settle down. The hope is once it's settled, it should land near spec with very little negative camber. I've already noticed over the last few days the nose has started to drop and there's more give when braking. Just got to keep driving it.


          Today I was able to spend a little time cleaning it properly since the weather was nice and not excessively hot. Wash, polish, and wax on the exterior and the interior got a dusting and vacuuming.


          I've got a set of seats to go in up front that Nick pulled that are even in nicer shape than mine. I've also got to start planning for a headliner job. I've noticed most '92+ cars have an issue where the headliner starts to fall away near the rear window, and I took to gluing it back into place several years ago when it started to do that on me, and it held up fine until recently. Unfortunately, the re-glued areas have gotten brittle and the fabric has had so much sun exposure it's starting to tear away. I guess 24 years ain't too bad since the rest looks great.


          My Cars:
          -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
          -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
          -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
          -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

          Comment


            Your car is looking very good. What are the wheelcovers from ? If you have a straight on picture, I would like to see the wheelcover

            Comment


              Originally posted by Mainemantom View Post
              Your car is looking very good. What are the wheelcovers from ? If you have a straight on picture, I would like to see the wheelcover
              I'll grab a pic tomorrow. They're early/mid 70s Mercury Monterey wheel covers to my knowledge. FWIW, my eventual goal is to clean up a set of turbines for this car and swap the steel wheels to the wagon. I got the wheel covers for the '87, but got bored and tossed them on this car.


              My Cars:
              -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
              -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
              -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
              -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

              Comment


                With a picture, I will look it up in my Hollander book and give you the exact year and applications.

                Comment


                  Super reflective!
                  ~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.




                  Comment


                    Originally posted by Mainemantom View Post
                    With a picture, I will look it up in my Hollander book and give you the exact year and applications.
                    As requested:


                    My Cars:
                    -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                    -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                    -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                    -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

                    Comment


                      What you have there is D3MY1130D. Manufactured before 9-15-1972. Used on Mercury 1973-1974. 1977 Cougar.
                      Yours cost $20.45 each new.

                      Comment


                        Whew, long day for myself and the Marquis. Made two round trips from Evans to Waynesboro (roughly 40 miles each way). It should have been one single movement and I shouldn't have towed a whole Dodge.

                        To give a quick idea of the plans for today was a buddy was supposed to bring over his full size car trailer and GMC 2500HD to load my truck on, and I was going to take a small utility trailer another friend of mine bought and take all of it to Waynesboro where the friend with a trailer has access to pole barn storage. Easy enough in theory and the work shouldn't take but a few hours at most.

                        Unfortunately my buddy with the truck works for the railroad and they stuck him on-call and I'd already made arrangements to get this stuff where it needed to be, so off to U-Haul for a dolly!

                        Round One!


                        This trip addressed several glaring issues, and that is my already sagging rear springs did not help with the ride. Before I move anything heavy again (if I do), air ride must be fitted. Too much drag-ass. Second, better brake pad compound will be used. I planned stops well in advance, but I could definitely smell them.

                        My route had several long hills with good gradients, and the 4.6 managed them okay. Definitely made me want more low end torque to get things moving. I think the fastest I safely felt going was 50 the entire trip. Having that truck bucking against the hitch gave me anxiety I haven't felt in a long while, and I'd rather not go do that again anytime soon.

                        Round Two!


                        The lightweight trailer was considerably nicer to move. My friend just had new tires put on and we re-packed the wheel bearings. That was not so much of an adventure to get moved out to the property as it followed along quietly and smoothly.


                        Anyway, we shall see if the 4R70W up and quits in a few days. Honestly the car managed about as well as it could and my temperature and oil pressure readings stayed fairly normal.


                        My Cars:
                        -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                        -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                        -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                        -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

                        Comment


                          I am curious if U-haul wanted information as to what you were going to tow ? When in Ca. I rented a tow dolly a few times. UHaul wanted all the details. If the vehicle being towed was more than what they thought was acceptable, they would not rent the dolly.
                          I always told them I was towing a Ford Escort. After I got the dolly, I towed what I wanted which was much heavier.

                          You might consider doing a transmission service since the towing has been done.

                          Comment


                            U-Haul still wants to know what you’re hauling, so I told them a Ram 50 (secretly plus 100). Luckily the place I rented from is a local joint and I know the owner, so he had half a clue what was really happening and just told me to call him if there were any loading issues.

                            Transmission service is already on the docket. Usually I change the fluid in the pan every 20K or so. Maybe overkill, but I’d like to see how far it goes before something fails.


                            My Cars:
                            -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                            -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                            -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                            -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

                            Comment


                              I love seeing trailers hooked to Panthers. I don't think any other passenger car from 1997 could compete.
                              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


                                In KW's and my part of the country, you do not see a whole lot of minty looking Marquis or Vics from the 90s much anymore. Most are baked inside and out, and heavily beat.

                                This 97 is so impressive looking for its age and mileage, especially since it's a daily driver. The paint has held up very well as has the rest of the car. Kudos to KW for keeping such a respectable clean car for its age.
                                -Nick M.
                                Columbia, SC

                                66 Squire, 89 Colony Park, 90 TC, 03 TC, 06 TC, 07 TC (2x)
                                03 BMW 540iT, 07 Toyota Tundra SR5 Dbl Cab/5.7 2WD

                                Comment

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