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1997 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

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    #16
    I love the wheel setup you're running, always did like the painted steelies. What did the dog dish come off of?


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    - 2004 Ford Thunderbird - 2006 Ford F150 XLT - 2018 Ford Explorer Limited - 1958 Mercury Medalist

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      #17
      Originally posted by MrMarquis View Post
      I love the wheel setup you're running, always did like the painted steelies. What did the dog dish come off of?
      If I had to guess, some mid to late 70s Ford. I got them on eBay. They're the same type that showed up on the '90-'92 P72s and '93-'97 P71s, except with the Mercury crest instead of the Ford Oval. The steelies were from two CVPIs, a '93 and '94.

      Also, for an update on the car, I got it back from the shop on the 20th after I dropped it off on the 18th for the door repair. It needed the trim repaired and a dent removed from the door above the trim after I had gotten tagged in a parking lot. The body shop did great work and you'd be hard pressed to find any issues with their job.

      Before returning it, they detailed the exterior:


      Area of impact before:


      Area of impact after:


      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

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        #18
        For mounting your 90-91 cluster have you looked into seeing if it is possible to mount the unit higher? It would require drilling new mounting holes in the cluster mount ears as well as shaving the alignment pegs off the back of the mounting ears or drilling new holes in the dash for them.
        I don't know what kind of room you have in the newer dash to work with to make that change though, and I'm not sure how much cluster face is hidden at the bottom that you would have to work with. You would also only have 2 mounting screws instead of 4 if you went this route.
        Pic of what I'm talking about:
        Click image for larger version

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        I didn't initially consider this as an option because of how perfectly the mounting holes and alignment pegs lined up, but I think some of my fitment issues with my 2000 CVPI cluster in my 91 MGM could be alleviated by moving my mount holes up. My cluster would then mount lower, which there is room for, and the bezel modifications that I would need to make might be less. Although it might cause an issue with my trip odometer reset button.
        Vic

        ~ 1989 MGM LS Colony Park - Large Marge
        ~ 1998 MGM LS - new DD
        ~ 1991 MGM LS "The Scab"
        ~ 1991 MGM GS "The Ice Car"

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          #19
          I think mounting it higher would leave a gap at the bottom. I'll look at it some more later on, but there is not a lot of area to play with.


          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


            #20
            That's what I was afraid of, and looking at your pictures some more it looks like you would create a gap at the bottom by mounting the unit higher. When I get around to working on mine again, mounting it lower will be something that I'll have to try since it looks like it might work for my setup.
            Vic

            ~ 1989 MGM LS Colony Park - Large Marge
            ~ 1998 MGM LS - new DD
            ~ 1991 MGM LS "The Scab"
            ~ 1991 MGM GS "The Ice Car"

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              #21
              Well...


              I decided to repaint the rims today since the red paint was so badly eaten from the hubcaps and road debris. Chipped and pitted, it looked like shit. The black is a "for now" deal, and I have plans to properly redo them in Toreador Red again later on. Getting them prepped properly takes a bit of time, so that'll be something for this summer when I'm out of class and I would have the time.


              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


                #22
                The black looks classy! Congrats on POTM, I'm going to really enjoy seeing your snazzy cruiser on the banner for the next month.

                I'm waiting for the thaw up here so I can repaint my hood and left C-pillar. I'm a little jealous of the minty paint on the rest of your car, and weather where you can actually paint stuff!

                1995 Grand Marquis GS
                - 156k miles, three-tone until I find my paint
                1990 Toyota Camry DX - 211k miles, someone else's future barn find
                1994 Saturn SW2 wagon - wife's car

                Originally posted by SVT98t
                I'll make it fit.
                I own hammers.

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                  #23
                  I'm just not a fan of hubcaps, at least not the larger ones. I think the smaller ones like on a whale would look good polished up with the trim rings. If those hubcaps are collecting debris and damaging the paint, I'd just take them off. Even without hubcaps, the trim rings and a set of chrome acorn lug nuts would look great too.
                  88 Town Car (wrecked, for sale)
                  Walker OEM duals with muffler deletes

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                    #24
                    Originally posted by rezwrrd View Post
                    The black looks classy! Congrats on POTM, I'm going to really enjoy seeing your snazzy cruiser on the banner for the next month.

                    I'm waiting for the thaw up here so I can repaint my hood and left C-pillar. I'm a little jealous of the minty paint on the rest of your car, and weather where you can actually paint stuff!
                    Thanks!

                    The weather is bipolar down here right now, swinging from near 80 degrees down to 40 degrees for daytime highs. Next week should be more "stable", with things in the mid-60s.

                    Originally posted by 88Vic View Post
                    I'm just not a fan of hubcaps, at least not the larger ones. I think the smaller ones like on a whale would look good polished up with the trim rings. If those hubcaps are collecting debris and damaging the paint, I'd just take them off. Even without hubcaps, the trim rings and a set of chrome acorn lug nuts would look great too.
                    The dog dishes aren't the direct cause for damage to the finish except where they latch on, which is covered by them anyhow. When the rims were red, they were actually the car's color, Toreador Red Metallic. I had to sand, prime, paint, and clear the wheels and then apply a hard clear enamel to try to slow any damages, but over two-ish years, debris being thrown against the wheel and the application of the trim rings took the paint right off since its not really designed to hold up against hard scratching.

                    I considered the small center caps, but for the 15 inch wheels I find the dog dish more appropriate.


                    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


                      #25
                      It would appear the contacts on the instrument cluster's circuits shifted enough to touch my left turn signal indicator with the seat belt warning light. The little contacts were already lifting away for how often the cluster had been disconnected, and last time I had it out, I was having a bitch of time getting the contact on for the high beam indicator. I'll try super gluing the contacts back down to the plastic circuit backing, and if that doesn't work, I'll go see if there are any '92 MGMs that I can source a donor cluster backing from. I already know I can't use the '90-'91 or '93-'94 back since the grounds are different.

                      Excuse the lousy video, I wasn't paying a lot of attention while holding the camera, but you can see what's up.


                      Also, a good upgrade for these clusters is green LEDs for the turn signal indicators. Those incandescent 194s just don't cut it.


                      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


                        #26
                        I've ran in to the issue of those contacts peeling up and shifting when I made the adapter for my cluster swap. Mine peeled because the heat from soldering wires in caused the original adhesive to let go. I also tried superglue which seemed to work ok but I ended up getting it all over the contact so I had to scrape it off to get back down to copper.
                        Vic

                        ~ 1989 MGM LS Colony Park - Large Marge
                        ~ 1998 MGM LS - new DD
                        ~ 1991 MGM LS "The Scab"
                        ~ 1991 MGM GS "The Ice Car"

                        Comment


                          #27
                          I'm going to get the dash lights fixed Monday. The seat belt light is not just powering the turn light on the dash, but also triggering the signal on the exterior of the car. I noticed the amber glow from the front while in the garage before I left today.

                          I'm thinking of just going down to the junkyard to get the matching cluster body so it is plug n' play, I just wish there was a fresher selection of cars. I've already seen everything down there twice. I know the local yard isn't moving inventory like normal because the scrap price is almost nil and a lot of cars that have already been pulled from their rows have just been placed in the large clearing they keep until they're worth a bit more.


                          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


                            #28
                            Just some minor updates:
                            -The car just rolled past 149,500 miles today. 150,000 here I come!
                            -Readjusted the hood latch. I was really having to slam it down to get the hood to stay shut. I've got it where a firm push gets it to shut now.
                            -Reran and soldered horn wires.
                            -Replaced the old Sparton horns with some mid-80s Delco Remy horns for reliability. I'll be saving the Spartons for something else, but I do need to clean up the coils.
                            -Re-installed the plastic shroud that covers the under hood area closest to the header panel.


                            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


                              #29
                              Took the dash apart today to fix the cluster issue with crossing feeds across each other. The left turn signal feed had come off from the plastic a good bit into the cluster, but the whole thing was pretty worn from all my tinkering with it, so whatever. I got the "new" speedometer chassis in the dash and plugged everything up, all is good there.

                              Also, I have essentially finished my work with this project. I finally cut and fitted the filler strip that I made from a late '80s Park Avenue:




                              Is it perfect? No, but it is a hell of a lot better than that ugly gap I've been looking at for a year. Measurements for that strip was a little over 13 inches across and a little over an inch high. I just did rough checks with a tape measure so that it wouldn't be too wide or too tall, essentially just big enough to cover the necessary area.
                              Last edited by Kodachrome Wolf; 03-18-2015, 12:23 PM.


                              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


                                #30
                                Like it both in theory and certainly in practice!!!


                                "Hope and dignity are two things NO ONE can take away from you - you have to relinquish them on your own" Miamibob

                                "NEVER trade your passion for glory"!! Sal "the Bard" (Dear Old Dad!)

                                "Cars are for driving - PERIOD! I DON'T TEXT, TWEET OR TWERK!!!!"

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