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Buyer's Remorse (AKA "Hideous") - Giraffe's 1990 Grand Marquis LS

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    Originally posted by sly View Post
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]51438[/ATTACH]
    Very much so. I think I'll have the Mercury's old tube powdercoated once I've modified the bracket.
    —John

    1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
    1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
    1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
    1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

    Comment


      I picked up one of the chrome dipstick tubes (same one you have) years back. I had one gripe about it.....the dipstick itself (or was it the interior of the tube) seemed to be coated and when removing and reinstalling the dipstick metal would flake off...and a lot of it. I messaged the seller about it (LMR) and they refunded me my money because of the issue. I now run the dipstick but in a modified dipstick tube to work with my set up. http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post769199
      ~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


        Yeah. I never had any issues with this dipstick. May have been a manufacturing defect with that particular example. I'm just glad I've finally found a solution to the dipstick problem on the Cobra. I fiddled with trying to install the junkyard tube for quite a while today before giving up on it. I'd need to significantly modify it to make it work.
        —John

        1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
        1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
        1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
        1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

        Comment


          If you get too frustrated or tired of dealing with that old stubborn snake, I’d be glad to take it off your hands lol. Been lusting for a SN-95 5.0 Cobra since 2003ish...
          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


            Originally posted by Tiggie View Post
            If you get too frustrated or tired of dealing with that old stubborn snake, I’d be glad to take it off your hands lol. Been lusting for a SN-95 5.0 Cobra since 2003ish...
            Haha. I’m afraid that’s unlikely. I picked this car up for $6500 in 2009 from the original owner’s son-in-law in Wilmington, DE. I was stationed in Dover at the time.

            They’re still out there, but are getting scarce.
            —John

            1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
            1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
            1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
            1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

            Comment


              Yesterday while driving the steering wheel suddenly started a pronounced wobble during city driving. I decided now was the time to install the new steering components rather than waiting until the big brake swap.

              Here we go again.



              Are the factory tie rods greasable? If not, they were replaced at some point. I'm assuming a very long time ago. Who knows how many miles this car has.



              I've had an issue with the passenger front spring rubbing the frame. Anyone else ever had this issue? These are Moog springs.



              All new, all Moog.



              I think the passenger outer tie rod was the source of the wobble. It looked like it was filled with mud instead of grease and flopped around like crazy.





              All done. This was fairly easy except for installing the new pitman arm. It took some muscle to torque it down.







              Steering is much tighter and the wobble is gone. I'll need to do the big brake swap before I can get an alignment since my upper control arm bushings are completely shot. I at least eyeballed the tie rods to keep the toe-in where it was.

              I'll get the remaining parts for the big brake swap next payday and will get the new tires with tax money. Big brakes will be done before spring!
              —John

              1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
              1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
              1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
              1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

              Comment


                Yummy newness.

                What you just did is something I need to do at some point. All is well under there BUT it looks like hell. New parts just look SO goddamn nice. I do the alignments myself so its one more reason I am putting it off. It took a LONG time for me to get the toe just right and have the steering wheel centered. Lots of not 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.




                Comment


                  As for the spring rubbing..Yes, I have had that. Only on 1 of my 3 Panthers, the '97 Townie, and only on the passenger side. I also have a shiny spot on the frame where the sway bar must contact on the passenger side. I always figured it was because something was tweaked from when I had that accident 70k miles ago, its never seemed to do anything "bad" or even make noise, but it does eat sway bar links on that side. Car drives fine and its not worth throwing time/money at it if its not preventing it from being driveable, so its just been one of those things that make me go "huh" when I see it.
                  -Steve

                  2006 Audi A6 S-Line FWD ~132k miles, stock.
                  1998 Mercury Grand Marquis LS HPP ~102k miles, slowly acquiring modifications.
                  1997 Lincoln Town Car Cartier ~145k miles, Ported Plenum, Gutted Airbox, Mechanical Fan Delete, Contour E-fan Retrofit, Dual exhaust, Cats ran away, KYB Gas-A-Justs, P71 front sway bar, air ride reinstalled, Blinker Mod, Projector headlight retrofit, Caddy 4-note horn retrofit, Wood rim steering wheel, rustbelt diet plan..
                  1996 Mercury Grand Marquis GS 117,485mi. R.I.P. 7/14/12

                  Comment


                    Mine makes a creaking noise loud enough to hear inside the car whenever I go over a bump. I'll try to see if I can do something about it when I do the big brake swap.
                    —John

                    1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
                    1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
                    1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
                    1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

                    Comment


                      I guess I didn’t eyeball the toe in quite as well as I thought. It was fairly wobbly with some vibration on the highway this afternoon. And the front tires just look more off to the naked eye. I’m going to park it for a little while and drive the Mustang until I can get it sorted out.
                      —John

                      1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
                      1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
                      1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
                      1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

                      Comment


                        I’ve had reasonable success with two long straight boards. One on each front tire, and a ruler from one to another. Repeat front to back of the front tires and you can get the toe pretty close. 1/16” toe in is ideal.
                        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


                          Getting things ready for the big brake swap. I should probably paint the new calipers and brackets, too.

                          —John

                          1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
                          1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
                          1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
                          1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

                          Comment


                            Finally getting around to redoing the junkyard taillights I acquired a while back. Chrome paint on the reflectors and a sand and clear for the lenses. Be advised that if you use an adhesion promoter like I did, they may cloud up like in the second picture. This is normal and will go away once you spray the clear.

                            I still need to do the same treatment to the reflector strips and polish out the chrome. on them and the housings. Hopefully will have it done before the weekend.





                            —John

                            1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
                            1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
                            1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
                            1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

                            Comment


                              Originally posted by Tiggie View Post
                              I’ve had reasonable success with two long straight boards. One on each front tire, and a ruler from one to another. Repeat front to back of the front tires and you can get the toe pretty close. 1/16” toe in is ideal.
                              I didn't have a very long board, but I decided to try getting the toe close to driveable again.

                              I only had one board, so I used my tape measure to ensure it was on the same spot on both sides, then made some chalk marks and measured between them.

                              First measurement was 74" back, 72.5" front. Way too far in.

                              I twisted each outer tie rod out three turns and buttoned everything up halfway so I could set it on the ground and measure again. This time: 72.5" back, 72 3/8" front. 1/8" toed in.

                              Buttoned it up the rest of the way and took it for a drive. Pretty much back the way it was. That'll do until I complete the big brake swap and get a real alignment.

                              Keep in mind that these measurements were not exact. I just wanted to remedy the severe toe in situation I had before so I could at least drive it and give the Mustang a rest.

                              Edit: forgot to mention that I used my new DeWalt 20v 3/8 electric impact for the first time. It is possible to love your tools and I love that tool.
                              Last edited by Giraffe; 02-12-2019, 10:01 PM.
                              —John

                              1985 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat
                              1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS (POTM March 2017 & May 2019 - gone, but not forgotten)
                              1995 Mustang SVT Cobra coupe (cream puff)
                              1966 Mustang coupe (restoration in-progress)

                              Comment


                                Originally posted by Giraffe View Post
                                I didn't have a very long board, but I decided to try getting the toe close to driveable again.

                                I only had one board, so I used my tape measure to ensure it was on the same spot on both sides, then made some chalk marks and measured between them.

                                First measurement was 74" back, 72.5" front. Way too far in.

                                I twisted each outer tie rod out three turns and buttoned everything up halfway so I could set it on the ground and measure again. This time: 72.5" back, 72 3/8" front. 1/8" toed in.

                                Buttoned it up the rest of the way and took it for a drive. Pretty much back the way it was. That'll do until I complete the big brake swap and get a real alignment.

                                Keep in mind that these measurements were not exact. I just wanted to remedy the severe toe in situation I had before so I could at least drive it and give the Mustang a rest.

                                Edit: forgot to mention that I used my new DeWalt 20v 3/8 electric impact for the first time. It is possible to love your tools and I love that tool.
                                Nice. I recently picked up a milwaukee M12 (1/2") stubby impact gun. Bunch of torque settings and very very impressive. Does lug nuts better than my ryobi 18v impact.

                                Anyways for more accurate toe readings (for anyone planning to do this as part of their real alignment) you kinda have to roll the car back and forth after you make an adjustment. The suspension does not settle fully, nore do the tires if you just drop it. My Vic is self aligned by me in my backyard. Took way to damn long setting caster, camber and toe but it can all be done.


                                Curious, did the taillight lenses need a clear? A sand up to 2000/3000 and some plastic polish would not give you a good result without the potential for clear fading?
                                ~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

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