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

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    Parts pile is growing a bit. Walker Quietflow SS muffler. Rock Auto says these fit Challengers and 300s. Should have a decent rumble with good street characteristics with my planned 2.5" system with two high-flow cats. I'm looking forward to getting these installed. All I need now is the x-pipe. Also purchased some new O2 sensors that'll go on along with the new system.

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    —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 also had a slight change of plans and ordered some used 3.27 gears to use instead of the 3.73s. The lack of viable options for speedometer correction (don't want to pay for a Speedcal) and 300 fewer RPMs at cruise made me change my mind. The final drive gearing on the AOD and T5 are nearly identical; the Mustang is a pain to drive on the highway. The Mercury mostly gets driven on the highway. I'll keep the 3.73s and maybe use them in the future. For now, the 3.27s just seem like the better option.
      —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'd recommend an H-pipe over and X-pipe. Power difference would likely not be noticeable and they sound weird unless you're really revving it high. My brother put one on his fox body and it didn't sound near as good as the H-pipe he took off.

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          I'm only getting the x-pipe because I want to have a mid pipe in place before taking it to the exhaust shop. No one makes a stainless h-pipe for Fox Mustangs. I plan to have the shop convert it to an h-pipe.
          —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


            Got my hands on a discounted Pypes off-road X-pipe in a damaged box from Amazon warehouse deals. $52 cheaper than an otherwise new one. This one is new, but the original box got beat up the first time around. There were a few dents in one of the joints and one of the cone connections. A few whacks with the ball peen took care of that. I'm very pleased with the purchase. Not sure when I'm going to install the new exhaust. We'll see. I have the headers, x-pipe, mufflers, and O2 sensors. The exhaust shop should be able to fabricate the rest.
            —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


              Headers, x-pipe, and mufflers. I'll have the exhaust shop chop out the crossover and replace it with an h. The rest of the system can be fabricated. I'm currently in the process of seeing if there is a local shop that can take care of it before I make the drive to Fort Worth.

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              —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 would suggest keeping the X pipe, but looks like it will be awesome!

                Should sound good too!
                1983 Grand Marquis 2Dr Sedan "Mercules"
                Tremec TKO conversion, hydraulic clutch, HURST equipped!

                Comment


                  Originally posted by Grand Marquis GT View Post
                  I would suggest keeping the X pipe, but looks like it will be awesome!

                  Should sound good too!
                  I'm tempted. I'll probably leave it there and have it changed out later if I don't like it.
                  —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


                    Lookin' good! They may have to relocate the o2 bungs, that's what happened with mine. Otherwise, should go together nicely.

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                      I was able to get a random day off work this week and took the opportunity to visit my favorite junkyard (the one with all the old cars). I made a decent haul.

                      The 1990 CV I pulled parts from was still there, so I grabbed the rear window chrome (this will replace the body color trim in the future when I eventually go slick top), a rear driver's side window motor (it will get new bushings and assume window duties for the front passenger window; the rear motors are usually in better shape as they see far less use than the fronts), another radio (let's hope this one lasts), a rear view mirror from a '96 Mustang to replace my delaminated original, some vacuum lines (one of my originals is broken), and some seatbelt/headlight warning chimes/buzzers (two chimes, two buzzers).

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                      The original chime was disconnected because the ground wire at the ignition had come loose, causing the chime to be on all the time. I removed the wire since I don't want the key-in chime to sound, but I did want it for the headlight warning. My original chime was worn out and barely audible. I got the buzzers in case I feel like running one of them instead of the chime. My '86 GT had the buzzer and I kind of preferred the sound.

                      The radio I got was from a truck and had a clock face plate. I swapped the face plates and tried to swap over some of the buttons that were in better shape. Some of the attachment pins were broken in the process, so I ended up having to use the NOS face plate I purchased last year. Not sure if I'm going to remove the screen protector.

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                      On a non-junkyard note, I also installed the non-floppy A/C controls I purchased courtesy of mainemantom. Very nice!

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                      —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)

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                        Some nice finds at the yard. A 1993 Thunderbird 5.0 with only 51k on the clock. The yard owner said it runs great and was junked because the transmission is toast. He said he would take $600 for the engine. Kind of steep, but it sounds like it could be drop in ready with minimal freshening if that's the case.

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                        And, a 100% rust-free late-model Bronco 4x4 with a 5.8! I can give some contact info for the yard if anyone is interested in parts off of this. They ship all over the country. I'm not sure why this one was here. Some parts are already gone, but everything important is still there.

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                        All in all, a good day.
                        —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 he pulls the engine and it is complete with accessories, that would be a good deal. 93 AODs were horrible so that makes perfect sense why it was junked.
                          Decent Bronco. Decent ones were plentiful until I moved here. Most are rot boxes. The nicest one I have ever seen here in Maine was in a "cash for clunkers" line at a Ford dealership. Perfect showroom condition. Dealer would not sell it.

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                            I wonder if they verified the working odometer. I know three MN12 TBird owners without a working original/nonrepaired odometers. Only one of the three actually is a low mile garage kept car. Seems like they were even worse than 90+ Panthers.
                            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

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                              Hahaha every '90-'91 panther i've bought or looked at didn't have a working odometer. I love that people always claim the low mileage whilst never mentioning that the odometer reading hasn't changed in 5 years. Even funnier when they put up a pic of the odometer and you can see the numbers all crooked and know the gears shit the bed a while ago. People are such scumbags...

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                                That they are. I love MN12's. Would love to have one with a 302 in it. Those seem like nice little beaters.
                                1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                                1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

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