I had a narrow window of opportunity today to get some photos before it started raining its ass off. Even without the sun, there were so many reflections on the driver's side from that white porch railing that I didn't bother with that image here. Anyhow....
This is my 2000 P71 Interceptor that I traded my 96 F150 for last month. I swapped on the brand new tires and the Merc wheels from the 2000 Grand Marquis that I got for $485, which is visible in the background. I also swapped in the cloth back seat and a bunch of smaller items here and there that were needed. A previous owner removed the Ford emblems from the grille and the trunk lid. I was looking at the holes in the trunk lid where the Ford emblem was removed and I thought "Hmmm, I wonder...." Sure enough, the Mercury emblem mounting posts perfectly matched up. That's where the idea came about to turn this car into a custom 'Mercury MidKnight'. My plans are to at some point in the near future get an early 70s Mustang running horse grille ornament, paint it black, paint its eye red, and mount it where the Ford emblem was in the grille. Plus, do a custom 'MidKnight' decal where the police interceptor one was and also to cover over 'Grand Marquis LS Precision Trac' on the swapped in dash panel. Yes, that panel is fake wood but my wife and I rather like it. And it breaks up the otherwise monotone color scheme of the dash. The clock integrated into the panel is not hooked up, but the aftermarket JVC stereo has a clock. There was enough slack in the wiring for the police trunk release that I was able to re-locate that under the corner of the very bottom of the dash. Still very handy to get at, but out of sight when looking from outside of the car, which is a plus. Some of the rear seat belts were gray, so I replaced those with blue ones from the 86 Grand Marquis that I had. My plan is to spray the rear seat with dark blue 'Simply Spray' fabric and upholstery paint. I have had very good luck with that product in the past. The front seats just need a bit of upholstery cleaner when I have time. I swapped in the entire trunk liner from the 2000 Merc and it looks much better than the one that was in this car. Also added the 'donut' and its felt cover.
The car has 154k on it, 50k of which was put on in the last 2 years from the young guy I got it from driving it back and forth to work. So, it has definitely not just been sitting around deteriorating. He said that he changed the oil every 3k miles with Mobil-1 full synthetic 10W30 and I will continue. As he put it, everything in the front end was replaced from the bearings to the sway bar links. He also installed a new intake with the aluminum crossover. He put in the K & N cold air intake. He put in HID high beams and new headlight and signal lenses. He had mounted the driver's side HID ballast behind the washer fluid bottle and just left the bottle sitting there unsecured. I put that back where it belongs with its two screws and then made a bracket for the ballast from the bracket for the ticket light I removed. The ticket light was loose and I didn't want it anyway. I removed the few remaining courtesy lights from the car, because I prefer a 'dark' car anyway.
The car has ABS, traction control, and the 3.55 locker. Right now, it also has dual straight pipes with no cats and no mufflers. Going to have to be very light-footed until I can do something different with that exhaust.
Going to be a lot of fun and unique from all the rest out there
Oh....the pics quite effectively hide a lot of imperfections in the paint. It's really kind of rough, paintwise. But I intend to keep it that way. It's an old Road Warrior, not a show car.
This is my 2000 P71 Interceptor that I traded my 96 F150 for last month. I swapped on the brand new tires and the Merc wheels from the 2000 Grand Marquis that I got for $485, which is visible in the background. I also swapped in the cloth back seat and a bunch of smaller items here and there that were needed. A previous owner removed the Ford emblems from the grille and the trunk lid. I was looking at the holes in the trunk lid where the Ford emblem was removed and I thought "Hmmm, I wonder...." Sure enough, the Mercury emblem mounting posts perfectly matched up. That's where the idea came about to turn this car into a custom 'Mercury MidKnight'. My plans are to at some point in the near future get an early 70s Mustang running horse grille ornament, paint it black, paint its eye red, and mount it where the Ford emblem was in the grille. Plus, do a custom 'MidKnight' decal where the police interceptor one was and also to cover over 'Grand Marquis LS Precision Trac' on the swapped in dash panel. Yes, that panel is fake wood but my wife and I rather like it. And it breaks up the otherwise monotone color scheme of the dash. The clock integrated into the panel is not hooked up, but the aftermarket JVC stereo has a clock. There was enough slack in the wiring for the police trunk release that I was able to re-locate that under the corner of the very bottom of the dash. Still very handy to get at, but out of sight when looking from outside of the car, which is a plus. Some of the rear seat belts were gray, so I replaced those with blue ones from the 86 Grand Marquis that I had. My plan is to spray the rear seat with dark blue 'Simply Spray' fabric and upholstery paint. I have had very good luck with that product in the past. The front seats just need a bit of upholstery cleaner when I have time. I swapped in the entire trunk liner from the 2000 Merc and it looks much better than the one that was in this car. Also added the 'donut' and its felt cover.
The car has 154k on it, 50k of which was put on in the last 2 years from the young guy I got it from driving it back and forth to work. So, it has definitely not just been sitting around deteriorating. He said that he changed the oil every 3k miles with Mobil-1 full synthetic 10W30 and I will continue. As he put it, everything in the front end was replaced from the bearings to the sway bar links. He also installed a new intake with the aluminum crossover. He put in the K & N cold air intake. He put in HID high beams and new headlight and signal lenses. He had mounted the driver's side HID ballast behind the washer fluid bottle and just left the bottle sitting there unsecured. I put that back where it belongs with its two screws and then made a bracket for the ballast from the bracket for the ticket light I removed. The ticket light was loose and I didn't want it anyway. I removed the few remaining courtesy lights from the car, because I prefer a 'dark' car anyway.
The car has ABS, traction control, and the 3.55 locker. Right now, it also has dual straight pipes with no cats and no mufflers. Going to have to be very light-footed until I can do something different with that exhaust.
Going to be a lot of fun and unique from all the rest out there
Oh....the pics quite effectively hide a lot of imperfections in the paint. It's really kind of rough, paintwise. But I intend to keep it that way. It's an old Road Warrior, not a show car.
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