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kishy's 1991 Grand Marquis

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    kishy's 1991 Grand Marquis

    Next to branch off from My Rides: my first Panther, and my first road-legal car. Bought in April 2012 for $3200, the most I have ever paid for a car and perhaps the most I ever will.

    Originally posted by kishy View Post
    The story behind this is pretty straightforward. I didn't have a car, but I wanted one. I like full size sedans. I searched Kijiji for Grand Marquis, and I found this...priced a little high, but I just kinda had a feeling when I saw it. A few weeks later, done deal! Bought from original owner, older guy who wouldn't be driving anymore.

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]39310[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]39311[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]39304[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]39303[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]39306[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]39307[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]39309[/ATTACH]

    This car is stock except for a pretty basic radio replacement, 130A small frame 3G alternator, Delco Remy 4 note horns, headlamp re-wire with relays, sequential turn signals and 1990 P72 cluster.
    Oh, and it currently sits on CC819 rear cargo coils but that's likely to change either for a factory RAS retrofit or at least the sedan cargo coils to calm it down a bit.
    In addition to what's mentioned above, the CC819s got swapped out for 817s after a while, it got a 98-02 brake upgrade with Speedway 925 coils at that time, which were eventually swapped for Moog 8652s because I hated the ride on the stiffer lower springs. It also has 93-94 cupholders retrofitted into the dash (a benefit of the 90-91 dash).

    This car now has door dings and body rust. I'm pretty sure, due to the orange peel, that it was repainted and that may have been done to try to cover up the rust that has now found its way through again. Wheel well lips, below fuel door, rear quarters behind the wheels, around the cornering lamps...the common offenders. Underbody is pretty much perfect, on the other hand. Most likely this car will be my first project in quality body work, a bit down the road (that whole money and time conundrum).

    She needs love, and she'll get it, but not quite yet. She was my DD from April 2012 to October 2015 when I got my Ranger on the road, then again for spring/summer/fall 2016 until I got the Lincoln on the road in time for winter. Aside from moving in my driveway it hasn't been driven since.

    Mechanically she's OK, has lopo low oil pressure and what sounds like a little piston slap though. I've also suspected clogged cats for a while now and will be replacing them when I do the whole exhaust, which will be necessary also before its next emissions test because the exhaust is rusted off at the Y-pipe. Most likely she's staying off the road until the wagon is mobile. Further updates will appear in this thread when the time comes.





    Oh, and that carriage roof...it has a Haartz Cambria roof installed by ASC with "carriage roof" noted on the build sheet from under the carpet (so it's factory, but not done by Ford). It makes the interior of the car in a rainstorm very, very quiet which is an awesome feature, but the cleaning and upkeep of that fabric is incredibly time consuming and labour-intensive. Vinyl (a very different material) is way easier to care for.
    Last edited by kishy; 09-29-2017, 10:20 PM.

    Current driver: Ranger
    Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
    | 88 TC | 91 GM
    Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
    Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
    | Junkyards

    #2
    Does it have red interior? If so... dang awesome color combo with the roof and the HPPs makes it even better. I'm not usually a fan of the 88-91 GM but this one strikes me at just right.
    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


      #3
      Do the HPP wheels still have the Ford center caps? I've been looking to help my dad get a set of those wheels for his 2000 CVPI, but all I can find locally are GM wheels. I'd be more than willing to pick up a set of those wheels if I could maybe swap center caps with you.
      —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


        #4
        Originally posted by Tiggie View Post
        Does it have red interior? If so... dang awesome color combo with the roof and the HPPs makes it even better. I'm not usually a fan of the 88-91 GM but this one strikes me at just right.
        Yes, there's an interior shot embedded in the OP but it won't show up unless you click the link since it's attached in the original thread. It's currant red leather. The front seats were recovered at some point and don't exactly match but in non-direct sunlight it looks OK usually.

        The subtle red pinstripe near the body line works really well with the red interior and even with the rust this car has developed I still find it incredibly beautiful when I put some detailing time in.

        Originally posted by Giraffe View Post
        Do the HPP wheels still have the Ford center caps? I've been looking to help my dad get a set of those wheels for his 2000 CVPI, but all I can find locally are GM wheels. I'd be more than willing to pick up a set of those wheels if I could maybe swap center caps with you.
        Yes, I have two sets of HPPs, both with complete sets of Ford logo centre caps, one set they're all cracked and the other I think they were OK.

        I'd be down to swap a set in the right circumstances, shoot me a PM if you want to work that out.

        Current driver: Ranger
        Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
        | 88 TC | 91 GM
        Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
        Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
        | Junkyards

        Comment


          #5
          Not that this car gets seen much around these parts, but here's its Marti report:


          Current driver: Ranger
          Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
          | 88 TC | 91 GM
          Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
          Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
          | Junkyards

          Comment


            #6
            Ooo, lots of options. Including "Canada Requirements." So from South Park logic that means square wheels, right?
            1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
            1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by DerekTheGreat View Post
              Ooo, lots of options. Including "Canada Requirements." So from South Park logic that means square wheels, right?
              Nah. It just means the horn goes "SOOOORRRRYYYY" instead of "HONK".
              -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


                #8
                Originally posted by BigMerc96 View Post
                .."SOOOORRRRYYYY"..
                Pronounced, "Surry!"
                1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                Comment


                  #9
                  Spent a little time with this one today...vacuumed out a bunch of leaves and tree crap, power washed off a layer of dirt, used the special cleaner stuff for the rag top, hand washed the rest of the body twice (quick/low pressure cleaning mode - lots of contaminants on the paint to create lots of scratches if I went to town too hard on it).

                  Parked with a car cover now, as it should have been for the last 3 years.

                  This car's time will come again. It needs a lot of body work to be made right again in my eyes, though.






                  Current driver: Ranger
                  Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                  | 88 TC | 91 GM
                  Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                  Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                  | Junkyards

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Nice, I really like '91s.

                    I'm curious about what special cleaner you used on the top since my '98 has the same top.

                    303 Fabric Guard for marine fabrics is a product I would recommend for these rag tops.
                    http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post841839
                    http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post842059
                    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


                      #11
                      The roof on my car is made of Hartz Cambria and was installed by ASC. Hartz specifically told me to never apply any product to it which contains either silicone or petroleum distillates, and I believe I had concluded at some point that the 303 stuff does contain one or both. However, it's also a market that 303 specifically advertises towards, so it can't be that bad, and people who use 303 products on various things generally seem happy with the performance.

                      The product I use is this, as its manufacturer stated it does not contain either of the no-go products: https://www.autoglym-canada.com/prod...tenance-system
                      I buy it from Canadian Tire when it's on sale for 20-25 bucks: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/a...-0392578p.html
                      This is a UK brand with distribution in Canada; I am not sure how easy it is to get on your side of the border.
                      At any given time I usually have 1 complete kit and one partially used hanging around...the cleaner and protectant get used at different rates so you end up sort of all over the place.

                      In this case I actually only cleaned it, and didn't apply the protectant. The car wasn't going to sit with the cover off long enough to let the protectant fully dry and do what it needs to do.

                      Current driver: Ranger
                      Panthers: 83 GM 2dr | 84 TC | 85 CS
                      | 88 TC | 91 GM
                      Not Panthers: 85 Ranger | Ranger trailer | 91 Acclaim | 05 Focus
                      Gone: 97 CV | 83 TC | 04 Focus | 86 GM
                      | Junkyards

                      Comment


                        #12
                        My opinion of 303 has started to change. It does contain silicone and I think it's only good for weather stripping. I never really liked it but everyone seems to jizz in their pants over it so like a sheeple I used it for years. Never liked applying it to my top and they recommend to wipe away the excess. But by doing so the top never looked good. So every time you've seen my Town Car in "parade mode" I spent a good 45 minutes getting that stuff evenly glossy. Project Farm put out a video which compared that product against several others and I don't think it was in the top three.
                        1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                        1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Good info. I'll have to look into that stuff. The short term results look good on my top, but that doesn't mean mean I'm safe from long term issues that could develop with the 303 stuff. I've never tried to care for a tag top before, despite having a half rag top on my '89 50th anniversary edition MGM. Oddly enough that top is still holding up.
                          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


                            #14
                            I put baby oil on my vinyl top on my 82. It cracked all to pieces in a couple months. No Baby oil!!!! Mineral oil is the main ingredient, one of those petroleum distillates.
                            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


                              #15
                              Wow, yeah I think that stuff would accelerate the negative effects of UV even. I used to use armor all back in the day when I had my '85. Both products leave a mess if you get caught out in the rain. Least they look nice and CLAIM to thrwart UV damage and all that. A certain scene from Tommy Boy regarding guarantees comes to mind though..
                              1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
                              1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

                              Comment

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