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1997 Mercury Grand Marquis aka the rolling junkyard.

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    1997 Mercury Grand Marquis aka the rolling junkyard.

    Got back into panther ownership almost a year ago with buying a nearly rust free $900 Marquis . Sold my much newer better handling CTS as it was having driveshaft issues and now the Marquis is my workhorse.



    This is my sixth panther and my first Mercury.

    A lot of work has been done:

    The original seats in a CV/GM leave a lot to be desired when they original let alone after 21 years of use. The driver seat was total garbage so I happened on a 96 Town Car Signature with seats in good condition and having had a 95 Signature previously I knew those seats well and they are 1000% more comfortable.

    Before:

    After:


    They were in great shape given everything else I encountered at well over 10 yards I searched. And got a great price on front and rear, $190. And a added bonus is that both sides now have lumbar and they both hold air, the original marq pass side seat didn't have it and the drivers side wouldn't hold air.

    Then I found a 99 GM that had a decent interior and near perfect headliner which was better then the original which endured who know how many years in Florida and was falling down and giving foam showers when ever it was touched:

    The 99:


    Into the 97:


    Having blue seats, blue headliner and blue interior trim looked a bit odd against the gray door panels so began the search for GM denim blue door panels . The door panels were the hardest part to procure as most were destroyed or manhandled improperly. Had to source the panels from three different cars in three different junkyards, both rears from a 98 GS, a drivers from a 01 LS & a pass side front from a 02 GS.

    All panels finally installed:




    Decided to keep the original gray pull handles, f&r dome lights and seat belt adjuster to match the carpet and Mark VIII Collector edition headrests.

    Installed a pretty terrible radio, Power Acoustik PD-348B the remote stopped working so its functionality is limited and the AM radio reception is piss poor. And it frequently crashes when playing from the SD card. The bluetooth however works great but you have to manually connect it every time you restart the car. Gonna get one of those cheaper android hu and hope for the best.






    New stereo, took a chance on one of those android units. It running android 8. Other then a few quirks its way better then the stereo I had previously and the radio reception is better then the factory or last stereo.



    Stopping power has been upgraded. Feels good especially since I replaced all of the steering components, car drives better then my last panther.



    The list of various junkyard parts that are now in the Marq:
    • Pin wiper arms from a 04 Grand Marquis LS
    • Cupholder/Power port from a 2003 Grand Marquis GS
    • Gentex Homelink Mirror with Compass from a 2005 Mazda 3
    • Headliner push pins from a 2000 Buick Century Custom
    • Rear view mirror wiring shroud from a 2003 Chevy Suburban LS
    • Heated driver side mirror from a 2002 Grand Marquis LS
    • Hitachi MAF from a 1997 Town Car Cartier
    • Dual sun visors from 2001 Grand Marquis LS
    • Upper B pillar trim from a 1995 Crown Victoria
    • Headrests from a 1998 Mark VIII CE
    • Front & Rear seats from a 1996 Town Car Signtature
    • 00+ Front Grand Marquis door panels
    • Rear door panels from a 98 Marquis
    • Headliner from a 99 Marquis
    • Instrument cluster from a 1997 Town Car



    Rear ended someone this past August, wasn't paying attention and traffic on the highway came to a complete stop.



    Sucks but at the time there was a 97 LS same color as mine in the JY .Took the header and bumper off of it. Bumper on the JY Marq was in better shape then my bumper pre accident:



    Fender on the JY 97 was fubar'd way to much rot. Looked around found a guy parting out a 02 LSE and got it for $40 with very little rust, had it repaired and spot blended and recleared:







    Fixed for now until I get a chance to put new fender on:





    Current plans are to install the 97 TC steering column I got off CL, figure out the wiring for the redundant controls and reinstall the air suspension. Already painted the steering wheel and air bag:

    1997 Grand Marquis LS HPP
    2000 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series

    - Richard


    #2
    Nice to see a sport hanging in there.
    03 Marauder DPB, HS, 6disk, Organizer Mods> LED's in & Out, M&Z rear control arms, Oil deflector, U-Haul Trans Pan, Blue Fuzzy Dice
    02 SL500 Silver Arrow
    08 TC Signature Limited, HID's Mods>235/55-17 Z rated BFG G-Force Comp-2 A/S Plus, Addco 1" rear Sway, Posi Carrier, Compustar Remote Start, floor liners, trunk organizer, Two part Sun Visors, B&M Trans drain Plug, Winter=05 Mustang GT rims, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R-2 235/55-17
    12 Escape Limited V6 AWD, 225/65R17 Vredestein Quatrac Pro, Winter 235/70-16 Conti Viking Contact7 Mods>Beamtech LED headlight bulbs, Husky floor liners

    Comment


      #3
      Looks great!
      Any plans for it?


      -ryan s.
      08 Lincoln Navigator L - 233k
      03 Mercury Marauder- 63k
      97 Ford Crown Victoria HPP "Tank of Justice III" (TOJ3) - 194k -->578.9 miles on ONE tank of gas<--
      94 BMW 325i Convertible - 135k
      73 VW Super Beetle "Bunky" <----- Wifey's
      12 Mini Cooper S - 90k <---- Wifey's
      Originally posted by pantera77
      Well my buddy tells him he knows exactly who loves buying shitboxes.

      Comment


        #4
        I dig the blue interior swap you've got going sir.
        1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
        1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

        Comment


          #5
          Looks damn cool man
          2010 Mercury Grand Marquis LS “The Douche” - 70mm throttle body, P71 airbox, 21mm rear sway bay, dual exhaust, Dodge rims, 89K and counting. 4/2018-
          1966 Ford Thunderbird (390FE) “Fordy McFordface” - engine rebuild No. 3. 11/2016-
          RIP 2005 Buick LaCrosse CXS “Jumba” - gone too soon, 229K. 6/2017-2/2018
          RIP 2001 Chevrolet Tracker LT “Featherbrick” - gone too late, 156K POS. 6/2016-9/2016.
          Sold 2005 Toyota 4Runner SR5 - 198K. 6/2016-4/2018

          Comment


            #6
            Nice ride. Welcome to GMN.
            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


              #7
              Very nice car man, I can appreciate the amount of time you have into finding parts for it.

              A++

              -1994 Lincoln Town Car...always under construction

              Comment


                #8
                Stunning variety of parts on your GM
                '79 Continental Town Car
                '90 Crown Victoria LTD
                '94 Crown Victoria

                Comment


                  #9
                  Reinstalled the Air Suspension cause the no name cargo coils rode like a pickup truck when unloaded. The previous owner installed coils more then likely due to the dead air comp that wouldn't do anything but clunk when 12v was applied and the EVO/RAS module was faulty (though initially I didn't know that the module was dead too).


                  Waited for a sale and Protier on eBay had a sale for 2 air springs & 2 solenoids for $97 shipped. Jumped on that. They are Westar springs which from what I've read from others are decent air springs.




                  Better renew the drier silica on the circa 2002 Crown Victoria air comp I pulled from a 1996 Town Car.

                  Before:


                  After:




                  Thought they were strutmaster coils but they are not, no clue whom makes these just a 212T part number that a web search shows nothing related.




                  Air spring installed.




                  When I replaced the air comp and air springs/solenoids I could only get the car to lift up then I got CAS message. It would not vent down to ride height. Went to the JY to get spares of everything when I got back did the easiest thing 1st which was the evo module and boom the CAS message went out and the suspension is working properly.




                  Shortly before I sold my CTS I bought new Michelin Snows for about $700 which is only $200 less then the Marq. Then the CTS's carrier bushing started making terrible noises and I bought the Marq and drove that. Can't install 18" tires on a 16" HPP wheel so I was going to use my 2010 Camaro steelies but those have a different bolt pattern and a much smaller center bore. Couldn't find any hubcentric adapters that would go from 70.5mm to 66.9mm. So began the search for 18" rims that will have 70.5. So happens I found some terrible shape rare mountaineer wheels that were only offered for 2 model years and got them cheap but the corrosion on them was so bad that I had to send them out to get bead blasted cause the wire wheel on a cordless drill wasn't cutting it. FYI just buy refinished or reman wheels this was a pita and the money invested in refinishing them is probably the same as buying reman'd ones.


                  After wire wheeling what a total pita




                  After having them blasted.




                  Painted wheels.




                  Painted center caps.




                  FYI a 1.5 inch spacer will clear the lugs on a 1998+ Hub. I'm sure on pre 98s it would too but can't say for sure as I'm running 98+ front brakes and 98+ hubs




                  Tire is Michelin XIce-3 and the size I am running now is 215/55/18 which is equivalent to 235/50/18 but slightly thinner width. Compared to a 225/60/16 its about a inch taller.



                  Now I just gotta see if the lug nuts I have will have enough thread to hold the adapters otherwise I gotta get extended ones.
                  Last edited by Pvt.Hudson; 10-31-2018, 05:41 PM.
                  1997 Grand Marquis LS HPP
                  2000 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series

                  - Richard

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I find it amazing how the beads come back to life....


                    You sand blast the wheels yourself? Just wondering.


                    Things came out nice.
                    ~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


                      #11
                      Originally posted by 87gtVIC View Post
                      You sand blast the wheels yourself? Just wondering.
                      No. Don't have a air compressor. Went to a few shops that essentially gave me f off prices for having them blasted, like $600+. Then I found a guy on CL that does blasting as side business. Went out of state to get them done, $120 later get 4 blasted wheels. The guy used a tandem axle diesel compressor trailer that used for industrial applications, the thing was huge and is used for like blasting heavy equipment like semi frames or construction machinery.

                      The finish is very very rough but I like it looks ok for what it is. As the corrosion was really bad. When I had the tires mounted the tires popped really loud when they went over the bead cause of the rough surface.

                      Best picture I have showing the rough surface:



                      Painted:



                      Used Krylon self etching primer, Krylon Brilliant Silver & Krylon Gloss Crystal Clear. Was a pita to paint but considering it was my first go around painting them I'm happy with the results.
                      1997 Grand Marquis LS HPP
                      2000 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series

                      - Richard

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Put the wheels on.

                        1997 Grand Marquis LS HPP
                        2000 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series

                        - Richard

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Looks good. 1.25" will mostly work with 98+ stuff, but only if your wheels have a recess in that area or you lightly grind the studs down. The studs stick a CH proud of the spacer.
                          86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                          5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                          91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                          1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                          Originally posted by phayzer5
                          I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I need me a blast cabinet. They are just so damn handy. I like the bit a texture the media left on your wheels. You could have spent a lot of time primering and blocking it smooth before paint but it looks nice the way you did it as well.
                            ~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


                              #15
                              Welp the Marq is pissing oil out somewhere like my previous N*'s though to fix it I don't need to remove the engine and place it on a stand. I suspect its either the oil pressure switch or more likely the OFA gasket.





                              Can't really figure out why the oil leaks from there and travels all over the place including to the rear of the oil pan lip between the transmission. The oil is every where making it kind of hard to figure out but seeing how my coolant hoses are 22 years old as is the gasket I figure its about time to replace them and maybe re teflon the oil pressure switch to.
                              1997 Grand Marquis LS HPP
                              2000 Lincoln Town Car Signature Series

                              - Richard

                              Comment

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