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Hello all. First ever panther owner. 97 MGM.

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    Hello all. First ever panther owner. 97 MGM.

    Just got my first Panther. Contrary to my username. I am not fond of the older suspension design but this car was in too good of shape to let slide. The original owner traded it in and now it's in my possession. The interior is immaculate and I love the leather seats. Only the steering wheel has the usual wear of 147k miles. The battery is 7 years old and it needs a right front window regulator. Those are the only things wrong with it.

    On to the crappy pics. This was before I washed it. Not bad for $1700.








    #2
    Welcome to the forum. Looks like a nice purchase to me.
    ~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


      #3
      You better keep that seven year old battery! They don’t make them like that any more.

      These cars are very comfy and fairly well made. I think you’ll enjoy yours.
      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


        #4
        It is relaxing to drive. I'll upgrade the suspension to be a bit more direct.

        I just cleaned the leather with some lexol Leather cleaner, hot water and a horse hair brush before applying lexol conditioner. The leather is in perfect shape and I plan to keep it that way. I'm a sucker for soft leather.

        Comment


          #5
          Looks like a beaut! Definitely stay on top of the leather, it goes bad literally overnight once it gets dry. Ask me how i know!

          Comment


            #6
            Welcome!

            The car looks good. Looks like you got a good deal.
            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


              #7
              Yeah. This is cheap leather but I like the whole "Economy luxury" cars and how they are dated in a retro sort of way. I won't be changing the headunit but probably the speakers.

              Comment


                #8
                The leather in the 95-97s was much better than 98+ IMO

                Enjoy the car. Looks very clean
                2020 Volvo XC90 T6 Momentum (Ice White / Blonde)
                2022 Ram 1500 4x4 5.7 Etorque, Built to Serve Edition, (Granite Crystal / Black)
                Past Panthers
                1989 Grand Marquis LS (Cabernet/Grey), 1989 Lincoln Town Car SS (White/Blue), 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis Ultimate (White/Black)

                Originally posted by Lincolnmania
                if its got tits or tires it's bound to give you trouble

                Comment


                  #9
                  I feel that any leather is better than cloth as long as you maintain it. Unfortunately many people don't.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    A heavy rear sway will make a nice difference. Handling will improve without much if any diminishing in ride quality. I can't remember if 97 has the Big brakes. 16" tires on that?
                    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


                      #11
                      Not a fan of leather, specifically because I seem to get it after it hasn't been maintained. Once it starts to shred there isn't any coming back.

                      Police or HPP sway bars make a huge difference. Swap the springs and shocks too if you feel the need but getting much less granny-esque handling from these is not at all difficult.
                      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


                        #12
                        Originally posted by jaywish View Post
                        A heavy rear sway will make a nice difference. Handling will improve without much if any diminishing in ride quality. I can't remember if 97 has the Big brakes. 16" tires on that?
                        ‘98 got bigger brakes. Swapping to the larger setup is easy on ‘96/‘97. IIRC it’s calipers, brackets, hoses, hub assembly, pads, and rotors to upgrade on them. Then just add a 16” or larger wheel (unless HPP, which came with 16” wheels).


                        @OP: I’m running KYB police spec shocks on my ‘97 with police front and HPP rear sway bars. World of difference. Don’t forget to make sure the rest of the front is tight (ball joints, tie rod ends, idler/pitman arms), otherwise it’ll still feel sloppy. Just know it’ll never be perfectly tight with recirculating ball steering, but it’ll track quite well when there’s not a ton of play in all the components.
                        Last edited by Kodachrome Wolf; 09-16-2019, 04:41 PM.


                        My Cars:
                        -1964 Comet 202 (116K Miles) - Long Term Project
                        -1986 Dodge D-150 Royale SE (112K Miles) - Slowly Getting Put Back Together
                        -1987 Grand Marquis Colony Park LS (325K Miles) - April 2017 + September 2019 POTM Winner
                        -1997 Grand Marquis LS (240K Miles) - The Daily Workhorse & March 2015 + January 2019 POTM Winner

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                          #13
                          Inspect your intake and see if it still has the plastic coolant crossover in the front. If it does plan on finding a PI manifold for an 03. Don't get the dorman! If it already has a dorman on it. Leave it till it leaks lol.

                          The parallelogram steering is great if everything is tight. It's annoying if it's not. Upgrading the shocks and springs and changing the front and rear sway bars to handling performance package or P71 bars will greatly improve how it handles. Upgrading the brakes to the bigger front brakes would be cake as well. You'd just need the hub assemblies, rotors and calipers with caliper brackets. If you have 15" wheels though you'll need to swap on a set of 16" wheels to clear the calipers though.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            It has the aluminum crossover. How do I tell if it's a PI manifold? Nothing on the car leaks. I'm looking for replacement bulbs for the instrument panel as close to the stock color as possible.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
                              Not a fan of leather, specifically because I seem to get it after it hasn't been maintained. Once it starts to shred there isn't any coming back.

                              Police or HPP sway bars make a huge difference. Swap the springs and shocks too if you feel the need but getting much less granny-esque handling from these is not at all difficult.
                              This. The leather in my '98 was pretty crispy when i got it. Soaked up Lexol like pouring water into a sandbox. Managed to get it almost supple right before it just started splitting like pants on a fat kid. Now it looks terrible. Also really don't like sliding all around in what are already flat, unsupportive seats.

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