1997 Grand Marquis

[Pvt.Hudson]

I dig the powder blue CapRice in the background.

That's looks to be a 80-85 Impala.

[hot__box]

Nice looking car.... I dig the powder blue CapRice in the background.

Thanks and Thanks! It’s actually an Impala.


As far as the rims go, never was a huge fan of the HPP wheels frankly. My ‘94 does have the lacy spoke rims and I do really like those. I’m kind of torn on what I’m gonna end up doing with rims for this car. On one hand I do like the stock rims, and I like the stock appearance. However as I had mentioned in some of my introductions for this car I’m really interested in getting some true Dayton wire rims for it. No, I don’t plan on making the car a low rider but I always did like those Dayton wire rims.

Getting in touch with Dayton about 2 months ago it seems that if I had ordered them right then and there, it was a 6-8 month back order. Naturally I’m skeptical about such long wait times and imagine my horror if I had put down a deposit on those rims just before the shop of doom set it ablaze.

I’ve actually got some rims in the pipeline, to mount as kind of a temporary placeholder until I can decide wether I’m going to bite the bullet and order the Daytons or go another route. I’m keeping a secret for now, but all I can say is if I like the way they look, you’ll be seeing pictures of the new shoes in the next coming weeks.

I noticed that too, care to tell a bit about it?

Sure. As I had mentioned just earlier in this post it is an Impala, not a Caprice. It’s a 1985 and the inspiration for my car forum handle “hot__box”.. which could be interpreted in many ways Car is a base model and has a 305 V8 mated with the 700r4 P.O.S. transmission. It’s actually the second oldest car in my stable by year and conveniently the second oldest in terms of length of ownership. I have many of the original records for the car and can tell you the car was purchased new at Trapp Chevrolet here in south Louisiana sometime in ‘85. I am the second owner.

From when I bought the car in 2016 till early 2019, I used it as a daily driver believe it or not. I drove the car everywhere .. work, grocery, pick up girlfriends, etc. From the day I bought it I noticed it had some transmission issues, though none serious enough for me to park it. After all, it is a 700r4 and that’s a pretty wimpy transmission, especially if it’s been neglected, so I just chalked it up as normal. By early 2019 the car was no longer on daily driver duty but began to notice a pretty hefty oil consumption. Eventually it was getting pretty severe and I ended up needing to park the car. It hasn’t been run since. I had the car “in storage” (Read: outside behind a company warehouse) from 2019 until late 2021 when I brought the car home.

There was a series of break ins in that area in a relatively short period of time. As mentioned in my ‘94 CV thread, I had that car stored on the same property but in a different location. That car (‘94 Vic) had the catalytic converter stolen off of it. The Impala did not have the cats stolen but somehow someone managed to get into the trunk and stole the amp and subwoofers. They also left the trunk open and I did not discover that for some time so the trunk carpet was completely ruined from the rain.

Back when it was a daily driver, I did only mild modifications. I installed stereo as well as an amp and subwoofer similar to what I’ve done with the Mercury. I also had dual exhaust, flowmasters, and chrome tips installed. My grandfather had given me some 15” GM Rallye wheels and I had those put on new tires and onto the car. I fixed Knick-knack stuff as well.

I have plans on restoring it completely, that’s why I brought it home...but right now my main priority is the Mercury. Once I’m satisfied with the Mercury I’ll begin the process of tearing down the Impala.

If there’s interest in the car, I’d be happy to start a build thread on it here like I’ve done for my two panthers to document the progress once I start working on it!

[Arquemann]

Oh it's in your sig too lol. I guess it takes a chevy guy to recognise an Impala from a Caprice. Caprices seem to have a wraparound grille.
Seems like a pretty nice ride either way. I'm a bit interested in box chevies since those are very obtainable in Finland.

Please do make a Dark Side thread if you are working on it all.

[hot__box]

Oh it's in your sig too lol. I guess it takes a chevy guy to recognise an Impala from a Caprice.
Seems like a pretty nice ride either way. I'm a bit interested in box chevies since those are very obtainable in Finland.

Please do make a Dark Side thread if you are working on it all.

Yes LOL. And even Chevy guys have a hard time telling the difference. Everybody thinks it’s a Caprice. You really have to be a fan of these cars in order to know the difference on first glance. Only the grille, bumpers, and rear tail lights could give it away. Surprised to hear that box Chevys are “very obtainable” in Finland! They’re barely obtainable here!!

I will certainly make a thread for it once the work begins! I know it’s going to be an interesting project. Meanwhile, I’ve already had two strangers visit my house asking if I wanted to sell it since I’ve brought it home late last year.

Back to the Mercury...

The wheels came in!! Still keeping it a secret.. I was supposed to be putting them on the car this evening when I got home.. but alas.. one of the wheels is incorrect. So now I have to wait and get to play swap-n-ship. So more on that later..

Meanwhile I swapped the headlight bulbs to some Silverstar ZXE’s.

The light is noticeably whiter than the standard halogen bulb.. but I haven’t had a chance to see if there’s any true visibility difference yet. I can say that just from the driveway it doesn’t appear as if they’re that much better than even the standard halogens.

I’m really wanting to do some sort of effective headlight upgrade. The stock headlights in these cars just suck. Plain and simple.

Here’s a comparison shot.. Standard bulbs on the left and ZXE’s on the right.



Stay Tuned!

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Relay upgrade is your friend. If you’re also clever, the HIR2 bulbs can be used where a 9006 goes. One just has to trim the top tab a little to meet the profile of a 9006. They offer more lumens while still just being 55 watts. I’ve had them in my ‘97 for a while.

[hot__box]

As promised... New shades & shoes.

Rims are LX Sport sitting on some Goodyear 235/55’s. Tint is limo. Can get a good view of the exhaust tips as well. I told them I wanted it to look stock-ish.

Relay upgrade is your friend. If you’re also clever, the HIR2 bulbs can be used where a 9006 goes. One just has to trim the top tab a little to meet the profile of a 9006. They offer more lumens while still just being 55 watts. I’ve had them in my ‘97 for a while.

Thanks. Any upgrade would be my friend right about now lol, the headlights are truly abysmal as is.

Reading threads on relay upgrade now.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Still need to swap those wiper arms around.

Tint and rims look good.

When you installed the replacement headlight assemblies, did you re-aim the headlights? Poorly aimed lamps won't help you if they're crosseyed and aimed at the ground. I've seen plenty of sealed beams badly aligned after many years, but composite lamps can wind up the same way when brandy new and not setup after installation.

[jaywish]

Is the back of the headlight bulb outside the seal for the headlight housings?

[Mainemantom]

The rims look good. The exhaust tips are sharp looking. You have a nice car.

[hot__box]

Still need to swap those wiper arms around.

GAH!! I know. I’ve got some new blades for the arms, seems like the perfect time to swap ‘em when I go to put the new blades.

Tint and rims look good.

When you installed the replacement headlight assemblies, did you re-aim the headlights? Poorly aimed lamps won't help you if they're crosseyed and aimed at the ground. I've seen plenty of sealed beams badly aligned after many years, but composite lamps can wind up the same way when brandy new and not setup after installation.

Thank you. As far as the re-aiming of the lamps.. No I did not — but, the lamps seemed relatively even I had the lights on reflecting off my house. Not like they’re aimed at the ground or something ridiculous but they certainly may need adjustment.

Is the back of the headlight bulb outside the seal for the headlight housings?

Not to my knowledge, but I need to check. Water somehow has made it’s way in by the high beams and you can see the condensation, I’m sure you’ve noticed.

The rims look good. The exhaust tips are sharp looking. You have a nice car.

Thanks!

[jaywish]

Looks like you can use fanless led bulbs in those housings. I used the basic Beamtech bulbs. I have had no failures yet. Very good and fair results on beam patterns. There appears to be many more fanless options out there now. I suggest you stay away from the ones with the long copper strips used as heat sinks. They corrode and loose efficiency. I would not suggest you use the new high output variants that are out there. The 8.5K lume units are a nice increase in output but I think the 12K units would blind oncoming traffic. I guess if I lived in real wilderness I might consider them (12K units) for the high beams but really likely you would be happy with the 8.5K units.

LEDS are controversial as some consider them too bright. Most importantly headlights need to be aimed properly. The bulb emitters can be rotated 90degrees in the bulb base so you can experiment with the light beam pattern. Different bulbs will likely produce slightly different patterns.

[87gtVIC]

Loving the LX Sport wheels. I have a set myself. They looks so damn nice.

Centercaps...you have them? I understand if you dont as they are crazy spendy for how small they are.