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[89Merc]

Hi, just registered.

I don't have a Grand Marquis myself, but I am working on my grandparent's '89 Grand Marquis GS. They bought the car brand new off the show room floor back in October of 1988. The car is white with dark red interior and the spoked looking hubcaps. Looks basically identical to this car: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1...nd_Marquis.jpg They then drove the car for many years. Sometime in 1996, with well over 200,000 miles on the car, the over drive went out in the trans. Then the A/C went out and the power steering was leaking and going down hill fast. They continued driving it with no over drive until the end of 1997, and then it was parked with 289,xxx miles on it.

Well, they currently have an F150, and with the way gas prices are, they need something that gets better mileage. One of my buddies happened across an '86 LTD Crown Victoria for $250 that runs and drives perfect, has 120,000 miles on it. Problem is, the previous owner lost the title to it, hence why it was so cheap. So the plan is to pull the engine, trans, and everything else that may be needed from the Crown Vic and put it in the Grand Marquis, clean it up and get it back on the road again. My grandpa said the car always got around 23 mpg hwy, so he wants to drive it again.

I was messing with the Grand Marquis this past weekend. I was actually able to get the car running, but the original fuel pump seems to be dead. The relay clicks, but the pump it self dosen't run. I rigged an external fuel pump up and ran the fuel line into a fresh can of gas, and the car fired right up first try after over 10 years of sitting. Runs great. My grandpa always run nothing but Mobile 1 in the engine since it was brand new. I have an '80 Mercury Capri RS with a 2.3 in it that I am wanting to convert to a 5.0, so the plan is my grandpa is going to give me the original engine out of the Grand Marquis in exchange for the labor of swapping the LTD drive train in.

Is there anything you guys can think of that would be different between the '89 Grand Marquis and '86 Crown Vic? I'm hoping the engine and trans will just be a direct plug and play bolt in? Also, will the gas tank from the Crown Vic be a direct bolt in? I'm sure the tank in the Grand Marquis is full of crap after sitting for 10 years. Where is the fuel pump located?

Thanks, and sorry for the long winded first post. I was born in '87, and basically grew up riding in this car, lots of fond memories. I'm excited to be getting it back on the road again.

[LTDMan83]

Sweet, hope you get it running again soon.

Yes, the Engine/Tranny from the 86 will be a direct bolt in, as well as the gas tank. The Fuel pump is located inside the gas tank.


to GMN! btw

[87_crown_vic]

the transmission kick down cable is different and the ignition coil if i remember right is located differently. that is main reason why the trans went bad i bet. the kickdown cable has a plastic grommet that is known for going bad and can be replaced with a brass bushing. the cable and such i speak of are located on the throttle body butterfly arm. i am sure you will see a cable hanging under there that would have caused the transmission to go out. and the Crown Vic 5.0 is only rated at 150 hp since it doesnt have as good of heads on it compared to a mustang or truck 5.0

[79lincolnlover]

You'll likely need a new gas tank, among other things! Good luck!!

[89Merc]

the Crown Vic 5.0 is only rated at 150 hp since it doesnt have as good of heads on it compared to a mustang or truck 5.0

I've got a set of rebuilt GT40 heads and a B303 cam I'm going to stick in the original engine from the Grand Marquis before I drop it in the Capri. Will probably throw a Performer RPM intake and 4150 Holley on it also. It'll have a T5 behind it. Just a quick, reliable daily driver for myself.

You'll likely need a new gas tank, among other things! Good luck!!

Yea, the Crown Vic "parts car" was driven regularly up until a few months ago, so I figure I'll just use the gas tank out of it also.

Thanks for the info and warm welcome everyone. I plan to start on the swap this weekend. I'll post pics as I go along in another thread in the correct section.

[Brandon]

I know, I'm late. Anyways Post some pics when ya can.

[89Merc]

Well, I got the '86 Crown Vic parts car stripped this past weekend. Took the engine, trans and radiator out first. Then wrapped a chain around the roof, hooked it to an old camper my grandpa has and pulled the car over on it's roof. This provided extremely easy access to remove the complete exhaust, all the wheels and brakes, gas tank and fuel lines, and I found that the car has a rear sway bar, so I took that. These were all parts the '89 Mercury needs after sitting so long. The remains of the crown vic is going to the crusher tomorrow.

I messed with the Mercury some basically just assessing what all I will need to do. I put a battery in it and found that none of the interior lights worked, nor did the parking lights, tail lights, or dash lights. The clock in the dash wasn't working, and the radio would only play static, it wouldn't light up and you couldn't change stations or anything. I found that the plastic connector that connects up to the headlight switch was melted and very brittle, several of the wires looked "cooked" on it also, and several fuses were blown. When I disconnected the plug from the headlight switch, it literally just fell apart... so I cut the plug out of the Crown Vic and soldered it into the Mercury, matching up the wires color for color. Went and bought a new headlight switch, replaced several fuses, and wah-lah, all the interior lights came on, all the exterior lights work again, radio works normal and the clock in the dash came on and works great again. Good stuff.

I plan to try and get the old engine and trans out of the Mercury this weekend, and get started on putting the Crown Vic engine and trans in. Unfortunately I forgot my camera at my grandparents house, so the only pic I have of stripping the Crown Vic right now is a crappy pic my cousin snapped with his cell phone.. That's yours truly standing on top (err, bottom?) of the car, with a sawzall in hand. :evil:

[86VickyLX]

Transmission linkage is different. You might as well swap the entire thing over. That would give you the '86 weird but good kickdown cable, and it would be set to the transmission anyway.

[86VickyLX]

Hey how's the trunk and hood on that 86 Parts car?

[89Merc]

Everything from the radiator to the drive shaft out of the Crown Vic is going into the Grand Marquis, unmodified.

Something I do want to verify, is that the '86 Crown Vic engine harness will be compatible with the existing harness and computer in the '89 Grand Marquis, correct? Both cars appear to have the same two black and white connectors at the firewall, but I was just concerned that the pin out on them may be different or something.

[89Merc]

Hood was dented, trunk was perfect, IIRC.

[Tiggie]

Dang, welcome but you could have tried selling some parts off the old '86 before you 86ed it! Mint trunk lids are hard to come by!

[89Merc]

Dang, welcome but you could have tried selling some parts off the old '86 before you 86ed it! Mint trunk lids are hard to come by!

Well, due to bad weather, the car was not scrapped today. If people are seriously interested in parts off of it, all I have to do is make a phone call to postpone it being scrapped until next week. Large parts, like the trunk lid, would be local pick up only in Murphy, NC. I have no interest in trying to ship something of that size. Parts like that for these cars really aren't that hard to come by in these parts, the local junkyards usually have 5 to 10 of these cars each in them at any given time, and they aren't old enough yet to have any real rust on them.

[86VickyLX]

Parts like that for these cars really aren't that hard to come by in these parts, the local junkyards usually have 5 to 10 of these cars each in them at any given time, and they aren't old enough yet to have any real rust on them.

Bullshit, I dare you to find a perfect trunklid in a junkyard. We got a mang here who needs a perfect trunklid, and can't find one, if that thing is perfect, it's worth it to ship it.

[86VickyLX]

Well, you turned it on it's roof, so you ruined the crown trim on top of it, I think. How's the grille? And does this have the tripminder clock? It's a clock that looks like this





Pics thanks to Pete and Thain.

If yes, I want it's complete harness. It should the harness should unplug, so it shouldn't be hard to remove. Thanks so much.