My 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

[next24]

I've just purchased a 1985 MGM LS. It runs great, but cosmetically it's in poor shape. There's a lot to be done on this car and it's also my first project car. I've only had it for a couple days, so I haven't done anything major yet.

However, I did start cleaning off the removable carpets in the car. All I did was wet them with a hose, then I sprayed LA Totally Awesome cleaner from the dollar store on them and let it sit for a few minutes before hosing them off. In the photo you can see a comparison, the top one is cleaned and the bottom one is dirty. It didn't do a perfect job but the mats should look a lot better than they did before once I put them all back in.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Anywhere is a start for a project!

Car looks pretty straight for the age, just sunburnt. Annoying, but easier than fixing rust. What are the plans for it?

[next24]

Anywhere is a start for a project!

Car looks pretty straight for the age, just sunburnt. Annoying, but easier than fixing rust. What are the plans for it?

I don't have any specific plans beyond slowly fixing it up as I go. In the short term, I have plenty of things to fix. I pulled out the passenger side visor today. The old upholstery on it was completely unsalvageable, so I pulled it off and cleaned up the visor. I need to figure out how to split the black plastic pieces of the visor apart because I think I can clean them better if I can separate them, and I need to find some sort of foam-backed fabric to reupholster the visor with.

I'm also looking at replaxing the vinyl top. The paint is rough all over the car, but it kind of looks okay in a certain way. But the fuzzy remnants of the old vinyl definitely look ugly. I plan to repaint the car at some point but for now maybe replacing the vinyl top would make it look a little better to drive around in.

I'm not sure what the best way to remove the old material would be, especially on the narrow part of the B pillar and around the coach lights. Will I just have to use some sort of adhesive remover and a scraping tool?


As for the paint, I'll leave it as is for now until I decide to repaint the car. I want to do right by the car as much as possible, but I know I won't be able (or can't afford to pay someone) to fully strip the car and repaint every surface that was painted from the factory. The original color seems to have been a burgundy color, which isn't my top choice for this car. I'm still thinking about what color I'd ideally like the car to be but repainting it in the original color would at least let me avoid having one color on the outside of the car and another on the inside of the trunk or in the engine bay. It's a shame the paint isn't slightly better because I could have maybe done a bit of paint correction and put on a new clear coat, but with the way the paint is now I'll have to basically redo the whole car which is going to be a huge task.

By the way, would you happen to know what the original color code of this car might have been?

[87gtVIC]

Headliner material has a soft thin foam backing you can use for the visors. Many clips hold the clamshell together.

Look into poppy’s patina on the internet. May have something for you for the paint. I understand the color is not your favorite but just something to consider.

looking back on things I do love how my car looks but I can never get back that original look and maintenance on it would have been much simpler just preserving the original paints.

headliner and all interior bits above midway of windows should come out so you can remove all trim that surround the vinyl top. Been there and done that. Lots of work but the correct way to do it. Plastic putty knife and lots of adhesive remover worked for me. I then sanded it all down and painted the top before having a new vinyl top installed back in 2009-10.

good luck.

[Tynnerstroem]

Nice project! Looks like a power antenna and curb lights, is it a well-optioned car? How many miles?

[Arquemann]

Oh ya, definitely looks like a California car
The colour is most likely Canyon Red, I think it was the only red available in '85. Those orange stripes aren't factory, someone must've put them over the factory pinstripes.
Grey might not be the coolest interior colour, but it sure is the easiest colour to find materials in. Had a helluva time finding a proper maroon fabric when I redid my interior C-pillar pieces.

You mentioned that you were missing a marker light? Mercuries don't have separate markers, there's just parking lights. Unless you mean the low-mounted cornerning lights, which are sometimes in stock at RA.

[VicCrownVic]

Cleaning is a great start, it lets you get up close and find minor issues that you otherwise might overlook.

[next24]

Headliner material has a soft thin foam backing you can use for the visors. Many clips hold the clamshell together.

Look into poppy’s patina on the internet. May have something for you for the paint. I understand the color is not your favorite but just something to consider.

looking back on things I do love how my car looks but I can never get back that original look and maintenance on it would have been much simpler just preserving the original paints.

headliner and all interior bits above midway of windows should come out so you can remove all trim that surround the vinyl top. Been there and done that. Lots of work but the correct way to do it. Plastic putty knife and lots of adhesive remover worked for me. I then sanded it all down and painted the top before having a new vinyl top installed back in 2009-10.

good luck.

What's the best way to remove clips on those visors?

Poppy's patina looks like a great stopgap solution for me. While I don't love the paint color, the paint is worn through to the primer in places anyway, and rubs off on your finger. There's not much of the original paint left to preserve, so to get it looking great it would need to be repainted no matter what color I want. But in the meantime protecting the patina would be nice.

Do you know if it's necessary to repaint the top before adding new vinyl? From what I understand even from the factory they may have just primered the top before putting the vinyl on, I was thinking I'd remove the old stuff, sand smooth, primer any exposed metal, and stick the new vinyl on.

[next24]

Oh ya, definitely looks like a California car
The colour is most likely Canyon Red, I think it was the only red available in '85. Those orange stripes aren't factory, someone must've put them over the factory pinstripes.
Grey might not be the coolest interior colour, but it sure is the easiest colour to find materials in. Had a helluva time finding a proper maroon fabric when I redid my interior C-pillar pieces.

You mentioned that you were missing a marker light? Mercuries don't have separate markers, there's just parking lights. Unless you mean the low-mounted cornerning lights, which are sometimes in stock at RA.

Yes, I'm missing a left side cornering light housing which I plan to replace soon.

[87gtVIC]

What's the best way to remove clips on those visors?

Poppy's patina looks like a great stopgap solution for me. While I don't love the paint color, the paint is worn through to the primer in places anyway, and rubs off on your finger. There's not much of the original paint left to preserve, so to get it looking great it would need to be repainted no matter what color I want. But in the meantime protecting the patina would be nice.

Do you know if it's necessary to repaint the top before adding new vinyl? From what I understand even from the factory they may have just primered the top before putting the vinyl on, I was thinking I'd remove the old stuff, sand smooth, primer any exposed metal, and stick the new vinyl on.

I havent personally opened up a visor but have two on hand as spares to do so. mainmantom on the forum has mentioned how to open them up. From the quick glance I took at them I think a lot of flat head screwdrivers prying things open. Id be lying if I knew precisely how it goes. I dont think it is fun to do. A pain in the rear.

Painting the underside where the vinyl top would go....Necessary...probably not. I felt like it was the proper thing to do especially considering the climate i live in here on the east coast.

I would say your car would really come around with a light comet wash and a patina preserver applied afterwords. Once things are professionally painted and you spend real money it is kinda hard to just go about not worry about the car. If it was just shiny and in as is (pre-restored/spruced up) condition one may be more apt to just drive it and enjoy it.

[GMUE03]

Lookin good! How many miles on it?

Be sure to go through all the fluids, especially the transmission. If it shifts it can’t hurt to drop the pan and throw a new filter in. Also inspect the TV bushing on the throttle linkage. If it’s plastic I’d get a brass one ASAP, they get brittle and come apart causing the cable to fall off, which will cook the transmission in a matter of minutes. It gets preached on here all the time.

[next24]

Lookin good! How many miles on it?

Be sure to go through all the fluids, especially the transmission. If it shifts it can’t hurt to drop the pan and throw a new filter in. Also inspect the TV bushing on the throttle linkage. If it’s plastic I’d get a brass one ASAP, they get brittle and come apart causing the cable to fall off, which will cook the transmission in a matter of minutes. It gets preached on here all the time.

About 219k miles, but the previous owner kept up very well with maintenance and I have some records.

Since I'm new to this car, could you tell me where to find the TV bushing inside the car and where I can find the brass replacements? I couldn't find any results on Rockauto for "TV bushing" for the '85 MGM.

[GMUE03]

About 219k miles, but the previous owner kept up very well with maintenance and I have some records.

Since I'm new to this car, could you tell me where to find the TV bushing inside the car and where I can find the brass replacements? I couldn't find any results on Rockauto for "TV bushing" for the '85 MGM.

I think I got a little confused but I don’t think the TBI cars actually have this issue with the cable falling off, the linkage is a little different from the newer EFI cars. Could be wrong and I’m sure members will chime in on this.

If you look at your throttle linkage, there’s a cable directly below it that has a black plastic attachment fitting. That’s your TV cable.

[Arquemann]

'85 is CFI and there's a TV rod instead of the later TV cable.
Here's a link to the upgraded bushing, I believe it should work with the CFI too.
https://lmr.com/item/LRS-7303A/87-93...le-Bushing-Kit

It goes here:


I think the original might be a snap-in kinda dealio and looked like this:

[next24]

'85 is CFI and there's a TV rod instead of the later TV cable.
Here's a link to the upgraded bushing, I believe it should work with the CFI too.
https://lmr.com/item/LRS-7303A/87-93...le-Bushing-Kit

It goes here:

I think the original might be a snap-in kinda dealio and looked like this:

With our cars, does a failure of this part lead to damaging the transmission like the poster above mentioned? If so I'll order the replacement soon (after I check to see it hasn't already been done when the sun comes back up).

Also, I think I've seen you posting about replacing your door striker bushings. None of my door latch strikers have bushings on them anymore, but I can't seem to find the bushings for sale. I've only been able to find the entire assembly for sale and I'd rather just buy the bushings. Do you happen to know if there's anywhere to order just the bushings for the door strikers?