My '09 MGM progress

[BolensBug]

Greetings! I'm happy to join this forum; warning, this will be long.

While I bought this MGM in June 2025, I just joined the forum today and figured I'd start a thread to keep track of the process with my vehicle. My grandfather bought a 2nd gen in either late '91 or early '92, and then traded that in on a new '03 in late '02 or early '03 (which my parents still have), so I've been around these cars for decades. When my trusty '08 BMW E83 started showing its age at 220k trouble-free miles earlier this year, my goal was to find the right Panther. I could have purchased a new car, but I have no use nor desire for driver aides, dash screens and the forced obsolescence of many modern vehicles, so the purchase decision was made of choice not necessity.

I almost purchased a very clean (living mostly in NY, "clean" is relative...) blue '01 100 miles away with ~85k miles for $2500, and I slightly regretted not buying it, but it needed a paint correction, lens polishing, a blend door actuator and a proactive intake manifold replacement (that I knew of right off the bat). A local '05 CV with similar mileage for $5500 needed some rocker patches and new rear spring perches on the axle tubes (the seller said "well, you could put a new axle in it" when I brought it to his attention; he's right, I could have, but not for that purchase price) and a few other items of junk, but then found this '09 with 56k 150 miles away on FBMP. I went up the following day with a trailer, and brought it home for $6700.



It of course needed a blend door actuator (when I got in there I found a Dorman unit retained by only 1 screw!), and a new AC compressor. I had my local shop replace the accumulator while the system was opened. I purchased a lifetime alignment package from Firestone for $180 and promptly had them align the car too.

Receipts showed the oil had been changed a thousand miles before I purchased the car, but I always change out fluids when I buy a car. And I also run full synthetic and change it on the 0s and 5s (with a veritable fleet that OCI makes it easy to know when to change). So that change received 5w-30 Valvoline semi-syn and a MC filter.

Yesterday with 60,078 miles, it was time to start using up the gallons of leftover 5w-40 QSUD I had left over from my BMW, and one of the dozen MC filters I picked up in FL a few months ago on a steep discount.

I’ve seen folks wrote about oil changes being a PIA on these cars, and if some hack touched the car before you, I agree that could be the case. That is why I replaced the oil drain bolt with a new one from AZ, as the last oil change I discovered the gasket boogered and it would stall every 360* of rotation when turning out by hand. Use a piece of Al foil to make a shield-channel below the oil filter, and its removal is virtually mess-free. As I’m the last one to install the filter, it spun loose by hand; the last one (previously installed by a shop the PO used) required filter pliers to remove. I usually write the date and mileage on filters I change, but my OCD won’t be happy with the clocking of this one.



Qualitatively, the engine seems to like 5w-40. I sent the 5w-30 semi syn out for a UOA and will do the same with the 5w-40 when it’s next changed. I may go back to a 5w-30 FS on the next one and send that in to, so I have numerical data to compare. I will share that data once available.

A view down the oil fill hole shows that oil changes were performed on-time or early, with quality oil.

[BolensBug]

Soon before purchasing the vehicle, a shift or lockup solenoid in the transmission had been replaced, and they replaced the fluid and filter at the same time, so that was one thing I didn't have to do.

Spark plugs are one of the most overlooked, and neglected, parts of a car these days; for some reason, folks seem to thing plugs are lifetime. I change them every 60k miles (or sooner, in the case of my air cooled or turbocharged engines). These ones weren't terrible, but given the propensity of the 4.6 to eject them and my past experiences having to do 5.4 3v plug jobs, another benefit of timely spark plug changes is to avoid the risk of galling the threads in the heads. The tips themselves showed a good fuel mixture, but the gap was enlarged and the plugs show evidence of exhaust gas leakages up to and past the seats. Being a FFV, the factory gap was ~0.044", but I won't be running E85 in the car, so I opened them up to 0.054". The threads of the new plugs took a very light coat of Ford nickel antiseize, and I always go above the factory recommended torque on these mod motors to avoid future issues; these went to 25 ft lbs.
Coolant and brake fluid exchanges are on my to-do list, but a major task was descaling the rear axle and trunk pan, changing the diff fluid, and painting it. The frame is solid, and painted; I've been inserting the hose into the frame to wash it out. I have a pneumatic sprayer and a few gallons of Fluid Film, so this Fall the insides of the frame rails will be coated (where the rust begins, not ends).

A few weeks ago, I put the car up in the air to pop the diff cover off and change the fluid. Original 80w-90 came out, and 2.5 quarts Mobil 1 FS 75w-90 went in. What is puzzling as that the fluid was about a quart low, but there is zero evidence of ANY leakage (from the pinion seal, diff cover or axle seals), so I suspect a low factory fill. At any rate, the gears looked great!

[BolensBug]

As you can see in the above photos, the rear axle and trunk pan were crusty, so a few days later, up in the air it went!
Then I spent some quality time with a wire wheel and cup on my angle grinder, along with the needle gun to descale the area. The needle gun was imperative for getting inside the spring perches and the sway bar mount pads.

After that, it was washed in Ospho, rinsed, and allowed to dry. I'd stripped and painted the diff cover previously when I changed the fluid.

[BolensBug]

My work commute involves a 500 mile round-trip journey every other weekend (why my BMW had 220k miles on it when I sold it), so I get to spend a lot of quality saddle time in the car. Since purchasing it, the car would slam over expansion joints and bumps. I replaced the rear shocks soon after the purchase, which aided the ride quality slightly, but it still didn't ride how a MGM should, so I decided to replace the rear springs; I mean, I had to take them out anyway, so I'd be a fool not to! The stock springs were crusty (which affected their spring rate) and were soft, so I'm happy to report a drastic improvement in ride quality! The slamming I was feeling was the axle hitting the bump stops.
The axle, trunk pan and bumper were coated in 2 layers of Zero Rust.
And because I was under there anyway, I really had no choice but to install a new rear sway bar and end links; the car never had one, but it really wanted one; who am I to say no?
With the new springs, the restoration of ride height shows how much the old ones had sagged.

Before

After

[BolensBug]

The final item needing addressing were the persistant B1342 and 1596 ABS DTCs, so I removed the ABS module and sent it off to UpFix for repair. I could have purchased a used one cheaper, but then it would still eventually fail anyway. Not that its difficult to code a new module to the car's VIN using ForScan, but UpFix claims to correct the shortcomings that lead to failure during the repair, so I figured I'd give that a shot first before ponying up triple the price for a new module from Ford. The module is currently out for repair; I've baggied up the ABS pump and wire connector to keep water and debris out so I can use the car in the mean time.

I guess that's all for now. Thanks for staying along for the journey so far!

[BolensBug]

Oh! Also forgot I'd installed factory fog lights into the front bumper soon after purchase. It came from the factory with the black plastic dummy panels. I didn't feel the need to go through the hassle of obtaining a new light switch and possible LCM, so I soldered them into the running light circuit.

[sly]

Lookin good. I can see why oil changes can be a PITA.

[VicCrownVic]

Good to see a car with such high potential to provide many more years of service getting the high level of attention that will ensure it has every chance to give you those many years of service.

[Tiggie]

Great work! Looks like a nice car that will serve you well.

Judging by Facebook group posts, people avoid the modular plugs because of the 3V broken plug stories, whether or not they own a 3V or not.

[sly]

Great work! Looks like a nice car that will serve you well.

Judging by Facebook group posts, people avoid the modular plugs because of the 3V broken plug stories, whether or not they own a 3V or not.

Understandable. This is why I avoid 5.4L trucks like the plague. Just give me the 4.6L and have a nice day.

[BolensBug]

Great work! Looks like a nice car that will serve you well.

Judging by Facebook group posts, people avoid the modular plugs because of the 3V broken plug stories, whether or not they own a 3V or not.

Thanks.

I like the 3v engines; the added power and efficiency is hard to beat on a somewhat ancient engine platform. Even a broken plug on those is a fairly easy repair with the right tool, but those incidents were pretty much relegated to the original 2 piece plugs on those (and untimely plug changes). Some folks fear the 2v engines because of their propensity for spitting plugs, but that usually comes down to lack of ignition maintenance and under torquing (evidence thereof shown in my above picture of the plugs). I’ve been a fan of these engines since the ‘90s.

[BolensBug]

My next step will be draining the [probably original] coolant, and then vacuum-filling the system.

[BolensBug]

Both qualitatively and quantitatively, the car seems to have responded positively to the "bumper tuck" I'd done a couple weeks ago. I noticed no change locally, but above 70 mph, the car cruises more easily, doesn't slow down as much when lifting the right foot, and seems to have picked up at least 1 mpg. I'll continue to log mpg (I keep a record every time I fill up the tank) to see if yesterday's 400 mile round trip was just an outlier, but up until yesterday going faster than 72 mpg started knocking fuel economy down; yesterday, I noticed even going as high as 80mph, fuel economy actually rose. I did however sit in traffic on the LIE for a half hour.

[Brewzer55]

It amazes me how much these cars like 80+ mph

[BolensBug]

Installed a factory dual exhaust with H pipe!