VicCrownVic's 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis LS "The Scab"

[DerekTheGreat]

Sounds like you had a jolly good time. When the single exhaust rots off that's when you upgrade to duals! Ashley's tail pipe from the muffler back has rotted off, that aluminized shit is garbage. She's on the fence about getting rumbly mufflers or keeping the thing quiet.

Car looked cool with the Turbines. If you care & plan to put them back on at some point I can keep an eye out for one at the yards.

Surprisingly your car doesn't look that crusty from underneath so that's a plus.

[Tiggie]

Man that tire - any body damage from it exploding?

[VicCrownVic]

Luckily no body damage, but I think that's due to how the wheel destroyed the sidewalls rather than the tire actually exploding.
When I first noticed something was wrong was just under 3 miles before where the tire came apart. The tire came apart at 10 miles from home, 4 more miles and I would have been at work.
The car was wallowing a bit and I was trying to think of what the heck could have broke to cause it or if it was the wind blowing the car around. As the tire came apart the car started shaking and it wasn't until I hear the tire let go and saw the chunks in the mirror that I realized it wasn't starring/front end parts breaking. The tires came with the car, but they are definitely low mileage. I'm still not certain how I didn't notice the tire going flat, but I'm pretty sure that's what happened since I don't recall the car dropping in that corner when the tire went.

No need for a new wheel, it's still in good shape. Although all 4 took a beating on the backside since they didn't want to come off.

I know, I know, duals when replacing... but I used what I had laying around and already paid for like a year or two ago. Once I have a non-DD box it will get duals among other things, but that won't be any time soon.

The car was undercoated at some point so it's held up pretty well. Most of the rot spots on the body I think can be explained by the PO's grandma widening her garage door frame, or what I'm guessing was an accident that lead to the replacement of both passenger doors early in the life of the car and damage to that rocker panel that eventually rusted and rotted.

[packman]

That's why I ended up doing the dual exhaust on my CV. My Y-pipe rotted at the flanges.

Packman

[Chuck Norris]

That is some kind of tire destruction. I'm glad you didn't lose any more than a tire.

[VicCrownVic]

That is some kind of tire destruction. I'm glad you didn't lose any more than a tire.

Same here; that could have been a lot worse, but I didn't lose control and pulled safely from the center lane (3 lanes wide, plus lane and a half shoulder on each side) onto the most accessible shoulder. Happened to be the left shoulder but the right lane was backed up with people heading toward the exit from Westbound M-59 to Northbound I-75, so the right shoulder wasn't an option.

[sly]

These cars are amazingly stable with a flat rear tire. You really don't notice it until it starts bouncing unless you really know how your car handles and notice the wallow. I usually notice the wallow and give the car a very slight flick and see if the rear walks real easy. If it does... flat tire. If not, probably crappy road or bad cross winds. Haven't had a flat front tire yet. *knock on wood*

[DerekTheGreat]

I just noticed the ice car in the background of one of those shots. If I were you I'd throw a cover of some sort over it to keep the interior bits & paint from going to shit

[VicCrownVic]

The Scab and I attended a family reunion today. The Scab's family reunion that is, lol.
Left to right is The Ice Car, my '89 (never had a name, just the white car), and The Scab.












And a couple new pics of The Scab's cluster and engine bay:

[DerekTheGreat]

Nice lil Panther pride rally you got going there.

[VicCrownVic]

Here's some more pictures from this past weekend. I even parked the Yukon next to the Panthers so I could get a shot of the whole fleet. (and my uncle's Explorer)

[DerekTheGreat]

Geez Vic, that's a nice looking Yukon you've got there. It just sits in the sun all day? You any closer to throwing an engine in it? What about that Continental?

[VicCrownVic]

I figure I'll get The Ice Car ready to be put back on the road if needed, then I might start on the Yukon later this year if the funds are still there. It was nicer looking before it sat year-year and a half and the body started to rot in a few places like lower quarter panels and the bottom of a couple of the doors. If I don't get the Yukon done this year I won't be too upset, everything about that thing is expensive anyway. I've got way to much money into the stupid thing so I will get it done eventually.

The Continental is dad's car, '89 I believe, the engine and trans are good but he said there was a bunch of other stuff wrong with it. I drove it from where it was to where it is in that pic. It needs exhaust work, steering work, and I think dad said something about the sub-frame needing work. We had to move that Continental and dad's '95 Tahoe before I could get my '89 out so I can start pulling the engine from that in the near future (maybe starting on that next weekend at the earliest).

[DerekTheGreat]

The yards always have specials on engines, you could potentially find another vortech to drop in it for cheeeep. There was a nice continental for sale in ohio for $700; http://toledo.craigslist.org/cto/5682539038.html. Could junk the one you've got and get this running with what you made from scrap...

[VicCrownVic]

Parked for the winter and hopefully will not be called on for DD duty until winter is safely over.

One update that I didn't seem to post in this thread is the KYB GR-2 / Excel-G (KYB 344081) police front shocks that I installed back in August. I've been very happy with these shocks and will get the same for The Ice Car when the time comes.

Other than that, nothing new going on with this car.

Windshield wipers don't work right. I finally figured out that the multi function switch is worn and if I hold the wiper/turnsignal stalk just right the wipers work. So this is a note-to-self: get a new multi function switch.