I finally got some time to finish up scrapping the old 91 in the barn and get the place reasonably clean. I have a friend who is supposed to come get the carcass (loaded with scrap metal) later this week with any luck.
That means that at long last I can start on the wagon. I have decided to finish the engine and tranny then put them in the car in one piece. I hope to have it on the road by Christmas.
On a side note, I also found yet ANOTHER project car. It is an 89 Grand Marquis Colony park wagon for $400. It is solid as a rock, but cosmetically rough. It runs and drives well though. The interior is the same color as my wagon and other than the seats, it is in decent shape. I will take the nicest pieces from the 89 and put in my 90.(what fits anyway)
The 89 will do beater duty and replace the suburban for trailer pulling and off road work. (minimal, no 4X4 required) This will free up my current wagon to be a cruiser with no extra equipment.
We are coming into a little money so we are selling our Suburban ($3800 if anyone is interested)and buying the wife a 95+ low mileage panther. Since I will have a little left over to play with. Aside from a few things I still want to buy for my wagon, I am picking up a set of 84 Cadillac Fleetwood springs, an ebay 4.56 ring and pinion set and some cheap 33" tires. (This thing is not intended for interstate travel as you may well imagine.) I also have a c6 laying in wait if the aod craps out. (still not worried about gearing, even with the c6 the engine will only be turning 3200 rpm at 65mph which will be as fast as it will ever need to go) The body on this thing has no serious dents but it is scraped up a bit and has more dings than a doorbell factory so I have no qualms about taking a sawzall to the fenders to make clearance. As for turning radius, I am more worried about the tires hitting the firewall or frame than I am about the fenders during a sharp turn. I may want to see if I can weld a bracket on the frame to limit the steering travel if I have to. At any rate, I will mount one tire and see how it goes before taking the final plunge.
SO in the end picture this, a gray box wagon with fake wood on the sides, geared really low, and standing tall on stiff springs and 33" tires, with off road lights on the roof and a big ugly battering ram of a bumper up front.
It will be the ugliest car I have ever put together, but it will be fun, semi practical, and totally stress free. If I feel like washing it this year fine, if not, that's fine too.
Friend: "Hey Bryan! someone just ran into your car!"
Me: "hahaha... um are they ok?"
Friend: "yeah, they just knocked the spoiler off their <insert name of small ricerish car here>."
Me: "BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
At any rate it seems like one of those projects that for around 1000$ total I can have some immediate gratification and a whole lot of fun. Almost every car I have owned in recent years has been to nice (not to mention to low to the ground) to really treat this rough. I haven’t had this much fun planning anything in years.
Pay no attention to the person hiding under the passenger side of the dash... it will be my wife trying to keep anyone from seeing her riding in it.
Bryan
That means that at long last I can start on the wagon. I have decided to finish the engine and tranny then put them in the car in one piece. I hope to have it on the road by Christmas.
On a side note, I also found yet ANOTHER project car. It is an 89 Grand Marquis Colony park wagon for $400. It is solid as a rock, but cosmetically rough. It runs and drives well though. The interior is the same color as my wagon and other than the seats, it is in decent shape. I will take the nicest pieces from the 89 and put in my 90.(what fits anyway)
The 89 will do beater duty and replace the suburban for trailer pulling and off road work. (minimal, no 4X4 required) This will free up my current wagon to be a cruiser with no extra equipment.
We are coming into a little money so we are selling our Suburban ($3800 if anyone is interested)and buying the wife a 95+ low mileage panther. Since I will have a little left over to play with. Aside from a few things I still want to buy for my wagon, I am picking up a set of 84 Cadillac Fleetwood springs, an ebay 4.56 ring and pinion set and some cheap 33" tires. (This thing is not intended for interstate travel as you may well imagine.) I also have a c6 laying in wait if the aod craps out. (still not worried about gearing, even with the c6 the engine will only be turning 3200 rpm at 65mph which will be as fast as it will ever need to go) The body on this thing has no serious dents but it is scraped up a bit and has more dings than a doorbell factory so I have no qualms about taking a sawzall to the fenders to make clearance. As for turning radius, I am more worried about the tires hitting the firewall or frame than I am about the fenders during a sharp turn. I may want to see if I can weld a bracket on the frame to limit the steering travel if I have to. At any rate, I will mount one tire and see how it goes before taking the final plunge.
SO in the end picture this, a gray box wagon with fake wood on the sides, geared really low, and standing tall on stiff springs and 33" tires, with off road lights on the roof and a big ugly battering ram of a bumper up front.
It will be the ugliest car I have ever put together, but it will be fun, semi practical, and totally stress free. If I feel like washing it this year fine, if not, that's fine too.
Friend: "Hey Bryan! someone just ran into your car!"
Me: "hahaha... um are they ok?"
Friend: "yeah, they just knocked the spoiler off their <insert name of small ricerish car here>."
Me: "BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
At any rate it seems like one of those projects that for around 1000$ total I can have some immediate gratification and a whole lot of fun. Almost every car I have owned in recent years has been to nice (not to mention to low to the ground) to really treat this rough. I haven’t had this much fun planning anything in years.
Pay no attention to the person hiding under the passenger side of the dash... it will be my wife trying to keep anyone from seeing her riding in it.
Bryan
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