90-91 merc rear body swap

[1990LTD]

Here's the deal, I might have a pretty decent bodied 90-91 grand marquis in my backyard pretty soon. good interior too but that's not why I started the thread

I'm gonna take the bottom of the rear 1/4s at the very least because mine are rusty, but, I've often thought about putting the entire rear end of a Grand Marquis onto a Crown Vic. trunk lid and all of that crap - I like the lights and lines better. My car is gonna get paint eventually anyway so the color difference won't really matter since the body is in pretty good shape. I'd actually have a Ford Grand Marquis


what are your thoughts on the swap? where would you even start with something like that? scott tells me it'll be a pain in the ass, which i fully believe, i'm just curious how you all would go about such a thing.


the car will be parked for a while as work is being done so time on a project like this isn't an issue. i know it'll take a while.

[87gtVIC]

Definitely not a beginners job I tell you. I highly recommend you do not do this yourself.

The way it would possibly be done is this...Spend time cutting out all of the factory spot welds on both cars for the quarters as well as the trunk reinforcement ( basically right above the bumper...then transfer everything to you car. Will have to clean up all of the places the spot weld cutter drilled through the panels with a course disc then clamp everything in place to see if it even lines up correctly. Attach everything with panel adhesive and self tapping screws while the panels cure in place. Remove the screws after the adhesive has cured and weld up all the the holes grind everything flush again and clean everything up with fiberglass reinforced body filler or seam sealer and paint.

This is all just off the top of my head. I may very well be over looking many obvious things. I helped (watched lol) a trunk reinforcement panel being replaced on a buick a week ago. So I have a little idea of what it takes.

Definitely a pain in the ass for people who know what they are doing.

[GoodSamaritan]

It would be easier to swap the header panel off your vic onto the merc.

[1990LTD]

would the whole body swap back over to the vic? marquis has no motor or trans and the frame is shot

[1980c10]

the 1/4 panels are the same you should just be able to swap out the trunk, tail lights and rear header set up no need to swap the whole 1/4 out .

[87gtVIC]

True dat depending on the extent of the rust on your car Josh. I think from looking at pictures in your RR that it is only low...so probably dont need the entire quarters.

[1990LTD]

down low from road salt and starting to bubble a bit at the seam where it meets the rear fiberglass piece

[mcninetyone]

Thats going to be a real pain in the ass, and unless you get it perfect the trunk could leak.

If you have a good title on the GM you should consider swapping the Merc body on to the Ford frame.

But if you know what you're doing and have the time, the rear end swap can be done. I've seen a lot harder things done in a backyard than that.

Good Luck, whatever you decide! I like the rear on the GM better too.

[gadget73]

Have you seen the pictures from my car when the lower quarter panel sections were replaced? Its not an insignificant amount of work, and not for a beginner. There are very good reasons I had Nick do that. It looks awesome now, but I know how much time he spent on it making it look right.


and yeah, much less work to stick a Ford header panel on a Mercury than go the other way round. Mercurys have nicer interior anyway. I would definitely sooner swap a header panel than go through an extensive body rebuild again. I know how much time and money that costs.

[79lincolnlover]

My advice is to get the bodywork done on your car before you put more $ into the engine.

[87gtVIC]

^very good advice

[1990LTD]

Have you seen the pictures from my car when the lower quarter panel sections were replaced? Its not an insignificant amount of work, and not for a beginner. There are very good reasons I had Nick do that. It looks awesome now, but I know how much time he spent on it making it look right.


and yeah, much less work to stick a Ford header panel on a Mercury than go the other way round. Mercurys have nicer interior anyway. I would definitely sooner swap a header panel than go through an extensive body rebuild again. I know how much time and money that costs.

My lower 1/4s need to be cut out and replaced like yours, I was just tossing ideas around to use the entire arse end from the parts car.....again, the only thing that really needs to be cut out are the lower parts - not quite as far up as yours though.