My 'new' 2003 Grand Marquis.

[Piece-it pete]

A few miles on the second car I've put ceramic front pads on and I like them! Still a little chirp from the back brakes, the rotors and pad should (better!) be OK so I'll take them off clean and lube them when I pull the snow tires off Saturday (yay!). For my permanent record the front rotors ended up being a matched L/R pair.

Then maybe take the back rotors off and put them on the right direction

Still with the wobble, severely diminished but still present, working its' bad magic on my new stuff. I'm going to do what I should've done with the rebuild and replace the front LCA rear bushings, they are cheap and easy. Actually I should've replaced the LCAs in their entirety, and now Rock has Ray Prof ones for $155 + frt, but the bushings are cheap and I'm pretty broke. So I'll change the back bushing and then when that doesn't work change the arm. Nothing succeeds like doing the same job 2 or 3 times.

Still need to do the ujoints and rear window actuators.

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Btw, rear window actuators actuate the rear windows

Bought a single front LCA rear bushing. I'll see if it works!

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Gave the back brakes a refresh, swapped the rotors side to side, no squeak. Regular tires back on, smooth grippiness.

She's starting to look a little rusty underneath. I bought it on the 5 year plan and have gotten 3 so I feel good

Pete

[79lincolnlover]

She's starting to look a little rusty underneath. I bought it on the 5 year plan and have gotten 3 so I feel good

Are you going to buy another whale in 2 years?

[sxcpotatoes]

I'm pretty sure ceramic pads were OEM on these whales. Screw the people who cheap out and put Organic (Asbestos) pads or whatever else on them. Horrible brake dust production.

[Piece-it pete]

This is the first set of ceramics I've used, I'm cheap

Are you going to buy another whale in 2 years?

Actually I keep pushing it, the plan is still set at 5 years to go It's really rust that gets me changing cars and the rust on the undercarriage, you can't see. I owned my last MGM ('97) for 9 years.

But yeah come replacement car time I'll almost certainly buy another. BOF, RWD, V8, solid rear axle, the only other options are trucks.

Pete

[SVT98t]

The Tank is on the infinite plan.
The Marauder is on the infinite plan.
Town Car is a 5 year plan. It might end up going to my dad.

Undercoating goes such a long way! Treat the rust. Eastwood has a bunch of products that will help in that. Even just sections at a time!
Trust me, I know about the rust issues too.


-ryan s.

[Piece-it pete]

I always planned on this car to be 'used up' as my daily driver but watching it decay after all the work is too bad. If I got 8 years total on it, say I've got about $8k into it, plus another $2k over 5 years, estimating very high, that's still less than $110 a month and probably less than $100 (purchase price + non maintenance repairs divided by months driven). I've been doing that calc for a while now and $100 is CHEAP. The only other long term car I owned that beat it was a '96 Geo Metro ($85). My '97 MGM came in around $115 iirc, but I paid more for it out the gate and did far less work to it, which makes sense as I bought it 2000-1? with 42K, and the 03 I bought in '11, so the 03 is much older.

I've given up comparing the 2. They're such different cars.

Have I mentioned, after driving through the war torn streets of Cleveland a couple times the stiff cop suspension finally makes very good sense.

Pete

[sly]

the 88 is on the "until it's dead and I can't fix it any more" plan.

The 93 is on the "until Ryan buys it from me after I get all the hooning done I want with it" plan

the Mark is on the "until someone buys it from me" plan

The end goal is to have a hot rod wagon (LTD-II or Panther) and a truck for me and some kid friendly crossover/suv thing like the new Escape for the wife to drive. This plan may take 10 years or so to accomplish... and by then, who knows, maybe wagons will be popular again in RWD form and I may have other options.

[Piece-it pete]

I think wagons are already going up in value!

Still talking about the ujoints. I bought Spicer greaseable but think I'm going with non greaseables after research. Some mention that while the difference in strength for daily driving isn't appreciable, you'd better grease them religiously or you will get rapid failure.

So either Spicer 5-1330X at around $26 ea or Strange Engineering U1643 at $21. I'm leaning towards Strange, they are well regarded and I like the name

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Updated to do list for my convenience, no particular order:

1) Universals (I'm going with Strange Engineering U1643) (and rear trans seal) as mentioned while doing:
2) Back brakes. They're squeaking again and I'm getting a pulse (super cheap rotors 3 years old). I'm planning:
a. Raybestos Prof ceramic pads & hardware
b. AC Delco Prof discs
c. Centric e-brake shoes and hardware
d. Timken bearings and seals
e. Centric rubber hoses
f. Flush rear lines
- That should take care of the back axle for a long while, for not much more than a brake job at a garage - win.
3) AC compressor and sundries
4) Front right LCA rear bushing (have)
5) Rear lock actuators (have)
6) Rear tires (one of the Goodyear Ultra Grips got a nail when almost new, plugged it, but recently a slow leak and only a summer left on tread anyway, bought early '12)
7) Road force balance all 4 tires
8) Sway bar bushings and possibly police sway bars. Mental jury is still out on this - ride vs handling? The cop shocks are already pretty stiff.
9) Front pass window motor/regulator and lock actuator (have) (window is getting slow and might as well change everything when in there)
10) Left dogleg is showing rust already. Paint and protect
11) Possible fuel pump and sending unit (no recent problems with the gas gauge though, so on hold till needed)
12) Really looking forward to updating the head unit to full screen with backup camera and GPS, all wiring already installed
13) Sub install using factory box and aftermarket driver & amp, again all wiring already in
14) Cooling system flush THIS YEAR for sure
15) Eventual upgrade to a stock dual exhaust with magnaflow-style mufflers. Not pressing, but a drone at low rpm highway speeds is becoming apparent.

I'm sure I'll think of more. See the great thing about the list? NO MAJOR WORK.

Pete

[tjc78]

Funny my passenger window is noticeably slower than the rest as well
Nice Upgrade List. I've got a double din pioneer navigation unit in my 04. Love it just need to install the sub and rear camera so I can actually finish the install and get it fully seated in the dash. I have so many wires back there I need to cut the bottom shelf of the radio opening to make a little room.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[Piece-it pete]

Stuff for the back brakes and new rear tires inbound!

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

New tires on (awesome) all parts for rear brakes/bearings/ujoints received. Also changing fuel filter. Hopefully Saturday.

Pete

[Piece-it pete]

Got the rear axle & brakes done. Timken made-in-USA bearings replaced the 'Williams'? No wear on the axles and none expected.

Interestingly I had a pretty hard time getting the c-clips off the axles in the diff. To re-seat them I need to give'em a knock.

Now I've got ceramic pads on all four corners and man, does this car stop. I highly recommend them.

A shoutout to the new rear rotors. AC Delco Professional Durastop 18A1214, Rock closeout at $67 for 2 delivered to me. Coated. They seem nice, I think they're a good deal. Made in China though.

Said heck on changing the rubber pigtails, they look good and I can do that as a separate job anyway. Into the parts box I also previously decided, screw the ebrakes.

Also (1) skipped the ujoints. Rear snap rings look a bit rusty so I decided to make it a dedicated job vs part of a list, just in case. Plus ran short on time.

Also (2) failed E Check. Bad lower O2 sensors. Left changed OK, right stripped the threads on the sensor during removal (not the bung). Need to take it in and have them chased clean. In the meantime have a bit of rumble to the exhaust note. Wife hates it lol.

Also (3) tranny fluid leak. Took a quick look, it appears it's the lines right next to the trans where they are clipped together & corroding (I hope) (I really, really hope). Harder look this coming weekend.

And an overall comment. I b*tch and whine about rust a lot but as I've been mentioning every other post, she's showing her salty age on the undercarriage. From here on I am only maintaining/repairing her, no real upgrades (apart from perhaps a good head unit).

Pete