Mod Box - 85' Grand Marquis

[Mr Bean]

Not sure if I'll be able to pull them off before STAP. I don't really want to rip any of the body panels off until the last minute before it goes the scrapper.

Didn't really do much today. Pulled the valve covers off to assess the situation. The million dollar question is blown or not blown? I am not feeling that milky sludge.





I was actually surprised how clean the heads look. Especially since I run conventional oil.

[HiFiMerc]

Meh, I don't feel like hauling them anyway. Not too excited by the idea of the trunk being tied shut for the entire trip home.

[79lincolnlover]

Assuming the price is right.

A good junkyard should be able to order aftermarket fenders. A few years ago, I ordered one fender for my '92 CV.

[Mr Bean]

I got a bunch of stuff done today. Painted the firewall then pulled the dash out of 96'. Started installing stuff on the box.

Anyone know where to get replacement seals for the heater and vent boxes? The 85' seals are a bit dried up and deformed and 96' seals are destroyed. I am also considering using a roll of butyl to make the gasket. Every single Panther that I've had leaked water from the firewall area so I am not really a fan of the OEM stuff to begin with.

[johnunit]

I'd just use butyl or even the dense black foam you can get in 1 inch wide rolls/strips at hardware stores. Anything that'll seal the hole and deal with the heat, really.

[Mr Bean]

I pulled the heads off tonight. Absolutely nothing wrong with them. Was just stupid condensation. Thanks to that, I get to replace head gaskets.

[RyPow]

I pulled the heads off tonight. Absolutely nothing wrong with them. Was just stupid condensation. Thanks to that, I get to replace head gaskets.

I did an oil change on the Sand Box about a month ago, and saw a little bit of the chocolate milk trickle out at the end when it was almost completely drained. I didn't pull valve covers but I'm sure they looked like yours underneath. That extreme winter we had produced a lot of unique conditions/scenarios and this seems like one of them. Get the block/heads colder than usual and I imagine it will sweat internally more than normal when the ambient temp comes back up.

[packman]

Sometimes I throw tools as well as breaking shit. I've thrown parts too. Of course all was done while having a fit of tourettes.

+1 on the throwing of tools. A lot of the times I lost them in the grass. Only to run them over with the lawnmower a few months later. My father calls me "Kenny", who is one of his mechanic friends who does the same thing when he gets angry. Good thing you knew when to stop, sit down, and sip some whiskey (okay, that's what I do) to calm the storm.


Packman

[Mr Bean]

Long weekend means I got some more shit done to the car.

Motor is mostly assembled I managed to crack the timing cover when putting it back on so I gotta find another one. Anybody got one kicking around for an Aero?

Today I liberated Bignslow from its wiring harness and roughed it into the box. Got rid of wiring for the back doors too.

Other than that a lot of small crap that's been slowing me down. Took me like an hour to get one of the back seat bolts out because it was seized.

On another note, I have a lot of box parts piling up that I really have no use for. Would someone be interested in them? I have a complete gray dash with good dash pad (no cracks and speaker sections intact). Gray leather seats for a tudor. Could use a good cleaning and back seat needs to be stitched up on top as factory stitching is starting to come apart. HVAC boxes with heater core and condensers in them. Front sway bar.

[87gtVIC]

I you were a local I would take the seats dye em and run em in my ride. Great work man. Awesome project!

[Mr Bean]

So umm quick question. I noticed that there are 2 plunger type switches on each door. One on the a-pillar and one on the b-pillar. What the hell are those for? One is obviously for the interior lights but what about the other? I yanked both of them out and fabbed up the door light switches right into the latch mechanisms same as the newer models.

[FatNasty]

Plunger on the B pillar is to release the seatbelt.

[marquisman]

Yup, for thee seat belts. They are 2door specific too. Be careful with them.

[Mr Bean]

So the motor is in.

[Mr Bean]

With the motor installed in the car I found a new problem. Steering shaft won't clear the headers. Even bigger problem is that the steering shaft appears to come through the firewall in a wrong spot. Looks like I will be refuckulating the firewall again and moving the shaft over.