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

[Tiggie]

Looks like a different car! I approve!

[DerekTheGreat]

Car looks good, color makes it look much better than Icy. What happened to the passenger side trim and area around the turnsignal lense? I don't recall that being there on our last joint venture JY run.

If you're looking to clean the wheels with minimal effort Mequire's (or however you spell it) makes 3? levels of cleaners. I recommend the one that says it's for PAINTED wheels. Works great at eating brake dust and brightening up white walls again. Just spray it on, let it sit and then flush it away at a coin-op wash or high pressure hose at home.

[Chuck Norris]

Man, just get that one fender straightened out and the trim replaced, and this would be a pretty nice looking car! It just needs that little bit of body TLC. I likey.

[Hearsesrock427]

Loooooove how that maroon turns into a dark bronze under certain light conditions. Definitely shows her age and use, but for something that runs and drives as well as she does for less than a grand, it's hard to complain. Will need some major body work down the line, like your other '88-'91 Grand Marqs, but it's something to work towards.

(Or so I tell myself when looking at the soon-to-be-mine two tone '85 and its horrific rust in some areas!)

[sly]

Still not as beat up as my beater. Rustier than my beater though.

[VicCrownVic]

First Wash

Derek, thanks for the PoTM nom. Is that your way of saying it needs to be washed? lol

If the car is qualified, cool. If not, I understand. It is a bit beat up and it's just my sub $1K DD.
I think it looks better in the pictures than it does in person. The passenger side of this car is really not the good side.

Well I was going to wash before the nom because I was getting sick of not being able to see the white on the tires. I ended up not getting to it the previous weekend, but this past weekend I finally gave the car a bit of a wash. I've put over 3,000 miles on the car so far and I've changed the oil twice but this is the first time I've done any washing of the car.
I need to give the wheels a good scrub still, especially the front wheels, and I didn't have a chance to wax since the weather didn't want to cooperate.

I also didn't get to the interior yet, so we'll see if I can get to that next weekend (don't hold your breath, lol).

Some before pics are in previous posts in this thread.
Here are a few more before pics:




And after pics:

[DerekTheGreat]

I think regular exercise & lube of that stuff keeps them working good. I tend not to roll up the windows completely unless the engine isn't running as I've stripped a worn gear that way and rather than just use my key to open the door and manually lock it I often lock it by hand and then cycle the locks open and closed with the buttons, so far, so good. Not sure what it is that goes bad with Ferds, I know with 80's GM's there's a module that lives somewhere and when it dies you get locks that only want to go so far. Like with my Bird you gotta press the button like 10 times rapidly to get them to go. Don't feel like pulling trim apart to get the part to work as the open button works well enough. Windows are super slow on that car too.

[VicCrownVic]

Yep, the rear door was also originally white. Not that it really matters, I just found it interesting.

All windows and locks are working as well as I want them to. Front electric locks don't work, but I ditched the electric door locks on my blue '91 and my '89, so after about 6 years of not having electric locks up front I'm used to it and have no plans to fix them.

[sly]

meh... close enough.

[VicCrownVic]

The door was originally white. The clip that is taped into the harness for the light in that door was not attached to the door because there was already a clip in the door.

I think I'm going to find that the rear passenger door is also not original to the car. One of the rear hinges has a very small spot there the paint flaked and I can see white.

[87gtVIC]

I've moved on to more minor stuff like windows and door locks. Both driver side doors are done and I discovered that the front passenger side door is not original to the car. The paint on the exterior of the door matches the rest of the car right down to the peeling clear coat. I think the door must have been replaced early in this car's life.

What clued you in on the door not being original? All evidence provided points to it being so. Was it a different color under the door panel?

[VicCrownVic]

Had the day off from work today so I got some more work done on The Scab.

I changed the spark plugs and wires and checked timing then put a couple hundred more miles on. The car is really running well now. My wife was even able to detect the difference the new plugs and wires made.

I've moved on to more minor stuff like windows and door locks. Both driver side doors are done and I discovered that the front passenger side door is not original to the car. The paint on the exterior of the door matches the rest of the car right down to the peeling clear coat. I think the door must have been replaced early in this car's life.

So far this car is doing great as a DD and I hadn't even changed spark plugs and wires until today, so next week should be even better.

[DerekTheGreat]

Sounds good to me! I've been meaning to head back up to US auto to grab the nice bumper off of this 2500 GMC truck we found. Bedliner would be nice too. We pulled the headliner as that was minty but I didn't bring the right gear for the bumper so hoping it's still there. Not like it was mint but would be better than the Dodge bumper that's currently on the truck. Could also make the rounds at the other yards too, hoping their inventories have rotated at least.

[VicCrownVic]

That's ok, my cars are just wannabe projects, LOL!
Derek, if I'm not busy the 23rd maybe we can do a JY run or something so you can see this car.

[DerekTheGreat]

I think Pantera had a saying about driving your project cars...