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

[VicCrownVic]

Half of them are parts cars. I have a truck that I have all kinds of parts to get it going again. I think you've seen it, LOL. (Seen it every day for a while now.)

[DerekTheGreat]

You've got too many cars. Time to get a truck as a back-up, they're really versatile and come in handy when you least expect. I've got one that needs work, you can have it for $200

[VicCrownVic]

Nice and dry day today, so I took this car to the store this evening. Roughly 5 mile round trip. Talk about wind noise. There is a chunk of weather strip missing on the driver door, and a hole in the windshield seal that has been there since before I bought the car. Exhaust sounds louder than I remember, or maybe I'm just used to the '98.

I topped off the gas and didn't even forget to hit my fuel door popper before I got out. Yet in the '98 I somehow still reach for the radio in the lower position that I'm used to in boxes.

I've got some stuff I'd like to do with this car but not sure that I will get to any of it this year. I guess it depends on how a few other things that are higher priority work out. Most likely The Scab will just be backup this year.

[VicCrownVic]

Yep, pushpin Christmas tree clips like the door panel clips but bigger. I'll try to get a pic of them next time.

I noticed that too, in addition to orientation difference, the front bracket is cut different like Dave said.

I actually broke my old T50 bit getting these panels from the JY which prompted me to buy the impact bit. Come to think of it the bolt that broke that bit was also the driver side bolt. Must be something in the design/location that makes that bolt more prone to get stuck. P side came out fine, but I ended up cutting the D side seat belt at the JY. I hate to destroy things in the process, but these panels are in a color I don't see often in the JY.

[Tiggie]

Impact is your friend on those. When putting the shoulder harnesses in my 88, I tried the breaker bar. I broke the bit after putting about two feet of extension on it. My impact wouldn’t touch it. Borrowed a friends impact from his work and it was out in 5 seconds. The right tool for the job makes all the difference!

[87gtVIC]

At first glance I would have said it was just a manufacturing defect....adhering the piece in the wrong direction. But giving it another look suggests otherwise giving that the bracket has a deeper cut into. I get the orientation part of it as well. Makes one able to slide the piece out easier.


Do these slide into grooves on a plastic push pin?

[VicCrownVic]

I scored some C-pillar sail panels about a year ago and finally decided to try installing them today. Since I was going through my shed and I saw them I guess I felt motivated to finally do something with them.
The replacements came from a 1990 MGM. They aren't mint, but they are much better than what they are replacing.

Passenger side before:

Passenger side after (but before I aligned it better):


Driver side seatbelt was not budging. The belt has to be unbolted at the bottom and fed through the panel. I have 1/2" drive T50 impact bit that was not making any progress on my breaker bar. In fact the teeth of the bit were shifting.
I sprayed the bolt with some liquid wrench, top and underside, still nothing. Tried hammering on it as well. I'll keep spraying it whenever I can and if I still can't get it I'll have to visit someone with an impact.
So the driver side did not get changed.


The PO painted the bare spots on both panels and did a decent job matching the fabric color. There was a lot more fabric on these panels when I got them. The original owner (PO's grandmother) took the car to Arizona each year. I think the AZ sun and heat did these panels in.

Something interesting I found, there seems to be a difference in the orientation of the brackets on the backside of the panel. The '90 brackets are mounted to the panel in opposing directions while the '91 brackets are mounted in the same direction which made the '91 panels much easier to remove than the '90 JY panels.
('90 left, '91 right):

[87gtVIC]

Good load.

[VicCrownVic]

Rare picture of "the bad side." I decided to get some mulch today. The old mulch was looking really tired in my flower bed and around my two trees.

I fit 20 cubic feet of mulch in the trunk no problem. Two spare tires and a few other things in there as well.

Picture with 20 cubic feet of mulch:


Picture after unloading all the mulch:


I didn't get the exact same perspective, but it looks like in the picture with the mulch in the trunk the rear is sitting a little lower. Not bad for stock 30 year old springs and Monroe Max Air shocks in the rear.

[DerekTheGreat]

No smoke and it didn't stink! Thumbs up from me. That should be the junkyard trip vehicle, not that pristine '98. Thanks for helping with all that dirt, it's nice to have my truck back again, and riding level!

[VicCrownVic]

Took this car on its first real drive since December when I parked it. About 100 miles today, a bit more than the 4ish mile trips to the store and back that it's been on over the last few months.

Brakes actually felt ok and more like I remember, but probably because I drove it long enough to get used to them. Definitely not as nice as the brakes on the '98.

Long trip with Derek following. Took a load of dirt that he wanted to get rid of up to my parents' place. I didn't want to drive the new car on dirt roads more than I need to so took The Scab. Overall the car did well.

[packman]

That's what my CV was like after I upgraded the brakes on the Ranger; a little bit moreso when I got the '05 MGM. Yet, my Mom had no problem locking up the brakes during a panic stop shortly before taking that car off the road. I still replaced the master cylinder and brake booster when the lopo came out anyways. Hopefully that makes a difference.

[VicCrownVic]

Drove this one the other day when I had to go pick up some meds at the pharmacy. Holy crap, this thing needs some brake work. Need to check the fluid level and check for leaks if it's low. If that looks fine I'll bleed it and go from there. The pedal feels stupid soft. Driving the '98 may have made it more obvious, but I don't remember the feel of this brake pedal sucking so bad when I parked it.

[VicCrownVic]

Power washed all 3 cars today. This one started right up like it always does. Got all the dirt, pollen, and bird crap off then put it back.

[VicCrownVic]

Normally I would have this car back on DD duty since we've had enough rain to wash the salt off the roads and hopefully we're done with salt for the season.
With the '98 taking over DD duty, The Scab is now backup. I've got some work that needs to be done, but I'm not going to do the work in my driveway and with all the COVID-19 stuff going on I guess I'm stuck waiting to do the work it needs.

I started this one up about a week or two ago when I moved it to power wash my driveway. It started right up like it always does. The engine in the car sure is warn though. Plenty of clattering on startup for the first few seconds. As temperamental as The Ice Car is, that engine doesn't clatter, so perhaps that engine will eventually find its way into The Scab in the next couple of years. We'll see.