kishy's 1985 Country Squire

[kishy]

A couple very miniscule updates of marginal importance. The carpet is still sitting on the roof, now having been rained on a few times. Someday soon I'm going to powerwash it, then clean up the rust on the inside floor, and get the carpet back in.

A couple door panels are trashed but thankfully two cars in Detroit yards have identical interiors so I'll scope those out.

Driver window motor seems to have the un-glued-magnets issue, as it makes electrical whine but won't try to turn at all. On the bright side at any given time I have at least 4 spare motors, so...just gotta find my step drill bits to chew out the bolt access holes.

I cut the parking brake cable at the driver side drum backing plate and hammered on it a bit. This plus towing it down the driveway with the Lincoln unfroze the drum the rest of the way. I used the opportunity, plus my road being closed for construction so traffic is low, to turn the car around on the street and roll it back down the driveway nose first, under the carport. It's now a lot more friendly to being worked on in the summer heat. I vacuumed out the snakeskins (none in good enough shape to try to preserve) and ripped out the hood insulation.

I kinda want to toss some fuel in it, change the oil, and just see what it does if I try to start it...worst that could really happen is I plug up the fuel pump which I'm expecting to have to change anyway.

[GM_Guy]

Does it smell like fuel when you open the fuel fill cap? If it does, you may well get away with starting it. Though, you might want to pull a fuel line somewhere and purge the lines first.

[kishy]

Does it smell like fuel when you open the fuel fill cap? If it does, you may well get away with starting it. Though, you might want to pull a fuel line somewhere and purge the lines first.

Yeah, there's something in the tank. Priming the pump the first few times I turned the key on, the sound of the pump changed as the lines pressurized. I would likely dump it from the fuel filter connection. Only problem is I have no way of knowing how much is in it, since the float sank. Given the conditions of why it was parked (running issues) I doubt they tried to run it till it was empty so it's probably more like a half tank in it.

On the other hand, I could just try to make it run with whatever it's got in it. It certainly wouldn't run well and would probably plug the fuel filter very quickly but might be worth a shot anyway.

[gadget73]

I'd pump the tank. No point in pumping more garbage through the injectors than neccesary. Its possible to hot wire the fuel pump and just dump it at the filter.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Yeah, there's something in the tank. Priming the pump the first few times I turned the key on, the sound of the pump changed as the lines pressurized. I would likely dump it from the fuel filter connection. Only problem is I have no way of knowing how much is in it, since the float sank. Given the conditions of why it was parked (running issues) I doubt they tried to run it till it was empty so it's probably more like a half tank in it.

On the other hand, I could just try to make it run with whatever it's got in it. It certainly wouldn't run well and would probably plug the fuel filter very quickly but might be worth a shot anyway.

Ran a '95 Infiniti on 9 year old gas that had been sitting in the tank. Not really recommended, but it did fire off and idled on it well enough. Concerns would be debris obviously. The big difference is that Infiniti is SEFI, not TBI, so YMMV.

[kishy]

Progress without any progress:

I won the speedometer eBay auction, and it was waiting for me at my buddy's house in Detroit (well, a suburb). It's now in my possession for when I tear into this dash a bit.

Junkyarded the last 2 days. Yesterday, picked up a set of 4 near perfect door panels. They're the vinyl-coated ones more likely to be used in leather interior cars rather than the flocked/faux velour finish on the cloth interior cars, but this discrepancy really doesn't bother me. They have map pockets though which my existing ones do not, so that's a nice benefit. This photo is awful and I care about as much as I do about the finish of the door panels:



Scouted out a very usable 86 Colony Park, which turned out to have a good aluminum front bumper I wanted for my Country Squire. The placement of the 'bumperettes' is different between Ford and Merc, and can't be corrected between them, but as with the door panel finish I just don't care that much. I took the rear too since it was slightly better and doesn't have holes drilled in it. It also was complete with keys and lock set including non-broken, apparently newer replacement glovebox lock (black instead of colour-keyed trim piece on it). Jackpot.



Already have a derby guy lined up ready to buy the bent steel bumper, which is making the front bumper effectively free.



Trying out Flickr for car photos going forward. Imgur's anti-hotlink policy is seldom enforced but I feel like it's only a matter of time. Flickr, OTOH, actually provides a BBcode embed option via the interface with no background knowledge required to use it so it's kind of implied that they're OK with it.

[VicCrownVic]

I think I like the placement of the CP bumperettes over th CS placement. I think it gives the illusion that the bumper is not so wide by making the section between the bumperettes shorter while the outer sections are closer to the size of the center section.

I have a Flickr account but don't remember why I went to PB. It may have been that I set up both accounts around the same time and didn't know better to stick with flickr.

[kishy]

Their placement is done to line up with the edge of the grille, which is wider on the Ford than it is on the Mercury. I don't mind the wider look but also don't think I'll miss it.

I was giving some consideration to taking the (aluminum) hood but remembered the hoods are different between Ford and Mercury for the same reason, the width of the grille. I have a spare header panel for a Mercury but it would cause that overbite look because of the bumper being set too far back.

Wondering if 79-87 and 88-91 Fords use the same hoods...if so there's an 88-89 at 8 Mile PG. I would just half-ass Bondo it but I'd rather ditch the steel hood anyway I think. OTOH you can't sit on the aluminum ones, they bend if you even look at them wrong.

[TecNickal]

Hoods are different between 87 and older and 88 and newer on both CV and GM.

You scored really well on the wagon finds - Congratulations.

I'll have to remember to use your trick for hauling stuff. That is a great idea.

[87gtVIC]

Nice scores.

[kishy]

I wish I'd had more cardboard with me...the rub strip on the one bumper left imprints (to the point of damage) on the sun-baked top of the Lincoln's back seat. Fabric isn't torn, just the powdery soft outer coating is a little rough there now.

I might be going back for:

• Rust-free fuel tank (take a gamble on what's in it...). I didn't notice if they'd punctured it to drain it, I suspect they did, but if not I'll take that $15 gamble.
• Rust-free fuel filler neck and the seal if it can be extracted intact
• Cut out the whole trunk pan, as mine needs it
• Possibly some of the aluminum borders for the woodgrain, one piece of mine is crushed. Ford/Merc looks subtly different though, need to study this closer. Not sure if mine is white from oxidation or because it's supposed to be white.

The rear quarter on the side I need is too far gone otherwise I'd grab that too. You folks should know, though, the fix is going to be decidedly beatery. There's no viable way to "bring back" the woodgrain so I'm just going to embrace the appearance of this car and let it be what it is in peace.

Might grab myself a windshield removal thing and see if I can teach myself how to pull a windshield. Doesn't seem that hard from YouTube videos.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I've not really stared at Country Squire trim up close, but I know for a fact the tailgate trim surround is different from the Colony Park, not just in design, but in shape. I don't think the wood grain trim pieces from a Colony Park would line up the same.

Your trim shouldn't be white, but that's likely oxidation. The Country Squires got their wood surrounds wrapped entirely with a light colored surround which typically winds up peeling off.

[87gtVIC]

I too would embrace the aged woodgrain.

I would LOVE to find a straight and rust free 1986 to 1989 (prefer 86-87 though) wagon with perfect interior. I dont care of the exterior is roached as long as the entire car is SUPER solid. I want a wagon!

[gadget73]

Ford and Mercury side trim is different. Same basic shape, but the Mercury has a chrome strip in the in the middle where the Ford has the indent. Merc trim is actually a lot nicer, it doesn't have that stupid plastic wrap that peels off. Something about the way the tailgate trim is put on is different too, but without seeing both I can't remember why its different.

[VicCrownVic]

Tailgate trim is separate/only on the tailgate on the CS, while the trim on the CP quarter panels wraps around and continues on the tailgate.