VicCrownVic's 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

[VicCrownVic]

After 20 years of DDing Box Panthers, it looks like I've come to the end of an era. At least I still can claim to have never owned a vehicle manufactured in this century.

With The Ice Car rotting to pieces and OD not functional, and The Scab which isn't a spring chicken, I decided it was time to get something with rocker panels.

My wife found the ad on Thursday and I bought it today, Saturday, February 29th. Kind of neat to make the purchase on a leap year/day. Also the second car that I found the ad on a Thursday and bought it Saturday.

63k miles, traction control, digidash, ATC, leather seats (not mint but good enough for me), tinted windows (nice tint, not the bubbly purple crap), weird carriage top, and NO rust.

I'm not crazy about the carriage top or the tinted windows but, at the price I got it and the low miles, those things will grow on me (like the 4.6 and newer transmission).

It drives absolutely magnificent, it's not in mint condition, but I now have rocker panels. That was my biggest requirement, no rust.

It appears that this car was originally from Kentucky, and came from Illinois or Indiana before finding it's way to the little used car dealer I got it from. (And they probably got it from an estate sale or something for next to nothing, because most places would have asked double what I paid.)

I'll have to get more pictures later here's what I have for now:

[Kodachrome Wolf]

Sounds like you got a good thing going on.

I will say to check the intake manifold though. With mileage that low, it still might have the all plastic unit and that could cause trouble. If it does, get a Ford one, skip the Dorman crap.

[VicCrownVic]

Yes, it is rocking the original intake for now. I'll be buying a new one and hopefully it will be replaced before any problems occur.

[87gtVIC]

Congratulations on the purchase. Hope it all works out well for you. Nice to find a good deal, especially when you need it.

[gadget73]

Congrats.

never been partial to the cloth tops on anything, especially these, but whatever. I'll take a cloth top on a nice car over a proper roof on a rotbox any day.

[VicCrownVic]

Thanks.

Out to dinner with the wife, then I'll be getting my first night driving in with this car. So far the worst issue that I've found (it is a 22 year old car after all) is the battery light keeps coming on. Didn't do it on the test drive, paid and went to leave and it was on. Stereotypical used car dealer stuff, lol. He threw a load tester on and it read 14.5V engine running. 12.5V engine off so I'm thinking the battery is a little weak. Load test took it down to around 11V then it came back up to 12.5V. I've got a spare battery in the trunk, but the dude did say he would get me a new battery if I need it so I'll probably take him up on that. I didn't at the time because I'm used to buying much worse and figured it might just be a loose connection or something. I did find that the positive terminal was not as clean as I would like but cleaning that didn't help, and so far no loose connections.

ATC seems like it could use o-rings, so I'll upgrade the vacuum actuator assembly to the '03+ assembly while I'm in there.

Starting to notice the little things. Paint chips, door dings, old person wear on the driver side B-pillar, a few spots missed during detailing. Nothing that's a big deal to me.

Definitely agree, a good weird roof is better than a bad normal roof.

[VicCrownVic]

Some exterior shots:

[VicCrownVic]

Some underhood shots. I forgot to get a shot with the engine cover on. The engine cover was not taken off for detailing, but even under there it doesn't look too dirty.
I also left out of place the boot on the alt charge cable end. I was checking connections and making sure there wasn't anything loose causing the battery light to come on.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

If you want your A/C accumulator to last a bit longer, take that foam insulator off. Apparently it's been the source of a few cars having them rot out by keeping the moisture right up against it.

Underhood looks really nice. It's super clean looking.

[mercurygm88]

Nice find Vic. I kinda wish my LSE had the digidash but then again I'm OCD and was always watching my fuel mileage on the Town Cars even though I didn't really care about it. So in a way it's kinda nice having an analog cluster with no message center again. I'm guessing that's an LS premium? I dunno if they did an ultimate back then, the only brochure I have is '02 and it lists the digidash only on the ultimate I believe, but it may have been optional on the LS premium.

[VicCrownVic]

Thanks!

I haven't seen anything that indicates Premium, but then again I don't know much about anything newer than a Box.

Makes sense on the accumulator, even the paint seems to trap moisture in those things. I did try the A/C out yesterday, unfortunately it's not good. This should be a closed system, so I'm guessing there is a leak. It did get cool, but not cold. I'll have dad put some freon in it in a couple of months and see how long that lasts. I haven't had A/C since I had it in my '89 MGM back in 2011, so not a big deal to me, although I've also never had leather seats to stick to.

[gadget73]

I think the more fail prone accumulators were the later ones where it lives more or less in the wheel well. Between constant water from rain and the insulation holding it they blow out. Still not a wise idea to hold water against steel though.

[IPreferDIY]

It was funny seeing the insulation on the accumulator in such good shape. Mine is all wrinkly and whatnot. I sprayed mine with a bunch of WD-40, figuring it was one of the few occasions when a "water displacement" product might actually do some good. Dunno if it has been any better or worse, but meh.

I would hope that you will be soaking the undercarriage and other suitable areas (including inside the front fenders) with your favorite flavor of rust inhibitor.

[VicCrownVic]

Yes sir, I've been under Derek's car which has been treated with Krown. That convinced me that Krown would be a great option.

Did a little searching on the door sticker and diff tag today.
2.73 open with traction control.
Silver Frost paint with Light Graphite interior.
AM/FM premium electronic stereo with cassette.
4R70W Livonia transmission.

[TecNickal]

Not a bad new ride at all. All the normal crusty stuff looks pretty clean. You did really well for up there. Congratulations!

There's always another box out there somewhere...just getting harder to find.

Zach already said about the accumulator and intake. The front end on the 92-02 are IMO, weaker than the boxes. They go through ball joints and tie rod ends more so than the older stuff did. Since you actually maintain your car, it'll probably last you a long while.

Thought about doing some rust proofing? 3M makes a great cavity wax for stuff like rocker moldings and door bottoms. there;s also fluid film and woolwax...