97 Grand Marquis GS: Project "Beater"

[Mater]

can not find the old thread so i will just make a new one.

this is my main "beater" event hough ti is not realy a beater it does have 200,000 miles but most fo those where put on my the dades county sherifs department in florida when it was an under cover patrol car. i am only the 3rd owner they retired the car in 2007 i bought it febuary of 2011

$900












$300 later i replaced the header panle and got the front end repainted








it also did need some brake work. the previuse owner desided to make a poor mans liine lock. only reason i can think of becuase the rear brake line was perfectly fine but they where cut at the master cylander. $6 in line fixed it


now to get into the performance parts i did. first i put glasspacks on. i did run it with no mufflers at all for a wile but it got real old pretty quick lol. second thing i did was open up the air bix with a dremal cut the front driver side and most of the bottom out

glasspacks $43.89

total $949.89

[hauen]

Now that the coyote is king, you'll probably find lots of sohc modular go-fast parts cheap now. Lots of great options out there. Blower? PI heads? 3v V-10?

[Mater]

not sure yet. car moves pretty good as is witch is a shocker. for only having a guestamated 220hp it's pretty gutsy and can brake loose the 2.73 gears. i want to go to 3.73 or 4.10

[SuperBuickGuy]

don't forget to add tubs and slicks

[Mater]

thinking of going to 235/55/15 drag radials

[1931s/x]

im working on a few projects for a dpw and they have a few crown vics sitting, i was eyeing them up today. ive always wanted a police interceptor with the honeycomb grill.

[Mater]

not bad cars. those should have the 250-260hp PI 4.6L 2v engine

with thsi high heat and humidity we been having the cooling system is not too happy so i bought some new coolant and a 180* t-stat all ready replaced the pressure cap on the degas bottle and that helped

[Mater]

well today i decided to touch up a tiny little rust spot on the dog leg of the merc as you can see in the top pictures


well this is what it turned into


actually is what it was was a bondo shoved into the hole (what is it with me and these half ass body repairs??)

luckily it is not that bad and it was the only rust on the main body of the car. i also have a binch of metal from the GTX so going to my uncles tomorrow and see what we can get done

[Mater]

i decided to give it a go at trying to weld in a patch. figured the best way is to make sections instead of one giant piece.





this is what i have so far. i can;t weld and it kept blowing though the cars existing metal may not be the correct way but i will just cover it with a layer of synthetic lead filler

[STINEY]

Its hard to say from this distance, but it actually looks like you are doing a pretty decent job of welding.......considering that it appears to be that you are welding to rust.

I hate to say it, but you may need to cut back further in order to get to some better/thicker metal. MIGs DO NOT like to weld rusty metal, it can be done, but you will experience what you are experiencing. A good welder can gas weld rust back into steel with lots of filler rod, but nothing will be flat anymore.

Overall, considering that there is likely thin metal with rust on the backside and inbetween double walled panels, I say you are doing a great job!

Keep 'em coming.

[Mater]

you are correct i am.

i am trying to find a dog leg from a parts car i can weld in but havinf a hard time finding a non-rusted car here in michigan

good news is i can use one form a 2011 vic or 2010 merc becuase they used the same body as the aero mercs. the aero vics had a diffrent tail end

[tardis454]

you are correct i am.

i am trying to find a dog leg from a parts car i can weld in but havinf a hard time finding a non-rusted car here in michigan

good news is i can use one form a 2011 vic or 2010 merc becuase they used the same body as the aero mercs. the aero vics had a diffrent tail end

What side & how much do you need? I can see if we have anything...

[Mater]

passenger side

top of the wheel arch to the bottom the car. might not need that mutch but it's easer to remove then add


here is a pic.

[Mater]

holy long over due update but then agian i hav not done much with the car

for the last 10 months the radio has not worked in the car. when i bought it i pulled this out it was not even wired in just though in the hole





the wood was the mounting "bracket"

the radio was not getting power and a bunch of electiral items in the car have never worked sense i owned it so today i decided to tackel the hacked up wiring harness left to me by Dade county florda police department

after 10 hrs of soldering, cutting, crimping, taping, and putting a kink in my neck fixing the hacked to hell and back harness i now have

1) funtioning automatic headlights i was not even aware the car had them becuase they where an option lol
2) the power out side mirrors now move
3) the digital clock works
4) the power door locks work
5) the keypad now works
6) the dome light now comes on
7) the factory security system works
8) i now have an actualy radio in the car!!!!
9) the strobes are now re-wired (still need a controler but they left the wiring and strobes)
10) got the siron rewired (agian still need the controler)
11) the wig wags hooked up

i now share Remy-Z's hatered twards wiring though and ex-police cars that have hacked up wiring they could of taken a bit more care in ripping there junk out

[SuperBuickGuy]

if it were easy, everyone would do it... now that you have practice, I'm certain I could find you a bigger challenge around here