Father, son and a V8
Discussion
Nice to see this pop up on my feed.
I think since you started this thread I bought, owned and sold a younger cousin to your car, a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis.
I bought it as a Sunday cruiser but loved driving it so much that I ended up commuting across London in it.
I sold it to fund a Mustang purchase but now I no longer have the Mustang, I so wish that I had kept the Mercury.
Good luck with the Wedding if it hasn't happened already.
I think since you started this thread I bought, owned and sold a younger cousin to your car, a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis.
I bought it as a Sunday cruiser but loved driving it so much that I ended up commuting across London in it.
I sold it to fund a Mustang purchase but now I no longer have the Mustang, I so wish that I had kept the Mercury.
Good luck with the Wedding if it hasn't happened already.
Yes very overdue an update!
So usage has been somewhat low due to no funds and a new child, however a new stag do road trip beckoned and there was no way that I would be using my Nissan Leaf to get to Exeter from Essex.
Which meant that it was time to pull the car cover off the Lincoln and see what needed to be done. First off tax, MOT and insurance, all which were no problem - it passed its MOT first time and had covered roughly 5 miles since its last one
. However as we all know, an MOT doesn't tell us the whole story on a car:
The footbrake sounded like a bag of rusty spanners and did not return all the way up,
The gearbox was feeling a tad 'baggy'
The engine oil needs a refresh
The manifolds are cracked and blowing
Various bits are not as attached as they should be and are rattling
The exhaust is still garbage
The battery tray needs replacing
The car generally needs a good inspection to see if it needed anything else
So off the Town Car went to Back to Life Cars. First thing to get fitted, replacement manifolds. It would be rude not to hear how that engine sounds with no silencers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkpCu2Uf3Cg
The video above does not really encompass just how loud it sounded, so another one was needed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzt_IlhJo3Y
Hammer of the gods! It sounded brutal.
Once the headers were on, it was time to sort out a transmission oil and filter change - which turned out to be the first one the car has ever had (it still had the transmission plug from the factory). Ford did not install a drain plug and so 10 litres quickly dumped them itself onto the floor (sorry Chris!). But apart from the oil slick no issues reared their head, likewise the overdue oil change presented no problems. The footbrake springs were all shagged, so all required replacing to restore, then it had to be driven to Pipecraft for a full dual system with an x pipe.
Which takes us to this morning- the car has been collected by Chris and is having a new battery tray and terminals fitted and then its ready for collection.
I cannot wait!!
Next on the list (after a hopefully uneventful drive to Exeter), is to get the body work sorted, new proper seatbelts installed and start saving for the respray.
So usage has been somewhat low due to no funds and a new child, however a new stag do road trip beckoned and there was no way that I would be using my Nissan Leaf to get to Exeter from Essex.
Which meant that it was time to pull the car cover off the Lincoln and see what needed to be done. First off tax, MOT and insurance, all which were no problem - it passed its MOT first time and had covered roughly 5 miles since its last one
. However as we all know, an MOT doesn't tell us the whole story on a car:The footbrake sounded like a bag of rusty spanners and did not return all the way up,
The gearbox was feeling a tad 'baggy'
The engine oil needs a refresh
The manifolds are cracked and blowing
Various bits are not as attached as they should be and are rattling
The exhaust is still garbage
The battery tray needs replacing
The car generally needs a good inspection to see if it needed anything else
So off the Town Car went to Back to Life Cars. First thing to get fitted, replacement manifolds. It would be rude not to hear how that engine sounds with no silencers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkpCu2Uf3Cg
The video above does not really encompass just how loud it sounded, so another one was needed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzt_IlhJo3Y
Hammer of the gods! It sounded brutal.
Once the headers were on, it was time to sort out a transmission oil and filter change - which turned out to be the first one the car has ever had (it still had the transmission plug from the factory). Ford did not install a drain plug and so 10 litres quickly dumped them itself onto the floor (sorry Chris!). But apart from the oil slick no issues reared their head, likewise the overdue oil change presented no problems. The footbrake springs were all shagged, so all required replacing to restore, then it had to be driven to Pipecraft for a full dual system with an x pipe.
Which takes us to this morning- the car has been collected by Chris and is having a new battery tray and terminals fitted and then its ready for collection.
I cannot wait!!
Next on the list (after a hopefully uneventful drive to Exeter), is to get the body work sorted, new proper seatbelts installed and start saving for the respray.
Successful arrival at the stag do location - 220 miles of trouble free motoring.
Well, that's almost true. A fully laden car with a boot full of beer and tech meant that the car was riding lower than normal, every bump or undulation in the road increased the chances of the new exhaust system being as a bump stop!
Other than that, the car was faultless, I had worried about being stuck in traffic but the cooling system didn't skip a beat. Every part of the car feels good, and it's the longest I have driven the car with no warning lights!
Truly the sign of success.
Well, that's almost true. A fully laden car with a boot full of beer and tech meant that the car was riding lower than normal, every bump or undulation in the road increased the chances of the new exhaust system being as a bump stop!
Other than that, the car was faultless, I had worried about being stuck in traffic but the cooling system didn't skip a beat. Every part of the car feels good, and it's the longest I have driven the car with no warning lights!
Truly the sign of success.
LincolnLovin said:
Well that was exciting. The passenger calliper decided to leave the team at 60mph in the middle lane of the M25.
Luckily managed to control the car enough to avoid a serious crash but it’s currebtly looking sad for itself in a slip road.
Snap. Although my incident was less hairy than yours and battery related. Keep the faith Sir.Luckily managed to control the car enough to avoid a serious crash but it’s currebtly looking sad for itself in a slip road.
Yeah, there were a lot of hills on the way to/from Exeter as well so it just gave up the ghost.
Really in two minds about what to do after fixing it up. Thinking about yesterday we were very lucky not have been killed, as the options when it blew were:
Crash into car in third lane,
Crash into car in first lane,
Crash into central reservation
Somehow I managed to avoid all three.
The car is being delivered to Chris at Back to Life Cars today, it will be interesting to see how bad the damage is and how much it will cost to fix. Hopefully there isn't major damage elsewhere as it might be a write off.
Really in two minds about what to do after fixing it up. Thinking about yesterday we were very lucky not have been killed, as the options when it blew were:
Crash into car in third lane,
Crash into car in first lane,
Crash into central reservation
Somehow I managed to avoid all three.
The car is being delivered to Chris at Back to Life Cars today, it will be interesting to see how bad the damage is and how much it will cost to fix. Hopefully there isn't major damage elsewhere as it might be a write off.
A lucky escape then.
I would guess it will need an upright if the spindle is damaged, a brake disc and caliper, a wheel bearing and possibly a tyre if there is any suggestion of heat damage to it?
Hopefully no damage to any other suspension components, they are probably pretty beefy so should be fine...
I would guess it will need an upright if the spindle is damaged, a brake disc and caliper, a wheel bearing and possibly a tyre if there is any suggestion of heat damage to it?
Hopefully no damage to any other suspension components, they are probably pretty beefy so should be fine...
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