Panther Megathread - Live axles and dead coils

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Panther Megathread - Live axles and dead coils

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Ahoy me mateys, the great ship Grand Marquis de Sade sets sail. (I bought an 03 mercury)

edit: VV I was actually looking into that just a few minutes ago, good timing.

As Nero Danced fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Jan 25, 2018

# ¿ Jan 25, 2018 03:59

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 15:39

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Darchangel posted:

I thought the Dorman intake is only really an improvement for the earlier cars that still had the plastic coolant crossover? For switched to the aluminum crossover at some point. Earlier on the P71s than the civilian models, but I think they all got that eventually.

An additional thing to look at: make sure that all the poo poo works. Service outfitters are famous for butchering the wiring, even with the OEM pigtails specifically for them to tie into. Just make sure all your exterior lights and such work.
If the dome light doesn't work, there's programming (or a jumper on earlier cars) for disabling/enabling that, and there's a plug to disable the rear power door lock switches as well.

Good news is that P71s are heavy duty everything, generally speaking, and pretty much sledgehammer simple. The cop models didn't even have to deal with Passlock, VATS, or whatever Ford called their electronic coded keys.

I have an 03 Grand Marquis and it had a hosed intake manifold. Putting the dorman on was a breeze, but took a while only because I didn't know what I was doing. This is the first intake manifold I've ever installed, which doesn't bode well for my project car. I read somewhere that I would lose a bit of horsepower at the top end with the dorman intake but really, when you're piloting a 70 mile an hour sofa, you really won't notice. I sure haven't since I installed it. To check to see if the intake manifold is going or gone, after a test drive where you get the engine up to temperature, you can smell for burnt antifreeze (I'm sure it's healthy, I got brain cells to spare) and to get down on the ground and see if any is leaking out around the bellhousing- don't panic, the engine isn't puking from somewhere impossible to save it, there's a drain hole in the back of the engine valley to let water and in this case coolant drain out so it doesn't puddle between the cylinder banks.

Actually I don't think I ever posted the pictures of my ruined intake manifold gaskets in this thread:

e:clarifying something

As Nero Danced fucked around with this message at 13:01 on Jul 20, 2018

# ¿ Jul 20, 2018 12:58

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

J Corp posted:

I bought a 2003 Mercury Marauder a few months ago about a week before going overseas for work. The rear end needs a rebuild and I'm going to be home in another few weeks so I'm starting to look into parts. Planning on putting 4.10's in it while it's apart, then a tune and exhaust after the rear end is sorted out. Is it worth upgrading to 31 spline axles since the spider gears are hosed up anyhow and need to be replaced or will I be fine with the stock 28 spline axles?

Did you get your leather jacket?

# ¿ Nov 10, 2018 21:42

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Fender Anarchist posted:

Well drove it 30 minutes home, temp never got above 90 and I could hear the cooling fan easily when I parked, so...

I've got a hair trigger for "minor glitches"at this point.

Shot in the dark, but do you know if you have the crummy intake manifold/gasket setup or the revised one? I was losing coolant and overheating when mine screwed up. I don't remember what years were affected, but there's a dorman intake manifold that can fit on the earlier ones (my GM is an 03 for what it's worth).

# ¿ Nov 17, 2018 08:08

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Maybe a clogged up vapor canister?

# ¿ Nov 23, 2018 19:46

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

I'm wondering if I can get some help diagnosing an AC issue in my 03 GM. Most of the time the air only comes through the defrost and floor vents, but I can occasionally "trick" it into blowing through the main vents if I turn the air down and slowly dial it back up, and if I'm lucky it will start blowing through the vents. From a little bit of googling, I think this is the EATC needing some new o-rings, but could it be something else before I start taking the dash apart?

# ¿ May 31, 2019 00:07

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

CannonFodder posted:

So I did a thing.

This part was very easy.

WIP

The offending o ring. It broke when I tried to remove it, the other 3 were fine.

I had to pry up these tabs to remove the solenoids, the foam crumbled apart because it's 15 years old, I think it's just there to show evidence that I worked on it and didn't just buy the part.

Installation is the reverse of removal. And I am bad at photography.

Yeah that's the stuff. It stayed on dash vents instead of defog or floor.

Wait, what's this?

290704
Yep, those o rings were installed in 2004 for the 2005 model year.

I fixed a thing

Mine has the same behavior yours did (cycling through different vents on its own), I'm going to do the O-rings this weekend. Thanks for the pics, your post and a youtube walkthrough I found are pretty helpful.

In the meantime I've done much more critical work, like making my car look pretty. My headlights were pretty faded and scratched, and since it's an 03 and marauder parts fit, I was able to give my car some mascara (it's going through a goth phase, YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND DAD!!)

At some point I'll replace that bumper cover with one that doesn't have a big dent on the underside. I might get a marauder bumper with fog lights, but I've been thinking of doing some questionable things to the car (mad max things) and putting the fog lights somewhere else. That's way down the road though.

Edit: Thanks again CannonFodder, 2 o-rings broke when I removed them, and now it listens to me when I tell it which vent to blow through.

As Nero Danced fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Jun 23, 2019

# ¿ Jun 20, 2019 16:51

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

In a fit of alcohol-fueled automotive daydreaming I've had a terrific/terrible idea that I need to talk through to figure out if it's feasible. I have a 65 mercury comet sedan with a 114 inch wheelbase, near as makes no difference to my Grand Marquis. I measured it roughly, the pinch welds on the bottom of the comet are 56 inches across from each other, which is pretty close to the centerline of the frame rails on a panther. If I hammered over the pinch welds to flatten them out and install some body mounts (stupid economic unibody), I might be able to make a redneck monster muscle car.

At the very least I'll have an emergency eject feature in a crash when the body mounts rip out, the body shoots off the frame and I go flying into the ditch.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2019 18:28

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

I finally got around to looking for bucket seats for my car, ironically the Marauder seats were both closer and cheaper than town car seats.

I need to get a center console now, not sure if I want to convert to console shifter or not, or maybe a town car style jump seat/armrest. Coincidentally, anyone want a set of tan leather power seats?

# ¿ Feb 22, 2020 21:23

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

That's a tough call and I wouldn't blame you either way, I'm really missing the armrest- not having a place to put my elbow is starting to drive me crazy. One thing to note though if you do the swap is apparently the wiring harnesses for the front seats can be really fussy, I'm dealing with an airbag light now, and I think it's because the passenger seat weight sensing module isn't happy- I'm guessing the seats were out of an 04 and they did something just different enough from my 03 to make it unhappy. One of the posts I saw somewhere said that the easiest way to swap seats from different years is to just swap the seat skins over between the old seats to the new, and trim the foam as you go.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2020 21:52

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Nebakenezzer posted:

So, friends, on monday I'm going to see a 2003 Lincoln Town Car, white, that has about 200,000 km (124274 miles) on it. It's apparently been sitting "about a year", and was probably buried in a snowdrift last winter. It's had its air-suspension replaced with the other one. As I live in the "did you pull that off of the sea bed" rusty part of Canada, it's a notable plus that it was brought from Arkansas in 2013. It worked as a limo car since.

I've always wanted to join the cult of the panther, and want to use it as a daily driver. I've been told the structural improvements of the 2003+ panther make it the one to get, and town cars are the nicest of the lot.

So:

1. assuming everything is as I've said is true, (don't know about the snowdrift, just speculating) what do you think it is worth in cdn?

2. Aside from the replacing of the plastic intake manifold with an aluminum one, is there anything else I should keep an eye out for?

You already have the suspension swap, so you don't have to worry about bursting an airbag. My 03 grand marquis has been rock solid on several 1000+ mile road trips and aside from the intake manifold the only problems I've had are self-inflicted. Aside from the average stuff (battery, belts, fluids, weird squeaks, and make sure the underside doesn't look rotted out) I can't think of any reason to not go for it. The intake manifold took me a day to swap out and if there's a performance cost, I haven't noticed it. I couldn't offer a valuation on it, I'd try to keep it low though since it's been sitting. You may need to flush the fuel system as well, Depending on how well it runs that might be just a can of seafoam or yanking the tank to get it cleaned out

As Nero Danced fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Jul 20, 2020

# ¿ Jul 20, 2020 19:25

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Bummer, but I see your reasoning. That's a big gamble, I've taken one like that before and it ended up sitting in my yard for three years before I admitted it was too much for my meager skills.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2020 18:29

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Hate to double post but the last one I made was a while back, and I have a slightly strange question about parts interchangeability. One of the headlights on my Grand Marquis has gone out, the wiring pigtail looks melted (yay cheap and lovely bulbs). I found a replacement plug at advance or O'Reilly's for six bucks I could splice in, but the reviews say that that one melts out before too long as well.

I'm pretty sure a wiring harness from a Crown Vic or Town Car would fit it, but I have an 03 model. The junkyard near my place has a couple 97-02 crown vics in the yard, does anyone know if those wiring harnesses would swap over? I wouldn't even begin to know model numbers for that part.

As Nero Danced fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Oct 22, 2020

# ¿ Oct 22, 2020 00:06

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Darchangel posted:

There's a high likelihood that the plug and pigtail at least would work. I don't think the headlights changed for the last generation at all. The aftermarket replacement housings are sold '98-'11.
A quick look at eBay says the replacement 9007 and 9005 plugs fit *lots* of cars.

Cool, thanks. Time for a trip to the junkyard then.

# ¿ Oct 22, 2020 22:35

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Cage posted:

I got pretty lucky! Found the ad 26 minutes after it was posted. Owned by a grandpa that garaged it, it has 71k miles and surprisingly no visible rust! Rides like a dream.

Man that's beautiful, great find!

# ¿ Nov 13, 2021 14:11

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Sorry to double post, but I have a question (and I don't think I ever posted my front license plate in this thread either)

In addition to the all-terrains I put on it (and there will be a lift one day and maybe a roof rack, just not any time soon), I'm tempted to further mad max it out a bit more. I want to get some KC fog lights, but should I mount them behind the grille, or get a push bar and mount them to that? I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to make it look like a cop car, but it feels like whichever route I go is going to risk that.

Another option would be a marauder bumper (I'll probably need a new bumper cover anyways since there's a big dent on the underside), but I don't really want to go that route.

As Nero Danced fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Nov 14, 2021

# ¿ Nov 14, 2021 16:04

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

I finally got around to wiring up my fog lights, this was taken at dusk so my camera's light levels are all wonky but they look great in person.

# ¿ May 6, 2022 17:38

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Cage posted:

I found mine on craigslist about 25 minutes after it was posted. Gotta be constantly checking and ready to buy because the deals go fast. I would check facebook too theres plenty on there.

Yeah, I think at this point with how old they are, craigslist and little used dealerships are your best bet. Autotempest does a good job of searching multiple areas at once.

# ¿ May 6, 2022 18:49

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

casque posted:

That looks pretty mean! Aren't fog lights meant to be closer to the ground?

Probably, they're "offroad only" :ssh:

Actually my state doesn't really have laws about additional lights/spot lights, as long as you don't have more than two and they aren't blue or red, so I'm in the clear. Then again my brother has four on a lightbar on his truck, and no one's given him trouble about them.

# ¿ May 7, 2022 00:21

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Gonna add that trying to swap seats between cars might be more trouble than it's worth, apparently every couple years they changed the wiring harness so trying to swap seats between years and even models can be a pain getting the car's computer to be happy with the swap. I have seats from an 04 marauder in my 03 grand marquis (I expected this the be the simplest swap) and I had to get the seat plug re-pinned so it would fix an airbag light. The other plan was to get a jump seat from a town car and matching buckets, but I couldn't find one and I got a good deal on my marauder interior. The storage armrests would be the better solution, especially the door card ones- those look awesome, I need to add that to my next pick-a-part list.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2022 21:13

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

Liquid Communism posted:

I was searching for my lost wallet in the PI this week and found a gift from the Cop Fairies.

A plastic baggie full of 12GA shotgun shells under my driver's seat. Been rolling this thing around for five years with that in there.

I have a hatchet somewhere in mine from when I went on a road trip to the desert this january. It might be on the side of the interstate in new mexico, I really have no idea where it is.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2022 00:51

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 15:39

As Nero Danced: Sep 3, 2009; Alright, let's do this

e: nevermind, not really adding anything to the discussion that wasn't already said

# ¿ Oct 29, 2022 16:00

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