bought a P71

Those bars look pretty nasty. You going to give some of your friends screen tests?

patgizz wrote: i it had a few rust bubbles on one of the quarter panel doglegs behind the back door.

Define doglegging.

Its been hit is what it means to me and the back shifted.

CarKid1989 wrote:

patgizz wrote: i it had a few rust bubbles on one of the quarter panel doglegs behind the back door.

Define doglegging. Its been hit is what it means to me and the back shifted.

dog leg or crab walk. I've heard both terms. It means the rear tires do not follow the fronts when going down a straight section of road.

|----| |---| <- like that.

wow my ascii skills have lapsed.

dogleg = the skinny part of the quarter panel between back door and wheel opening. rust bubbles on one side but i had to bend down close to see them.

dog tracking is the term i've heard for going down the road crooked.

the car does not appear hit and looks straight down the sides.

as far as my 99, today i replaced #6 coil pack and the miss is gone, so i found the weakest link when i washed the engine. i bought new autolite platinums and new motorcraft filter and i'm going to change the oil and plugs as soon as i get a chance.

my MAF adapter to build a shielded CAI should be here soon as well as some other parts. the air filter is all nasty and the box it goes in has broken mounts, and i've got a nice k&n cone so may as well use it.

Be VERY careful changing plugs! Ford used not nearly enough threads!

clean that maf with the proper cleaner. theyre uber sensitive to dirt.

what axle did you get with yours? I've got the 3.27. I did the math, and I think at 75mph a set of 3.73's would only raise my rpms from 2100 to 2400. So of course I HAVE to do that one.

P71, it's the new miata!

Yay! I started a GRM trend!

I dunno on the 3.73's. I have the 3.27's and I'm thinking 3.55 is the highest I want to go. Might just be because I have a set of 3.55's laying around...

I recently bought a 2002 Merc Grand Marquis LSE, I LOVE IT!!! Performance and handling package, including rear air springs, dual exhaust, 327 gear with trac control(would rather have a LSD but oh well) 01 and up have the PI heads and more power, Intake has the Aluminum coolant cross over tube already, A Mark 8 torque converter is even part of the package! Rather nice leather seats and console with floor shift too!

I had been shopping for an 01 or newer P71 when this got traded in at work. Needless to say I dove on it!

Absolutely the best beater I have ever had!!! Stealth Silver with Merc emblems isn't the same vibe as a true P71 but mechanically, it's got mostly all the same stuff. Oh and 87 octane fuel all day long FTW!!!

P71 wrote: I dunno on the 3.73's. I have the 3.27's and I'm thinking 3.55 is the highest I want to go. Might just be because I have a set of 3.55's laying around...

well here's what I'm thinking, that's not even 15% more rpms. so worst case scenario we'd see 15% worse fuel economy. EXCEPT, how much does it matter that your motor isn't lugging with the taller ratio? If it's not working as hard to maintain speed or accelerate that's gotta take some of that 15% back doesn't it?

I've been watching 3.73's change hands on evilbay for $50 or so. I'm just not keen on 3.55's being enough of a difference. If you're gonna go through the trouble anyway.....

modificationing and maintenance has begun.

new front shocks, oil change today.

03+ grille blacked out rear chrome under taillights/decklid got the front wheels on with 1.5" billet adapters

snapped a rear wheel stud at 8pm and called it a night.

2

Love the adapters. Gonna need some. Where did you shop?

For you guys who really love the Crown Vic/Gran Marquis...

Serious question.

IF you were going to buy a new one (and just put yourself into the shoes of an owner who would get one), what would you want to be different?

From what I understand, this vehicle is going to keep going for a long time. But it's nice to see some appeal to, well, people not members of AARP.

What is it that you love, what do you like but could be better, what do you hate that must be better?

Thanks.

Hopefully, I can get someone here to read this.

Eric

The latest version of this car is awesome E. But I will give you an opinion.

1: Colony Park / LTD wagon.

<img src="" alt="" />

2: Update the car with a real AV/GPS Nav system, toss in the Sync but make the integration easy for the Geri crowd. (ALL MODELS)

3: Seats a bit more like the BMW/Audi luxury seats. (ALL MODELS)

4: Bring the ride height back down, It seems as if the car raised up about an inch two years ago. It's a little much. (ALL MODELS)

5: Since truck production is down why not make the 5.4L an option. It will keep the engine shop working and the guys with the flat bill caps and the heavy leather belts will love them. (P71, WAGON)

6: Oh yeah add lightness.

It's a hard question for me. I mean I bought the thing cause it was a bargain. New cars are never a bargain imo, so it's hard for me to wrap my brain around the question.

There's probably lots of stuff more efficient, faster, better handling, almost as roomy, but none of them cost so little.

My buddy bought it for the novelty. The make/features of the car didn't matter at all, but I think that is what will convince it to keep it longer than a few weeks. Torquey V8, cold AC, and lots of room make it our lunch bus. And he's gonna slap a hitch on it so he can tow his dirtbike to the desert. Picked up some aviators today that will live with the car. Got a wave from an actual cop this afternoon, and a smiling "nice car" from a blonde the other day.

Does anyone know the actual laws about impersonating a cop? Is it illegal to keep it black AND white (no stickers or letters, just solid colors)? No light bar, no siren, just a black and white crown vic. Not trying to pull people over or anything stupid, obviously. Legal? I'm hoping to hear from someone that actually knows the laws, rather than just "what you've heard". We're in the People's Republic of California.

My buddy picked up black spray paint today, but I think it'd be so much more fun to keep it B&W.

I can not imagine that merely owning a black and white c/v would qualify for impersonating. The muni sells them that way. Several of the rent a cop companies in town buy used P71's and add their company logo overtop where the Lincoln Police Dept stuff was and they don't get in any trouble. Said logo typically looks quite a bit like the actual police's graphics even.

The seller claimed there was some time limit before you had to pick a solid color (sketchy eastern european guy). The problem is, impersonating an officer takes you to Federal PMITA prison, not some country club prison. So there's no room for error.

EDIT: google ftw...

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27605.htm

http://www.newbeetle.net/article.php?sid=106

I guess we'll make it solid black. Although from the geeksquad story, it sounds like its just a fix-it ticket if you're not using it to truely impersonate an officer and pull people over or something.

HA! california

Mine is black and white now and I've never been harassed for impersonation.

Anyway, I'd love better seats. The stockers are flat and not really supportive. I want something a little more aggressive than Marauder seats.

In fact, I bought a set of blue leather '06 GTO seats because I love the ones in my own GTO so much, so I'm hoping to make time to get those fabbed in to the P71.

I'd love to have satnav but there's aftermarket solutions for that.

I guess a center console would be nice. There are options for that, too.

The car gets decent mileage, has sufficient power and torque and handles decently with the P71 suspension. The air blows ice cold and it's good and weather-tight.

That's all I can think of now.