1:35 "tons of wood paneling in here and if it came from real trees the forest would be empty" 😂 Well, you got the outfit to fit the car! I am all for the LS swap, It makes a lot of sense in this instance!
Love this car! Was hunting for one when I found my 2 door! Intake clearance is super tight by the wiper motor! Can wait to check out the build on this.
@@Bendinwrenches24 I got the LS and 4l60e. Now I’m gathering parts. Thanks to your videos I can sort stuff. The durby mounts you got will help. Thanks for tuning in. You got an Instagram?
@@Drakes_Garage no Instagram not yet anyway fairly new to RUclips still sorting some of the extras. I do have my email address in my channel description if you have any more questions.
Knob on driver armrest moves with power door lock, likely a manual unlock but doors will open anyway. I bought an 88 with 87k miles, had it for years, best car ever owned. 26-28 mpg hwy, it was a Crown Vic LX, no wood, loaded power everything, long wheelbase for great ride, surprisingly tight handling, plywood will fit in back, or if longer leave the tailgate down and put the armrests down you could haul something much longer, rear facing seats lock down with key for secure storage, mine started to rust around the front door hinges, otherwise no rust, gave this to a friend years later who used it for storage, it lasted 187k miles they are well known to hit 350k. I think mine may have been some kind of fleet vehicle. Mine was dark blue (Patrician blue), blue interior, a magnificent piece of machinery. Mine handled extremely well, others with the wood seem to get lousy mileage, the low end torque on mine may have made the difference. Fixed the a/c once, a starter, tires (try putting truck tires on the rear to give it a lift. My 91 Merc was taupe with leather seats and the wood paneling, really dated looking. Get rid of the wood if you can. Mine had the velour seats, I got some Covercraft navy blue seat covers that were indestructible. Head rests lean forward to make it a very comfortable vehicle. Great for towing. Nobody ever believed me about the mileage or the handling unless they borrowed it and it was always hard to get the car back. The engine 5.0 quasi fuel injection was far superior to what GM was putting in their full size wagons. Sticker price on this was around $17,500. I put gauges (water temp, etc.) because they only come with idiot lights on the dash. Also, larger tires on the back will give it a California rake and help if you carry heavy weight in the back. The door striker bushings sound gone on yours, replace and the door closure is just like a Lincoln, in fact it's the same part. I was told to change the fuel filter regularly and never had trouble with the engine.
Love it! My aunt had one that us kids would fight over to sit in the very back to make faces at folks in LA traffic. LS swap is great, I’d say a light metallic blue paint job if it were mine
Following with interest. I have a moon-mile 1987 5.8L Country Squire. I'm keen to watch you solve any issues with the stock stuff and how you manage the LS swap. Good luck!
Don't know what you paid for this car but I think it is a fantastic project !! Back in the mid 1980's I had a Ford Wagon ( not the CS ) but it was great !! It had roof racks and I hauled a canoe, thru the kids in the back seats, tents, Coleman stove and stuff in the very back and away we went camping .... it was great ! Very much looking forward to your upcoming videos Matt.
Thank you Brian. Great story!! In fact that’s the very reason why I bought it. I want to do some camping with the family in it. Should be good to haul everything. Even a popup trailer!!
The frame from a newer Crown Vic or Grand Marquis should bolt right up if you wanted to go that route. As far as I know they never changed the body mount locations. 98-02 gets you much better front brakes and a significantly better handling rear suspension. 03-11 gets you a much better front suspension with rack and pinion steering as well as an overall stronger frame. Any of the mod motors including the 5.0 coyote bolt right up to them, motor mounts should also be available for an LS. The one issue is those awesome 80s turbine wheels won't fit anymore, 98-02 has brake clearance issues and 03-11 uses a different offset.
Im pretty sure these didnt curb out at 4600lb, still around 2 tons, pretty portly. A vinyl wrap would be perfect for this car, as half of it came wrapped in vinyl (from the best trees of the famous plastic forests just outside of Dearborn) from the factory!. You got it backwards too. Mercury had a version of this called the colony park. The only Lincoln wagon you could get in this year was one you hopefully won't be riding in for a long time :) Also, 150hp from a 5L V8 was pretty pitiful even for 1988. Good thing it has a decent flat torque curve to compensate! I dont feel as bad about my 1991 Infiniti M30s 162hp pulling around 3600lb now 😂
@@twoeightythreez good to know about the Mercury. I’m still kinda new to these even though I’ve always wanted one! She isn’t a powerhouse but she’ll get you there
@@Drakes_Garage I have the same sentiments about my car :) And eventually will ls swap It, for now gonna manual swap it. As for a wagon, i have eyes for a 1983 Buick Century wagon, but that one (if and when i pick it up) will remain all Buick ('66 300 with a 65 iron 4bbl intake, T5 5 speed).
@@Drakes_Garage I'm interested to know how the swap turns out. I have an '89 Town Car and I've thought the aluminum block 5.3L LM4 or LH6 would be a nice engine for it.
1:35 "tons of wood paneling in here and if it came from real trees the forest would be empty" 😂 Well, you got the outfit to fit the car! I am all for the LS swap, It makes a lot of sense in this instance!
Hahahaha wood for days
It needs the rod knock.
@alfreddominguez2750 😂😂
That's a beauty. Blue would be perfect!
@@hrhcc1 I love this thing!!
I actually have one in blue! I love it!
Love this car! Was hunting for one when I found my 2 door! Intake clearance is super tight by the wiper motor! Can wait to check out the build on this.
@@Bendinwrenches24 I got the LS and 4l60e. Now I’m gathering parts. Thanks to your videos I can sort stuff. The durby mounts you got will help. Thanks for tuning in. You got an Instagram?
@@Drakes_Garage no Instagram not yet anyway fairly new to RUclips still sorting some of the extras. I do have my email address in my channel description if you have any more questions.
That things in amazing shape! And they were very comfortable ride!
It’s like a cloud!!
Knob on driver armrest moves with power door lock, likely a manual unlock but doors will open anyway. I bought an 88 with 87k miles, had it for years, best car ever owned. 26-28 mpg hwy, it was a Crown Vic LX, no wood, loaded power everything, long wheelbase for great ride, surprisingly tight handling, plywood will fit in back, or if longer leave the tailgate down and put the armrests down you could haul something much longer, rear facing seats lock down with key for secure storage, mine started to rust around the front door hinges, otherwise no rust, gave this to a friend years later who used it for storage, it lasted 187k miles they are well known to hit 350k. I think mine may have been some kind of fleet vehicle. Mine was dark blue (Patrician blue), blue interior, a magnificent piece of machinery. Mine handled extremely well, others with the wood seem to get lousy mileage, the low end torque on mine may have made the difference. Fixed the a/c once, a starter, tires (try putting truck tires on the rear to give it a lift. My 91 Merc was taupe with leather seats and the wood paneling, really dated looking. Get rid of the wood if you can. Mine had the velour seats, I got some Covercraft navy blue seat covers that were indestructible. Head rests lean forward to make it a very comfortable vehicle. Great for towing. Nobody ever believed me about the mileage or the handling unless they borrowed it and it was always hard to get the car back. The engine 5.0 quasi fuel injection was far superior to what GM was putting in their full size wagons. Sticker price on this was around $17,500. I put gauges (water temp, etc.) because they only come with idiot lights on the dash. Also, larger tires on the back will give it a California rake and help if you carry heavy weight in the back. The door striker bushings sound gone on yours, replace and the door closure is just like a Lincoln, in fact it's the same part. I was told to change the fuel filter regularly and never had trouble with the engine.
I’ve got a 91 Mercury Grand Marquis Colony Park LS in Light Crystal Blue with a Shadow Blue cloth interior.. 46,000 miles. It’s an awesome car…
@@LincolnRay that’s great! I’m so excited to built this car. Thanks for tuning it!!
Needs to be named Grizwalds
I’m in agreement
Love it! My aunt had one that us kids would fight over to sit in the very back to make faces at folks in LA traffic. LS swap is great, I’d say a light metallic blue paint job if it were mine
😂😂 that’s awesome!! I feel the same. The LS would be the way to go. I feeling the blue paint as well! Thanks for the comment!!
Following with interest. I have a moon-mile 1987 5.8L Country Squire. I'm keen to watch you solve any issues with the stock stuff and how you manage the LS swap. Good luck!
Thank you for subscribing. I’ll be driving deep into this project. If you have any questions DM me on Instagram and I’ll answer to help out!!
Those station wagons can pull a house with upgraded suspension and drivetrain. I remember riding in those tailgate seats in the 70s.
@@alfreddominguez2750 that’s cool! I feel like I grew up in the wrong era
Yuss! That thing is awesome
Thanks Lance! Can’t wait to cruise this thing for real
i JUST BOUGHT THIS SAME CAR 148000 MILES BONE STOCK it is so amazing and well loved
@@UnionPacific1997 that’s awesome! Came colors to?
@@Drakes_Garage yep and interior colors
@@Drakes_Garage my is 1989 but it looks the same
@@UnionPacific1997it’s a keeper than!
The original Wagon Queen Family Truckster was a 1981 Ford LTD Station Wagon but this will work well
I wouldn’t mind swapping grills to an early 80s
Don't know what you paid for this car but I think it is a fantastic project !! Back in the mid 1980's I had a Ford Wagon ( not the CS ) but it was great !! It had roof racks and I hauled a canoe, thru the kids in the back seats, tents, Coleman stove and stuff in the very back and away we went camping .... it was great ! Very much looking forward to your upcoming videos Matt.
Thank you Brian. Great story!! In fact that’s the very reason why I bought it. I want to do some camping with the family in it. Should be good to haul everything. Even a popup trailer!!
@@Drakes_Garage Oh ya, it can pull the pop-up trailer no problem.
The frame from a newer Crown Vic or Grand Marquis should bolt right up if you wanted to go that route. As far as I know they never changed the body mount locations. 98-02 gets you much better front brakes and a significantly better handling rear suspension. 03-11 gets you a much better front suspension with rack and pinion steering as well as an overall stronger frame. Any of the mod motors including the 5.0 coyote bolt right up to them, motor mounts should also be available for an LS. The one issue is those awesome 80s turbine wheels won't fit anymore, 98-02 has brake clearance issues and 03-11 uses a different offset.
I wouldn’t mind putting the spoke caps on my car. Just need to find a set. Steelies is the easy part
well made Fords
You got that right. They don’t make em like this anymore
Im pretty sure these didnt curb out at 4600lb, still around 2 tons, pretty portly.
A vinyl wrap would be perfect for this car, as half of it came wrapped in vinyl (from the best trees of the famous plastic forests just outside of Dearborn) from the factory!.
You got it backwards too. Mercury had a version of this called the colony park. The only Lincoln wagon you could get in this year was one you hopefully won't be riding in for a long time :)
Also, 150hp from a 5L V8 was pretty pitiful even for 1988. Good thing it has a decent flat torque curve to compensate!
I dont feel as bad about my 1991 Infiniti M30s 162hp pulling around 3600lb now 😂
@@twoeightythreez good to know about the Mercury. I’m still kinda new to these even though I’ve always wanted one! She isn’t a powerhouse but she’ll get you there
@@Drakes_Garage I have the same sentiments about my car :)
And eventually will ls swap
It, for now gonna manual swap it.
As for a wagon, i have eyes for a 1983 Buick Century wagon, but that one (if and when i pick it up) will remain all Buick ('66 300 with a 65 iron 4bbl intake, T5 5 speed).
Motor/trans mounts for an LS in an 80's panther platform? I need to know more!
@@TheRetarp I got some universal LS mounts that should work descent enough.
@@Drakes_Garage I'm interested to know how the swap turns out. I have an '89 Town Car and I've thought the aluminum block 5.3L LM4 or LH6 would be a nice engine for it.
@@TheRetarp keep up on the channel for updates 👍👍
I have 86
I want your grill/ front end! 😂😂
i HAD THE 1968 VERSION
That what I really wanted. Prices have gone crazy. Good reason they are cool!! How was it to own??
I just had my transmission taken out and the overdrive band replaced, $2537, whys yours so expensive?
I’m not sure. It’s insane!!
@@Drakes_Garage I would check that because you should not pay that much for a trnasimission repair