Bigmoparjeff's collection of mostly big Mopars

[bigmoparjeff]

Here's a little detail that I was kind of proud of. I could not find a key cabinet that I liked, so I built one into the wall. The execution is a tad sloppy, but I think the concept was clever.

The top picture also shows another drawback to a steel frame building. All the wiring has to go inside conduit. It's so much more work to run your wiring vs. tacking Romex onto wood framing. That's why I still haven't installed nearly as many lights as there should be inside the building. It's just a real pain in the but to bend up and install all that conduit.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Back in 2012 I took on a partial restoration of a 1948 Packard convertible, which required a lot of media blasting. I added this piping system to help eliminate moisture in the compressed air. The air comes out of the compressor and goes up, then down, then up, and down again to give it plenty of time to cool down before reaching the water separator (which isn't installed yet in the photos). There's a T on the last drop for a pipe that goes over top of the big door and drops down on the left side to the separator and filter that I use for media blasting and painting. I can blast all day without having any water problems. I just wish I could run a bigger compressor, but I'm limited to only 30 amps due to the long run from the house. There are valves at the bottom of each drop to drain out the condensed water.

 

[BIGBARNEYCARS]

Back in 2012 I took on a partial restoration of a 1948 Packard convertible, which required a lot of media blasting. I added this piping system to help eliminate moisture in the compressed air. The air comes out of the compressor and goes up, then down, then up, and down again to give it plenty of time to cool down before reaching the water separator (which isn't installed yet in the photos). There's a T on the last drop for a pipe that goes over top of the big door and drops down on the left side to the separator and filter that I use for media blasting and painting. I can blast all day without having any water problems. I just wish I could run a bigger compressor, but I'm limited to only 30 amps due to the long run from the house. There are valves at the bottom of each drop to drain out the condensed water.

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I keep telling myself to NOT COVET THY NEIGHBORZ ***, NOR HIS MANSERVANT, NOR HIZ GARAGE, YES LORD, GOT THE MESSAGE. love Jer

 

[halifaxhops]

Jeff shoot me a message finally have info on the Halifax cop car for you, I know the mechanic that worked on it. Your in box is full. @bigmoparjeff

 

[polarus]

And I can't seem to finish the ONE car I have. Great collection, great thread.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Jeff shoot me a message finally have info on the Halifax cop car for you, I know the mechanic that worked on it. Your in box is full. @bigmoparjeff

Thanks! I'll make some room in the in box for you.

 

[75LandYacht]

Thank you for sharing your very impressive story and collection Jeff.. that was some great reading. I would very much like a field trip to your place someday. Just throwing that out there. Lol

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Thank you for sharing your very impressive story and collection Jeff.. that was some great reading. I would very much like a field trip to your place someday. Just throwing that out there. Lol

Thanks! Visitors are welcome. Since things are jammed in so tight, the ideal time would be when I decide to shuffle things around where many of the cars are parked outside for a few days. I need to do that again, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it. Maybe some time next year.

Jeff

 

[75LandYacht]

Thanks! Visitors are welcome. Since things are jammed in so tight, the ideal time would be when I decide to shuffle things around where many of the cars are parked outside for a few days. I need to do that again, but I'm not sure when I'll get to it. Maybe some time next year.

Jeff

Understood Jeff.. certainly next years since Mother Nature is turning the Cold shoulder soon. I’ll let Pm you later to chat. Thx. John

 

[fury fan]

1981 Chrysler New Yorker

...the piece of crap Merkur XR4Ti that I made the mistake of getting involved with...

@bigmoparjeff
Older thread that I just noticed. Liked seeing all your cars and backstory! I love this brown NY, esp with those rare alum wheels.

I also did notice the Merkur in the background, spotted it instantly.
I had a silver one, an '85, and I think mine was a very early one as it did not have the CHMSL in the bottom section of the bi-plane spoiler. Yours looks like maybe it might not have it either?

Had mine for just a year or 2, in the early 90s.
I liked it a lot, was a neat, fun car, and definitely a change from the malaise-era Mopars my family had.
But most of my car dependability mishaps are based on that car.

They make for good stories now, though:
Timing belt jumped on the highway and left me walking.
Dragging a rusty/broken tailpipe on the way home, only to have it catch on the driveway, bend back, and pierce the fuel tank.
Spending $500 at a dealership to fix a drivability issue, which they didn't, then having a coworker tell me to rap the ECU whenever it acted up (which temporarily made it run right!).
Spending a month of spare time changing a clutch because the bellhousing bolts are inside the bellhousing.
Ford didn't offer a repair part for the rubber isolator in teh driveshaft, so needed to have the driveshaft reworked with a U-joint.

 

[bigmoparjeff]

@bigmoparjeff
Older thread that I just noticed. Liked seeing all your cars and backstory! I love this brown NY, esp with those rare alum wheels.

I also did notice the Merkur in the background, spotted it instantly.
I had a silver one, an '85, and I think mine was a very early one as it did not have the CHMSL in the bottom section of the bi-plane spoiler. Yours looks like maybe it might not have it either?

Had mine for just a year or 2, in the early 90s.
I liked it a lot, was a neat, fun car, and definitely a change from the malaise-era Mopars my family had.
But most of my car dependability mishaps are based on that car.

They make for good stories now, though:
Timing belt jumped on the highway and left me walking.
Dragging a rusty/broken tailpipe on the way home, only to have it catch on the driveway, bend back, and pierce the fuel tank.
Spending $500 at a dealership to fix a drivability issue, which they didn't, then having a coworker tell me to rap the ECU whenever it acted up (which temporarily made it run right!).
Spending a month of spare time changing a clutch because the bellhousing bolts are inside the bellhousing.
Ford didn't offer a repair part for the rubber isolator in teh driveshaft, so needed to have the driveshaft reworked with a U-joint.

I shared a similar ownership experience with my Merkur. I bought it in 1994 for the sole purpose to flip it for a profit. It was owned by a coworker of a friend who worked at the Ford electronics division in Lansdale, PA. The guy bought it through the Ford A-Plan, which gives them a big discount on new car purchases. The car had 77K miles and he only wanted $175 for it because it needed a steering rack.

How could I possibly go wrong at that price point?

My wholesale price on the rack was $700, which I new going in on it. Then not long after having it, the radiator sprung a leak. I replaced that for a couple hundred bucks and ended up getting a bad batch of antifreeze. It didn't do any damage, but it had a terrible smell. The terrible smell while driving the car led me to find that the head gasket had an external leak. The car was apart for months while I did the gasket in my spare time. After it was back together, I never had full turbo boost again. I never figured out how that happened, but it actually made the car more pleasant to drive. In normal driving, the turbo used to hit hard just when you were about to shift. Now it had a more linear power curve to it.

I ended up using it as a daily driver for the next few years to try to recoup some of my investment. My trip to work was only 7 miles each way, so I never put many miles on the car. In that time, one of the rear half shafts failed, which ran around $200. I hit a pothole and cracked a rim, another $75. It had a maddening, droning vibration that would come and go at random. It felt like a bad u-joint. I tried to replace the u-joints myself, but they were not serviceable, so I had to buy a used driveshaft, which cost me another $175. Right before I sold the car I finally figured out the vibration: the trans mount had sagged and the back of the trans was pointed down a few degrees from normal. Adding some washers to shim it back up got rid of the vibration.

I had thought that there was a following for those cars and that I could get at least $3000 for it. Saddly, I was totally mistaken on that one. When I advertised it for sale in Auto Trader in 1997, it was total crickets. Weeks went by without a single inquiry. Finally, a guy called me looking for a cheap car for his mother. I was so desperate to get rid of it that I let him take the car 30 miles away to have it checked out by his mechanic as I left for work, and he was to just bring it back and leave it at the house when he was done. He did end up buying it for around $1200. I can't remember if I bought the '81 New Yorker before or just after I got rid of the Merkur.

I was told some years later that the Merkur coupes did become quite desirable for road racing. The body structure was very rigid and they would put highly worked Nissan 3.0 V6's in them, and it made a great race car.

Here's some of the few photos that I took of the car. Apperance-wise it was in real nice shape, other than a cracked dash pad. I had to repaint the rear spoiler, as the paint was faded on it, which is typical for fiberglass parts.

Jeff

 

[fury fan]

Mine was EXACTLY like that one! 5-speed, same seats, same spoiler, no sunroof - and yours doesn't have the CHMSL either.

I remember vividly that at high PRM in a 1st gear run, that the trans sounded like the bearings were overspeeding - that was my shift point.
It wasn't the fastest thing on the road at the time (a stock 5.0 Mustang would clobber it, of course) but it did have a really strong pull for nearly 3000 lbs and only 175hp.

 

[Not Right]

Hi Guys,
I don't know where or when this conversation actually began as I have just now stumbled onto it. It seems that some sort of a non-Mopar Confession is taking place in this portion of the conversation. I actually feel some relief in seeing you two discuss your Merc's.... because, uh....I too, have something to confess. My Furys will always have my utmost allegiance and passion. However, with that said, I came upon an always garaged and pampered 1990 Marquis estate car a couple of years ago. No one else seemed to be interested in it at the time and so I let myself make an inquiry to the Seller about the car. To me, it was Fomoco's last pretty and boxie rolling sofa. I did the test drive, took note of the few minor repairs that needed to be done and then shot my best, respectful, lowball offer out.., and scored right away.

When I saw Jeff's white Marquis sitting next to his Merkur, I just had to chime in. -

Ahhh, I feel much better now. This can just be our little secret, okay?. Keep up the good work guys!

Happy Easter!

 

[bigmoparjeff]

That's a very pretty car! 1990 was probably the best year for the Gran Marquis and Crown Vic. You got the updated dash with modern back-lit gauges and they still had the nicer, machine-finish wheels. For 1991, they went to a sparkly painted wheel that never looked right to me. Yours looks like an LS, so it should have the really nice, cushy seats that set the Mercury up above the Ford. They were also the last of the traditional, soft-riding cars made by Ford. They really stiffened-up the ride with the redesigned body, even on the Town car around the same time frame.

I'm very familiar with late 80's Ford products, as I started my professional career as a mechanic at a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealership for two years from 1988 to 1989.

The white Marquis in the photo was my mother's car which replaced the green 1978 New Yorker. My father spotted the car out on a front lawn with a for sale sign and mentioned it to me. I immediately knew which car he was talking about because it belonged to my friend's father and I had done all the maintenance on the car for the last five years. His company would buy him a new car every so often and he had just got a new 1995 New Yorker, so the Marquis went up for sale. By 1995 the '78 New Yorker was looking pretty tattered with it's failing lacquer repaint and cracked leather seats, and I was still fighting the seemingly unsolvable driveability problems with it, so my mother was thrilled to get a shiny, fuel injected car with a mint interior.

Unfortunately, Ford has had a long lasting reputation for rotted out frames, and to this day they still haven't solved the issue. Just look up frame rust and F-150. It's not uncommon to find a Ford product with no holes in the exterior sheet metal, but a look underneath reveals some substantial frame rust. The Gran Marquis was retired in 2003 with a rotted frame that wouldn't pass state inspection. The rest of the car still looked presentable except for a little rust showing up in the quarters and dog legs. The Marquis was replaced with a very nice 1994 Town Car from Florida that I found on eBay. I still have it, but it no longer passes inspection due to, guess what, frame rust.

The Town Car when it was nice:

This car has some very unusual paint. If there is any sun out the car is metallic blue. If the sky is completely overcast, the car appears silver. When we picked it up at the shipping terminal, we thought they sent the wrong car. It was blue in the eBay photos and totally silver on the cloudy day that we first saw it in person.

Now it resides in the parts car area.

On your gran Marquis, you want to take a look at the bottom of the throttle body where the accelerator cable attaches and inspect the bushing for the transmission linkage. If it still has a plastic bushing, it needs to be replaced with a metal one. The plastic bushing can fail and fall out. This can wipe out the trans in quick order. There's an updated metal bushing available. I should have a spare if you can't find one.


Jeff

 

[bigmoparjeff]

Mine was EXACTLY like that one! 5-speed, same seats, same spoiler, no sunroof - and yours doesn't have the CHMSL either.

I remember vividly that at high PRM in a 1st gear run, that the trans sounded like the bearings were overspeeding - that was my shift point.
It wasn't the fastest thing on the road at the time (a stock 5.0 Mustang would clobber it, of course) but it did have a really strong pull for nearly 3000 lbs and only 175hp.

They both were 1985's, which was the only year without the 3rd brake light. I'd say that they were also both zero option cars. I think A/C was probably standard equipment. Mine had an aftermarket cruise control unit added on at some point. Since mine was purchased through the A-Plan, I believe it would have had to been ordered and not come from dealer inventory. During the two years I worked at the Ford dealership, I don't think we ever had in stock or sold an XR4Ti. We had a 4 door Scorpio on the showroom floor for a while and sold 2 or 3 of those. They had the 2.9 liter German V6 in them and were likely all automatics.

That upholstery was crazy. It was able to collect every possible molecule of dirt that went within 3 feet of it. I was working at a pharmaceutical company during the time I was driving it. I wore a new white uniform every day, and the driver seat would still get dirty looking in a short period of time.

It looks like the smart thing to do would have been to squirrel it away in the garage until now. The following that I thought existed 25 years ago has finally materialized. This 1988 sold for 8 grand on Bring A Trailer last year. It does have some aftermarket go fast items that add to the price, but it also needs some mechanical repair. Being an '88, it also had the less attractive front grill opening.

1988 Merkur XR4Ti 5-Speed

Bid for the chance to own a 1988 Merkur XR4Ti 5-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #72,410.

bringatrailer.com

Jeff

 

[fury fan]

They are like most any type of automotive oddity - they'll have a following, and good examples will bring the best money.
I'd say $5000 would find a nice example nowadays, but you'd need to be patient and you'd need to like high-and-low.

I doubt I'll ever have another one - when I think what I could buy with that money instead, other cars would enter my mind.
And I wouldn't want another car like that, to worry about how to find parts and get it fixed.

Probably a test drive of one would satisfy my cravings just fine.

 

[Not Right]

Thanks Jeff,
Yup, you're right on...it's an LS with the cushy velour power seats. The gentleman that owned it was of small and lightweight stature, so the seat foam is not smushed at all. He was so particular about his Mercury that it stayed indoors until late April, and went back in the house in mid-October...therefore the frame and undercarriage is still pristine. That is actually what sold me on this car. If I ever put it on the road for myself, I will try to honor his tradition. He used his old pick-up truck in the wintery months. It's funny.., I run around in an oxidized silver '93 Camry that looks more like primer gray and the overall appearance says crack-mobile. Hardly anyone will wave to me...no one knows that I've got all these beauties locked away. Status? Who needs it?!
Thanks for the family cars story....it is a shame that it looks like Ford Products have a short life expectancy in your area...maybe 8 to 10 years, according to your rough timelines. It's not much better down here in S.W. Va.. We missed out on the snow and ice this year and so we've had a minor reprieve on the salt and agent X...some years are no snow but then some years are real "dumpers". That '94 Lincoln was definitely an Elite car, very prestigious. Thanks for the heads up on the rusting frame problems and the Trans Bushing....I'll definitely check that. Hey uh.., that sure likes like a '68 Fury 2DRHT; front row-far left...