Station wagon newbie

Hey guys.

Just joined the group from across the pond in England. A friend and myself have picked up a 1985 grand marquis colony park from North Carolina. Photos to follow but what a car! We love it. We bought it with the intention of keeping it pretty much standard and taking it to a few car shows over here.

We have scoured the internet for a passenger side rear corner chrome moulding as the one on ours is damaged beyond repair. would love to hear from anyone who can point us in the right direction.

Like I said, photos to follow so watch this space.

Colin.

 

Welcome to the Station Wagon Forum, Colin.

You might want to check with member Silvertwinkiehobo. He had some CP parts. Here's the thread:

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30862

Also, the SWF is a great place to gather information on your wagon. Plenty of experts here. I'm NOT an expert. The only CP I owned (an '84), burned up on me in Las Vegas the 2nd week I owned it.

Make an introduction in our 'Welcome Wagon' section.

Marshall

 

Welcome to the forum. Actually, the introduction forum is here:

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4

I'm sure someone could move this thread over there, though.

Congratulations on the purchase of your Colony Park, BTW. Does it have a towing package?



(A towing package is not just a trailer hitch.)

 

Tally Ho, EM! I'm glad to see you and your friend specifically chose that car; it rides like an Antelope on a gallop, and actually turns pretty tightly for a full-sized American auto, so I hope you'll be impressed with it. I do have some parts I've collected from two wagons and a sedan, but unfortunately, only interior and mechanical parts, and not that many interior trim parts. But please do go through my parts thread, as there's a bunch of stuff that would go specifically on the Ford and Mercury full-sized wagons. Oh, and pics would be cool...Cheers!

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

The Private Message forum on here doesn't work correctly for me, so if you would like to inquire or buy something from me, just post on this thread and I'll keep checking it.

 

Colin from the other side of the pond, or ponds. Good luck with your station wagon.
I heard England is a pretty large place. Can you narrow that down to which bank of the pond you are fishing from?

 

Hey guys.
Thanks for all the replies. I'm in Kent about 60 miles from London, and no, I don't know the queen
I'll try and get some pics up later.
Gonna be working on the turn signals all being well. They flash on hazzards bit not individually. What a friendly bunch, I'll be back.

 

I'm a mechanic and diagnostic tech, plus I've owned many, many Fords, so when you check the fuse down below, pull the turn signal flasher relay and ensure the terminals are clean, then verify you have good bulbs front and back. A bad filament will not allow the relay to click back and forth, allowing the flashing. And verify your brake lights work, as the turn signal and brake both use the same filament, so you'll have four bulbs lit when the brake's on.

 

Thanks for the advice.
Heres an update. Indicators, (sorry, turn signals) all work well (couple of dodgy bulbs). I had to change the lights for the UK as we don't have daytime running lights and we have to have orange turn signals at the rear. Im trying to et some photos up for you all to check out...... not having a lot of success at the moment.

We patched up the exhaust which is full of holes and it passed its MOT test last week, happy days! we are just waiting on the paperwork to come back, then we can get some plates made up and she's legal.

We drove it to the garage the other day (First drive since getting her from the port) and it didn't go into 4th to start with and it seems a bit jumpy when changing gear. Im not sure if its because it hasn't been used for a couple of months or whether this is a common problem with Grand Marquis. Any ideas?

 

The Ford AOD does have some quirks that can lead to problems down the road. The early ones had a problem of hunting up and down between 3rd and 4th when driving between 35 and 37 MPH, and worse in heavy traffic or on rolling terrain. The ones with a throttle valve cable, rather than a kickdown lever like yours, had a big problem of the cable detaching from the throttle lever and causing 2nd gear to eventually burn up from high slippage. As for yours, when you get your plates, take it out to a motorway, leaving it in direct drive until you reach highway speed, then manually shift to OD. If it doesn't work, it needs to go to the shop to check the fluid and perhaps change it and the filter.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll give that a try. I'm thinking it might be worth changing the transmission fluid anyway. I can't find the filler for it yet, isn't it to the rear of the engine on the left hand side?

 

Colin,

Welcome aboard!

Check your multi-function switch on the steering column. They tend to burn up after a lot of use or time. Try Green Ford for parts. http://www.greensalescompany.com/GreenSalesInventory.asp.

Slainte and all the best!

 

You fill the trans up through the trans dipstick tube. It has been a while, but I think it is on the passenger side of the engine by the firewall.

I haven't been following your other turn signal issues that closely, but most/all common replacement parts should still be available at the parts store (at least over here) including the multi-function switch.