What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

Have had the car now for 100 days - driven it about 300 miles - has been in the shop for 40 of those days.
here is a breakdown of all the work that has gone into this thing within the past 8 months. Some by the prior owner.
Still have to fix rust on lower door edges, Drivers window shimmy and shakes half way down, and wait for the next. But took care of all the issues that we (dealer) and I could find.

 

That's tame compared to my Suburban. It's not a contest but I bought it knowing it had "a few issues":

Cracked Windshield;
Missing Heater Blend Door;
Rust above Tailpipe;
Rust on Rear Barn Doors;
Middle Power Windows Dind't work 100% (One still doesn't work);
A/C "needs charged" (I still haven't investigated it);
(Was there but didn't pay attention to much: ) Headlights, Taillights and Roof light covers were all yellowed except one (I've since wet sanded and painted all the lights that needed it except the roof ones which I replaced);
Dash Cluster wasn't original; Oil Pressure Gauge and Fuel Gauge were incorrect (They read but far far off.)

Soon found out:

Previous Owner inadvertently (?) took my papers out of the glove compartment while clearing his stuff out of the car so I drove home without the papers (He mailed them);
Old Batteries (They were 4 years old and I knew it but it was colder in my area);
Turbo Vacuum Line Broke (Brittle);
Engine Block Heater Cable Broke (We spliced it back together);
Windshield Fluid Reservoir was Cracked;
Transmission Rear Gear Died (Not 800 miles later);
Fuel Injector Leaked;
Small Antifreeze Leak;
Pinhole in Fuel Tank (Fixed later);
Emergency Brake didn't work (Took it to be fixed and that didn't last);
Needed an engine mount (Found out after we had the transmission repaired by a guy who does it as a side job);
Rear Door wouldn't lock.

Later on:

Roof Rack was rusted on;
Power Steering Line rusted through (Right after I flushed out the whole system with Seafoam Trans-Tune and put about $20 worth of expensive Amsoil P.S. fluid in - it takes in the range of 40-45 ounces);
Found ATF being flung off the rear driveshaft from the Transfer Case, replaced the seal twice (once free of charge) and it still leaks (It looks worse than it is, I check this frequently enough);
Hose Clamp loosened on a fuel line and leaked above the fuel tank;
When trying to remove the fuel tank it wouldn't come off even with the straps off; I took the straps off and it was jammed in there as if it was welded in. I had to replace those straps to a degree, put a different kind of strap around the tank, put a piece of wood on the low-hanging strap and put a car jack on the wood and pull the tank down with it;
Window Track on Driver's Window rusted through;
Sway Bar (it was hollow) broke;
I found the OEM Oil Cooler Lines are a terrible design so I've been working on replacing them;
The transmission shifter linkage broke on me (cheap metal.)

I didn't list absolutely everything but that's the large chunk of it and the oil cooler lines were the worst part of the whole vehicle. Other things that can go wrong are the PMD (Fuel Solenoid Driver) and the fuel lift pump is weak from the factory but those are vastly minor problems in comparison.

I might just be the world's most determined imbecile with a 6.5. (Jokingly.)

 

101Volt
Half your list would have done me in! You got some Serious issues, mine are chump nickel & dime stuff
in comparison. I just thought it was a lot for a car that was "Supposed" to be "like new" and 85 with 56,000 original miles.
Have Car Fax and saw car 4 years ago from 2nd owner.

 

One thing I didn't say in the above post was not all of the problems happened at once; the list is a tally of most issues I've had with it since February 2015 but at least the metal's solid in most places even if some areas were crusty. I can see what you're talking about but mileage is only part of the story, any time these cars are left sitting issues can pop up like that '67 Grand Prix Convertible my Grandpap stored for so many years; Mother had her driving test in that car and it has under 30k miles on it yet what's it doing? Sitting in the dirt floor garage next to a creek as it's been doing probably since 1966-67 and now it has a moldy interior and a chewed up roof, who knows what else?

 

Yeah, try as many might, cars cannot be 'stored' if they aren't at least kept in a fairly controlled environ, such as a garage attached to a house or a stand-alone structure with heating and no air leaks. My poor Ranchero sat outside in several groups of multi-year situations, and you open the hood or doors, you see everything that's rotting away (Babe's right front bed corner leaks water into the cabin, so that's the first big body repair to do when I can afford to do it).

 

New woodgrain and spyder motorwheels on my 75 buick estate wagon

 

Looks great, Did you put the wood grain on? and where did you get it?

 

Wots of wascawy wabbits!

 

OK, I'll bite. I've posted on here before when looking for info or parts for my 1962 Ford Country Sedan, So here
is what I've done.
I bought the wagon off of Ebay about 3 or maybe 4 years ago.. My Friend and I drove to Nebraska to pick the
wagon up. You know the old saying buyer be were... well that was me.. The wagon had set outside for years
and at times was up to the floor pan in water. But we got the wagon home and I started tearing into it.
Oh the reason to buy the wagon, well My parents had bought the same model new in 1962...so child hood
nostalgia kicked in.
Any way the wagon had a FE 352 V8 and a 3 speed with O\D
Bad on my part, but it did save me money, I sold the engine and tranny for a nice price and installed
my mild built 351c and kept the same radiator after having it checked.
For a tranny I went with a Ford 4R70W which bolts to the any Ford small pattern block..that includes the
last of the 302 motors in the early 90's
Next I took most of the interior out, to have it reupholstered
I started in to paint the car, using a clear\base... never will I do that again, maybe great from the factory.
I sanded, primed, and shot the car in about 3 days, doing sections at a time..
Now the real bad part.. rusted floor pans, Now I'm not a body guy and I don't do welding to well, but
after run in's with "body" guys, I decided to do the sheet metal myself...
Which is why I am about a year behind.
I repainted all the interior trim pieces, (30) and found an outlet for the screws #8 with #6 heads
called (under cut heads)...
Not being in a paint shop, it took about a month of work, sanding, chemical removing the rust
sanding again. Spayed with a 2 part epoxy primer... then let dry, then flip over and spay the other side..
then sand each piece. then a top coat.. I went with a Sherwin Williams Demensions single stage
metallic. Ford originally used a baked on enamel .
Today is the driver side floor pan, wire wheel, sand, then 2 coats of primer and a top coat...
It's the passenger side that had the worst rust, which will take me a month or more of work, then
sand and primer...
So that's my wagon right now...
Oh I don't want to forget I made new door panels... and will have the upholstery shop do the stitching..
Thanks
Best
Dave

 

did it myself here is a link to the supplier
http://www.metrorestyling.com/3M-DI-NOC-Marine-Teak-Wood-Vinyl-p/dinocmarine.htm

 

It do look good. Have ya done it before?

 

think I'll look into it..
Best

 

As for the Mercury:

(May 1st): Changed the oil, filter and front drain plug; the other one stripped.

On the Suburban:

Kept working on fitting the dual filter system. A few things still need done before I turn it on.

 

Changed the oil and filter on the Way Back Machine. No issues, except I couldn't get the old filter off by hand. Both of my filter wrenches were too big. Had to run down to O Really's and pick up one of those cap-shaped dealies that uses a 3/8 socket wrench. Why didn't I buy one of these years ago? MUCH easier.......

Also - new problem with the W B M. It's sounding really 'trucky', meaning noisy, somewhat un-muffled? Don't know if it's simply a hole in the exhaust system, or something in the valve train....... Looked at what I could underneath when doing the oil, but didn't find anything........

 

It can be as small as the water drain hole in the muffler getting bigger, or an exhaust gasket starting to burn through. Use a piece of heater hose, put it to your best ear (mine's my left), then point it at all the areas where there could be a potential leak--the gaskets, manifold-to-pipe donuts, along the exhaust pipe, and around the muffler to listen for louder sounds. If you have access to an IR thermometer, you can check the cat converter's condition by measuring inlet and outlet temps, as a backpressure problem in one will change the exhaust note. With the engine at 1500-1800 RPM, check for the front temp first, it should be 350*, =/- 50*, then in back, at least 100* higher, but no more than 250* higher in a good-running cat. A higher inlet temp or same inlet/outlet temp can be an indicator of blockage, and, of course, no difference in temps means a dead cat.