Sounds like a great deal IMO. That front was done AT LEAST once I bet. I don't think you can get 180,000 miles out the factory front ends. Depends on the kind of miles I guess. Looks real good in pics. Got all that for an older Cavalier and a few hundy's, -you did great my friend...

 

Got a great deal on mine as well, but it was a little rough for an 04. It only had 58,000 miles on it, paid 2600. Mercury Marquise, loaded. Old foagy tan. Never cleaned inside, original owner had a set of prosthetic legs. He got use to driving with his new legs in this car lol. Just needed a front bumper cover ,tail light and good cleaning lol.

The good old fella was going to give me that car because I did most of the work on her, said no way, can't except. Then he said okay , I just got a bill for 2600 dollars, - something his insurer didn't cover for him at the hospital. He asked if I thought paying that for him was fair. - No, the car is worth more than that. Then he said he was just going to give it someone else.

Well, I took that deal. It made him happy, myself as well.

 

Got all new tie rods ordered (inner and outer), along with an upper ball joint. All Moog. Everything looks like it should go pretty easily. The underside of this car is clean!

Coy, the only weird-ish transmission issue seems to be a kind of harsh (for an old man car) 1-2 shift when its hot. Feels like the torque converter is locking up, similar to a stick shift. Not like dropping the clutch, but not a smooth shift either. I've really only noticed it twice though. Once was after it had been idling for 45 mins for the emissions test and was 90* out, it did it a few times on the drive back to my girlfriend's house (all city street driving). Another was today after I got off the highway coming home. Was 95* today.

 

Very nice score! I wish I could run across a deal like that so I could get rid of my beater 02 impala.

 

Here's a few random photos...



While buffing the Expedition...



Interior



My awesome $3.99 AutoZone special

 

First tank of gas was 23.5 MPG, and that also includes 1 hour of idling while it was at the shop getting inspected. I'll take that anyday.

 

Sounds about avg for these cars.. wait till you take it for a out of town drive, you will be surprised what you get.. the last trip to DFW last month i set the cruise on 74 the whole 250 miles trip and got 26.2 mpgs, that has been my best but usually right around 25 mpgs.

On the tranny ive drove several of these cars and been around the tire testing bussiness where alot of these crown vics and mercs have over 500k on them easy and the two main issues are the torque converter shutter and slipping into od (maybe not slipping but it takes its time when it shift into od) These are great cars, i will always have one, cant beat em

 

Looks like you need to work on the headlights... i used the 3m on the merc and they came out real good

before


after


passenger done and drivers side not done

 

I tried buffing mine with Plast-x. It did some, but it's still bad. I might pick up the kit, but new headlights off Amazon are only $45 and they have great reviews.

Also, Motorcraft shocks are on closeout at RockAuto... $7.61 each. Yeah, I bought some.

While driving in traffic today, I figured out exactly what my tranny issue is... While hot, at low speeds under light throttle, the torque converter is locking when going into 2nd gear. Give it more gas, and it won't do it. Only into 2nd. Can hear a slight rattle also when it does this.

 

Zach, you may have to wet sand the light, polish, then re-clear them to get them back to like new condition. You may actually be better off replacing them.

 

I have an old kit I got from ADS - wetsand, polish with M85 or M105 with a wool pad, then PlastX on a foam pad (The kit had an arbor for an electric drill). For an OTC product, you could use Ultimate Compound. If you use PlastX you don't have to reclear, you just have to reapply the PlastX periodically.

 

Seems like spending $45 on new headlights from Amazon is a better investment to me...

I'll probably get them in a few weeks after I slow down my spending spree on cars. Spent a few hundy on a water pump, coolant filter, new hoses, new t-stat, etc on the truck a few weeks ago, then bought this, all new front end parts, tax, title, and license, and will need an alignment after I get the new front end parts on.

 

Took this last night while I was drinking a beer on the porch...

 

Poor neighbors.... LOL

 

Nah, it was "poor neighbors" when they had to feast their eyes on that Cavalier. Probably pulled their shades down.