time to start looking at salvage yards

grumpyvette

grumpyvette

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I started restoring my wifes 2003 mercury grand marquis recently, trying to get it looking more like it did when we purchased it, it runs decent but its showing the miles in interior wear.
this started because its got over 150K miles and several features no longer work correctly, the radio, CD player won,t always return a CD, so that needs to be looked at, I already rebuilt the head light controller that was defective, they wanted $900 for that from the dealership, I replaced a $4 relay and repaired that.
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=4687&p=21852&hilit=mercury+relay#p21852

I priced new seats and seat belts at the dealership just as a start point, the dealers parts guys have prices that are truly insane, try $800 for two new front seat belts and $4000 plus for two new front seats!
so obviously I need to recover and rebuild the the cars current seats and get new generic or salvage yard seat belts that are in decent shape.
its not the webbing thats defective on the seat belts its the locking mechanism and its electric sensor, and its re-tractor, all are functioning intermittently and all have been cleaned and inspected.
they need replacement.
I priced having the seats recovered, and got quotes from $800-$1400 so it looks like IM looking for good seats in a salvage yard , or Im in for a seat rebuild, Ive done seat rebuilds on a couple corvettes so I know its not all that difficult just time consuming
 

I can't remember the last time I went to the dealer for anything. I always cringe when I find out some item is dealer only.
 
it took a couple hours of looking in two salvage yards before I found them, but I found seat belts from a very similar year, brand and model car with the same color belts in notably better condition than my current seat belts and purchased them for $30.
Im still looking for acceptable seats
 
grumpyvette said:
I priced having the seats recovered, and got quotes from $800-$1400 so it looks like IM looking for good seats in a salvage yard , or Im in for a seat rebuild, Ive done seat rebuilds on a couple corvettes so I know its not all that difficult just time consuming
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Normally it's the drivers seat that is worn out first. If it's just the driver's area that needs some help, couldn't you have a couple of panels replaced. What would that cost if you removed the seat and gave it to the seat guy to replace two panels??? If that's all it needs.

 
if you happen to locate a 2003 mercury grand marquis drivers seat rebuild kit with PARCHMENT color leather, seat covers at a decent price Id just as soon re-upholster the seat.
if you price the kits youll find a huge variation in quality and price.
if you find a decent kit the labors just not that difficult, but it does take time and experience to get decent results, rebuilding seat upholstery, is not a good beginner project.
 
i dont know if you are still in the market for upholstery grumpy but i use a guy down here named domingo, he and his son have been doing interios for decades now, he always gives me really good pricing on great materials and labor and usually for a pair of seats idrop off today and pick them up tomorrow or the next day. my 03 crown vic had that light colored interior and fortunately when i sold it in 06 it was still in great shape but the new owner is going thru some things with it now 10+years old
 
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