It's ....ALIVE!!

[sconut1]

Well, after five weeks and three days, my Marauder is back from what nearly became it's grave after a car accident on August 14th. The body shop let me take the car after paying my deductable, but they still don't have the paperwork ready as they still have some finagaling to complete with my insurance company.

It looks....great! I guess I'll have to attach some pics to this post (and I should reference the original post as I was too lazy to look it up). I'm really pleased with the work that was done to the car. The only thing that sucks is I've only got two or so weeks with the car before I want to put it away for the winter. Oh well. The dealership that I went to did a fantastic job and with the exception of a small peice of masking tape, really payed attention to detail. They were able to save the hood too, which I'm thankful for as the insurance company wanted to replace it with an offshore part if they couldn't. The best part of the whole deal happened when the car breazed through a 4 wheel alignment, so no frame issues at all! I was also a little shocked to find out that after the estimate was started that the the RF tire was totaled and needed replacing as well as the battery tray and battery. Happily, the insurance company bucked up and didn't charge me a betterment on ether item. Go Allstate!! I don't like the concept of betterments, but as long as I don't have to pay them, whatever...lol.

To the guy that mentioned that PATS cars have no steering column lock, you are correct. What threw me off is that there was a diagram for a steering column lock in the service manual. Apparently all Marauders, all Grand Marquis and all civilian (or at least non CVPI) regular wheelbase Crown Victorias have PATS. CVPIs and LWB Crown Victorias did not (in 2003 and 2004 at least) and that's why the ignition lock system is in the service manual. Even the dealership was surprised by this, but as we all know, most Panthers they sell will have red and blue lights installed on the top, so I don't blame them for not knowing about this either.

It's great to be Maraudering again.... even if it's only for a few more weeks. Can't wait for next summer! Thanks for everyone who wrote in to my original post and for all the great comments.

[DOOM]

Glad to hear you're back on the road and the shop did excellent work.

[Mr. Man]

Take her out for a good long cruise this weekend, Will be fun for you and you can listen for anything that might need your shops attention.

[sconut1]

Yea, you know that's a pretty good idea. You're right... sounds like a fun Sunday afternoon. I've been driving it all week now, and it seems really tight.