ON DECEMBER 4, 2004 I SOLD THIS CAR.
I did get the motor mount replaced along with both front shocks and both inner/outer tie rods. I did not replace the leaky oil pan gasket since I couldn't find the part I bought so many months ago and because I was planning to sell this anyway. I also added a chrome exhaust tip which brought the tail pipe out from under the rear bumper. After all that I sold this car for $800 which indicates a $300 profit from what I paid for it originally. I think it's only fair since I performed a fair amount of upgrades and needed repairs during the time I owned it. Sadly, I never did get any pictures of the painted air cleaner and valve covers. Oh well...

You can check out my new Ford Taurus here. [link]

Page 1 > Exterior
Page 2 > Interior
Page 3 > Sound System
Page 4 > Engine
Page 5 > Extras

NEW PICTURES COMING SOON!

9/22/04: It's been awhile since I updated this page. I've been very busy all summer since I bought an old boat and I've spent a lot of time fixing it up... but I did find time to get this car back on the road. That's right! It's running and driving again! (Other things I've done this summer include getting married, buying a house and changing jobs AGAIN!) There are only a few more things left to fix before the Pari will be back to where she was before the accident.
1. The driver's side motor mount is broken - I have the part just need the time to do it. I also plan to replace the oil pan gasket while I'm down there since you have to disconnect the motor mount to get the oil pan off anyway.
2. New shocks for the front since the old one was rusted on and I had to break it to get the A-arm off. Again, have the parts just need the time.
3. New tires and possibly rims for at least two wheels: see pictures below.

I plan to dedicate a page to the saga of this accident and I'll move all this stuff to that page when I do it.

5/11/04: Now that the weather is warming up and there isn't snow on the ground, I've started working on getting this car back on the road. The old, bent control arm is off and a new one (well, USED, but straight) off a Firebird has been purchased and will be installed very soon. Who knew F body and B body parts were interchangeable? Gas prices are now over $2.00 per gallon (yet one more sign of the improving economy, I'm sure.) This car was getting 15MPG right before the accident... that's why I'm making every effort to get it driving again... and now that I have a decent job I can afford to fix it.
Special note: I've uploaded a new pic there. Notice the trash beside/behind it. We cleaned up the empty lot that my car is sitting on and piled everything behind my car then the wind blew everything all over the place. We look like grade A white trash now. Oh, and I was informed today at work that I will be layed off soon. Isn't that nice? So much for the good job thing, eh?

2/13/04: With much sadness, I called and cancelled the insurance on this car. I will probably sell it as soon as I can get to the stock wheels/tires that are in the back of my storage room. The worst part of all this was that I had just finished installing the "carputer" (check out PAGE 3) the night before the tie rod broke. But now I've lost my job and will have no money to put this girl back on the road. Yet another sign of the improving economy, obviously.

Also check out my truck's page on cardomain.com here

Update 1/31/04: Since my unfortunate tragedy/saga on the interstate my car has sat nearly untouched where I parked it. I replaced the tie rod only to find the sway bar link was bent. So I replaced it but the sway bar will not attach to the new one... why? Because the lower control arm is bent. Bastard thing. I've tried to find a replacement with no luck. I'm not sure if I should try to get this car back on the road or just sell it now.

And now for my favorite conversations resulting from this accident.

I went into Autozone with the two halves of the broken tie rod to make sure I got the right parts...

Autozone Cashier: "Looks like you had some trouble getting that tie rod off."
Me: "No, actually, it did that on its own."
Cashier: "No kidding."
Me: "Yeah, on the interstate at 60mph. I'm just thankful I'm alive to be here buying replacement parts."
Cashier: "Yeah. I would have pissed myself."

And after telling my friend the story of the accident...

Friend: "Did you shit yourself?"
Me: "No."
Friend: "I would have."

Sad news today... 12/17/03. My right tie rod broke on the interstate.

It was not cool. Things were damaged. I might have been killed. Not cool. I spun out of control at 7:30 am in rush hour traffic. I slid about 200 feet and ended up in the center median. Luckily I didn't hit anything and nothing hit me. I might have been killed today and that would have sucked. Bad car... no cookie for you, bad car.

The Parisienne in happier times...