Greetings everyone. I have located a nice '06 PI in my local salvage yard and am considering purchasing the rear taillights and trunk panel to install on my '05 MGM. I'm not crazy about all the chrome on the rear of the GM, and think the black PI trim would look good - the car is silver. Note that I would attempt to remove the POLICE INTERCEPTOR badge, if possible. The goal would not be to give the impression that it's a PI - it would be to go for the black-out treatment.

I can get the panel for $100 and the tails for $25 each, which seem like good prices to me. The question is whether there are any unseen fitment issues with this swap. They LOOK like a direct swap, but one can never be sure.

Can anyone provide any input on whether this stuff will bolt right on or not? All advice is greatly appreciated.

The license plate drops below the bumper on the Grand Marquis, and sits flush with the bumper on the Vic, so you will have a little bit of a gap. Other than that, it should bolt on.

There's a foam gasket between the trunk lid and the fascia panel. When I swapped out the rear fascia on mine, the gasket on the piece I got from the junkyard was shot, so I pulled the gasket off the panel I was replacing, and glued it to the junkyard piece with some black RTV silicone. Also, some of the screws pulled out of the fascia, so I coated the coarse threads with JB Weld and screwed them back in.

I went from a 2004 Grand Marquis Fascia to a 1998 Grand Marquis style, so I had to modify the trunk key mechanism to get it to fit, but I don't think you'll have to do this with the P71 fascia. Cutting out the rivets that hold it on can be a PITA.

One more thing, I got my 1998 reflector panel and both tail lights for under $100, so haggle with them on the price and see if you can't get them cheaper.

$100 for a panel is seriously overpriced!

You can also get new aftermarket tail lights on Amazon for less than that, although I have to say, $25 for a taillight is a fairly common junkyard price.

Thanks for the input, guys. I buy from this yard quite a bit, so I'll definitely haggle on the price.

You CAN get that PI badge off, but it will be a PITA. I'd just leave it on.

Agreed, overpriced panel.

Also agree, typical junkyard rate for taillight, but brand new aftermarkets can be found at that price. I say offer 70$ or walk away.

Yup, you can get brand new aftermarket tails for $20-25 on eBay all day long.

When I did the SAP conversion to my 2007, I bought the chrome tail lights on eBay for like $50 for the two of them, and I scored a nice chrome trunk fascia from Nate here on CVN.

I agree with what has already been said, a good condition tail panel should not be 100$...

It will look just like this on your car:



You will have to modify how your trunk key tumbler is mounted if you do the swap, as the P71 tail panel forces the tumbler to be shallower. This can be solved by drilling out the 3 rivets holding the tumbler housing to the outside of the trunk, and then re-installing the tumbler with bolts with the flange on the inside of the trunk sheetmetal.

I didn't do this on mine since the tumbler was broken anyways, but let me know if you have any questions about the swap.

I have always purchased lights from the junkyard. I make sure they have the FORD logo. I always trust an OEM product over aftermarket just for the superior UV protection in the plastics, etc.....even if it is the same price.

Plus I get them instantly.

I think the Grand Marquis key lock cylinder changed in 2003 to be flush with the panel. My 01 had identical depth with the P71 panel I installed.

Correct, the earlier MGM panels (98-02), have a similar overall shape to the P71 fascia,complete with the small black trim strip along the bottom, making the whole panel a bit shallower. The 03+ panels are one smooth curve, which brought the surface out a good half inch.

Wow...that white GM looks great, 2006 P71! I was thinking it would look too funky with the dip in the bumper, but that looks awesome - especially on a light colour like white or silver. And the tumbler work doesn't sound too involved - I'm definitely gonna do it. That's exactly the look I was after. Thanks again.

It's essentially a Marauder, then. Marauder uses the same shape Crown Victoria rear bumper with the "MARAUDER" inset. The header panel, lights, and grille are all 03-05 Grand Marquis.

Then, Marauder uses a special front bumper that combines the Crown Victoria bumper with the Grand Marquis bumper, and adds fog lights.

Well, I managed to locate a Marauder trunk panel in the same yard as the PI. I knew the Marauder was there from several months ago, but I didn't think it was still there - it's been picked clean, unfortunately. Using this panel will save me from having to try to remove the POLICE INTERCEPTOR emblem from the PI part.

Does anyone know if the Marauder panel will require the same mods to the tumbler that are required if I use the PI part?

yep. its pretty much the same panel, just with tinted reverse lights.

Okay - so I picked up the Marauder fascia and the PI taillights, and now I have what I hope isn't a dumb question.

Can anyone tell me the trick to locating the 2 invisible nuts that appear to be inside the trunk lid structure?? I've removed all the obvious nuts that hold the GM fascia on, but it still will not come off. From looking at the Marauder fascia, I can see that I've got 2 more nuts to remove, but for the life of me I can't locate them within the trunk structure, even with a long, extended mirror. I can barely get my hands through any of the openings to feel around for the nuts.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Any input would be greatly appreciated.