I’ve been on the hunt for another woody wagon and with the help of a buddy found one. I stopped and asked the lady if she was interested in selling it and she was, a quick look over and some talking and I bought it home on a trailer. Back in high school (2000-ish) I had a Ford Maverick and was looking to put a 302 in it so I went looking for a donor. I ended up with a light blue/woody Country Squire that ran and drove. I couldn’t tear up a good car just for the motor so I drove it and loved it. Hauling friends around and doing teenager stuff was a blast. The heater core went out and sealed its fate to the junkyard.

Fast forward a few years, 2 kids and a wife later and I’ve been trying to convince my wife how comfortable a wagon is, like riding on a comfy couch.

So far, I had to stick a new fuel pump in it and drain the old varnished gas. It runs and moves but needs a bit of TLC. The worst part to me is the vinyl seats are a bit hard and cracked. Here’s my list so far

New tires
New alternator plug
Oil change
Rear shocks
Exhaust is cracked/cobbled together (not sure what I’ll do)
Try to renew the seats (not sure if it possible)
Passenger window regulator isn’t working
New speakers
Find passenger door trim
Wax and buff paint.

Welcome from a '91 Squire owner!


(use Imgur to host your pics if you happen to have any)

Welcome to the madness!

Might want to add a fuel filter and pressure regulator to your list. Chances are the window motor only needs new pucks, common failure, cheap but not real easy.

A little rough, but you've got enough there to work with. How many miles are on it?

Odometer show 97k but there’s no telling if it’s rolled over. It’s a little rough but I think for its age it’s in pretty good shape.

That is absolutely cleaner than my '91.

When you get roadworthy, head down to Mexico and hit up a border-town upholstery shop.

Adam, I’ll have to disagree, your ‘91 is way nicer.

Does anyone sell wood grain vinyl or something like it that I could redo the sides with?

I'm sure my interior is - that part of my car is mint. But the rust in my fenders and wheel arches is...insane. And I have no clearcoat anywhere on the car.

3M Di-Noc is the product you're looking for.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/di-noc-siding

Thanks for the link! I’m excited about this boat and already knocking stuff off the list. I’ve knocked out an oil change, thermostat and cooling system flush, and rear shocks. I’ve found the exhaust is split in a lot of places so I’ll order some bends and a quiet muffler. Also found the power steering pump is leaking bad and the fan clutch has enough play I don’t feel comfortable with it.

If the PS pump is leaking from the back, it's just the o-ring that seals the reservoir. Not a hard job. If it's leaking out the front behind the pulley, time to replace.

Went to the local pick n pull and scored some door light lenses, rear sway bar and a 3g alternator for $60.

So, I found a 91 4door with blue cloth interior. I was able to grab a door pull for the wagon but looking at the blue cloth seats they were in pretty good shape and I can prefer the cloth to vinyl. Will 4door and wagon seats swap?

I found some good stick exhaust to replace the rotten stuff but can’t decide if I want to use stock parts or do stock routing with 2.5” and a cheap dynomax muffler. I wouldn’t mind some rumble but not looking for obnoxious

The front seats should swap without issue. Not sure on the back...would guess there'd be some issue due to the folding nature of the wagon seats. Though I know people do interior swaps, so maybe there's a way to convert...

I have an H-pipe from a box sedan on my wagon (looks like RockAuto has some stocked). You might consider starting with the sedan H-pipe and fabbing a dual setup.