I'm back. Will need a bunch of advise.

The last two or three years have been a hot mess for me. Some health problems and other stuff means I haven't been doing anything with my '94 RMW and I've only been lurking on this site occasionally and not posting anything. Now I'm sitting in a wheelchair with a badly broken ankle. That has given me time to think about what I'm doing with my '94, and now that I'm (forcibly) retired I will have time to work on it. Before the s**t hit the fan I was repairing all of the door panels (thanks to Fred Kiehl for his tips on welding them back together). This will include new speakers and sound insulation. After I get that done I have a few other things to tackle:

Body mounts -

I have never looked at them but even though my car is nice and clean I figure after all these years of being squashed they should be replaced. But where to get them? I know Energy Suspension sells them, but I think that these will be a lot harder than the original rubber ones and I don't want a harsh ride, plus they don't seem to include the bottom mounts that GM helpfully left off, at least not with the "softer" set. I've been doing all the research I can without actually looking at my car and it seems like the 1977-1990 mounts are all the same. I know the chassis are basically the same back to '77, so wouldn't it make sense that the mounts would be the same? If they are different then maybe its a matter of hardness or shape, or maybe the hardware on our cars in metric and it used to be standard. If so, I think the older ones can be bought in rubber. Does anybody know? Or, has anybody used the Energy Suspension products and found them to be satisfactory? I'd really like to know about this. Thanks.


Exhaust -

While I'm under there I'd like to upgrade the exhaust. I don't have the bucks to buy a quality cat-back, especially knowing I would have to modify the tailpipes to fit the wagon. I'm fine with 2.25 inch pipes so one alternative would be to just use the existing down pipes. I'd put a crossover in them and fit good mufflers and then see how to run proper tailpipes. Not averse to using the existing tailpipes if the resonators are in good condition. BUT - the stock downpipes have all those nasty bends and squashed places, so I'd prefer to replace them. Are there any low-end cat-back producers (Jegs, Heartthrob) that would sell me just their downpipes? That would get me started.

I think it would cost a fortune to have an exhaust shop fab something up, and my welding skills are minimal, so I'm thinking that for cheaper I could get the Pypes x-pipe for the Impala and fab up the rest. I know some people have used these. If you did, what did you think? I'm mainly interested to know if they fit right on properly, or if they required a lot of trimming of other adjustments. This is a pretty attractive solution if they go on with minimal headaches. I'm open to any suggestions here. Thanks.


Rear sway bar

I got a killer deal on a LTD/Grand Marquis rear sway bar on Amazon. It comes powder coated and with links for about $43 shipped. It's the smaller (15mm) bar, but how could I go wrong? I have the 9C1 bar on the front already so maybe a thicker bar would be better but I don't want it to be tail-happy. Anyway if I don't like it I can just put it on my DD Grand Marquis, which actually needs it more than the wagon. If any of you guys are scouting junkyards for Panther-body sway bars, you might just want to settle for this one.

I'll be looking for lots of help with this car in the upcoming months. I've had it since 2009 and it's a great car. When I read about the problems a lot of you have had I know I'm lucky to have it. Thanks in advance.

I used the pypes impala 2.5 inch x-pipe with 50 series 2.5 inch flowmasters same inlet/outlet orientation (a little shorter than stock mufflers) original axle pipes and resonators. Sound is not excessive, but has a nice little rumble that wakes up under acceleration. Fit well, adapters behind the mufflers to the original axle pipes. Daily driven.

I grabbed a 17mm bar from a bone yard. Haven't installed it yet. Poly bushing have been shipped, not here yet. Will test fit and decide what links are needed before installing.

I'm in the same boat. Health problems stalled my RMW over the last 2 years, and Fred has also was very helpful to me when I was working on it. I am hoping to get mine back on the forward path to completion soon as well. Unfortunately I don't have answers to your questions. I just had a local exhaust shop fab up an X-pipe assembly out of 3" tubing for my 383, stepped down to 2.5 from the mufflers back. Surprisingly the cost was not much more than the generic pre-built kits I priced out at the time. You might just talk to a couple of local shops to see what your options are. The shop I chose was half the price of other local shops, yet the work was on par with the others. Definitely if the price seems low ask to look at some of their work before agreeing to the job.

The wrong bushings arrived last night. The vendor said they were split, but they are not. Anyone know how to get pol bushings over the wide flat ends of the sway bar?

Why not split them yourself? Use a good sharp razor knife and slice it on one side and open it like a book, far enough to slip over the bar. As long as there is metal all around the bushing it should be ok.

I'm reviving this thread, and thanks to all who responded. A tip of the fedora to Isurf and Sleeperwagon for addressing the x-pipe question. And Sleeperwagon, get well. I'm in a skilled nursing facility learning how to walk again after breaking my ankle (9 screws) and then catching pneumonia. I have already had the dreaded Covid, and because I'm so lucky it didn't amount to a hill of beans. So all I can do right now is surf the internet and plot. I realize now I was wrong to tear the interior panels apart all at once. I should have repaired them piecemeal and continued to drive the car because it was running well except for a chronic power steering gear leak. That would have kept my interest up. I am going to put tags back on it and drive it while doing cosmetic upgrades and then tackle the mechanical repairs and upgrades in phases. I'm committed to completely rebuilding the power steering (upgrade to 12.7 ratio) and rebuilding my differential with a good posi and 3.42 gears. I will be posting questions on each of those projects at a time. I'll be posting some idiot questions in the Suspension and Steering section tonight.