Hello everyone! I know I've not made entries to the "Diary" in long time. Honestly I've been busy, and not too much has happened on the Marquis front. To start, I guess I should say that I did not win that auction for the 77 coupe. I think it's just as good. I don't have the space, or the funds to dedicate to two old cars. We had a very long, dreadful winter here in Connecticut. It snowed from November right into April! I didn't even get to put the cover on "Marquisha" before our first snow fall. Finally in December I was able to was the car, dry it, and put the cover on it for the winter months.

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On the weekend of March 15th, we finally had a bit of a thaw, and I got to actually dig out my grandparent's driveway enough to take the car Marquis for a drive. I was really happy about that. I was also happy to see how clean the car stayed under the cover all winter long.

My driving time was short lived as it snowed again by the end of that week. I didn't get to drive her again until April. Things didn't much improve weather-wise from the spring into the summer. Instead of snow, we got rain. Rain just about every weekend it seemed.

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A relaxing Sunday drive, over to the stepbrother's condo in Ellington in May 2003.

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06/21/2003 - Some good news! Over the winter I had won an auction on a blue door pull! When I got it, I was upset to see that it was for a 73/74 Marquis. Well, I was able to take the handle part out, and use it on my door. It looks much better now as you can see the Before and After picture below!

Unfortunately that same day the regulator broke in my rear passenger door. One more thing to be fixed. Burhoe's garage gave us the name of someone in East Hartford who fixes car windows, regulators, etc. I'll have to give him a call. I hope this back door panel is as much fun A wise woman once said, "You take the good, you take the bad, and there you have, the facts of life! Oh....the facts of life!" Such wisdom in such simple words! I hope that I'll have much more to report on my next Marquis Diary entry. I have bought quite a few new parts for her, including a new rechromed front bumper, chrome stone deflectors, fender welt for my skirts, and many, MANY more hubcaps!! :)

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09/28/2003 - It had been a pretty uneventful summer with "Marquisha" and me. I drove her just about every single weekend, and even to work a few times. She ran great, well great for her, that is :) I was starting to get all gung-ho about getting paint and body work done on her until one day I drove her to my friend Jim's house in Wethersfield. He's about 20 minutes away by highway from where I live right now. She did the same thing she did in Jersey the day I got her. Turned the car off, and it wouldn't start up until about four hours later. I am really going to need to take her somewhere where they can accurately diagnose what's up with her. Because of this, I didn't bother to have the window fixed in the back, and I've sort of held off on buying new things from e-bay. Right now my life situation may be changing and I am not going to have loads of cash to dump into the car.

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11/09/2003 - I bought a 2001 Lincoln Town Car the week before last and dropped it off last Thursday night at Newman Lincoln Mercury to have a few things fixed that I found wrong with it. My plan was to drive the Marquis to the Commuter Lot the next morning for work. I gave my self plenty of time to let it run before I got ready for work. Got out to the car, tried to start it up, and the battery was completely dead again. I tried to turn on the headlights to see if I had anything electrical, and nope. Nothing at all. The headlight doors went up about half way, and stayed there. The car sat there till Sunday morning when my stepdad helped me get it jumped. It took a long time, but it finally started up. I was extremely upset to find out that once I got the car started up, the driver's side headlight door wouldn't go all the way up, or down :( I drove the car around for a while to let the battery charge and to park it for the winter at my grandmother's house. I was able to push on the door and get it shut. So then I started the car back up and turned the light on, and turned the light on, and the door retracted all the way up, and got itself stuck behind the door trim bezel! No matter what I did, I could not dislodge it. :( I have no idea what I am going to do to get this unstuck. The door is covering the last screw to the bezel, and I see that I broke one of the rivets that hold the door onto the track/bracket thing. Oye! :(

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11/16/2003 - Yes friends, a miracle happened on this day! A real life miracle! I went to visit the Marquis to see if it would start after sitting for a week. It started to turn over for a bit, then sorta died out not to be started again. I jumped it, and it started right up. As I was sitting there behind the steering wheel with the hood open, I could see the headlamp door retract back some more! I shut off the lights, and watched the door shut completely closed!

A miracle, I say! A Miracle!!! I did not turn the lights on again! I figure it can stay shut for the balance of the winter till I get around to fixing it in the spring. As you can see, it is a little crooked. I think that is because of the broken rivet. We'll find out in the spring. After I got this 'fixed' I decided to go around for a drive - 1.) To charge the battery and... 2.) to enjoy the car while I still can in the semi-warm weather we were having. I was driving down Hartford Road in Manchester where I saw this house with ALL kinds of classic cars in the driveway, and along the street. There was a 57 Mercury, a 59 Pontiac and Buick to name a few, but around the corner was the best car of them all....

I am not sure what year this Colony Park is, but it has to be the cleanest, most beautiful example of a 70's Marquis that I have ever seen! Every single thing on this car look like it had just stepped out of the factory! It was absolutely amazing! I'd have love to have been able to talk to the owner.

two strangers meet... exchanging glances...

This will probably be it for any 2003 entries. I can't believe it's confined to one page. I guess that's sort of good, and sort of bad. It was a lot better year than 2002 was I guess in terms of breakdowns. On the whole she ran problem-free. The biggest issue still is that if I take her on the highway for a long period of time... say 15/20 mins at over 70 mph, she gets too hot, and won't start back up again. Oh well, I'll deal. See you next year!

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