Installing courtesy lamps

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Prior to 1997, civilian versions of the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis came with courtesy lamps on the front doors. But thanks to the bean counters, 1996 was the last year for this feature and the doors got a reflector instead.

I decided I wanted this feature on my 2001, so I bought a set of courtesy lamp housings on eBay, which came off a 1995 Grand Marquis LS. Thanks a lot to the postal strike we had here, I finally received them last week, after having ordered them in March.

Anyway, here is the reflector that came on the door panel:

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From 1997-1999, the holes required to mount the courtesy lamps were drilled into the door panel, but Ford decided to discontinue this in 2000, so mine didn't have them:

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Comparing the original reflector with the courtesy lamp housing:

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Starting to mark the points that need to be cut out:

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Cut the holes, removed the door insulation and thoroughly washed the door panel several times, hosing it right down:

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Dismantled everything on the door panel to clean before putting it back together:

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And finally installed the courtesy lamp housing:

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The wiring is not available locally, so an order has been placed for the pigtail assembly to tap into the vehicle's wiring. Once that's sorted, I've got fully functional courtesy lamps.
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The cost cutting sounds like during the Daimler-Chrysler days.How can a carmaker give you a feature and then,for no other reason,take it away? Where is/was the public outcry? Should have charged less for the vehicle,not more.
 
Looks good! It will be a nice added detail once the wiring is in.

Ford often leaves vestigial traces of former options in their aging platforms. My truck has hooks for an interior cargo cover, indentations for pop out rear windows, and a hump in the bed for a filler neck for an auxiliary fuel tank...all three options were discontinued years before the truck was built. It also has a small vent in the dash where a temp sensor for digital HVAC controls would go in an Explorer.
 
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
The cost cutting sounds like during the Daimler-Chrysler days.How can a carmaker give you a feature and then,for no other reason,take it away? Where is/was the public outcry? Should have charged less for the vehicle,not more.


It was probably something preferred by law enforcement, who bought the bulk of the vehicles. If the Town Car kept the feature, there's your answer.
 
PIs already have "Dark Car" mode enabled by default anyway. Which disables automatic interior lighting. So they wouldnt have lit anyway.
 
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Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
PIs already have "Dark Car" mode enabled by default anyway. Which disables automatic interior lighting. So they wouldnt have lit anyway.


Only when you throw the switch, but depending upon how the dark mode is enabled - you're correct. We had plenty up here that made their way into taxi service that worked both ways. Some needed to be specifically disabled by the switch. Some would have no interior illumination whatsoever when the driver's door opened and would light only if they were actually turned on.

The other issue could be simply cost. Police forces avoided radios and air conditioning like the plague for as long as they possibly could.
 
Its a plug. It literally just meant the factory worker left a part of the interior harness unplugged instead of hooking it up.
Cost, yeah, I can see that. The question the becomes, why didnt they install these lamps on civilian version and just install the reflector in its place on the PI? They already deleted the whole footwell lighting from the PI; only the civi variants get that. So, why not these lamps on the upper models?
Cheapness, just plain cheapness.
 
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Same with my 1997 Tbird...I think 1996 was the last yr that had courtesy lamps that actually lit up. After that it was just a reflector...

...I wonder if the wiring is there, though...Hmmmmmm

Edit: nope - nothing is there.
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My 2005 F150 XLT didnt come from the factory with foglights, but the plugs are there as well as the headlight switch the pulls out to turn the fogs on. Was the same on my 1997 F150 as well. That makes it just a matter of buying the fogs, mounting and plugging them in. Thinking back I noticed this on a lot of cars I have had over the years, not only with fogs but other equipment as well.
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Cheapness, just plain cheapness.


Oh yes. Those years of no radios or AC in former CVPIs used as taxis were not good times. While our summers aren't very long, they can be rather warm, and sitting in a taxi for 12 hours with no AC in 100 F isn't a good day. Lighting cheapness isn't a lot better, either.

It reminds me of my old midsize 1983 LTD. It was pretty bare bones, too, and didn't have a clock. My dad came across one at a local salvage and bought it for me. I couldn't find a plug for the life of me, for a couple years. Then, I had to take apart the dash to do the heater core (what a chore that was), and found the plug tied up in there. At least I found it.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
Oh yes. Those years of no radios or AC in former CVPIs used as taxis were not good times. While our summers aren't very long, they can be rather warm, and sitting in a taxi for 12 hours with no AC in 100 F isn't a good day. Lighting cheapness isn't a lot better, either.

It reminds me of my old midsize 1983 LTD. It was pretty bare bones, too, and didn't have a clock.


Yeah is seems to was bare bones because of your area..My mom down here in Miami went looking at a bunch of 83 LTD Crown Vics back in 83 in Miami..She looked at a bunch of LTD 2'S also..Everyone of them had factory a/c if nothing else..She ended up waiting till 85 and bought a new 85 loaded Vic..She really loved that car and had zero issues with it.

Down here in Miami most Full Size cars had a/c way back in 1962 and some even before that..By 1968 just about all full size,midsize and even small cars had a/c in them if nothing else.
 
Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
Yeah is seems to was bare bones because of your area..My mom down here in Miami went looking at a bunch of 83 LTD Crown Vics back in 83 in Miami..She looked at a bunch of LTD 2'S also..Everyone of them had factory a/c if nothing else..She ended up waiting till 85 and bought a new 85 loaded Vic..She really loved that car and had zero issues with it.


Heck, the CVPIs here didn't get factory AC until almost the mid 1990s!
 
Not to bump up an old thread, but I finally got around to wiring these - after five months! The wiring pigtails were a special order item through the dealer, and it took about six weeks for them to arrive. Can't complain though, the manger gave me a decent discount on them at $15 each when MSRP is $27.

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Not much of a noticeable difference during the day, but they certainly brighten up the interior at night.
 
I really like it..Nice job!.I wish Ford kept them all along as I really liked them in my older Panthers..It helped out a lot at night when you had company getting in and out of the car.
 
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