Sad day

My 1998 Sable has been retired to a recycle yard. A few years ago at 300,000 miles the main bearings wore out. Bought it when it was a year old with 10,000 miles. Body hadn't rusted and I planned to put a new motor in some day. Well, I noticed very large chunks of rust underneath it recently. I crawled under and saw that most all of the floor pan was about to go. No repairing that. With a heavy heart and a tear in my eye I made the call. All that is left is a few pictures I took after a final wax for old times sake.

I'm surprised a mercury sable lasted 300,000 miles. Well done!

It had the 24 valve dual overhead cam Duratec motor. Much better than the standard Vulcan. Always the best oil and filter. The trans had two rebuilds. One new alternator, lots of brake jobs and tires. Two plug and wire changes and nothing else.

That's the weird thing about the Taurus/sable of the late 90s and early 2000s. Such a great engine and such a shitty gearbox. I'm surprised it only needed two rebuilds to be honest. I'd love to see that engine in a smaller rear wheel drive sport sedan with a manual transmission.