Looking for projects to undertake over the summer for my 99 RL and found a decent parts car for cheap. It's an 04 with the same color interior as mine.
The most major overhaul I'm planning to do is getting the updated suspension that the 02 and onward had and was wondering if there was any specialized tools that I might need before doing such a project. Below are a few smaller things I plan replacing while having this car in my possession feel free to comment.

- Front and possibly the rear seats (mine are fine but the 04 is a lot cleaner)
- Trunk latch
- Shifter knob
- Muffler
- Engine intake hose
- Rear passenger side window regulator
- Steering wheel
Lastly, I read that the abs and master cylinder were updated in the 2002-04 models and it's one of my "might as well" but if this requires intensive wiring harness or brake line work I might decide against it. Let me know if there is anything else you would suggest : )

 

Do yourself a favor and change both rear window regulators at the same time because I can guarantee the one isn't broken yet, will will break sooner rather than later, mine broke both at the same time! If your budget can handle it you might want to think about a set of coilovers as apposed to replacing one tired suspension for another. The first gen RL's have a nice comfortable ride if that's what you want and swapping out the suspension from you parts car will be fine. I have had my 2000 RL for twenty-years now and I was never a fan of the body roll the stock suspension has, so I went the route of lowering springs many years ago because there was no aftermarket support for the first gen Rl's at the time. Then Megan came out with plug-and-play set coilovers for the RL, they were cheap and didn't give you the ability to adjust ride height separately from spring perch or spring preload and they didn't last very long. Two years ago I replaced them with a set of Neomax Coilovers for the 1996-2004 KA9 from Silvers North American, and I love them. Twenty-four adjustment settings allows you to dial in the ride you want and the lower bracket allows you to adjust ride height. Great ride, great handling and a great look. I'm running staggered wheels 18" in the rear and 17" up front, the reason being is it's hard to find aftermarket rims with the high positive offset. And the 18" rim stuck outside the fender lip and that's a non-starter for me. If you are interested I included a link below, good luck!
(https://silvers-na.com/products/silv...-ka9-1996-2004)

 

p.s. I forgot to mention that if you go the route of coilovers lowering the frontend will affect wheel camber and you may need to replace either one, or both of the upper control arm ball joints with adjustable ball joints in order to meet alignment criteria. Either side may be out but it won't be out much however, I'm a stickler for seeing all "green" on an alignment sheet.
(https://www.spcalignment.com/product/67135)