hey guys new here just wanting some info on where to find mercury performance parts. want to start with transmission shift kit and gears for the rear as well as make it a limited slip/posi. after that air intake, cams, maybe a supercharger. i have a 2004 grand marquis presidential edition sitting on 98 svt cobra wheels (will post pics as soon as i get the car cleaned and it doesnt rain the next freakin day). thanks for the help.

 

pretty much anything that will bolt to/in/on a same year crown vic will work on your MGM. Exhaust is a custom thing if you want to go larger. You can use mustang shorty headers (I think unequal length only due to space issues, but tight tuck style equal length shorties might fit too... definitely size it up first), but you'll have to go custom from the headers out. As for the top end stuff... you'll essentially have to rebuild the top end to match a mustang to be able to do that. I don't think anyone makes anything to bolt on the land yachts, plus you'll probably have to change the heads anyway (or machine them - port them). That's definitely a laundry list of upgrades you got there. If you do manage to do all that, keep us posted.

my usual first glance at performance stuff is usually www.summitracing.com
and I tend to also check mustang bolt-ons for same block type (281/302/etc).

My personal wish list would be to drop a crate 460 into my 88, but I doubt I'll ever have the funds to afford that beast of a motor.

 

If you could find one at a decent price the 32 valve 4.6 DOHC as used in the Lincoln Mark VIII, Mustang Cobra, and Merc Maurader would make for some nice power... You'd need the engine, harness, accessores, and ECU and some time on your hands to do the swap... I think the torque converter behind these engines was a bit different too..
Rumor has it the 5.4L with the van intakes will fit under the stock hood of a T-Bird.. I would imagine it woudl fit under the MGM hood as well.. Once again, there would be some harness and ecu changes involved..

As Slymer mentioned exhaust with some performance cats would be a good start... Then some variety of cold air intake, cams and larger injectors.. Head work could be on the list too.. Some variety of programmer could do wonders.. Supercharger may be your best bang for the buck..

B&M makes a pretty decent shift kit for the 4R70W.. I'd reccomend installing the HD/Towing one.. The street/strip kit is rather obnoxious.. Transgo makes a pretty good kit for these as well, but is more difficult to install, doesn;t come with gaskets, and seems to gain about the same results...

Are you considering a stock style traction lok rear or aftermarket? The stock trak loc units were used for a billion years in 8.8" rears.. They can be gotten pretty cheap at swap meets and such... THe clutches to rebuild them aren;t too bad either.. Last one I got was from the U pull it junk yard.. $35 for the unit, and about $65 for the rebuild kit... Powertraxx makes some pretty nice economical units too... Tons of different gear ratios available for these too as the 8.8 was used in about everything RWD from 86 on excluing early Rangers, BroncoII's and Mustang/Cougar/T-Birds..



Sylmer: You probably don;t wanna go the 460 route.. The weight of the thing will kill your handling, not to mention keeping it cool and just generally fitting in there... I stuck a 351C in an 84 Town Car years ago... (My Torino rusted apart and I wanted a place for the engine) It was a tight fit!!! Even with beefier springs on the front the car still handled funky... A 351w would be the best of everything.. You can get loads of power outta them and they fit! I think the intakes from the 95 Cobra or F-150 Lighting may clear the hood and still alow you to have efi... If you could come across a 5.0 Exploder/Mountaineer the top end off one of those engines would perk your 302 up.. The GT40 And GT40P 97-2001) heads flow better than any of the other heads for made.. The HO heads were simply 87 and up truck heads which are better, but not great.. (Generally the swap to the E7TE truck heads gets you about a 15hp gain versus 30-40hp with GT40 & GT40P)

 

Max: true. I forgot about that. and actually for me, just getting the custom dual exhaust (2.5 or 3 inch) would probably be plenty. Already have my redneck intake (which I may replace with one of those modified 93 acura intakes eventually) which works much better than the stock intake did. I may look into the larger intake plenums from the newer explorers too.

 

intake swap would require upper and lower from an explorer, and if you go that far, might as well change heads, cam, water pump and timing gears and chain. explorer intakes arent straight line setup like Mark 7 intakes or mustangs. the GT40p heads require headers that are pricier since the spark plugs arent mounted the same as other heads. i helped build and install a HO modified engine. it was a HO block, explorer cam, Mark 7 ECM, shorty headers, HO upper intake, bored EGR, modified HO throttlebody to work like a throotlebody for our cars, thumper heads and stuff.. i am going to be getting a explorer/mountaineer engine with the GT40p heads, EGR spacer and modded throttlebody. my upper and lower intake are going to be better than what is on an exploder set. my upper and lower intakes are typhoon setup that cost $200 plus. i just need a ECM, engine, and shorty headers for my 2 door project car. below are pics of the engine i helped work on and install...

 

thanks for the info guys, my brother was telling me about the 32 valve motor as well i just am hesitant about the whole ecu switch really. he has a '98 cobra that screams and swears by those motors (its the second one he has had, first being a '96).

 

Swapping to the 32v engine is not for the faint of heart, but swapping the harness and ECU isn;t as bad as it sounds.. Ford was pretty good about keeping the powertrain management harness separate from the rest of the car (like lights etc) Most of the wiring changes are made under the dash where the powertrain management connects to the car.. Get some good wiring diagrams and famailiarize youself with them (or find a buddy good with that)..



I forgot about the darn GT40P heads needing special headers.. Last project I used them on I opted for porting the stock manifolds (headers are not an option on a v8 MustangII with an AOD) The plug boots were close but a few extra bucks on better wores and I've been fine so far...
I think they only used the GT40s for '96 and '97 which makes them a tad harder to source... Realistically you'd probably be happy with some custom 2.25 - 2.5"" duals.. 3" is probably a bit large for the application... Ditch the factory cats!!! Ford cats are crappy for flow.. Some aftermarkets will make a surprising difference, the high flow ones are even better (or pending on you local laws no cats at all!)

If you got a good exhaust shop that is reasonable, they could probably bend you a cold air intake.. THe one I had made for the Cougar was all of $20....

 

in Nebraska there isnt any type of emission checks... only inspection done is on a vehicle being registered in Nebraska from another state to cross reference the VIN on the title to the dash. for my 2 door i have a BBK offroad X pipe hanging in the garage i have had since the beginning of my project. for the Exploder engine, i found some in my area for around $450 complete. i would only have to get a ECM from a Mark 7 with a HO at the junkyard. of course getting the complete engine, i would have spare stuff... in order for it to work in my car, i would have to swapp all front accessory brackets since explorer setup is different and more of a paint to reroute power steering lines and alternator wiring. i know a guy with a 1990 Crown Vic wagon that has a HO and pushing just under 300 HP... mine should hit at 300 since i will have about same setup but better upper and lower intake. here is a pic of what my intake setup looks like...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/86-87...Q5fAccessories

 

I've looked at those intakes before... Pretty similar to the truck lower intake with a special upper.. You ever see the thing out there years ago the "Power Box"? Great for hood clearance, but not so great for low end torque since the runners are not.. It was made to bolt on the truck lower intake and still clear the hood on a Mustang.. Essentially just a square box that bolted on the intake with a boss on the side to bolt the throttle body... I think it was intended mostly for drag use as the WOT flow characteristics were great... I wanted to use one on my Cougar but like everything else there ws clearance isues.. Ended up modifying a 4bbl intake to accept injectors and made an elbow to bolt on there for the throttle body (103 used for mandral bent exhaust pipe).. Pretty similar to what Probe Industries used to offer but a hell of alot cheaper...

You wouldn;t necessarily need a Mark 7 compter. The 91-93 Cougar/Tbird v8's also used the same A9L stuff.. Oddly enough the Mustang had the same thing yet it sells for twice as much on Fleabay... Then again I think the Mustang did have a higher speed limiter...

When time permits I'd really like to get my fingers on a megasquirt unit.. A fully customizable ECU just sounds nice.. I'm pushing the limits of what the A9L can do on the Cougar not to mention the 105mph speed limiter sucks... I'd also like to do away with the distributor and go with direct ignition for some extra heat..

 

then I'll probably opt for the 2.5" setup since there's lots of bolt on mustang shorty headers available for that old 302.