What can ya do with a Grand Marquis?

[nemesis]

Originally Posted by War_Wagon

That 302 would just be a regular hydraulic lifter motor. If you really want a drivetrain for a future project, any '85 and newer 5.0L H.O. motor would be a much better choice, then you get the benefit of a roller camshaft. There are hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks running around with them. If you are stuck on modding this car, check craigslist etc for used 5.0L Mustang exhaust parts. Some factory headers, mated to an aftermarket 2.5 inch H pipe might work - though you may have to modify your transmission crossmember to clear it.

To save some weight, you could gut window motors and mechanisms out of the rear doors and just make the windows permanently closed. Those flattish side windows could be easy to copy out of some flat plexiglass sheet too. Yank the carpet and remove the sound deadener/underlay then put the carpet back in. That stuff is heavy, especially if you have any water coming into the car, it acts as a big sponge. We could talk about removing the side impact beams in the rear doors (if you never have rear passengers that is) but that sounds like skirting the edge of liability issues.

That car has 5 x 4 1/2 inch bolt pattern, there are lots of cheap lightweight used aftermarket wheels around that would fit it, probably even at the wrecking yards you go to. Thunderbird Turbo Coupes have some super lightweight wheels if you can find them, though you'd have to see if the backspacing would work on your car. Lots of guides online to compare them.

I don't know about the Ford bumper brackets, but GMs from that era use a gas charged cylinder like a shock absorber. Drilling into a pressurized cylinder is never a good idea, but I have seen it done. Once the pressure is gone, the cylinder can be compressed (shortened) and tack welded in that position. This will relocate the bumpers closer to the car by whatever amount the bracket is compressed. You lose any low speed crash absorbtion of course.

Turbo coupes came with a 4 lug wheels, super coupes with 5 4.25, mustang or ranger wheels is what he should be looking for.

[wriley4409]

While you are swapping rear ends, replace the fluid with pure synthetic lube. Mobil1 or Redline 75w90 would work well.

[War_Wagon]

My mistake on the Turbo Coupe wheels, but if he wants Mustang wheels though he'll need 1994 or newer, the '79-'93 fox bodies are all 4 bolt too.

[pstrbrc]

The whole discussion about light wheels is kinda funny. Almost all of my driving is long distance two lane highway. So the acceleration (both positive and negative) of heavy wheels vs light wheels is truly irrelevant in any practical sense. However, the strength of said wheel is very important. You should see some of the things I've run over at 65mph! Sometim. es the ditch is the safest place to drive, depending upon what's on the blacktop! But the aeroback concept is something I've been doodling with. Just not this winter! I've gotta drive it, you know.

[pstrbrc]

Been playing with silhouettes of the GM in GIMP.
Was going to try them through the flow illustrator, but couldn't get a response. Anyway, here they are:







interestingly, the drop from the trailing edge of the roof to the trailing edge of the trunk is just about 15*, depending upon how much rake I assume for the suspension. A new front fascia out of fiberglass-over-foam, an aeroback, french in the bumpers (or wander the junkyards, looking for a bumper that will fit closer to the fenders-I think an '85 Lincoln Town Car should do it!), belly pan and wheel discs, swap in a police axle with 2.73's and tracloc, drop the front suspension an inch for just the right rake, put in a fresh 5.0 H.O., rebuild the AOD with wide ratios, a 2"overdrive band, and all the other goodies, tear out the dash and put a real gauge package in, redo the interior with the big AMC buckets they used in the Pacer, and I just might want to keep this old pig!

[Christ]

Make your new front fascia look like the Plymouth Road Runner!

DO IT!

[pstrbrc]

Originally Posted by Christ

Make your new front fascia look like the Plymouth Road Runner!

DO IT!

Actually, the more brand-correct one would be the Ford King Cobra.



Umm..... otoh, this being a 4 door, something a little less, umm... racy might be in order.
But thanks for thinkin' about me.

[cfg83]

pstrbrc -

Originally Posted by pstrbrc

Been playing with silhouettes of the GM in GIMP.
Was going to try them through the flow illustrator, but couldn't get a response. Anyway, here they are:

...

Flow Illustrator is a lightweight demonstration application. The images need to be 256*128 in Windows Bitmap (BMP) format. Otherwise the program will choke on your image.

CarloSW2

[War_Wagon]

Originally Posted by pstrbrc

The whole discussion about light wheels is kinda funny. Almost all of my driving is long distance two lane highway. So the acceleration (both positive and negative) of heavy wheels vs light wheels is truly irrelevant in any practical sense.

While the difference in rotational mass may not affect you on the highway, there is still the matter of static mass. If you save 10-15 pounds per wheel, thats 60 less pounds of unsprung weight you have to get moving. May not sound like much, but its like losing the back seat and installing buckets. They all add up. It's just a matter of the trade off of dollars per FE gained, and whether you think it's worth it given your driving conditions. Though in your case it would certainly seem that the biggest gains would come from aerodynamic mods.