Everythings cool guys, OK?! LOL, I love a good discussion and it has been a good one!

The guys at Mercurymarauder.net don't like when I say the Marauder would have been much better with a fuel injected 351C in it....

Then I come here, after reading Car Craft since 1989, and what do I have? (GASP! a late model without a carb or nitrous or slicks!).

Some days you just can't win!

I just blew $100 on the recent supercharger raffle at MM.net. Not sure if I'll try for the GT(40) raffle but I might... And if I win, that car will get a smaller pulley for even more boost!

I don't envy anyone that has to change heads on one of these motors. That's one of the reasons I'd much rather have a '68 Cougar or Maverick Grabber. No one hopes you see fewer of the Romeo's than me! There should be plenty of Ford AOD's out there to keep you busy and well fed!

It's a good thing Car Crafting didn't stop in 1932 when people discovered that the flat-head Ford only had 3 main bearings (and could only handle 300hp)!!!

Check out Reinhart performance for speed parts to the Mrk IIIV. (they did the Marauders for the Florida Hwy Patrol).

Hey and dont' forget the $300 special tool to keep the cams in place so you can install the chain. I mean really can ford have made that motor anymore of a pain in the butt to work on. Really Ford just sucks, put it this way how many '70's ford trucks do you see on the road, not to mention cars, and in that case what about the '80's, not to many of them, right.  

That 13.3 second timeslip on the WRX is with a pro driver moving the gears through that pile they call a tranny.  With your typical punk driving it.......who knows.

I drive an 06 Mustang, and a 68 Cougar, as well as the Festiva.  Its a 300 dollar car that gets 40 mpg.  Hot Rod or not, I don't care gas will be 7 million a gallon this summer.  No, I didnt put all those miles on it, maybe 20,000 miles of them.

I'll give you that...I have neighbors who own a few of those bling-bling import cars...one night the guy with the Eclipse came driving home with the entire passenger side scraped and banged up...looked like he hit a wall and just drove on it for a while...took all I could not to laugh til I realized that daddy's going to pay to have it all fixed (perks of living in a college town...I get to see all these college kids driving BMW's, SUV's, and brand spankin new cars...all on their parent's dime).

But yeah, a typical import guy isn't going to be able to consistently put those numbers up...he'll probably do a nose dive everytime he shifts.

Gas mileage is the reason my Cutlass is getting a 200-4R automatic overdrive as soon as I finish rebuilding it...I'm hoping for 17 on the highway...maybe 20 if I can really get it dialed in...prolly not though...not nearly as good as your 40...but not as bad as the 13 I was getting.

you outta be able to get 20 mpg. my sisters camaro had a 4 barrel 305 with a 700r4 and got 25 mpg cruising the highway. sure its a lighter, but shouldnt make too much of a difference.  

I guess my best friend's 1992 Crown Vic with 268,000 and counting miles must be an anomoly...as is his uncles 233,000 mile Mercury marquis.

All engines have their quirks, but the Modular series is a long lasting, durable engine.

I don't think so. My company owns about a hundred lincoln towncars in 5 states. They all have the 4.6 engines. We average 180,000 to 200,000 in three years before selling them. We also leave these things idling for hundreds of hours with the AC on. I cant remember when we had the last real engine problem with any of these cars. Mostly a noisy timing chain, bad coil, or something minor. Every once in awhile one of the cars has a rearend or trans problem mostly due to drivers thinking they that throwing the car in park is a good way to stop them.

yeah its mine there. cant run around town with the Mustang emblems on the caps now can we? did that for long enough before i found out the Marauder caps snap right into place. MUCH happier with the wheels now.

im looking at a 97 Mark VIII right now too. 71K miles and its less than 7K. 280 hp and 20+ mpg on the freeway in a nice 2 door with leather and features that were indeed a few years ahead of its time. however, the fact that they were discontinued makes them cheap now. so im all for it!

I STARTED TO READ THE BANTERING BACK AND FORTH OVER WEATHER OR NOT THE FORD MOTORS ARE CRAP OR NOT, BUT I KNOW FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE THAT I'VE BEEN MORE THAN HAPPY WITH MY 140000 MILE 97 CONTINENTAL WITH THE DOHC 4.6 AND SO FAR HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED ANY OF THE NEGATIVE ISSUES ADDRESSED.  

Well my friend, the 4.6 isn't nearly as bad as the 5.4L. Take it from someone who does this crap for a living, they are hard to work on and they crap the head gaskets constantly. We just had one in the shop that the exaust valve just broke for no good reason. It locked the engine up and ripped up the head and piston. It was a 5.4L in a F-150 crew cab 4x4 so obviously,it wasn't easy to work on. I won't be swayed from my fellings toward this engine, ROMEO MUST DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Dodge is way better than anything that Chevy has ever put out.  Just look at the 426 Hemi.  I would like to see Chevy bring out an engine that can beat that.  All Chevy's should be demolished then thrown in the junk heap.  

A chevy motor that can beat the 426 Hemi? humm.. You mean the zz572? cut your mullet moron and open up a car magazine (and I don't mean auto trader).  

ZL1

LS7 (2006 edition)

Both put out similar power to your prized hemi...but both weigh significantly less...and one is capable of 26 mpg on the highway...lets see your hemi do that

You're reaching for something that doesnt exist...there are plenty of dodge motors that are junk...there are plenty of ford motors that are junk...and there are plenty of chevy motors that are junk...

Everyone makes junk...its just a matter of what junk you like/dislike the most

PRETTY MUCH. I THINK ALMOST EVERYONE WHO AT SOME POINT HAS FIXED CARS FOR A LIVING HAS A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH CARS. DOING IT FOR A LIVING DESTROYED MY DILUSIONS ABOUT WHAT WAS GOOD AND WHAT WAS CRAP.  I HAVE NO BRAND LOYALTY ANYMORE, AFTER ALL, THE AUTO MANUFACTURERS HAVE NO LOYALTY TO ME.  IN THE END, THEY ARE ALL JUNK.  OF COURSE I'M MORE HAPPY WITH SOME VEHICLES THAN OTHERS, BUT CARS ARE GENERALLY ENGINEERED TO BE USED UP.  PEOPLE CAN TELL THEMSELVES WHATEVER THEY NEED TO IN ORDER TO FEEL ALL WARM AND FUZZY ABOUT WHATEVER BRAND THEY PREFER, BUT DEEP DOWN, I THINK WE'D ALL BE HAPPIER WITH HOTWHEELS. ;-/  

Amen Bro.  I wrenched on BMW's for 4 1/2 years, and several other makes that came through the dealership as used cars.  After a while I got to hate them all, and don't get me started on the customers.  After I quit turning wrenches it took me about a year to pick up my tools for anything more than an oil change on my own cars.  Being a tech burned me so bad I sold a '68 Malibu, 86 BMW L6, 89 BMW 325iS, and an '85 IROC Z-28.  I couldn't stand the thought of working on them after beating the clock all day, and just having them sit in the driveway wasn't doing them any good.