Best Mods to get going.

[00SVT]

Me being new to the forms, I have not bought a Marauder yet. But will be looking for one once my Lightning is sold. I have a few questions if someone could help me out. What I'm looking for is were do you guys buy your parts from. I will be looking to do the best starting mods you can. I was curious if it would be a good deal to start off with a cai,underdrive pulleys, exhaust and a tune. I will later want to go with a Blower/Turbo setup and full exhaust,gears ect.. But for now what is the best bang for the buck to start off with.

I see that Zack has done a lot of great tunes on these cars and everyone is satisfied with them. Does Zack carry the SCT Tuners or do I need to buy one from SCT.

[sd8683]

The mods you stated are a very good start. A few others that are great for these cars are 4:10 gears and a higher stall torque converter, you can buy these mods from vendors on this site.

[1 Bad Merc]

I would go with the Zack Tune, 4.10 gears, CAI and a higher stall TQ converter. Underdrive pulleys are nice if you are going to stay NA but if you are going to be Supercharged then you will end up taking them off when you do the switch as I believe they are not compatible. Do some searching with the search function key and you will see the above is the best bang for your buck!

Brad

[00SVT]

Thanks for all the info. I will not do the pulleys then since I do plan to go with a blower/turbo setup.

[ImpalaSlayer]

cai,tune, 4.10s= low 14 second car and a whole lot more fun to drive

[SC Cheesehead]

4:10 gears and tune will wake the car up. IMO, best bet for 1st mods.

[00SVT]

My old lightning had a 2400 stall,4:10 gears, and a valve body upgrade and was a blast to drive out on the street. What am I looking at cost wise to go with gears,stall,cai, and a tune.

[ImpalaSlayer]

used xcal 2 with zack tune = about 250ish

stall = like 700ish

cai i think jlts go for like 150?

i paied 500 for my gears and install

[DOOM]

Tune tune tune

[252life]

Get a K&N CAI from e-bay and a SCT X-Cal 3 from innovativeinterceptors.com (with Lidio's tune).
And do the J-mod. Then save up money for a blower.
I would not do underdrive pulleys because of the increased risk of oil-pump gear failure, I would leave the stock harmonic balancer alone.
And also leave the T/C and gears alone, (the stock T/C and 3:55's works very good with a Trilogy).

[00SVT]

What is the J-Mod? Also I saw the price for the Trilogy Blower setup Damn. That's more than a KB/Whipple. What is the cost for a turbo setup, that is what I can't find a price on.

[Zack]

What is the J-Mod? Also I saw the price for the Trilogy Blower setup Damn. That's more than a KB/Whipple. What is the cost for a turbo setup, that is what I can't find a price on.

The Trilogy is well worth it and there are no turbo kits offered.

[00SVT]

The Trilogy is well worth it and there are no turbo kits offered.

So with the few guys with turbo setups. Do they just use a kit for the mustang and have it modified to fit under the hood or all they all a one off custom setup?

[252life]

What is the J-Mod?

It's valve body modification, search and you will find lots of good info.

[SC Cheesehead]

So with the few guys with turbo setups. Do they just use a kit for the mustang and have it modified to fit under the hood or all they all a one off custom setup?

It's not so much the fit under the hood as it is the plumbing under the car, cross-member interference and such.

[00SVT]

It's valve body modification, search and you will find lots of good info.

Thanks for the info.

[Joe Walsh]

I have to agree with what everyone has suggested:
CAI
Tune
4.10 gears

BUT:

I wouldn't touch the torque converter!
Lots of work to do this mod and unless you drag race often..IT IS NOT WORTH IT.

I put in a higher stall converter and I really don't like it for street driving.
It makes the Marauder feel like a pig. Too much throttle to get it moving and it won't hold on the slightest incline.
Now at the strip, where I can preload the converter, I get great 60 foot times and the TC is awesome.

[Joe Walsh]

So with the few guys with turbo setups. Do they just use a kit for the mustang and have it modified to fit under the hood or all they all a one off custom setup?

A now defunct company, PTK, used to make a turbo kit specifically for the Marauder.
To do a turbo kit now, it would be a custom job.

[1 Bad Merc]

I believe PTK used to make a Turbo kit but it was not complete. No one else really makes one for the Marauder so you would have to do a ton of mods to make it work. Some members have gone this route and were able to do it. Takes alot of time and talent to put a turbo together.

You can basiscally get anything you want if you have the money but for the cost of a supercharger kit is just makes sense to supercharge. Plus the current kits are made Marauder specific.

Brad

[Jolly Roger]

This looks like it might be a good turbo deal.
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=50877
My 4.6 cts. again.;)

[RF Overlord]

I will not do the pulleys then since I do plan to go with a blower/turbo setup.Don't rule out the U/D pulleys yet...if you are going to install a centrifugal or Eaton supercharger, obviously you would not want a smaller crank pulley, but since they are a simple and relatively inexpensive mod, if your blower plans are down the road aways, you can install the pulleys now and get the benefit in the meantime, then remove and sell them later and recover some of the cost. Also, you certain CAN use underdrive pulleys with a turbo setup if you go that route.

[88LTDCV351]

Gosh, I really need to mod.

I carpool everyday since gas prices used to be high. Anyway, the guy I carpool with is a VP at a bio tech company. We take his car all the time because of his gas mileage and my home and work are on his route. The guy I carpool with was baffled by my Marauder. He kept bringing it up in conversation and then he would talk about how he used to own somekind of Beamer and used to take it to Thunderhead or somewheres and drag race it. (I was never into foreign cars so I couldn't tell you what kind of Beamer it was, etc. I'm sure he will bring it up again soon). He is really into high end foreign cars (BMW, VW, etc.). He talked about how it came stock at 210 horsepower, but with a simple tune, it was up real high in horsepower. And he even did twin turbos on it that were California CARB smog legal. He went on and on about how he took it to the drag strip and he sold it for a good amount of money and people kept offering him lots for it. Anyway, he is a family man now and drives a hydrid which we carpool in.
So anyway, he finally asks me how much horsepower the Marauder has. (I'm sure he could have looked it up online) But when I told him it had 302 horsepower, he flipped and screamed "Is that all?" and went on and on blah blah blah about how slow that was and how that sucked. How I should get a Beamer or whatever. He also couldn't understand how a big 4.6 V8 only got 302 horespower or why they didn't put a larger engine in. God, I was so close to deciding on getting a Charger SRT. I wanted to crawl under my seat. But I'm a full size Ford fan or old school big block cop car fan and I still love my Marauder. I got over it. But the mod bug is starting to hit me again.

I have a K&N CAI now (hope to install soon) and hope to get a tune next. Not sure what is after that (maybe a 4:10 but gas mileage is important to me) but I know that Superchargers are too expensive for me now and are not CARB legal here in California. By the time I have enough money for a Supercharger, I'm sure they won't make them anymore.

[SC Cheesehead]

I have a K&N CAI now (hope to install soon) and hope to get a tune next. Not sure what is after that (maybe a 4:10 but gas mileage is important to me) but I know that Superchargers are too expensive for me now and are not CARB legal here in California. By the time I have enough money for a Supercharger, I'm sure they won't make them anymore.

Impact on mileage is virtually non-existent. Guys that have installed 4:10's report 0 mpg difference to maybe 1 - 2 mpg at the most. I've tracked my mileage before and after installation, and I'm seeing about 0.5 less on the highway.

[Joe Walsh]

Gosh, I really need to mod.

I carpool everyday since gas prices used to be high. Anyway, the guy I carpool with is a VP at a bio tech company. We take his car all the time because of his gas mileage and my home and work are on his route. The guy I carpool with was baffled by my Marauder. He kept bringing it up in conversation and then he would talk about how he used to own somekind of Beamer and used to take it to Thunderhead or somewheres and drag race it. (I was never into foreign cars so I couldn't tell you what kind of Beamer it was, etc. I'm sure he will bring it up again soon). He is really into high end foreign cars (BMW, VW, etc.). He talked about how it came stock at 210 horsepower, but with a simple tune, it was up real high in horsepower. And he even did twin turbos on it that were California CARB smog legal. He went on and on about how he took it to the drag strip and he sold it for a good amount of money and people kept offering him lots for it. Anyway, he is a family man now and drives a hydrid which we carpool in.
So anyway, he finally asks me how much horsepower the Marauder has. (I'm sure he could have looked it up online) But when I told him it had 302 horsepower, he flipped and screamed "Is that all?" and went on and on blah blah blah about how slow that was and how that sucked. How I should get a Beamer or whatever. He also couldn't understand how a big 4.6 V8 only got 302 horespower or why they didn't put a larger engine in. God, I was so close to deciding on getting a Charger SRT. I wanted to crawl under my seat. But I'm a full size Ford fan or old school big block cop car fan and I still love my Marauder. I got over it. But the mod bug is starting to hit me again.

I have a K&N CAI now (hope to install soon) and hope to get a tune next. Not sure what is after that (maybe a 4:10 but gas mileage is important to me) but I know that Superchargers are too expensive for me now and are not CARB legal here in California. By the time I have enough money for a Supercharger, I'm sure they won't make them anymore.

I absolutely LOVE smug BMW drivers!
They are even MORE baffled by Marauders as I walk their high priced, "technically superior", German machines with my crude domestic sedan!
When I look in my rearview mirror, they usually look something like this.....:eek:

There is a German word for it....ahhh.....I think it's something like:

"Fahr behindin das Marauder"

[Tom Doan]

Rear control arms.
Many MM's have been wrecked from the rear end stepping out, even on a stock car and they are so heavy they start to oscillate back and forth and your in DooDooville quick.

[SC Cheesehead]

There is a German word for it....ahhh.....I think it's something like:

"Fahr behindin das Marauder"

Joe, actually it I think it's more like....

"Der sheisskopf Yankee, die große Schnecke fahrend, wie, ist es er führt mich?" :D

[ctrlraven]

I have to agree with what everyone has suggested:
CAI
Tune
4.10 gears

BUT:

I wouldn't touch the torque converter!
Lots of work to do this mod and unless you drag race often..IT IS NOT WORTH IT.

I put in a higher stall converter and I really don't like it for street driving.
It makes the Marauder feel like a pig. Too much throttle to get it moving and it won't hold on the slightest incline.
Now at the strip, where I can preload the converter, I get great 60 foot times and the TC is awesome.
Pfff you don't know what you're talking about Joe :lol:
If you want it to hold on inclines you speed into the incline and give it ever so little throttle or say F it and let it unlock and cruise.

I have a 3500 stall with 3.55 gears and daily drive this mofo. I think I have about 50-60k or more miles on this combo. Boy oh boy can't wait for the 4.10 gears :burnout::burnout:

00SVT

Tune, intake and 4.10 gears are a great starting point and you can get everything and have it installed for about $1,000 or so (parts and labor estimate).