No cost Mods

[Bradley G]

In an effort to roll with a struggling economy, this thread is an effort to celebrate modifications that don't require any expense.

Two that I found here that have really made my Maraudering experience a cherished one.
1. Drivers seat track stop pin removal , that got me an extra inch of leg room .
The second one Cruzetaker showed me by
taking out the diffuser in the fog lamp, it was much better to see the road close to the car.
Post up a mod that cost nothing or near nothing.
If someone gave you a Cammer motor or something else we'ld all be jealous over , that don't count!:D

[Lightningquick]

Ill follow this thread closely as I dont know any of these cheap tricks since I dont own a marauder yet.............damn it

[boatmangc]

Tell me about the seat track stop pin.
Does it work on the passenger seat?

[DEFYANT]

Fog light diffuser? I missed that one...

How about mods under say, $5.00? Some are very cheep, or free!

[fastblackmerc]

Get more air into the stock airbox.

A few minutes with a Dremel tool.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u133/fastblackmerc/MM%20Mods/Stock%20Airbox/Airbox.jpg

[fastblackmerc]

Next time you take your headlights out, modify the mounting tabs so you don't have to take the screws out next time.

Stock
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u133/fastblackmerc/MM%20Mods/Headlights/StockMMHeadlight.jpg

Modified
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u133/fastblackmerc/MM%20Mods/Headlights/ModifiedMMHeadlight.jpg

[SC Cheesehead]

For Trilogy and Eaton swap guys with the heat exchanger coolant tank mounted on the PS fenderwell lip: drill a small hole in the leading edge of the mounting bracket to allow accumulated rain water/car wash water to drain out instead of pooling. Tip of the hat to Jeff from Mo's for the suggestion.

[Mr. Man]

Enlarge the hole in the pan where the air compressor lives, same goes for the weep area under the cowl to avoid wacky wipers.

[Blackened300a]

Remove all contents of your trunk and over inflate your front tires. Thats said to help lower your E.T. by less rolling resistance. The other mod was to remove the silencer out of the stock intake tube.

[bugsyc]

Fog light diffuser? I missed that one...

How about mods under say, $5.00? Some are very cheep, or free!
could you give more detailed instructions on "how to"....and results:help:

[Bradley G]

Remove the guts/resonator of the Megs tips
rear bumper tuck
The gutter guard mesh mounted in the lower bumper cover
polish/sand rough castings out of the throttle body
paint/polish the inside of the wheels

[RacerX]

Lose weight driver mod, better overall mpg. :D

[05crownsport]

Something of a visual mod.... only cost about five bucks. I used flat black vinyl to cover my b pillars.... my car is silver. With tinted windows it cleans up the appearance.

[gdmjoe]

Not -free- but definitely low co$t ... jam nuts on the hood bumpers.
hood rest bumpers.

[AConvertedChevy]

Tap a guardrail, have insurance insist to total car for 17k, collect, buy car back from salvage for 2k, fix car for 6k, use rest of money for eaton swap and slight increase in insurance premiums. Discover a month later the car still has no salvage title and appraised at 16k.Make trollface and call it a day.
Fraud? No because they wanted to be dumb and wouldn't listen to me lol

Definitely wana see b4 and after on that fog light mod

[03calitejas]

Take out the foam baffle from the Subwoofer housing. Sounds better when you crank up highway star by Deep Purple.

[AConvertedChevy]

Take out the foam baffle from the Subwoofer housing. Sounds better when you crank up highway star by Deep Purple.

Do you just drop the housing and remove this foam? I had no idea there was foam in there.

[ctrlraven]

Defyant lower grille mod as mentioned already.

Low cost mod - black abs plastic gutter guard behind the upper grille or use whatever you want like chrome metal mesh which is cheap at PepBoys.

[03calitejas]

yep...access the housing from the trunk. I think its a couple 11 or 12mm bolts holding it up to the rear deck if I remember correctly. My kids even mentioned the improvement in sound.

[DEFYANT]

Remove all contents of your trunk and over inflate your front tires. Thats said to help lower your E.T. by less rolling resistance. The other mod was to remove the silencer out of the stock intake tube.

Since we're giving tricks away... I also removed the headlight and cut the metal blocking the CAI.

[Lignum]

Tap a guardrail, have insurance insist to total car for 17k, collect, buy car back from salvage for 2k, fix car for 6k, use rest of money for eaton swap and slight increase in insurance premiums. Discover a month later the car still has no salvage title and appraised at 16k.Make trollface and call it a day.
Fraud? No because they wanted to be dumb and wouldn't listen to me lol

Definitely wana see b4 and after on that fog light mod

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn51/denton_unatco/internets_use_only/surprise_trollface.gif
u jelly?
http://img684.imageshack.us/i/trollface.png/

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

Remove the guts/resonator of the Megs tips
rear bumper tuck
The gutter guard mesh mounted in the lower bumper cover
polish/sand rough castings out of the throttle body
paint/polish the inside of the wheels

You can remove the resonators yourself at home that easily? I thought you had to cut the pipes, re-weld etc..

[fastblackmerc]

Take out the foam baffle from the Subwoofer housing. Sounds better when you crank up highway star by Deep Purple.


Do you just drop the housing and remove this foam? I had no idea there was foam in there.


yep...access the housing from the trunk. I think its a couple 11 or 12mm bolts holding it up to the rear deck if I remember correctly. My kids even mentioned the improvement in sound.

That's like the first mod most original owners did!

[FW_Linc/Merc]

Put a lid from a gumout can inside the air silencer of intake tube.

[bolsen]

Lets keep this one going :)

[napolitano]

Defyant lower grille mod as mentioned already.

Low cost mod - black abs plastic gutter guard behind the upper grille or use whatever you want like chrome metal mesh which is cheap at PepBoys.

Would this block any air flow? Do you have a picture also. Thanks chris

[slickster]

Cailiper paint. Stuff you need. Brake caliper paint from auto part stores what ever color you want. Degreaser. Tuff brush. 4 plastic bags from grocery store. The most cheap car cover you can get might be about.40 bucks with car cover if you don't want to use a cover then you will need about 16 big garbage bags and masking tape. Split garbage bags at one end and at the bottom so that there wide open. Get 3 or 4 of your cut bags tape them starting from the wheel well to as far as the bag will reach(this is to not get any paint on the car) remove the tire then get a grocery store bag and slide it between the caliper and rotor so that only the caliper is showing. Spray some degreaser on the caliper then start brushing water it off then wipe dry. Now if there is not to much wind you can start spraying not to close to the caliper this will cause runs but try to keep the can inside the wheel well so you won't get paint anywhere els. Do about 5 or 6 light coats. When the calipers are not sticky any more you can drive. I did this with garbage bags but I was careful if you don't like this idea use a car cover or remove the caliper

[fastblackmerc]

You can remove the resonators yourself at home that easily? I thought you had to cut the pipes, re-weld etc..

Yes you do have to cut off and reweld.

[fastblackmerc]

Would this block any air flow? Do you have a picture also. Thanks chris

Use gutter guard instead....

No it doesn't block airflow.

Been running this mod for 4 - 5 years, temp gauge hasn't moved.

[fastblackmerc]

Cailiper paint. Stuff you need. Brake caliper paint from auto part stores what ever color you want. Degreaser. Tuff brush. 4 plastic bags from grocery store. The most cheap car cover you can get might be about.40 bucks with car cover if you don't want to use a cover then you will need about 16 big garbage bags and masking tape. Split garbage bags at one end and at the bottom so that there wide open. Get 3 or 4 of your cut bags tape them starting from the wheel well to as far as the bag will reach(this is to not get any paint on the car) remove the tire then get a grocery store bag and slide it between the caliper and rotor so that only the caliper is showing. Spray some degreaser on the caliper then start brushing water it off then wipe dry. Now if there is not to much wind you can start spraying not to close to the caliper this will cause runs but try to keep the can inside the wheel well so you won't get paint anywhere els. Do about 5 or 6 light coats. When the calipers are not sticky any more you can drive. I did this with garbage bags but I was careful if you don't like this idea use a car cover or remove the caliper
These are supposed to be low or no cost mods......

[fastblackmerc]

Put a lid from a gumout can inside the air silencer of intake tube.

Just cut off the last 2-3 inches of the closed end of the snorkel and insert it into the opening. Use the hose clamp to seal it.

[slickster]

These are supposed to be low or no cost mods......

Well without cover everything is about 15 bucks but most people have degreaser garbage bags and brush if that's the case 6 bucks for paint and two or 3 for tape IMO that's great for such a great looking mod

[IwantmyMMnow!]

Been trying to find my thread on the mod I did on my trunk cargo bin...can't find it...:confused:

Cost nothing, just 30 minutes of time. For those that still have a donut and don't like where it sits, very easy to do.

[loud2004marquis]

Personalized license plate!

Painting my own calipers costed me less then $20.00 and the time was a labor of love...

[MyBlackBeasts]

Been trying to find my thread on the mod I did on my trunk cargo bin...can't find it...:confused:



Here it is! http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=71409

[Timw286]

Lose weight driver mod, better overall mpg. :D

lol saves on fuel econ, suspension abuse and uneven tire wear!

[BigCars4Ever]

For Trilogy and Eaton swap guys with the heat exchanger coolant tank mounted on the PS fenderwell lip: drill a small hole in the leading edge of the mounting bracket to allow accumulated rain water/car wash water to drain out instead of pooling. Tip of the hat to Jeff from Mo's for the suggestion.

Same goes for pan under the airbox where the ride height compressor lives.

[babbage]

Spray WD-40 on whole engine bay to keep it clean; keep it from rusting.

Remove upper & lower intake and clean with brake kleen & port polish.

New plugs are only about $10.00 - gap correctly. Can make a big difference.

[Odinson]

Spray WD-40 on whole engine bay to keep it clean; keep it from rusting.

Remove upper & lower intake and clean with brake kleen & port polish.

New plugs are only about $10.00 - gap correctly. Can make a big difference.

WD-40 everywhere? I like the idea of keeping the rubber coated with something to slow cracking, but wouldn't that act like a dirt magnet? Anyone else try this?

[fastblackmerc]

WD-40 everywhere? I like the idea of keeping the rubber coated with something to slow cracking, but wouldn't that act like a dirt magnet? Anyone else try this?

I'd never do that to any engine compartment.

Clean & dry everything then use CD2 Engine Detailer. Keeps it shiny and not a dirt magnet as it drys hard & clear.

[Baconbit]

+1 on that Jim...CD2 engine detailer is amazing I love it, been using it for years, so long that Autozone carried then discontinued it then now brought it back:banana2: