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Thread: Currently Marauderless

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Everett WA
    Posts
    43

    Currently Marauderless

    Hey All,

    After driving a Grand Marquis rental car last weekend, and then a bunch of subsequent research into the Marauder, I've decided a Marauder is in my future. I have a 1987 Buick Grand National that I plan to sell once I pay it off (2.5 years), and buy a Marauder with the $$. I'm going to save up, however, so I can do all the mods on the Marauder as soon as I buy it. Here's my tentative list:

    STS remote turbo kit (makes 400/450 WHP/WTQ on an 05 Mustang GT)
    4.10 gears
    Gear Vendors Overdrive/Underdrive (make the 4.10's act like 3.19's for cruise)
    User programmable chip flasher (still looking for this, any input appreciated)

    I'm hoping for mid-low 12's on pump premium, and with ECM cruise tweaking plus the OD, I'm gonna try to make 20/30 mpg.

    Any input on what to look for when buying a MM?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    East Lansing, MI
    Age
    40
    Posts
    3,528
    Just buy mine and avoid all that hastle Get alot more power too


    11.90 @ 117.5mph on 93 octane
    324 shortblock, Novi 2000, Now with optional axle removing tires
    Igziabeher

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Amissville VA
    Posts
    3,827
    Good luck on the STS kit, I believe they declined to make a Marauder kit thusfar due to the number of kits they plan to develop for much more popular vehicles...
    Trilogy #112 (self installed)

    - Trilogy S/C (Stock pulley/tune) - 4.10's - JLT - SS Inserts - 4" Megs -

    12.99@106.2mph (for now)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    St. John, IN
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    45
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    14,251
    Quote Originally Posted by buickconvert
    Hey All,

    4.10 gears
    Gear Vendors Overdrive/Underdrive (make the 4.10's act like 3.19's for cruise)
    You will need an F-150 trans to start with, then you will need to modify the transmission tunnel to get it to fit.

    Oh you have a LOT to learn, cruise around the forums for a while.

    And you should probably reconsider a STS kit. Ever see the crossmember on a Marauder?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Everett WA
    Posts
    43
    Quote Originally Posted by Zack
    You will need an F-150 trans to start with, then you will need to modify the transmission tunnel to get it to fit.

    Oh you have a LOT to learn, cruise around the forums for a while.

    And you should probably reconsider a STS kit. Ever see the crossmember on a Marauder?
    I wasn't aware of that. Just sent Gear Venders an email, we'll see what they have to say. They *do* list the 4R70 in the "2WD Muscle Car/Hotrod" section, but I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to Fomoco, so I have no idea how different the 4R70 and 4R70W are, aside from the ratios.

    As far as STS, they sell a universal kit, so that's not a problem, but the crossmember might be. I looked at some underside pictures I found on Ebay of a Crown Vic PI and it didn't look like the crossmember should be a problem
    Last edited by buickconvert; 08-30-2006 at 04:07 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Off-Shore America
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    10,219
    Like Zack said...Hang with us a while, do some reading?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Everett WA
    Posts
    43
    Quote Originally Posted by SergntMac
    Like Zack said...Hang with us a while, do some reading?
    For sure. Been doing a bunch of reading already.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Clermont Florida
    Age
    57
    Posts
    2,043
    There may be a flaw in your milage plan. My N/A stock motor with 4.10's gets 20mpg. The Gear Vendor claims a 20% increase in milage with gears in the 4's ans 10-15% with high 3's. At best that puts you at 24mpg. Lets say by some fluke you get better than advertised gains. So maybey 26mpg. How many miles dou you have to drive to see a return on your investment?

    Lets say gas is $3.50/g and you get 20mpg and drive 15k miles/yr.
    Thats $2625/yr on fuel.
    Now up that to 26mpg and the fuel cost drops to $2019/yr.
    A savings of $605. If the kit bolted right in (which I doubt) and only cost thier estimated $2700 it would take over 4 years to break even.

    Spend that same $2700 on a beater Toyota with a 4cyl and a 5 spd and keep the milage off the Marauder if it's fuel economy your worried about.
    If you’re in control, you’re not going fast enough. – Parnelli Jones

    If your wife's having a good time and you're not, you're still having a better time than if you're having a good time and she's not. - Red Green

    2004 Marauder 300A - Garage Queen

    1025 of 3213. It is one of 1237 in black and one of 2000 w/o the moonroof option.

    Performance
    4:10's, rear Adco, front Eibachs w/ KYB shocks, Working oil pressure gauge, JLT CA Kit, Fumoto Oil Drain Valve, TCE SS Brake Lines, Zack big brake kit.
    Dress
    Power by Ford coil covers, Maruder sill plates, God's head steering wheel emblem, spoiler, front and rear splash gaurds, Custom dead pedal, LED lights for engine bay, interior and gauges. 64' Marauder Sail Panel for rear badge, custom God's head badge in grill.

    LOC: Clermont Florida

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    St. John, IN
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    You are better off getting a turbo 400 with a gear vendors.
    ModularPowerHouse does a lot of these on Mustangs.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Purgatory, FL
    Age
    53
    Posts
    10,164
    Welcome aboard. Feel free to PM me with the VIN of a MM that you might be interested in. I'll run it through Ford's OASIS database.
    (#6178 in black per FPIC)
    Call 1-800-FORD-788 and press "1". Have the last 6 of your VIN handy. You will get the numbers for FREE. You'll pay $$$ for the certificate.

    MM traded in 8/9/13 @ 128909 miles. It was fun for almost 8 years. I met airmercpun on 1/17/14. He was the new owner of my former ride. -Now gone.

    Update: back in the game with a late build 03 GMGS with some MM add ons like Escape audiophile radio w/Sirius sat radio, rear sway bar, catback exhaust, and header panel.

    Rest In Peace:
    Alex "Marauderboi" Vachon 3/2/92-8/13/10
    Paula Babineau 1/9/67-8/2/11
    Rex Weinbender
    Peter


    See my garage file for part numbers and whatnot.

    IMHO, this site- the members that I chat with- and the ones that I now Hang with- are like my 2nd family. There is such an ongoing welcome feeling here that even members who don't or no longer own the MM can feel.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Everett WA
    Posts
    43
    Quote Originally Posted by BigCars4Ever
    There may be a flaw in your milage plan. My N/A stock motor with 4.10's gets 20mpg. The Gear Vendor claims a 20% increase in milage with gears in the 4's ans 10-15% with high 3's. At best that puts you at 24mpg. Lets say by some fluke you get better than advertised gains. So maybey 26mpg. How many miles dou you have to drive to see a return on your investment?

    Lets say gas is $3.50/g and you get 20mpg and drive 15k miles/yr.
    Thats $2625/yr on fuel.
    Now up that to 26mpg and the fuel cost drops to $2019/yr.
    A savings of $605. If the kit bolted right in (which I doubt) and only cost thier estimated $2700 it would take over 4 years to break even.

    Spend that same $2700 on a beater Toyota with a 4cyl and a 5 spd and keep the milage off the Marauder if it's fuel economy your worried about.
    For my mpg goals, I was using the factory 23 mpg rating. 4.10's w/OD will be a little better than 3.55's with just the 4R70W. So count that's maybe 10%. Many STS customers, however, are finding 10% better fuel economy after a system install. This makes sense if the system is recovering unused exhaust energy to reduce pumping losses during cruise conditions. 1.1*1.1 = 1.21 or roughly 28 mpg. But there's one more thing: modern cars are not optimized for fuel economy, but rather for minimum emissions. If I was able to program my own re-flash, I could adjust things like converter LO in each gear, injector shut-off during decceleration, and most importantly, AF ratio. The Stoich ratio of 14.7:1 is not chosen to optimize fuel efficiency, but because at that ratio the catalytic converters and other emissions systems are able to function effectively. With careful tuning and keeping an eye on EGT, I think it'd be doable to run the engine lean-of-stioch during cruise.

    Is this penny wise and pound foolish? Yeah, but I wouldn't be doing it to save money on fuel, but rather because I love taking on an engineering challenge.
    As to the Toyota, that's pretty much exactly what I drive now
    Last edited by buickconvert; 08-31-2006 at 10:11 AM.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Everett WA
    Posts
    43
    Quote Originally Posted by Zack
    You are better off getting a turbo 400 with a gear vendors.
    ModularPowerHouse does a lot of these on Mustangs.
    That'd kinda defeat the purpose, since the OD ratio on a 4R70W is .70, and the GV unit is .78. That'd give me the equivalent freeway RPM of 4.56 gears with the stock tranny. However, the GV and 4R70W yields a .546 double overdrive, which would drop those 4.10 gears to 3.20 gear RPM on the freeway.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by buickconvert
    That'd kinda defeat the purpose, since the OD ratio on a 4R70W is .70, and the GV unit is .78. That'd give me the equivalent freeway RPM of 4.56 gears with the stock tranny. However, the GV and 4R70W yields a .546 double overdrive, which would drop those 4.10 gears to 3.20 gear RPM on the freeway.
    .............................. .........






  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Everett WA
    Posts
    43


    I love that bunny!

    Here's maybe a better explanation:

    The stock final drive ratio is tranny ratio*rear gear ratio.
    Stock Marauder = .7*3.55 = 2.485
    Marauder with 4.10's = .7*4.10 = 2.87
    Marauder with TH400 and GV w/4.10's = 1*.78*4.10 = 3.198
    Marauder with GV/stock tranny and 4.10's = .7*.78*4.10 = 2.2386

    The ratio of the new final drive to the stock final drive gives you the ratio of new/old cruising RPM.

    For Example:
    Say stock Marauder is 1800 RPM at the speed you cruise at.
    Marauder with 4.10's = 2.87/2.485 = 2080 RPM
    Marauder with TH400 and GV w/4.10's = 3.198/2.485 = 2320 RPM
    Marauder with GV/stock tranny and 4.10's = .7*.78*4.10 = 2.2386/2.485 = 1620 RPM

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by buickconvert
    Hey All,

    After driving a Grand Marquis rental car last weekend, and then a bunch of subsequent research into the Marauder, I've decided a Marauder is in my future. I have a 1987 Buick Grand National that I plan to sell once I pay it off (2.5 years), and buy a Marauder with the $$. I'm going to save up, however, so I can do all the mods on the Marauder as soon as I buy it. Here's my tentative list:

    STS remote turbo kit (makes 400/450 WHP/WTQ on an 05 Mustang GT)
    4.10 gears
    Gear Vendors Overdrive/Underdrive (make the 4.10's act like 3.19's for cruise)
    User programmable chip flasher (still looking for this, any input appreciated)

    I'm hoping for mid-low 12's on pump premium, and with ECM cruise tweaking plus the OD, I'm gonna try to make 20/30 mpg.

    Any input on what to look for when buying a MM?
    There are to Pristine fully built Marauders here in Florida one is black the other silver both are SC with less than 10K on the clock call me if I can help

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