Built920

Hey ya'll, I haven't been very active on this site but have been visiting the site for probably a year or two. I was curious as to if anyone would be able to tell me if it would even be plausible to have a LS2/4l60 combo put into my 05 Grand Marquis for around $12k or less. A shop would be doing most of the work for me since I don't have a lot of the tools/skills to do something as serious as this. My goal would be 450rwhp+. Would it even be conceivable to have this done for less than/around $12-13k?

My plan was to put in a 408, 4l60e, set of autometer gauges layout, and a built rearend.

Please no one tell me to just go buy a GTO or Camaro or something like that. We all love different cars and I love Marauders so I am choosing to do it to my Grand Marquis that strongly resembles a Marauder do to the mods it had when I bought it. Thanks in advance for any advice

booboo37

iTrader: (43)

Cool car and conversion......make sure you post lots of info and pics.......also i have a few Marauder parts for sale...

olespanky

There is a guy on here that did a turbo 5.3 swap into a 03ish crown vic .

02SOMSS

iTrader: (10)

Sell your GM and buy a Marauder with an Eaton on it.
You should be able to find one for ~15 with a stock motor. Then you'll have the real thing vs. a clone.
I'll be selling mine this spring for 18 but it has a built motor, ported blower, etc...

hellbents10

iTrader: (10)

I like the idea but would just put an 80e behind the 408. A nice NA 408 would out run a Marauder with some work done to it. The end cost comes down to a lot of things though, and to have a shop do it would me some serious money in labor.

1CAMWNDR

iTrader: (21)

I don't think there is anyway you can have a 408 with a built tranny and have a shop do that for you within that budget. Dump the 4l60 idea and just get a 4L80.
If you did it all yourself then I could see $12,000. But like stated above the labor charges at $80+ an hour are gonna murder you.

Built920

Well I was going to get an actual Marauder but if I can swing this cost I would rather have a 450 rwhp N/A LS base that has plenty of room to grow in the future than a 450 rwhp already boosted modular.
I also would rather do something like this to a Grand Marquis than an actual Marauder.

I was originally thinking of the 80 but the 60's seem to be about $500-$1000 less and can hold 500-700 hp depending on what internals are put in. Is my research inaccurate? Thoughts?


If I wait on the built rearend and just do motor/tranny/electronics is this more likely to stay within the $12-13k range?

Sandmann120

iTrader: (1)

Where are you located?

Beanslsxnova

iTrader: (1)

if it was me on a budget, i would do a lq4/9 4l80e combo. with a cam, intake, headers and tune. it would perform pretty good and you could do it on the cheap. the best part is put a shot of nitrous on it and watch those marauders disappear in the rear veiw. i bet you could do all that for less than half your 12k budget

Built920

Located in STL....way far from CA lol

Well since I plan on going boost eventually I did start to think about the LQ's moreso. I also am contemplating getting a Marauder roller so that the center console/seat setup will already be taken care of.

So new probable rough plan is:
Marauder shell
LQ9 w/ a big cam, heads (hopefully), full exhaust (probably shorties since custom long tubes would be $$$), intake, and obviously a tune
4L80e (w/ MVB if budget permits) since everyone is telling me it will be better than the 60e
Autometer Gauges dash layout

Goal:
400rwhp+ NA

If this does end up coming together (I really hope it does!!!) I plan on either twin or single turbo setup in the future (probably 5+ years out)....hopefully twin since the panther platform is such a dog off the line