1999 Grand Marquis LS questions

[Hamsterdan]

I've got a 99 with handling package and single exhaust.

I believe it's got 3.27s at the rear, not too sure about that one, can't read the plate on the differential)...

It's not that powerfull at take off, but OK on the highway...

What I want to do with it...

1- convert it to dual exhaust + Marauder MAF/Airbox. the cheapest way to go will be a stock H-Pipe. I'm also considering x-pipe and straight...

2- Flowmasters 40s?, I want something with a deep growl, even at idle, (so it won't sound like a backfiring riced-up Civic with speed stripes).

3- putting 3.55s???? on a limited slip (will keep traction control for winter but move the switch out of the glovebox)? From what I've read, it will require a new driveshaft.

4- SCT X-Calibrator?

5- J-Mod, is it worth it?

(it's got 115,000KMs on it), was always treated with respect and pampered since I got it at 82,000KM 2 years ago)


I want it to be able to take off really quick (Torque). I don't care about top speed, I just want it to have *guts* , burn some serious rubber and sound good... (don't really care about HP and highway speeds (I live in Quebec, Canada where the streets look like Lebanon after the civil war), I want Torque (take-off & towing capacity)

(more bang-for-the-buck kind of mods on it)

My Girl Friend tells me to put a Marauder engine in it or a Cammer. (she owns a supercharged Marauder). I don't want to invest that kind of money, but I agree it would make a nice sleeper...

BTW, is there any way to mod the lite-brite display to blue? my guess is it's a VFD display (works in cold temps so it's not LCD), with a green filter on it. From what I've heard, getting a dashboard from a scrapyard won't work (PATS & such), so I'll have to work on the car's original lite-brite display.


Any ideas, suggestions, insults???

[Chevyguy]

Hmm all the handling package (HPP) cars came with DUALS

You have an LS but you have Rear air suspension?? That was still optional for a while without the HPP

The rear sway bar should be 21mm with HPP 17mm without.

Anyhoo...

Many do not report much gains switching to duals especially with a 96-2000 4.6

I though my 2001 woke up a bit..

I got the Walker cat back system from Rock Auto and installed it myself for just about $230 including the shipping. The drawback is only one muffler option comes ready to hang and they are pretty quiet. The Walker Super Turbo is avail in the same exact dimensions but you need to put the hanger rods on and the pass side gets a J pipe to connect to the tailpipe.

The quiet mufflers and no resonators sounds pretty good on my 2001 any other mufflers would only increase noise no extra HP.

The Marauder airbox/MAF/tune is a very PROVEN mod, if you get this the Dual exhaust upgrade is very much worth the trouble.



Next up is the gears. MAKE SURE what you have first, moving from 3.27 to 3.55 will be very hard to notice and This will not be cheap. You likely have 2.73 gears if you get 3.55 gears the PCM will have to be adjusted, if you got a SCT tuner for the Marauder mod you can adjust for the 3.55 gears.

[Hamsterdan]

Thanks

American HPP are duals, mine is Canadian, might explain why.

and yes, it has the HPP with air shocks...


I'll begin with the MAF/Airbox first (less expensive), do the gears + tune afterwards with the SCT.


Thanks again

[Chevyguy]

You have to do a tune for the Marauder MAF to work, many have tried skipping the tune and the car hardly runs !!1!

You can check the size of the rear sway bar to confirm the HPP. Use an adjustable wrench or caliper to gauge the diameter. 21mm confirms the HPP (it it's the original)

Spring codes on the door also can confirm the HPP, I still think you have the "Luxury" model more like a Town car soft ride rear air suspension.

[Hamsterdan]

Precisiontrak

That's what it says on the dashboard wood trim (gold lettered, passenger side)

And it has variable-ratio steering.

Unless these were options too...

My guess is it's related to one of our stupid canadian laws...

[Chevyguy]

Precisiontrak

Ahh I think that is just the Marketing speak for the improved 98+ rear suspension system.

Perhaps others could chime in on that one.

[DanHool]

wow im so high right now

[99grandmarquis]

im hopefuly about to put 40's on my 99 if u can get it done at school witch im gunna do u will save some money just make sure if the school has a mig welder

[drock96marquis]

Precisiontrak

Ahh I think that is just the Marketing speak for the improved 98+ rear suspension system.

Perhaps others could chime in on that one.

Correct. All 98+ have the improved watts linkage rear suspension to improve lateral stability (hence Precision Trak, which was the marketing term used for it)

Variable-assist power steering is also a STANDARD feature.



All HPPs=Dual exhaust, and a 3.27 rear axle ratio (unless 00-01.5 - 3.55). This applies to Canadian and U.S. spec models.
The primary difference for Canadian spec models is the daytime running lamp module is pre-installed from the factory (law there), and the instrumentation (EATC temp, fuel econ, speed, odometer/trip, etc.) is in metric.

You can also check the rear axle ratio from the door sticker. Use liquid's decoder:
moldyrabbit.com/liquid




Sounds to me like you have an LS with optional rear air suspension (no 90+ panther has air-shocks). The stock exhaust is t409 stainless, though it will get surface rust it will last for a LONG time - so the likelihood of a previous owner installing a single exhaust on it are slim.

If you do not have wheels like my Merc (and you don't have a 3.27 RAR), you definitely do not have an HPP model.