Just got a 88 marquis LS. What should i do first?

[dave]

I just got this car a week ago from my bro who got it from our cousin. I am trying to figure out what to do first to get the most bang for my buck. so far i have just been working on little shit. fixed the door handle on the driver side, replaced the u-joints (both front and rear were shot), cleaned out the throttle body, fixed a couple of busted vacuum lines, got some 89 town car rims on it instead of the ugly steelies, and i chopped the exhaust last night right before the stock muffler (think i need to pick up a decent muffler for a little more pleasant sound, its kinda demo car-ish sounding right now).

I am debating whether or not i should put in a better cam or upgrade the ignition first. I have also heard the upper part of the intake on the mustang 5.0 is a little better but i wasn't sure if it would bolt up or not. i would appreciate some ideas for some cheap first mods on this car. i was also wondering if anyone has tried a cold air intake where the washer fluid tank sits ? looks like there is a large enough gap for a cone filter to sit behind the headlights if i cut the washer tank off and move it.

[87gtVIC]

and everything you said has been done already. You can get the Mustang or LSC HO upper BUT you will need to modify a HO throttle body by grinding off the throttle arm on you current throttle body and tack it to the HO one. You will also need to bore out your EGR spacer to 63 mm.

[85crownHPP]

No need to upgrade the ignition unless you are soon planning to run some insanely built motor.
If you upgrade the cam, you will also need the matching ECM, injectors, better intake parts and exhaust. This is the full 'HO swap' you can find info on in the stickies.
I have just the HO upper with the HO throttle body (modification required for the TB / EGR spacer to work) and a 'cold air' intake, shoriet headders w/ flowmasters and it runs/sounds damned good (for a mostly stock land barge). Though this is converted from a formerly very lethargic CFI system, so my results were better than average.

[87gtVIC]

here is a bit about the HO upper swap i did on my car.

http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showpost.php?p=437303&postcount=142

[gadget73]

Start simple: tuneup, full fluids change, make sure the suspension and brakes are good. Can't go fast if you can't control and stop the car. Past that, dual exhaust and gears will be of help. Once thats done, then you'll get worthwhile results out of the motor.

The stock gears and exhaust are not even remotely performance oriented, and with a hotter motor will probably result in even worse performance than you have now. The HO does not like a 2.73 or 3.08 rear, theres just not enough low rpm torque to move it out of it's own way with that setup.

[Lincolnmania]

best bang for your buck is gears, dual exhaust and the ho upper intake and throttle body

[mrltd]

Cash for clunkers! 4500 bucks!

[ss_mini14]

get a positive displacement blower and let us know...

[pollock]

PI rear sway bar FTW. Made a tremendous difference for me. Probably $25 from a junkyard if you can find one.

If you don't have a rear bar at all, a civilian rear bar should help too.

[dave]

well i'm pretty sure i could handle boring out the egr and grinding the throttle arm off. I'm working on all the fluids, but the tranny fluid is really brown and im not sure it's safe to exchange the fluid... how durable are they transmission? should i even be worried about it?. the other thing i was wondering is what i should do with the open tubing for the smog pump that i removed? for now i ran the 2 tubes into each other with the existing hose. also i think my fan clutch might be bad? i was under the impression it should stay fairly steady since it has a clutch but when i rev the motor the fan increases with the rpms. and now my alternator/power steering belt squeals like crazy for the first minute i start the car. the belt is like new and it seems to be tight enough, not sure if the water pump, power steering, or alternator have bad bearings.
also wondering about the transmission to driveaxle seal. i did the u-joints a couple weeks ago and it seemed like it would be easy to slip the seal out. is there anything tricky involved in replacing?

I am really enjoying this car, its cooler in the summer then my integra and its a little more relaxing to drive. that integra is just going to get me into some serious trouble or kill me.

[King_V]

Cash for clunkers! 4500 bucks!

Only if he owns it, drives it, and insures it for a year. Oh, and assuming they renew the program next year, which I put the odds as being about the same as a coin flip.