Cheap upgrades for a non HO 5.0

[1990Mercury]

What are some cheap upgrades or chamges I can make to get some more power from my 5.0. My car is a 1990 Grand Marquis

[pantera77]

First, full tune up. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil , PVC trio, vacuum lines, ect...

Exhaust, factory duals minimum. If you can find some, 1990 Town Car tubular manifolds. If you want to go further, Mustang shorties, H-pipe, ect...

HO upper intake, Modded HO throttle Body, and factory EGR spacer bored out to 63mm

3.55's or better gears out back with a trac-lok


1.7 roller rockers, underdrive crank pulley, electric fan, shift kit, smog delete, a/c delete, ..... sky's the limit.


Lurk around, all this has been covered thousands of times.

[purplebomb302]

1990 Town Car tubular manifolds.

Why from a 90 TC? Is there a difference between those and other Lincoln/Ford factory headers?

[pantera77]

Why from a 90 TC? Is there a difference between those and other Lincoln/Ford factory headers?

Yep one year only. They are kind of sought after because they are a direct bolt on for the factory h-pipe. They flow a touch better and are significantly lighter then the stock cast iron manifolds.

[87gtVIC]

just incase anyone is wondering....from top to bottom

-Stock box cast iron exhaust manifolds
-Stock 1990 Town Car exhaust manifolds (Lincoln Logs)
-Stock Fox Body Mustang (86/7 and up) headers
-Aftermarket Ford Racing (Ceramic coated?) headers

[purplebomb302]

Yep one year only. They are kind of sought after because they are a direct bolt on for the factory h-pipe. They flow a touch better and are significantly lighter then the stock cast iron manifolds.

Good to know.

[P72Crazy]

Love it, Lincoln logs! Who knew.

[N A]

Pull out the 5.0 and swap in a 5.8.

http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/item/LRS-6009EA/79-95-Short-Block-58L-Economy-Accepts-Roller-Cam

[pantera77]

Pull out the 5.0 and swap in a 5.8.

http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/...pts-Roller-Cam

Do not under any circumstance buy one of these LMR engines. They are garbage.

[90ltd]

The cheapest mods are HO tb ($12) 2.5 short dual exhaust with side exits (less bends more flow) around $300. The power increase is immediate and noticeable.

[visionmercury]

exhaust , remove a set of cats or go highflow , good tune up plugs ,wires, cap, rotor, coil. and more timing, cold air intake ( u will have to make) or a k&n drop in . 1.7 rollor rockers , underdrive pullys . those are all easy or cheaper things

[RobertB]

...or a k&n drop in...

I went with a Fram Air Hog air filter (a K & N look-alike), and it gave a small but noticeable improvement in throttle response.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo

[pantera77]

exhaust , remove a set of cats or go highflow , good tune up plugs ,wires, cap, rotor, coil. and more timing, cold air intake ( u will have to make) or a k&n drop in . 1.7 rollor rockers , underdrive pullys . those are all easy or cheaper things

Stock cat's are not a restriction, especially on a lopo.
A full tune up should be the first thing anyone does when they buy one of these cars.
A small bump in timing never hurts.
Factory air intake is as cold air of an intake you can get, and is not a restriction on a HO, let alone a lopo. Unless you want more noise, then by all means thrown some crappy conical filter on there.
1.7 RR's are a great upgrade on a lopo
Only under drive pulley that fits with no mods is the ASP racing one, and I'm not sure they even still make them.

[extortion00]

Great post