Best Go Fast Mod?

Black87LSC

Black87LSC

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I have an '89 Town Car. So far the only mod I have is a dual exhaust. I do not want to do an H.O. swap, as this is my everyday car. I am thinking of buying an aftermarket intake (Cobra, GT40, Trick Flow). Would that be a worth while mod, or am I wasting my money? What would be a good mod to start out with?
 
Black87LSC said:
I have an '89 Town Car. So far the only mod I have is a dual exhaust. I do not want to do an H.O. swap, as this is my everyday car. I am thinking of buying an aftermarket intake (Cobra, GT40, Trick Flow). Would that be a worth while mod, or am I wasting my money? What would be a good mod to start out with?
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The H.O. swap would open up alot more posibilities. I think a intake just wouldn't produce much on that motor, for the money you spend.
K&N, open the box up and make a ram air? Maybe shorty headers, a set of H.O. ones are a dime a dozen and should show improvements over stock. 1.7 rockers, easy to do. Electric fan. anyone do underdrive pullies for that application. You could probably do all of these for less than the intake and get more power.
 
A simple swap to truck or mustang heads

without the cam, computer or intake would help power and not necessarily use more gas.

Have you done the ignition mods yet ? Best plug wires, MSD coil, good cap & rotor, autolite plugs gapped out to .055 -.060 and bump the timing from 10 degrees to 13.5 degrees. That will really wake up the performance and mileage.

Sixlitre
 
what does bumping the time up do?

what kind of gains would be expected from all of that?
 
I don't imagine it would do much, but anything that makes my 5,000 lb beast move faster is good in my books. I want to squeeze as much power out of the car as I can for the time being.
 
I'm pretty sure you should run premium gas if your going to bump up your timing.
 
thamarkman said:
I'm pretty sure you should run premium gas if your going to bump up your timing.
Click to expand...

On my Mopars yes,

but so far with the 5.0 litre Bronco and Town Car I'm running fine on 87, have been for several years.

Truth be known we get ethanol 89 (gasohol) here for the same price as regular unleaded 87, so I do run that most of the time. That said, I've had long trips with the Bronco where I've run several tanks of 87 through her and she's never rattled or pinged yet.

I've tuned four 5.0 litres in four completely different vehicles; Bronco, LTD, Mustang and Town Car and each and every one of them ended up liking 13.5 degrees.

I'm not saying 13.5 is perfect for all 5.0 litres, but it's been my experience that all these vehicles liked that setting. I've heard of Mustang owners who go to 15 and more degrees advance and some LTD owners who like only 12.

I'd say try it and see. It takes minutes to return it to stock or bump it even further.

It's definately worthwhile IMO.

Sixlitre
 
Absolutely, In 1980 you could get a Mark VI with a 351. The deck height is just a little bit taller, but it should fit right in without hood clearance issues.
 
It bolt in, just would have to use the Lightning computer and such. Probably the Lightning trans too. Driveshaft may need to be custom, maybe not. Misc other adjustments, exhaust, air box, a/c, etc.
 
That would be so cool!

The '80s Town Cars weigh about 4090 lbs, and the Lightning weighs about 4300 and it runs a 15.6 or so stock, so you could probably get a Town Car to run like low 15's, high 14's. All in car that looks like an american version of an '80s Rolls Royce!
 
The Lightning has 4:10 gears and a suspension thats more track friendly. If you 4:10 the town car and did some suspension mods, I could see 15s. I thought the town car was heavier than that. My 84 is a tank.
 
I was thinking 4500, My brothers 70 Caddy weighed 5200 empty. That thing had to be more than 200 more. The stupid front bumper is 5 pcs and like 200 alone, its crazy.
 
Yea, those old Caddy bumpers are RIDICULOUSLY heavy!!! They have reinforcements welded into the back of the bumpers and everything! Yea, I'm guessing between 4,500 and 4,800 lbs...
 
Do you have a goal in mind? how fast ya wanna go and how much money?
 
If I get between 200-250 hp I'll be happy. It'll never be a race car of course, but I'd like the power to be there if I need it. Also, if I found a V8 Explorer in the boneyard, would the GT40 intake swap right over? And do they have GT40 heads too?
 
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