Rod Knock

Just find a low mileage Crown Vic engine and put your Marauder heads and timing assembly and timing cover on it on it. it'll save you a lot of money. you can get a complete head gasket sets online pretty reasonable with head bolts. that's the cheap route might have a slight less power but it's the cheaper option. if you can find the Lincoln Mark 8 block look for them, but they're getting kind of far few to fine now. at least in this part of the country.
 
Themarauderguy said:
Just find a low mileage Crown Vic engine and put your Marauder heads and timing assembly and timing cover on it on it. it'll save you a lot of money. you can get a complete head gasket sets online pretty reasonable with head bolts. that's the cheap route might have a slight less power but it's the cheaper option.
Click to expand...

This is the worst advice in the history of this forum.
Please stop posting, because some may actually believe you.
 
I'll let the experts chime in about the engine. I'll give some dad advice, as a father of 4 kids, the last two twins I feel for you. The expenses only go up, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Time with them is even more valuable than the almighty dollar, so enjoy it. Time goes by really, really fast. Every stage with twins (any child for that matter) has its ups and downs but 2.5 year old twins is an awesome busy age—enjoy it.

I have owned my MM since new, it is far from the car I would have picked but with 4 kids I had to make sacrifices and it was the best choice at the time. I appreciated it for what it was and now like it as much if not more as they get rarer and rarer. But that also meant it was a daily driver, eaten in, puked in, tantrums thrown in it, baseballs hitting it, etc. I have rebuilt everything on the car at least once. Now its looking like a paint job may be in order sooner than later. Since its been paid for for 15 years and doubled as a family/fun car it really has been a value and I can't complain. Good luck with your choice. Since you seem knowledgeable and mechanically inclined my gut would be to get a cheap replacement engine to get the car running while slowly rebuilding the engine of your choice. It limits the down time and provides you with managing the expense of the slippery slope of building an engine the way you want to.
 
I've done it before for several guys. and they ran just fine. If you don't like my advice don't have to take it! If you'd worked on as many 4.6 blocks as I have. you would know the marauder block is nothing special. yes it has high-compression Pistons big deal! Not everybody wants to spend three and four thousand to get a reman 4.6 engine when they can use a cheap Crown Vic block. and get the marauder up and running again. that was the point of my post. if you want to go with a built hot rod supercharged engine then Build It Up the way you want. Lol.
 
Crown vic engine a junk yard 300 to 400. Head gasket set 200. If you do the work yourself you're just out your own time. So for about five to six hundred you could have your Marauder back up and running. it's going to make less power duh we all know that. but it's going to save money and your car will be up and running. Until you can get money together to do it the way you want. and build another engine or whatever your desires are.
 
And I'll post whatever I like on this form! I'm not breaking any form rules if you guys don't like it don't read it!!! I am knowledgeable on what I am talking about and have done it, so if you don't like it well that's just tough luck. And the people who I've fix their Marauders that had bottom end failures. I used Crown Vic blocks with the marauder heads love them and drive them and haven't had any issues. proceed trash talk like you guys in the Forum love to do. it's a new ideal. I mean it's not like the marauder engine block really makes a huge amount of oh my God it's super powerful power to begin with, lol so who gives it hoot.
 
Themarauderguy said:
I've done it before for several guys. and they ran just fine. If you don't like my advice don't have to take it! If you'd worked on as many 4.6 blocks as I have. you would know the marauder block is nothing special. yes it has high-compression Pistons big deal! Not everybody wants to spend three and four thousand to get a reman 4.6 engine when they can use a cheap Crown Vic block. and get the marauder up and running again. that was the point of my post. if you want to go with a built hot rod supercharged engine then Build It Up the way you want. Lol.
Click to expand...

You're correct.... The block isn't special just higher CR and aluminum material.
It will work 100% just not the same power

The first M-122 powered Vic used a stock CV block and swapped to a 4v setup. Worked just fine till Drac got the Terminator block swapped in.
 
I agree with the 4.6 crown vic route and actually think it was good advice. Why all the hatred to the poster and so many strongly against it? Something I don't know? Its the cheapest / fastest route to get you going in a hurry. Just don't forget to drill the deck of the block for the 4v water passages else you'll overheat it some bad...

Probably your best option is to assess the damage first. Rip the crank out and bring it to your machine shop to see if its salvageable. If it is then just fix it and slap it all back together if not you can try to source a crank but for the price of a cobra crank your looking roughly 1,000. I just sold one a couple months ago for $500 so you might be at a wash at that point.
 
Zack said:
This is the worst advice in the history of this forum.
Please stop posting, because some may actually believe you.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna play devils advocate here...

The 4V heads won't kiss the pistons, the blocks accept the heads, and all the timing stuff can be transferred.

Why exactly is this bad advice, in your expert opinion?
 
TooManyFords said:
I'm gonna play devils advocate here...

The 4V heads won't kiss the pistons, the blocks accept the heads, and all the timing stuff can be transferred.

Why exactly is this bad advice, in your expert opinion?
Click to expand...

Lower compression, heavier block, have to deal with converting the timing chain setup over for the DOHC heads, I'm sure I can nit pick at other random BS stuff. It's a lot of work at an attempt to save money and end up with an even worse performing car.

You know what I did when I had a marauder that needed an engine? 1800 dollars shipped to my door, complete aviator engine. I converted it to a marauder engine in a day by stripping it down to a bare longblock. Dropped it in the car, turned key, fired to life. That was almost 50,000 miles ago now.

I also sold off the set of 4 thread heads I had from the blown marauder engine for 500 bucks back in my pocket. Pretty sure I also sold the valve covers off for a couple bucks as well.

Whoever is doing crown vic engine conversions is being a MAJOR cheap ass, a friend of mine just bought a full marauder engine that needs timing chain guides for 200 bucks!
 
Last edited:
The problem is now a days most of the Lincoln aviators are complete garbage that salvage yards are selling. and they've been ran hard as hell I wouldn't put another dime on one. I got burn three times. and the three people that had Marauders got tired of wasting their money on that BS so the Crown Vic Blocks made perfect sense. and there's not a whole lot to change the same timing set up will fit either so what's the big deal? And it's not like the Mercury Marauder is an expense is $60,000 muscle car. the car is have gotten old people aren't shelling out thousands of dollars on these things any more. The big problem with this form is a lot of people don't want to accept a new idea or something different. Why because it doesn't fit to what they think it should be. well I'll tell you what. you be the one the flip the $$$ for high-compression engine build the next time a fella Marauder persons engine breaks down. Then you can call the shots. The three people that own Marauders I didn't charge them any labor. I help out a fellow Marauder owner. all they had to do was get the Crown Vic Block in the head gasket set. instead of criticizing you should do like a few other people did on this form and say hey if it works it works. gets the car up and going. some people have kids and family some people buy these cars used when they break down after paying $7,000 for the car they don't feel like having to Shell out another three or four thousand. So the Crown Vic short blocks a cheap option that's available and the info is out there now. I mean let's be realistic it's not that dramatic of a horsepower loss people. Lol it's not like the marauder engine produces 460 horsepower! it's not the Coyote engine, so calm down a little bit let's not get all emotional here. What!!!? a Crown Vic short block and a Marauder that's blasphemy!!!!
 
Themarauderguy said:
The problem is now a days most of the Lincoln aviators are complete garbage that salvage yards are selling. and they've been ran hard as hell I wouldn't put another dime on one. I got burn three times. and the three people that had Marauders got tired of wasting their money on that BS so the Crown Vic Blocks made perfect sense. and there's not a whole lot to change the same timing set up will fit either so what's the big deal? And it's not like the Mercury Marauder is an expense is $60,000 muscle car. the car is have gotten old people aren't shelling out thousands of dollars on these things any more. The big problem with this form is a lot of people don't want to accept a new idea or something different. Why because it doesn't fit to what they think it should be. well I'll tell you what. you be the one the flip the $$$ for high-compression engine build the next time a fella Marauder persons engine breaks down. Then you can call the shots. The three people that own Marauders I didn't charge them any labor. I help out a fellow Marauder owner. all they had to do was get the Crown Vic Block in the head gasket set. instead of criticizing you should do like a few other people did on this form and say hey if it works it works. gets the car up and going. some people have kids and family some people buy these cars used when they break down after paying $7,000 for the car they don't feel like having to Shell out another three or four thousand. So the Crown Vic short blocks a cheap option that's available and the info is out there now. I mean let's be realistic it's not that dramatic of a horsepower loss people. Lol it's not like the marauder engine produces 460 horsepower! it's not the Coyote engine, so calm down a little bit let's not get all emotional here. What!!!? a Crown Vic short block and a Marauder that's blasphemy!!!!
Click to expand...
Quoted for truth!
 
My lame stock crown vic bottom end in the twin turbo car car has me satisfied enough, I'm in no hurry to fix the hurt "built" cant stand that word.. engine
11psi will have a time slip soon 😁.. now with that being said, wouldn't be any fun with low compression in na form
 
musclemerc said:
Crickets.............
Click to expand...

are you looking for someone to start a pissing match or something?

I've got my opinions, he stated his in a semi coherent long paragraph.

Welcome to the internet, land of disagreements. I'm not going to burn his house down over it.
 
Here is my take on this:
Crown Vic Block is Iron, Marauder Block is Aluminium.

Crown Vic had 9:1 Compression with 42cc heads (PI), the DOHC heads for 2003 are 52cc's I think, so your compression will drop unless you find a NPI motor. The NPI engines had 9:1 compression with 52cc heads. That's why you get a compression bump when you do a PI swap on a NPI motor.

Aside from the questionable performance, lets look at something else you may not have looked into. Lets say you get a used 4.6 2v engine for $600. You don't really know what condition the engine is in. your going from an known (your current engine) to an unknown (the used motor) you still have to swap the heads over. Head bolts are one time use. ADTR sells a DOHC head changing kit for $118. Since the front cover is off it is a really good Idea to go ahead and change the Timing chain, guides and so on. ADTR sells a kit for $519.

So your into the Temp Fix for a bit $1200. This is not including little odds and ends that we all know add up quickly. So you spend $1200 on a Temp fix which is total unknown. you know nothing of the condition of the Bottom end, the maintenance history of this junkyard motor, so on. you do this, install it, it works for a little bit, then fails. Now what? Your dumping more money into it.

OR, if it is a bad rod, buy a new set of rods or replace just the bad rod (Rock auto Marauder replacement rods $35.79), send the crank out to get inspected install everything, Do the timing change stuff and be out the cost of the 2v engine you were going to buy.

I find it funny that people don't have the money to do it right the first time but have the money to fix it when it breaks.

Do it once, do it right,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top