92 Crown Vic Needs More Zip

[gamefoo21]

Hey,

I have a tired old 92 Crown Vic with the 4.6 and its pretty amazing car but its getting old and tired. So I am looking at rebuilding the engine and having the tranny gone over.

I am just wondering what upgrades I can mount in that car to up its power while maintaining or improving its fuel mileage.

I am looking for advice towards what I should upgrade. Should I upgrade all of the engines internals and just keep the block?

[cobradude360]

i would probly go with a set of high performance
heads

[gamefoo21]

What is so good about the Romeo engine? I was looking on one website that said they had high performance Aluminum heads that were Romeo style heads or some such thing.

[landyacht]

Hey!!

I absolutely recommend rebuilding the block and doing a transmission service. The tranny in those cars is pretty solid.

As far as getting a little more zip out of the car:

1. A performance intake and exhaust. This will set you back between 900 and 2000 bucks depending on how high you go for performance. It won't hurt your gas mileage much, if anything it will run smoother as air intake is the biggest key for any motor. Also, this will give you roughly 15 more horsepower and is usually good for another 15-25 pound feet of torque.

2. Tuning the ICU. By adjusting the computer controled shift points, you can add to the acceleration of the vehicle and allow that 4.6 to work at it's peak power. Again this will affect your fuel consumption, but the benefits can be worth it. I am unsure of the costs of doing this.

These are two relatively cheap and easy things you can do to the car without having to re-do the internals of the motor. Good luck and happy driving!

The yacht driver.

[backyard_mech420]

A couple of the Easiest and Cheapest things you can do to improve your performance are:A good Cold Air Intake which will suck in cold air from outside the engine bay,and a Dual Exhaust conversion with some good free flowing mufflers,I recommend Flowmaster's 30 Series mufflers.The Cold Air Intake should cost about $100-$150,and at a good exhaust shop the Dual Exhaust conversion with 2 mufflers should'nt cost you any more than $350.

[gamefoo21]

Yea the tranny is absolutely awesome. It shifts very nicely and delivers the power to the back wheels when it needs it. Floor it and that thing doesn't shift till the motor is roaring(no tach so I'd have to guess somewhere close to 5000rpm).

Actually My Crown vic already has a cold air intake. It runs to the driver side and picks up air from below the headlights. I thought this was stock?

I have some experience related to modifying snowmobile engines should I do any opening up of the exhaust manifolds? Or should I just look for a mustang exhaust manifolds?

As for rebuilding the engine should I replace the crank and con rods? I notice that alot of places recomend swapping out the crank and rods.

I am also looking at replacing the heads and camshaft. Any suggestions for good heads that aren't crazy expensive? Will I have to replace the injectors?

Also is it a good idea to replace the alternator and ignition system with something that has a higher output?

Also any suggestions for good places to buy these parts?

Oh and does anyone know how hard it is to empty the transmission and the torque converter of fluid. The car has a studder when under mild acceleration that goes away with more throttle and the info I've found says to fix it you need to empty the transmission and torque converter and replace all the fluid with new stuff. Is this something you can do easily or should I pay some oil change place to do it?

[backyard_mech420]

Originally Posted by gamefoo21

Oh and does anyone know how hard it is to empty the transmission and the torque converter of fluid. The car has a studder when under mild acceleration that goes away with more throttle and the info I've found says to fix it you need to empty the transmission and torque converter and replace all the fluid with new stuff. Is this something you can do easily or should I pay some oil change place to do it?

Its not very hard to do,but if your not sure exactly of the steps involved in doing so then I would take it to a good driveline shop.Have them Drain the Fluid,then Flush the Trans,Change the Filter,and add some quality trans fluid.If your trans has never been flushed or serviced before you should notice a Big difference in how much Smoother and Quicker it shifts.

[jase386]

does anyone know if the 4.6 in the police interceptor is any different than a stock 4.6? I know the interceptor has all kinds of options such as coolers for this and that, but i didnt know if it had a performance chip or if it was tuned any different than the stock models.

[jimmytroanoke]

Originally Posted by gamefoo21

What is so good about the Romeo engine? I was looking on one website that said they had high performance Aluminum heads that were Romeo style heads or some such thing.

There are 2 versions of the 4.6 with one being built at the Romeo Plant and one being built at the windsor plant. Heads are NOT interchangeable so thte heads your are referring to are for the Romeo Plant version of the 4.6.

[gamefoo21]

Oh the website said they'd fit my car in specific. Hmmm how do I know which engine do I have?

I am probably going to take the car to a well known transmission shop and have them flush it and fill it up with some good quality fluid.

I was reading up and ford said that bolting on a second pipe was good for 20 more hp. Is there any sense in going with higher quality flowmasters? I don't want to go with straight pipes but I don't want to put on super restrictive pipes. I'd like something thats quiet and low restriction.

Oh and how do I adjust the ICU? I was looking and the stickers found in the engine compartment said that the Transmission, Idle, and a bunch of other settings were controlled by the computer and not user changeable.

[jimmytroanoke]

[quote=gamefoo21]Oh the website said they'd fit my car in specific. Hmmm how do I know which engine do I have?QUOTE]
I think the Windsor engines are truck only. Yours should be a Romeo.

[gamefoo21]

Thanks for the info.

[backyard_mech420]

Originally Posted by gamefoo21

I was reading up and ford said that bolting on a second pipe was good for 20 more hp. Is there any sense in going with higher quality flowmasters? I don't want to go with straight pipes but I don't want to put on super restrictive pipes. I'd like something thats quiet and low restriction.

Allthough some people will not believe\agree with me,Dual Flowmaster's have been shown to give about a 10-15RWHP increase over stock mufflers,and they dont have that lame ass Ricer sound most low restriction mufflers have.Then if you want to free up even more HP with less restriction you can eather gut the cats,or remove the entire cat\pipe and install test pipes which will give you more of a HP gain than gutting the cats.

[cobradude360]

i live in macomb MI which is also where romeo and the romeo engine plnt is and i know a guy who works there and he showed me on my engine that theres a barcode on the passinger side valve cover that will tell u the date it was made on and also if it says rep on it then it means it was made in the romeo engine plant

[gamefoo21]

Ahh sorta like romeo engine plant.

So yea is there any way to adjust the icu? Or do I have to buy a new replacement unit?