77 Cougar Wagon, interested?

Perhaps in Canada the 2.24 was available, but all 351 cars in the U.S. were fleet cars and the 2.73 was standard.

The Holley is a square bore. I can't find a 351W manifold to run a spreadbore otherwise I would run a Quadrajet on it. If anything I have the timing advanced too much and I'm not sure how inducing knock in an engine allows it to run more efficiently.

 

When my brother was doing his up, he looked at the Holley carb. The engineer in him chose the Edelbrock as it is more tunable and easier to rejet and what not. He talked to the tech desk at Edelbrock to figure out what jetting and rod kits to install.

In Canada, the 351W was a regular production option on all Crown Vics, Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car models through the end of the 87 model year. After that, it was limited to the Crown Vic and grand marquis sedans. It was a simple stand alone option, and the price was a whole $185. That number sticks in my head because it was $2 CHEAPER than the no-draft vent windows. I remember spending about 3 hours going through the options list to get exactly what I wanted on the car. I ordered it on 11 November, 88, and finally took delivery on the 25th of January, 1989.

The Haynes and Chilton's manuals list the axle codes on the door tag for the 351, both standard 2.24 and performance 2.73, in both open and limited slip forms. Both the Performance Handling and Trailer Tow III packages included the 2.73 with Traction Loc.

No matter what I had in mine, I don't remember it ever having to downshift to handle ANY hill at highway speeds in the 302,000 kms (185,000 mils) I had the car. The only time I didn't leave it in overdrive was when I was towing. The most I ever towed with it was just shy of 5,000 lbs. It was rated for 6,000. I'd have it yet had it not been totalled in a crash.

 

I forgot to mention, to the best of my knowledge, it was one of approximately 60 1989 Grand Marquis sedans built in 89 with both the 351 and the Trailer Tow III package, and the only one that was painted dark cranberry metallic with the matching vinyl top and Cabernet interior.

 

Look for listing in sale section tomorrow; new pics too

I have a three day weekend so I'll finally get some more pics and details.

For the record, 45 miles per imperial gallon = 36 miles per US gallon. Their gallon has four, 40 ounce-quarts where ours has four, 32-ounce quarts. A bigger gallon equals more miles.

Either way, you get about 500 miles per tank which is better than I've ever seen in my land yachts.

 

The biggest sucker of fuel in these old cars is the exhaust system, A single 2 inch just doesn't flow. If you leave the factory manifolds and cats in place, and put a dual 2 1/4 with "H" pipe and good flowing mufflers, you unlock roughly 20 horsepower and 3-4 mpg. My 78 is running Hooker long tube ceramic coated 4 into 1 headers with 3 inch collectors, high flow cats, and 2 1/4 dual exhaust with x-crossover and FlowMaster DeltaFlow stainless mufflers. The exhaust is good for roughly 30 - 35 horsepower and 6 or so mpg by itself. Best of all, it is all bolt on, so returning the car to stock is simple if I ever want to make her a show car instead of a driver. Eventually, the FMX will give was to a mechanical AOD from a late 80s F-150, with the adapter kit to let it mate to the old 351M. That should increase economy significantly. Then, with intake and carb work, I'm away to the races.

 

I can already notice a difference in smoothness going from a worn-out oil-burning 351M with a two-barrel Motorcraft carb, to the rebuilt 351C with the Edelbrock 1405/1406 frankenstein carb I've got now. I can't say the mileage is better, only driven it 500 miles or so, but I think I'm up around 17, from 14. 29.2 gallons thus far and I think it's 490 miles but I'd have to check the receipt from the trans shop and compare it to the gas station receipt from the same day that I didn't write the odo reading on.

14 to 17, that's a start. Not done tuning yet, not done thinking about changing from a 2.75 to a 2.47 rear gear.

MikeT1961, I may need to pick your brain sometime about the jets/rods. I want to rebuild this carb at some point just because I know it sat for a few months in less than ideal conditions. Drives great but I'm sure there's room for improvement. Are these bits included in the regular calibration kit Edelbrock sells for the 1406, the 1487? Or are these in the larger, more complete 1479 kit for the 1405?

What about the smaller 1403/1404 500cfm carbs, will the bits from the 1486 kit for those work in the 600cfm carbs? I have some research to do. I don't want to smother my car but if a smaller primary jet can let me stay out of the secondaries in 90% of my driving, that would make a big difference.

 

The smaller jets may have you IN the secondaries more than you are now. It was my brother who figured out what jets and metering rods to put in for a 351W. They were part of the standard kit from Edelbrock, and he determined which ones were best for his application and driving environment by talking with the Edelbrock tech desk. He's a frustrated Stationary Engineer, so was able to go into a LOT of detail with them. I'm thinking that when I do my 351M I may well go with the Edelbrock Performer multipoint fuel injection system. The key is to use the Performer series, since they are all about low end torque.

I wouldn't go with the 500 cfm carb, as it doesn't flow enough air for the 351. You'll end up starving the engine. He used the 600 cfm 1406, and then used a vacuum gauge to tweak everything just right. He was doing all this to an engine that had almost 160,000 miles on it at the time. He proceeded to add another 250,000 to it after that.

As an aside, he found that Castrol Syntec 5W50 full synthetic was good for about 4 mpg as well.

 

The Fougar has landed

I got the old beast running last week, took some photos over the holiday, and planted it on Michigan Street in Plymouth Indiana with a for sale sign.

Good luck!

PS, pics in my profile now too.

 

Glad you finally got some pix up, cal. They're a little small for these old eyes, though. Interior looks nice but I just can't tell.

 

The interior is nice (except the carpeting). It needs new carpeting. The floor boards are top notch though. The headliner has only a couple of small blemishes. The vinyl has some splits but could be repaired easily.