I've got a 99 police interceptor with the 4.6L 2v under the hood. I want to make it an INSANE sleeper, so here is what I'm thinking of doing. I would like to hear all of your opinions on wether or not this is a good idea or not.

PI heads
VT Stage 2 cam
Cold air intake
3" custom exhaust w/40 series
kenne belle 1.7L supercharger

will this be too much for the transmission to handle? Will I have to go with forged internals before I stick the KB on it? Also, I currently have 3.55 rear gears and am thinking of stepping up to the 4.10's would this be smart with the supercharger, and why not?


thank you,
Dan

 

With that kinda of exhaust, it will not be a sleeper at all! With a blown motor I'd got with some 3.73's! 4.10's would be overdoing it with a PA, you'll just blow your tires off the launch!

 

VT makes a blower cam that would suit you better Id think. The cold air you should get when you get the KB, they sell a kit, so wait on that, no, a stock trans prolly wont like this much power so at the least id say get a torque converter, maybe a built trans, and do the J-mod that everyone seems to like so much. Dont forget a dyno tune. With the KB, id stay with the 3.55 rear.

 

true, but nobody expects grandpa's car to be anything special. how much of a difference would 3.73's make vs. the 3.55 i have now? as in will I feel it significantly if i were to change them out before i put the work into the motor?

 

The reason I ask about the trans is because it is plastered with stickers that say "severe duty" and police all over it so it makes me think it may be somethin special

 

they arent different inside they just have a mild mild shift kit from ford and they have a big *** tranny cooler, as for the PI heads dont vics have Pi heads in 99 just like the trucks?

and i wouldnt bother with a swap form 3.55 to 3.73 you wont feel that much of a difference, in a heavy car like that get the thing moving with some 4.10's.

 

But, with the 4.10s, you combine that with the instant torque of a KB, and you say bye bye to traction.

 

i'm not sure which heads are in the 99+ vics... how would i go about finding that out?

 

They should say somewhere on the head, or search on the internet.

 

Unfortunatly for you the Crown vic Did not get the PI engine untill 2001

also forget the CAI use the money toward a set of Drag radials that you will need to hook up with that supercharger. Also, 2.5" exhaust is the better size pipe for a little 281, a street engine needs a little backpressure, Ideally around 2-4 psi (not much) a 3" exhaust would actually lose power.

the amount of tourque you would make with a screw type supercharger would make first gear pretty much useless without sticky tires all the time, the 3.55 or a 3.73 is a good gear for a screw/roots type SC.

 

yeah i was thinking 3" was a little much after i thought about it some more...not many people understand the idea of back-pressure, that's why you see so many trucks that are really loud but go nowhere fast..makes me chuckle

 

Kenne Bell recommends 3.55 gears for the 1.7, but then again, that's with Mustangs. I'd check out their recommendations for your car before making the plunge.

Whether or not to do the PI upgrade depends on cost, more than anything else. A good set of ported and polished PI heads are going to set you back at least $1200, plus the new intake, etc., maybe $1600 total for parts, plus the new cams you should really add about then (already have the motor torn down) and that will add $700 or so, say $2400 at the end of the day. Labor for install maybe $1000. You can run the KB 1.7 on the stock block, especially with the intercooler, if you don't up-pulley the thing too strong or go rev-crazy.

KB blower (get the intercooler) runs what, $4400? Maybe $900 to install...

Figure $9000 to get this far.

Transmission you've got is a good one - if its not worn out already. How many miles are on it? Before anything else, I'd drain it, pull the pan, and check out its condition. If it needs an overhaul anyway, add the good stuff at the same time - costs a lot less than doing them seperately, of course. Figure about $2400 to do it right. Have a good tranny tech check her out if you're not one yourself.

About $11,000 for the build, assuming your 3.55 gears are workable. Personally, I'd build the motor/transmission first, and try the car out with the 3.55 gears before deciding on a gear change. A lot depends on which pulley set you go with on the blower (more agressive you go, the more low end power that twin screw will make - and the less gear you'll want for traction).

As for the exhaust, you'll get meaningful results only if you go whole-hog. Long tubes, X-pipe, free flowing mufflers and after-cat. About $2000 for the works, maybe a bit more with installation. Dollar-wise, the exhaust will yield the least gains for the most effort on this car. I'd do it last, unless you elect to do the motor work with the motor out of the car, in which case you save a lot of trouble on the install of the headers...

Talk to KB before buying anything. Your install will be different from the typical Mustang kit, and they may save you some heartache!

tripleblack

 

thanks for the info...the car has 90k miles on it and was well taken car of as it was a detective's car and not a pavement pounding patrol car. As far as the labor costs, I like to treat my car like I do my women so nobody gets under the hood but me. for exhaust though i'm tired of dealing with it, so I found a shop that will hook me up for about $150 that's about all i have to say about that for now.

i'll leave with the ONLY thing I learned at college:
It ain't about WHAT you know, its about WHO you know.