LS1 Zephyr

I was going about my regular craigslist browsing earlier today and found a 79' Mercury Zephyr. I have since found and deleted it from my bookmarks a few times today. My second car was an 80' Zephyr I found on the side of the road for $100 and rehabilitated into my daily driver.

Being that it is a fox body, there are a multitude of upgrades that can be done just using factory parts. Apparently 4.6L modular engine mounts can be used to mount an LS1 to a factory ford k-member. Whether or not I need a 5.0 or 4.6 k-member I haven't found yet. A tubular k-member would probably be a better idea anyway. ...But I have a friend who would probably give me the k-member from his lincoln mk vii for free, along with the fuel system, and any 5-lug parts I'd want...

It looks like the factory f-body cluster fits pretty well behind a mustang dash too.

Convince me not to rip the LS1/T56 from my daily driver and shove it in a 79' Mercury.

Baby Blue Sleeper Material.

GM + FORD is an unholy hybrid in any combination and a sign of the apocalypse. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. But get it done fast, this is 2012a and there is significant solar storm activity alteady

In reply to Nitroracer:

needs steelies on dat for a real sleeper

LS1 swaps are boring.

It's been done, and the results were awesome from what I saw.

Don't rip it out!!!

Take it out carefully and put it in the new car.

Javelin wrote: LS1 swaps are boring.

but an LS2 would be just about right..

novaderrik wrote:

Javelin wrote: LS1 swaps are boring.

but an LS2 would be just about right..

LS7 or bust!

My parents had a '79 Wagon bought new. 30 years later I still remember the plate number. Great lines, and such a great foundation for a sleeper. Please do it!

I can't explain how much I support this swap.

Bitchin'! Doooo eeeeet!

Unless you K-member is a straight 6 one, it isn't worth replacing, as you are replacing it with the same exact thing except heavier. Plus the Mark 7 doesn't have springs, only airbags.

Just need to powdercoat the stock flat valve covers and install a carb with the front dizzy mount kit and fool everyone into thing it is a Ford. It isn't optimum, but you can hack off the flanges from a set of 351w headers and weld on LS flanges for cheap headers....

it worked out for this car.

http://ls1tech.com/forums/hot-rod-power-tour-pump-gas-drags-drag-week/783328-turbo-ls1-fairmont-wins-daily-driver-dragweek-07-a.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk9uU_3VHT0

Having been intimately acquainted with an '80 or so Fairmont Futura, I cannot for the life of me understand why anybody would want to do anything with one of those cars besides crush it.

Duke wrote: Having been intimately acquainted with an '80 or so Fairmont Futura, I cannot for the life of me understand why anybody would want to do anything with one of those cars besides crush it.

I had a 2 door 81 Granada that I installed a Vortech supercharged 351 in... this sounds much funner.

Duke wrote: Having been intimately acquainted with an '80 or so Fairmont Futura, I cannot for the life of me understand why anybody would want to do anything with one of those cars besides crush it.

how "intimately acquainted" to the car were you if you don't even know the exact model year?

i'll assume yours had either a 2.3 4 cylinder or an inline 6 and either the C3 auto or T4 manual trans with 185/85/13 tires.. that would explain why you wouldn't think a car that has chassis and drivetrain (and even some interior) parts that are interchangeable with any Mustang up to the '04 model year sucks..

novaderrik wrote:

Duke wrote: Having been intimately acquainted with an '80 or so Fairmont Futura, I cannot for the life of me understand why anybody would want to do anything with one of those cars besides crush it.

how "intimately acquainted" to the car were you if you don't even know the exact model year? i'll assume yours had either a 2.3 4 cylinder or an inline 6 and either the C3 auto or T4 manual trans with 185/85/13 tires.. that would explain why you wouldn't think a car that has chassis and drivetrain (and even some interior) parts that are interchangeable with any Mustang up to the '04 model year sucks..

Let's see - I got rid of it almost exactly 20 years ago so forgive me for being slightly hazy on whether it was an '80 or an '81. It was an I6/auto and could barely get out of its own way. The 4 (I never drove a 4) must have been downright dangerous - like 2CV dangerous - on anything bigger than a 2-lane street.

Let's see some more - the Top 2 reasons it sucked were crappy handling and crappy ride quality. The power steering made a '92 Accord feel like a razor-sharp corner carver. But of course if you feel like spending a bunch of money on aftermarket Foxbody suspension, you might be able to get it to handle as well as a Mustang. So let's move on:

It flopped worse than my father's '72 Grandville convertible, and you could measure the cowl shake on that with a grade school protractor.

The interior sucked. Really sucked. Let's see - blow the horn by pushing in on the turn signal stalk? Sure, that's intuitive in an emergency situation. It didn't have a clock, or even space for one , let alone a cigarette lighter and ashtray (no loss there, but still). It went down hill from there.

I'm 5'-10" and my wife is about 5'-4". With the seat in my driving position, I couldn't get in or out without banging my head like Elliot stuffing a perp in the back of a P71 on Law&Order . I'm just not that far off average height. And with the seat where my wife could drive, I physically could NOT get into the front seat of the car. Literally. She's just not that far off average height, either. I had to kneel down, slide the seat all the way back, climb in, and move it up a few clicks. EVERY time. That's ridiculous. It was like the toilet seat argument writ large in automotive form.

I could go on. But even solving the 2 worst problems - suspension and power - is still going to leave you with an unpleasant, uncomfortable, unattractive car to drive.

Duke wrote:

novaderrik wrote:

Duke wrote: Having been intimately acquainted with an '80 or so Fairmont Futura, I cannot for the life of me understand why anybody would want to do anything with one of those cars besides crush it.

how "intimately acquainted" to the car were you if you don't even know the exact model year? i'll assume yours had either a 2.3 4 cylinder or an inline 6 and either the C3 auto or T4 manual trans with 185/85/13 tires.. that would explain why you wouldn't think a car that has chassis and drivetrain (and even some interior) parts that are interchangeable with any Mustang up to the '04 model year sucks..

Let's see - I got rid of it almost exactly 20 years ago so forgive me for being slightly hazy on whether it was an '80 or an '81. It was an I6/auto and could barely get out of its own way. The 4 (I never drove a 4) must have been downright dangerous - like 2CV dangerous - on anything bigger than a 2-lane street. Let's see some more - the Top 2 reasons it sucked were crappy handling and crappy ride quality. The power steering made a '92 Accord feel like a razor-sharp corner carver. But of course if you feel like spending a bunch of money on aftermarket Foxbody suspension, you might be able to get it to handle as well as a Mustang. So let's move on: It flopped worse than my father's '72 Grandville convertible, and you could measure the cowl shake on *that* with a grade school protractor. The interior sucked. *Really* sucked. Let's see - blow the horn by pushing in on the turn signal stalk? Sure, *that's* intuitive in an emergency situation. It didn't have a clock, *or even space for one* , let alone a cigarette lighter and ashtray (no loss there, but still). It went down hill from there. I'm 5'-10" and my wife is about 5'-4". With the seat in my driving position, I couldn't get in or out without banging my head like Elliot stuffing a perp in the back of a P71 on *Law&Order* . I'm just not that far off average height. And with the seat where my wife could drive, I physically could NOT get into the front seat of the car. Literally. She's just not that far off average height, either. I had to kneel down, slide the seat all the way back, climb in, and move it up a few clicks. *EVERY* time. That's ridiculous. It was like the toilet seat argument writ large in automotive form. I could go on. But even solving the 2 worst problems - suspension and power - is still going to leave you with an unpleasant, uncomfortable, unattractive car to drive.

yeah, and?? seems like you'd fit right in with a lot of the cars on this board..

you wouldn't need to spend a lot of money to get the chassis up to late 80's Mustang spec- springs, sway bars, steering racks, spindles, brakes, and wheels are out there cheap- hell, there are 87-90 era Mustang GT's that have lived a hard life but still run and drive in the sub $1k range.. a little bit of home made bracing and the unibody wouldn't be so floppy any more..

one of my friends had a 79 brown Mercury Zephyr 2 door with the I6 and the auto trans and 13" wheels..one of his favorite "features" of the car was the horn button... he was 6'4 250 pounds at the time and he didn't have any problems falling into or crawling out of the car, and it was a surprisingly fun car to drive until he slid into a light pole trying to avoid a school bus on an icy morning... it was a low speed (10mph, maybe) slow motion hit on the right front corner, but the car was toast- the wheel was pushed back into the firewall and the windshield frame distorted enough to pop the windshield out. i think having him and his even bigger (6'6, 300 pound) brother and one of our friends (little guy- maybe 5'6 and 130 pounds with his winter jacket on) in the car added enough extra mass to add enough momentum to fold the car up..

Ranger50 wrote: Unless you K-member is a straight 6 one, it isn't worth replacing, as you are replacing it with the same exact thing except heavier. Plus the Mark 7 doesn't have springs, only airbags. Just need to powdercoat the stock flat valve covers and install a carb with the front dizzy mount kit and fool everyone into thing it is a Ford. It isn't optimum, but you can hack off the flanges from a set of 351w headers and weld on LS flanges for cheap headers....

Its a straight six car, just like the original one I had. Complete with the odd ball k-member. Even claims to have working A/C!

belteshazzar wrote: it worked out for this car. http://ls1tech.com/forums/hot-rod-power-tour-pump-gas-drags-drag-week/783328-turbo-ls1-fairmont-wins-daily-driver-dragweek-07-a.html

I think this one raises the bar a bit.

http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1206866-twin-turbo-ls-powered-zephyr-stuff-out-my-mustang.html

i like that