I got it!!!

[RICH MUISE]

Lowrider, Bill...thanks for the suggestions...I'll do that. I don't plan on pulling the engine real soon...weather and all. I'm planning on making or buying an engine stand for it before I pull it. It'll have to be transported to my friends shop for the install, so It'll be more like a craddle with castors rather than the twirly type. I know there are upgrades available for the tranny, but I plan on having that done after the car is up and running if after talking to my tranny expert he tells me they're worth the effort.

[Ecode70D]

Rich
      Good for you..    I know that you have been looking forward to this sale coming up. 
      I assume that your question about retired RMV Police was directed to me.   The answer is no way will you be allowed to drive it without a plate.  Here in Mass, it would be taken away and you would have to pay a bunch of money  for towing and storage.  Then there will be fine on top of all of that.  They don't call this place Taxachusetts for nothing.  Do you  remember that expression when you were here? 
      Towing it on a trailer or having it transported in my opinion  is the best way.
       I'm just curious...   Is that the engine that has the plugs on top?   I heard those plugs hold water around them, get rusty, and break break off when removing them.  Around here, even the Ford dealership can't extract the broken piece and farm the job out to a private machinist.  Naturally the bill gets passed on to the customer. If so, be very careful taking out the plugs.   Soak them real good with oil.
       Some of the Lincoln guys should be able to chime in on this one about the plugs.
       Another question is, have you given any thought to taking the the quarter panel off Lincoln Number 1 and putting it on Lincoln No. 2?  You could end up with a very nice car.  Don't rule out the possibility of installing the eng / trans from #1 in the 57.
Jay
       

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks for the input Jay. I just got back from the DMV, and it's the same way here. No plates until the car has been repaired and trailered to an inspection point, where they would issue a "passed inspection" type of certificate which is brought to the dmv with title application.
As far as the '95 Mark goes..first of all, yes they are the engines with the plugs in the top. I am very tempted to use the rear quarter off the first Mark, and make it a daily driver. If for no other reason, these cars are too rad to send an otherwise nice, low mileage one to the scrap pile. However, budget restraints will probably dictate that I pull the engine for the '57, which is my first priority, and the reason I was looking for one in the first place. But hey, I've got months to think about it and change my mind at least a dozen times!

[gasman826]

I got too wordy as usual and the damn thing blew up.  I have this cradle.  I like it.  It works good on my 460 alone or with trans.

[RICH MUISE]

Nice...did you make it or buy it?

[Mark]

I just got a cradle like that off ebay , about $50 with shipping.I didn't want to spend the time to make one in the barn next to my cars and it to cold to fool with out side. happy to see you got what you wanted Rich.

[gasman826]

If I get wordy again, run the risk of a blow up.  These are available on line and that picture was from a eBay listing...Buy it NOW for $38.00.  Shipping and casters are more than the cradle.  You could buy a cheap engine stand for less.  But this cradle bolts to the engine mount bosses and not any of the bell house bolts.  This cradle balances and rolls around great with only a bare block or a fully built 460 with a C6 or Lakewood and TKO600.  I use it regularly.  Even if I'm taking a bare block to the machine guy, I bolt the cradle on, load it in the Suburban, and strap it down.  I rolled my completely assembled 460 with bellhousing, flywheel, clutch, and transmission around with ease.  And I had something to secure it down for transport without hooking to the alternator bracket.

[Ecode70D]

    " I just got back from the DMV, and it's the same way here. No plates until the car has been repaired and trailered to an inspection point, where they would issue a "passed inspection" type of certificate which is brought to the dmv with title application."

      The salvage certificate makes things tough around here also when you fix one up    It's not fun.  This could be the deciding factor in repairing the new car and using the engine and transmission in the 57. 

       I'm sure that You are going to make the right decision.
       

[RICH MUISE]

Jay...from what I remember about Massachussetts, everything there is made difficult. By far the western states are much more resident friendly. Maybe I won't get a lot of western state'rs (if that's a word) to agree with that, but the ones that don't, I'd hazard a guess they are not folks who moved away from the east coast.

[CableguyJJS3]

Congrats on the deal, thats a good price for a complete low mileage car. Couple of things to be aware of. Exhaust, not sure what your planning to use, but the Mark has a cat attached to the passenger manifold. Mustang Cobra manifolds should work in the chassis, or you can get a set of Mustang Cobra tube headers and reconfigure them to fit.

For the trans, the one and ONLY modification is a thing called the J-Mod. A google search will net you plenty of answers for that, but that is the only one you should look at. Also your best investment in that drivetrain will be a stall convertor and a set of rear gears. DOHC 4.6's arent known for their low end torque. Check out this guy, his name is Alan, he is extremely knowledgable and has more experience with these drivetrains than most anyone else. http://www.dirtydogperformance.com/ A call to him will answer any questions you have on getting the trans, rear gear and convertor and making it all work in your car.

I've built a couple of 4.6's, one of them being a DOHC Cobra motor, you'll enjoy the top end power and that aluminum block. Nothing really tricky about them, they are pretty easy motors. Nothing like a pushrod motor, but easy once you know what all your looking at.

Another thing to consider, is those engines are fairly easy to convert to coil on plug and eliminate the coil packs and plug wires, really cleans things up underhood. Also the Mark has an oil pan that is unique to the Mark. It has a kick out on the side of the pan near the starter that gives it an extra quart of capacity. Not sure it will fit in the frame of a 57, but a Mustang or a T-bird pan will  physically bolt to the motor and might give you some more clearance. Just need to match the pickup to whatever pan you use. So you have some options to consider.

Good luck with that swap, but any 4.6 specific questions, let me know, I'm pretty well versed in them, or I know all the best guys to ask. Congrats again!!

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks for all the info. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions down the road as I get into it. I thought the only oil pan that will work on it is a ('95)continental. That will change it to a front sump to clear the crossmember and steering. I don't know about the Mustang or T-bird oil pans. Are they front sump? Also, the mustang oem cobra exhaust manifolds are in the plans.
The J mod for the tranny is the one I read about, I think on the Mark viii forumn.
I'll check into the coil on plug conversion...I'd like to keep this as clean as posible, not that this is going to be an easy engine to do it with.
For the rear gears, I'm planning on the stock 9" with 3:50 trac loc..don't want a speed demon, just a healthy driver that won't tear up the engine cruising the freeways at 75.
Thanks again, Rich

[Ford Blue blood]

Rich the Continental pan is the one you need.  The 99 - 04 Cobra exhaust are close to the same but I know for sure the 99s will work.  There is a thread on here that has the swap and many of the stock Ford stuff that will make it much easier to "bolt in".

[CableguyJJS3]

Yes, the T-Bird, Mustang and Mark pans are all rear sump. If you need a front sump, and the Continental is it, then yeah it should bolt on. I know the bellhousing bolt pattern on the 4.6 block in a Continental is different than the rest, FWD to RWD, but I believe the rest is the same. Just be sure to get the pickup as well, I'm certain that would be different. Also there is a difference in 2 cam and 4 cam oil pumps, but the Continental is a 4 cam, but you might need to oil pump off that motor as well, somthing to look at.

The 3.50 gear will work, but I think you might find it a bit light for any kind of off the line motion. But if that's not your concern then you should be ok. I had 3.55's in my T-bird for awhile, and while they performed well, the switch up to 3.73's was well worth the effort. And I had a buddy that had a Mark and he ran 4.11's as a daily driver car and he loved it. RPM's got a bit high on cruising, probably 2500 or so, but his gas mileage didnt really suffer any, something to keep in mind as I believe the weights are about the same between both cars. Also keeping in mind in my 4.6 car I have made 2000 mile roadtrips numerous times cruising at 2500 and never had any issue and still pulling 25+ mpg's on the highway.

The coil on plug conversion is extremely simple from the wiring aspect of things, the only hard part you might find would be the valve covers. The plug wire covers are different than the coil on plug covers, but they still aren't that hard to find. There is a guy who sells conversion harnesses, but to me they are expensive, little more than $150 or close to it. I made my own, not hard and all you need is the plug ends and some quality time with a soldering gun.

Your new best friends will be svtperformance.com They are a mostly 99-04 Cobra forum, and you can find alot of good deals and info over there to that motor. The Mark motor and Cobra motors are virtually identical, save intakes and exhaust manifolds. There is a guy in North Carolina who does porting on stock exhaust manifolds if you want to get a bit better breathing out of them. I know a guy that was running a 670rwhp 2 cam car with those ported manifolds. Not sure what your goals would be, but I would be certain that helping an engine breathe is a good thing. I can't think of his name, but if your interested, I can find out the info and get it to you.

Don't hesitate with the questions, I've read nearly everything there is on that engine, and made plenty of mistakes, lol. I'm glad to help in any way I can. Good luck.

[57 Ford Kustom]

The knowledge and resources from the Guy's on this site never cease to amaze me!
Thanks,
Tim

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks again...Ditto what Tim said. I'm going to check out both the websites you mentioned later this evening, and print out this thread so I've got it later.
Rich