The Marauder board:

BillyGman

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Because of my controversial statements concerning the Marauder board, one of it's vendors, and some of it's members in another thread in this forum that had to be deleted by the administrator here, I had to take a hard look at myself, and make an assessment of what I had written in that thread. And it isn't always easy to be reflective about one's self.

I don't apologize about everything I stated in that thread since there are some things that I feel strongly about, and that I have NOT changed my mind about, and it was about those things in particular that I was trying to give someone here a heads-up about. And so I don't need to re-hash any of that. But what I do regret was that I had mentioned some negative things and weak points about that board, w/out giving credit where it's due by also mentioning the strong points of that same board. And I do believe that every board has it's strong points and weak points including this board as well.

So since I've already mentioned some negative points about the Marauder board in that other thread, I think that it's only fair to Logan, who is the owner of the Marauder board as well as to the other members there to mention it's strong points too. That way nobody here will get the impression that I was implying that the Marauder board is all bad, or that it's worthless. Because make no mistake about it, I NEVER implied that was the case!!!

To anyone here who either owns a Marauder, who is interested in buying one, or who just is curious and wants to learn more about them, let me point you to my list of modifications in my signature below.......

The majority of those modifications have done excellent things for my car and for increasing the car's performance. Some more than others. But the main point I want to make here is if it weren't for the MercuryMarauder.net board, it's owner Logan, many of it's vendors, and it's members, I wouldn't have ever known about any of those modifications, and my Marauder would still be bone stock and turning a weak 15.2 second quartermile ET like it did out of the showroom. The go-fast parts that have transformed my Marauder into the low 12 second rocketship that it is now, I've purchased from the vendors at www.mercurymarauder.net and that was due to the help and recommendations from many of that board's members as well as from Logan himself.

So what I'm telling you is that because I had previously mentioned some negative points, it's only fair to Logan the owner of that board, as well as to the members there also, to point out to you that there are also serious positive points of that board. Just as there are to any board. The only difference is that different boards will have different strong points and weak points. And make no mistake about it, I myself, as well as many other Marauder owners have benefited greatly from frequenting, and being members of the Marauder board. And that's an understatement on my part!!!
 

martyo

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Okay Billy. You are forgiven. But you still have to sit in the corner for another two days. And, you can't play with your guns for a whole month! That ought to be enough of a punishment for you.....

anh.jpg
 

BillyGman

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NO NO PLEASE!!! NOT THAT.....PLEASE NOT THAT!!!!NO GUNS????? That's too harsh of a sentence to bear!!!!!
 

Tallboy

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i never really saw what the big deal was. but, that's because billy is my friend and i have the ability to read between the lines of his posts. i know for a fact it was never his intention to discredit logan or any other member of mercurymarauder.net. there is no tone of voice or inflection on the internet and comments can be easily misconstrued. i think he just wanted to make sure people did their homework before choosing a vendor. no harm done in my eyes, each man is entitled to his opinion. [however, logan does not get the credit he is due for running a first-class site.]

i said it on another board and i'll say it here. you got static with billy? you got static with me. ;-)
 

BillyGman

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tallboy said:
i never really saw what the big deal was. but, that's because billy is my friend and i have the ability to read between the lines of his posts. i know for a fact it was never his intention to discredit logan or any MEMBER of mercurymarauder.net. Comments can be easily misconstrued. I think that he just wanted to make sure that people did their homework before choosing a vendor. no harm done in my eyes, each man is entitled to his opinion. [however, logan does not get the credit he is due for running a first-class site.]

Absolutely......ditto.
 

The Wraith

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tallboy said:
i never really saw what the big deal was. but, that's because billy is my friend and i have the ability to read between the lines of his posts. i know for a fact it was never his intention to discredit logan or any other member of mercurymarauder.net. there is no tone of voice or inflection on the internet and comments can be easily misconstrued. i think he just wanted to make sure people did their homework before choosing a vendor. no harm done in my eyes, each man is entitled to his opinion. [however, logan does not get the credit he is due for running a first-class site.]

QUOTE]


Well said!!! I allways look forward to reading billys threads , just like howard stern i want to read what he's going to say next.and if certain things can't be said on the great mm.net(my 1st home)then maybe they need to be said somewhere else.
 

Tallboy

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Kenny H said:
Were you at Atco last Sat Dec 4th?

I'll chime in here until Billy sees this-yes that was him. There was another Marauder there owned by and raced by a friend of his. Both cars are very quick.
 

BillyGman

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Yes Kenny, that was me. But as it was also mentioned, there was one other Marauder there too (John's). John and I raced twice, and in the first race when we both hooked-up well, I got the jump on him, and I was in the lead for most of the race because my 4.56 gears (as compared to his 4.10's) but John caught up to me and beat me by 56 thousandths of a second due to the 3 lbs of boost that he's running over and above what my car has. It was a great race, and definately the closest one I've ever been in. We both ran 12.1 ET's for that race. In the second race he beat me by about one tenth of a second, but both cars were spinning off the line all over the place for that one. The track that day was very inconsistent, and I've never seen Atco that bad before. My best run was a 12.007 (trap speed was 114 MPH).

BTW, did you have your 98 Firebird there?
 

Kenny H

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I haven't updated my signature as I don't post on here much. I sold the LS1 Formula last spring. My only 'toy' at the moment is an '86 GT that has some bolt-ons, not much to speak of. My wife picked up a blue '04 GTO which is what I raced that Saturday. I talked to one of the Maurader owners as soon as I got there. As soon as we pulled up, someone said, "I want to race that guy...." motioning to the GTO. Kinda funny that its a bit of a target. For what the GTO is, it ran well but its no drag strip terrior. Its a 100% bone stock auto that ran 13.5 @ 103 MPH that day. I doubt we are going to do much to it. I've been down that road before in my LS1 Formula and it gets pricey at times. If anything I'll just do a torque convertor, cold-air, and tuning. With drag radials that should get the car into the high 12s in good air. I don't want to go any further then that....

The Maurader that I looked at seemed to have some sort of roots type huffer. It reminded me of the older TBird SCs, perhaps an Eaton. When I first looked at one of the cars, the owner asked me what I figured he'd run and I guessed high 13s. Thats usually the average from what I've seen from a power-adder Maurader. Generally the cars make a lot of power but don't get out of the hole well. 4200lbs is a lot of mass to get moving. Low 12s is incredible though, I'm sure it leaves a lot of people stunned.

Is your motor totally stock? Is that 4.6 identical to the Mach 1? How quick would a bolt-on Maurader be, lets say 4.30s, torque convertor, exhaust, and cold-air?

I have not driven one but I do like the cars....
 

BillyGman

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Keny, yes, that was me that you spoke to when you pulled up. It was good talking to you and to your wife. She seems to be one of the few women who is really into cars. That's really cool. The one thing that I really like about GTO's is that LS1 engine. My Marauder engine is completely stock other than the S/Cer, and headers. And you're correct, the S/Cer which came with a complete kit specifically designed for the Marauder from Trilogy Motorsports is an Eaton Supercharger, however it's their largest model (#M112). the T-bird ones were the smaller M90 models. They were 90 cubic inches as compared to the one I have which is 112 cubic inches. The M112 is also the same basicly as the one in the 03 and 04 Cobras, however for the Marauder, it has a longer snout and the kit comes with a special alternator bracket which wouldn't be required for the Cobra. The braket relocates the alternator.The intake on the Marauder engine is also on the driver's side unlike the Cobra which is on the passenger side.

last year I ran my car w/out the S/cer. I had the gears, chip, headers, and a stall speed of 3,000 RPM's and in the cold whether I turned five 13.5 second ET's. The car was good for 13.7's in 70 degree whether.

As far as I know the Marauder engine is the same as the mach I engine. There are a number of guys on the Marauder board who have Trilogy S/cer equipped Marauder who are getting well into the 12's.So the Trilogy S/Cer kit reduces our ET's from about 1.6 to 2.0 seconds.The other Marauder that waas there which I raced against also has the Trilogy/Eaton roots Supercharger. Here's a link to our timeslips data base on the Marauder board. there's also an entire forum there devoted to Trilogy Motorsports. I think my car is in 4th place in the timeslpis list. I'm really in third place though since the guy in first place doesn't even own a Marauder.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/timeslips.php?
 
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Kenny H

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How much does that kit go for? The wife likes the Mauraders, we actually did look at them a while back, though it just didn't make the most sense for us at the time.

What does your car dyno? I'm guessing about 450 RWHP? It runs incredibly well for such a large car....

What about bolt-on Mauraders, how quick would a geared, torque converter, and exhaust Maurader be?
 

BillyGman

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Kenny, read my last post again, because I just updated it with more info. The Trilogy S/Cer kit costs $6K and it's worth every penny. It will add 160 RWHP to the marauder, and that's w/the standard 9.5 PSI pulley that comes w/the kit (which is the one that I have). Marauder dyno at 240 RWHP in stock form, and my car dynos at 400 RWHP. But keep in mind that PEAK HP doesn't tell the whole story. centrifugal S/Cers will often yield more PEAK HP up high in the RPM scale, but the Eaton roots type S/Cers will give you better low-end grunt (which is precisely what you need with a big heavy car liike the Marauder) and will also give you more mid-range RPM torque.

This Supercharger kit is no joke. It comes w/every single last bolt that is needed for the installation. Infact me and a few other maraiders owners have done the installations ourselves w/this Trilogy kit. It also comes with the best and most specific installation manual tyhat I've ever used in my entire life. there's nothing universal nor generaic about this installation manual. it even has color pics on 90% of the pages of the exact Marauder parts that will be worked on. The manual is for Marauders specifically, and nothing else.

Also keep in mind that Trilogy Motorsports has sold 58 of these S/Cer kits to marauder owners so far. I was #24. The guy i raced at the track was kit #10. Trilogy Motorsports is an engineering company that has worked closely w/Ford, and that has a CEO who used to work for Ford (Jerry Barnes). They employ 90 people including their own engineers. It's an international company, and is by no means a fly-by-night, nor mom & Pop business. here's a link to their website, and if you e0mail or call Jerry barnes, he will send you a PDF file of the Trilogy installation manual before you even make a purchase.

http://www.trilogyintl.com/ if you have any other questions, feel free to ask in here, or you can send me a PM. I've put 11,000 hard miles on my Marauder since I've installed the S/Cer kit, and I have absolutely no complaints. And the kit has not effected the driveability of this car at all. Infact I drive it every day to work, and it's my only car. I've beaten three Camaro SS cars, and all three owners were shocked. One was a 98 camaro, one a 2000, and the other a 2001. The 98 had ported cylinder heads, a bigger cam, and headers too. All were LS1 engine cars.
 
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Kenny H

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Even just a bolt-on Maurader would be really neat. I am selling the '86 GT as I drive it so little, I can't justify keeping it. The car is pristine, I hope to get about $7k for it. We are moving to NC, after the move I hope to add a toy for myself. I'd really consider one, I'm sure they make awesome highway cars, real comfortable etc....

Is the insurance dirt cheap as well or does it fall under a high performance tier?
 

Silverstrike

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Kenny H said:
Is the insurance dirt cheap as well or does it fall under a high performance tier?


Mines rated as a Grand Marq GS on mine and its cheaper than the vehicle it replaced a 1999 Olds Alero. And the Alero was even a 4 cyl to.

On the number scale its rated as a 14 vs the 15 for the Alero.
 
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BillyGman

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Kenny, if you expect to find a new Marauder, then you better not waste any time, because they're getting scarce. especially the black ones. I don't know if you're aware of this, but 04 was the last production year for the Marauder. And last I heard, there was still a $5,000 rebate for the ones that are leftover on the dealer lots. Which ofcourse can be applied to the purchase price of the car. Last month there were some dealers letting them go for as little as $22K but I think that those type of deals will be difficult to find now. You'll likely be fortunate to find a new leftover 04 now for $26K as far as I know. But that would still be a great deal considering their sticker price is $35K.
 
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