My 1987 Mercury Colony Park

[87GrandMarq]

Ive heard that runner is pretty bent, I do have an ho upper on it so thats an increase but I still have the lopo throttle body and egr spacer on it for now. What ratio rockers do these engines have from the factory? Is it 1.5 or 1.6?


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[Tiggie]

1.6 stock.

I think the only real difference in the lo vs HO upper is the size of the opening for the inlet.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

So I opened up the Mark VII PCM to inspect the capacitors. They all looks great, however I’m actually concerned about the board:

I can’t tell if the protective coating is doing that cracking (still seems squishy to me) or if the printed circuits are junk. Hopefully it’s not the latter. No idea if this is what parked that car before it wound up in the yard. The Mark VII it came out of was last tagged in ‘08.

Also, I’m just shopping around on the remaining components. I see Melling makes a HO camshaft under SYB51, but has anyone tried it? It also covers cars that would have had the Cobra cam (like ‘92 T-Bird), so I don’t want to grab something that won’t play nice. If anything, I’ll get a correct used one off of eBay. Not exactly something I feel like gambling on working right with speed density.

[gadget73]

Looks like cracks in the conformal coating to me. If there were going to be cracks, it would be in the board itself, not just the copper. Honestly the copper is usually forgiving enough that the board can crack and the foil will remain intact.

[87GrandMarq]

I wouldnt buy that melling cam due to the price


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[Kodachrome Wolf]

I wouldnt buy that melling cam due to the price


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I was only asking about it in case I don't pick up a decent condition used one. I'm not trying to get outside of the functional range of speed density and just want it to run smoothly with everything installed. That'd be a lot of work just to find out it doesn't play nice with the car.

In other news, I also got a set of 1.7 roller rockers for a decent price. Figured it can't hurt at this point going forwards.

[87GrandMarq]

My 1987 Mercury Colony Park

I was only asking about it in case I don't pick up a decent condition used one. I'm not trying to get outside of the functional range of speed density and just want it to run smoothly with everything installed. That'd be a lot of work just to find out it doesn't play nice with the car.

In other news, I also got a set of 1.7 roller rockers for a decent price. Figured it can't hurt at this point going forwards.

Oh then by all means. Its a shame it cost so much for a stock grind cam. Even the crap on ebay is expensive. Im with you on trying to keep it speed density and not get too crazy but I personally wouldnt spend 200 bucks on a stock replacement cam. Im considering it though since I cant find any cheap used cams. Maybe even an exploder cam, hmm.

Im not sure if you can use those 1.7s with our flat top pistons. You might be able to but check before starting the car.

Another thing Im curious about is how hard is it to swap to a roller cam? Would it just need the dogbone, followers and pushrods?

Edit: What about the ES1217R cam? Its under 50 bucks on rock auto and its specs are close to that of an ho cam. The intake duration is lower than that of an ho cam but otherwise its close. Im not an expert on the subject so I dont know what kind of affect adjusting the intake and exhaust duration relative to one another would do. It is supposed to be a towing cam so Im assuming its that way to lessen the intake flow to promote low end torque?

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[Kodachrome Wolf]

Late ‘85 and up is roller cam, so no need to figure out a conversion there.

Regarding the pistons, I do have valve reliefs with no center dishing. To my knowledge it did get a replacement short block, so it easily could have wound up with whatever garden variety pistons were available on the market. No idea what type of pistons were supposed to be stock in these.

[87GrandMarq]

The blocks are roller capable but we still have flat tappet cams unfortuneately. Not a big deal as the parts for the swap are cheap if that is in fact all thats needed.

Do you have a bore scope? Its likely its another stock short block but Id verify by looking at the pistons. We have cast, flat top pistons from the factory so not many cams will work due to piston to valve contact.


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[Tiggie]

The blocks are roller capable but we still have flat tappet cams unfortuneately. Not a big deal as the parts for the swap are cheap if that is in fact all thats needed.

Do you have a bore scope? Its likely its another stock short block but Id verify by looking at the pistons. We have cast, flat top pistons from the factory so not many cams will work due to piston to valve contact.


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86+ is roller for the Box 302.

Regarding the cam, I was able to find a stock HO grind on corral.net for $40 shipped couple years back. Supposedly has 42k on it. Then again, stock Fox parts are exploding in value. Saw a stock catted H-pipe for $1350. It was NOS but still...

[87gtVIC]

86+ is roller for the Box 302.

Regarding the cam, I was able to find a stock HO grind on corral.net for $40 shipped couple years back. Supposedly has 42k on it. Then again, stock Fox parts are exploding in value. Saw a stock catted H-pipe for $1350. It was NOS but still...

I seen that as well. The price has dropped significantly but it is still UP there. Funny I put a NOS catted H pipe on my pile a few years back. Who knew I should have saved it for stupid money.


Zack.....how much of a rush are you in. I have an HO stick that came in the rebuilt block I purchased for my car back in 2014/15. I pulled it and stored it. I may have a gig coming up in Atlanta (mid august) and am not opposed to just dropping it off. You let me know.

[gadget73]

I doubt 1.7's are a problem. The only time you really risk valves meeting the piston is with long duration cams, and the rockers don't add any real amount of duration. I also don't know that they add enough extra lift to justify their installation really. Use them if you have them but I wouldn't spend a lot of money on them. Put that money into a better intake instead.

[87GrandMarq]

My 1987 Mercury Colony Park

Hmm thats news to me. So we have roller cams?


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[Kodachrome Wolf]

Hmm thats news to me. So we have roller cams?


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Yup. Pickup 302s are the weird ones that kept flat tappets up until 1993, finally switching to roller in 1994.

Zack.....how much of a rush are you in. I have an HO stick that came in the rebuilt block I purchased for my car back in 2014/15. I pulled it and stored it. I may have a gig coming up in Atlanta (mid august) and am not opposed to just dropping it off. You let me know.

Just slowly gathering parts and having them ready, so I'm not rushing to acquire everything.

If you're down this way, I'd certainly be more than happy to buy that HO stick off you.

[87GrandMarq]

Ok Ive always known for them to be flat tappet, you learn something new every day


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