81 ford granada marquis (fitting the engine)

At the end of March 2020 I drove the Ford Granada (for the last time) into the workshop, next time the car is driven it would be the Ford Granada Marquis.

The engine/transmission removed

Once in the workshop I set about , pulling the engine and transmission by first removing the bonnet, radiator, exhaust, propshaft and all wiring, hoses and mounting bolts.  I first lowered the transmission out using a transmission jack, then lifted the engine out leaving a gaping hole.

Fitting the Mercury Marquis engine

Now it was time to try the Mercury engine in the hole left by the original Pinto engine.

Several problems emerged when trying to fit the engine.

  • The brake booster was too big and would have to be moved or a smaller one fitted
  • The steering coulumn shaft needed to go straight through bank two exhaust manifold
  • The battery tray I was hoping to save would have to come out
  • The left engine mounting would be right in the middle of the power steering rack pinion when fitted

Oh well no one said this was going to be easy.

The engine ended up sitting in the engine bay quite nicely with the only modification being removing the battery tray, all that now would be required is to make some engine mountings on the front crossmember and later with the “new” power steering rack installed a little massaging of the oil pan to increase the clearance slightly, as you can see we ended up with a perfect 1/2 to 3/4 inch (13 to 19mm) gap between the bonnet and engine.