That's a used 76mm turbo that you'e looking at. It helps propel the 4300+ pound behemoth down the strip in the 11.80's.

Usually when you think of a Crown Vic, you’re instantly reminded of what car you need to keep an eye out for in your rearview mirror. The only saving grace was that they’re all big, slow, heavy boats that can’t get out of their own way.

Sure, the later years packed a 250hp 2V 4.6L mod motor, but in a car that weighs over 4300lbs, it isn’t exactly something to consider as your first choice into the realm of high-performanc iron. But that wouldn’t stop some people. 

True hot-rodders like a challenge, and prefer to take the road less traveled by building some completely ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary. For example, when LS1Tech member “CameronVic” had the mod motor go out on his 1999 ‘Vic, he could have just as easily replaced it with another. But he didn’t.

What he did instead was go LS, and instead of flipping through a catalog or web searching, he hopped into his pickup truck and went on a junkyard crawl. He found a nice 5.3L out of a wrecked Chevy Suburban, and rather than throwing on a set of headers and an air intake, he chose to do a budget turbo install and catch everyone by surprise.

The snail in question is a Master Power 76mm unit, and he sprinkled the 5.3L with parts like an ARP head bolt kit, and Lunati springs, and a Ford Blue intake manifold just for fun. The turbo 5.3L runs on E85, and easily pulls down high 11-second quarter mile passes. It’s an incredible sleeper on a budget, sort of in a similar way that reminds of us of the Fairmont we featured a few weeks back. Man, this car’s so sleepy it needs a Red Bull.

Follow the Crown Vic’s progress over at LS1Tech.com in its build thread.