As any gearhead will tell you, increasing horsepower and improving performance can be an addictive scenario. Unfortunately, it can also become very expensive. This video, from the Stay Tuned Crew, documents how these guys bought a cheap car (rear-engine V8) and inexpensively built it up into an 11-second quarter-mile street sleeper. Check it out.

The car, a 1998 Lincoln Mk VIII, was discovered online. After a bit of recreational haggling, the rear-wheel drive coupe (118k miles) was purchased for just over $1000. That’s a good start since the Mk VIII came equipped with a 4.6-liter 32-valve V8 motor, an automatic transmission and an 8.8-inch differential.

Going right to work, the guys at Stay Tuned pulled out the air box and most of the air conditioning system. Cool a/c is often sacrificed when you want to go faster.

With a $128 online turbo in-hand, these grease monkeys proceeded to fabricate pipes which route engine exhaust into the turbine. The turbocharger was mounted, and the inlet pipe was connected to the throttle body using a sweet adapter from ON3 Turbo. Without this adapter, the oval-shaped throttle body would’ve been a real problem headache.

From there it’s off to the dyno. Knuckle busters simply must know how much power they are putting to the pavement.

Not satisfied with the cheap turbo option, the guys located a $300 ON3 turbo to further upgrade the project. Despite going with the turbo upgrade, the project still came in at less than $4500 – car included. I think you will appreciate the results.

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