What is a 98' Continental's Tranmission rated to handle?

[godspunk32]

Hi all-
I'm a lurker here from time to time. I have a 1998 Mercury Sable LS with the 3.0 Duratec, and recently, we had someone on the Taurus Car Club of America swap a 1995 4.6L Continental motor into his 1999 cam-failure SHO.

He swapped the entire subframe from the 1995, and had trouble with the suspension because of the change in spindles, lower control arms, etc. I just picked up a motor from a 98' Conti with 90K on it, that I want to build up to about 315 HP/TQ. I'm going to start searching for headers, intakes, etc, but before I do anything, I want to know what the AX4N in the Conti can handle. I know that the on in the Duratec Taurus can really only take about 220 lb/ft before you start having trouble with it. The Lincoln's AX4N has to be beefier...I plan on getting a parts car and taking everything from the subframe, but I want to build up the transmission before it goes in. I have a trans-go shift kit and upgraded valve body in mind, but what else should I consider to get the AX4N up to snuff?

Thanks in advance!

JR

 

[purelux]

Not sure but I can tell you they definatly bank on that these cars won't be pushed very often. It seems just like on the sho's taking up x amount of room and not requiring much reengineering was more important than power handling. Personally I think if the tranny is fed good mercon V compatible synthetic fluid. As well as the computer being tuned for performance more than smooth shifts (less slip) you would probably be ok. The last redo of the conti was up to I believe 275 or 280 hp stock.