3.8L

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:lol: not to knock anyone but when i see people talk about putting twin turbos on a v6 it just makes me laugh everytime. Get a GT and TT it and then we've actually got sometime worth dealing with. Keep the sixers as the DD and get a nice GT. end of story.



Justin at VMP tuning has a stock 3.8L with twin turbos pushing over 400rwhp. that's quite a bit of power for not alot of money.
 
Playing with the 4.6 always seemed way expensive to me.

I can't help but laugh at all these people with thousands of dollars in NA mods running mid to low 13s. I ran into a guy with a 2000GT. He had long tubes, full exhaust, ported heads, cams, a tune, intake.. blah blah blah. Must have been at least 5-6k in mods... we ran (me in the 2.3) and I walked away from him so fast it wasn't even funny. I seriously had 6-8 carlengths running from about 30 to 70mph. We stopped and talked for a while, which was fun, always fun to talk with another stang guy who's cool. And my 2.3 is nearly all factory parts, with more boost and some home-porting. He said he's run quick as 13.5@102 at the track.
 
Wow that woke up the V6 forum.. don't forget you can get the 3.8 pumped up naturally from places like Super Six Motorsports; they claim you can pick up from 75-100+ horses with cams, ported heads, etc. Although, that won't be cheap, and the original question was for cheap horsepower.
I'd say start with dual exhaust, cold air intake, T-lok and 3.73 gears, and see how that feels. You won't be eating GT's, but you should feel a good difference.
 
Brought the head into machine shop today and its going to cost 45$ to get the head shaved. Im going to start off by getting it back together with a supercharger, dual exaust off a GT and also rear end off a GT with 3.73 gears in it. Also im going to get a shift kit and some either cobra or gt rims with somewhat low profile tires :)... i should get the head back late day tomorrow! will keep posted.
 
Someone correct me if im wrong but you should have both heads shaved at the same time... not one shaved and not the other.

It will bump the compression ratio a bit I beleive, dont think you want one side higher than the other.

Also, make sure you change the head gaskets now as cheap insurance.
 
yeah, if you are shaving one head, you'll definately want to shave the other an equal amount. Never take the head off without replaceing the headgaskets. They physically crush to seal and likely won't seal again.

Things to consider for the supercharger: Don't shave the heads anymore than is needed to make the head flat. You don't want more compression if you are going to boost it. Also, you'll have to tune it in some fashion. This means adding fuel and taking out timing so it is a safe tune. Keep in mind the factory supercoupe probably got forged pistons (I'm no supercoupe expert, but I am pretty sure they did or should have). Of course, forged is much stronger and will tolerate a few pings if your tune isn't dead on or you get a bad tank of gas.

I've seen some impressive results from running a single Holset turbo on the 3.8 (such as the HY35 from the dodge desiels). Something to consider. :D

I've got a 2.3 turbo. I origionally put a turbo on the NA engine... it had cast pistons and rings. It held together fine and ran strong, but one day getting on the onramp the vacume reference popped off the FRP (went lean). I didn't hear a single ping, but I broke both the top and 2nd compression rings in one cylinder.

Just as your case, it might be easier to just swap in the entire supercoupe engine with computer too. It is beefier internally and already has bigger injectors. It will save you money and a rebuild in the future.

That's all I've got for ya. I really do recommend taking the whole supercoupe engine instead of just the supercharger.

There is definately something fun about making more power with less cubes/expectations. :nice: If I go out and run a 13.X in my 2.3, not a single person will say it should be faster or I'm doing something wrong. I'll honestly be disappointed if I can't get a 12 at better than 106mph this spring though.
 
haha yeah, it gonna be fun when done. I found a SC thunderbird and going to look at it this fri or sat! i want to do a whole swap much easier ! But as far as the head goes its not enugh to make a big diff, i talked with the guy there who builds engines for a living and he said it wont hurt it the amount he has to shave it. Anyways i dont think im going to keep this engine just somethign to keep me going untill i get a SC. Keep the advise going, im loving it ! =D
 
Keep in mind, shaving the head not only increases the compression ratio, but just working one head alone will make the intake seal at an odd ball angle. I slight cut (.005-.015) on the one head might be alright, but any more than that and you might want to consider doing the other head just for piece of mind sake.

.....and the Supercoupe short blocks are tougher all the way though. Crank, rods, pistons, block. I've heard of guys doing complete Supercoupe engine swaps (blower and all) but I've not seen a write up on it yet. I have on the other hand seen or heard about plenty of those swaps cut short half way though, because the owners hadn't anticipated the room needed to make the factory hardware of the MN12 chassis fit into the little Fox4/SN95 engine compartment. There's a lot of intercooler pipeing to contend with and custom fabrication needed, so keep that in mind before you decide to dig too deep into the project.
 
And I see no point in modding my V8 mustang. It's a nice daily driver. Nothing more. :rlaugh:

Personally, I wouldn't mess with the 3.8. It's not that strong and doesn't move air very well from the factory. However, if I were going to play with a 3.8, I'd get a supercoupe long block, sell the blower and buy a Holset turbo for it. Give it a nice intercooler and 18lbs of boost. Full boost by 2500 and enough turbo to make 450+rwhp if you open up the heads and intake.

However, I'd agree there is no point to try to make NA power with the 3.8.

I see no point in modding a V6. Just my opinion. I own one. It's a daily driver. Nothing more.

*gazes lovingly at my two fox 5.0s sitting in my garage* :D
 
I see no point in modding a V6. Just my opinion. I own one. It's a daily driver. Nothing more.

For the most part, I agree with you, but I think a Supercoupe engine swap would be pretty cool. And 230hp/330tq would but many a stock or even mildly modified V8 powered Fox body or SN95 on the trailer at the track. After that, they're just an inlet upgrade and a pulley swap away from the 12's in such a light car. :nice:
 
I have had a blast having the little extra umph in my 98 v-6. What I have done is mac underdrive pulleys, mac cold air intake, dual exhaust conversion with dual exhaust from a 99 GT, and lowering springs. It has been a blast and I have felt a great seat of the pants difference. Is it anything compared to my GT? nope. However, it is not as foolish as some of you seem to think. I am surprised to see many people over from the 5.0 and 4.6 sections, although I realize this was originally posted in the 4.6 section.

I have ran a stock 96 GT and we were even for quite some time. Why are people considering the v-6 such a lost cause? high 14's and over 200 ft lbs of torque stock... must suck. Its either a 110 hp 90 ft lb torque honda or the sixer. Go to supersixmotorsports.com for some unbiased and TRUTHFUL information as opposed to opinions. We all know what opinions are like...
 
Well, that being said about opinions, here's mine: :jester:

People who brag about having V8's and say that, "modding V6es is pointless and stupid," are idiots.
You can't fault a 16-25 yr-old for modding a V6. Everyone drives what they can afford(well some don't, but those'll get repo'd :p ), and all car people will mod their cars. Nothing wrong with taking pride in your car.

That said, those that spend thousands of dollars modding V6es to "go V8 hunting" are also idiots. If you have thousands of dollars to blow on stroking and F/I'ing a V6, you have enough to get a V8 project car on the side, or upgrade to a V8. The V8 cars will always have more potential than the 3.8. The only reason to want to build a V6 to beat GT's is just because you can't swallow the times GT owners handed you your ass at stoplights. IMO, get over it and just be proud it was a Mustang that beat you.
It's just like the idiot ricers that talk about 4-bangers beating Mustangs. Really, who cares? Just cause the 15 yr-old Honda their parents gave them got raped by Mustangs on a daily basis, they're gonna spend the rest of their life pouring money into crappy import cars cause they couldn't swallow their pride.
It doesn't make sense for them, and it doesn't make sense for V6 Mustang owners. And V8 Mustang owners that come in here and talk crap, don't help the problem either.
 
Well, that being said about opinions, here's mine: :jester:

People who brag about having V8's and say that, "modding V6es is pointless and stupid," are idiots.
You can't fault a 16-25 yr-old for modding a V6. Everyone drives what they can afford(well some don't, but those'll get repo'd :p ), and all car people will mod their cars. Nothing wrong with taking pride in your car.

That said, those that spend thousands of dollars modding V6es to "go V8 hunting" are also idiots. If you have thousands of dollars to blow on stroking and F/I'ing a V6, you have enough to get a V8 project car on the side, or upgrade to a V8. The V8 cars will always have more potential than the 3.8. The only reason to want to build a V6 to beat GT's is just because you can't swallow the times GT owners handed you your ass at stoplights. IMO, get over it and just be proud it was a Mustang that beat you.
It's just like the idiot ricers that talk about 4-bangers beating Mustangs. Really, who cares? Just cause the 15 yr-old Honda their parents gave them got raped by Mustangs on a daily basis, they're gonna spend the rest of their life pouring money into crappy import cars cause they couldn't swallow their pride.
It doesn't make sense for them, and it doesn't make sense for V6 Mustang owners. And V8 Mustang owners that come in here and talk crap, don't help the problem either.
Well I feel your opinions line up with mine:)