Tbird vs Stang

[parrish5o]

I LOVE my Mustang and it has been my faithful ride for the past 10 years. But now its time to retire it from daily duty. Can you blame me, it gets 13 mpg and only runs on premium(thats not counting having to run race fuel on the bottle). I usually try to ride my R1 to work and school which is a 50 mile round trip and I am tired of getting caught in the rain. I just purchased a 97 Thunderbird with a 4.6 to handle my daily commute. It rides really well compared to my Stang and keeps me dry but this is not really a fun car. I did not plan on any mods on this car but I just can't help it. I have already installed the usual K&N filter and hollowed out the cats as well as put on a pair of borla mufflers. It's a little better now but still not enough. I know there is always N20 but I would rather keep this one off the gas. Does anyone know where I can find info about a mild turbo kit for this car? I know there is not much demand for performance parts for a Thunderbird but there is got to be some company that makes aftermarket parts for this thing.

 

[248a]

If Gearbanger 101 doesn't reply to this thread, my suggestion would be to PM him.

Now for my unprofessional speculation. I'm pretty sure the throttle body and everything connected to it is reverse from the mustang. Other than that it should be the exact same engine as whats in the 4.6L mustangs in 96 and 97. There's quite a decent selection of aftermarket parts for them.

I'm sure if you even upgraded the ring and pinon to a 3.55 set it would be a huge improvement without a loss of highway mileage. On the plus side, your city mileage might even improve if you stay out of the pedal

Also, considering it's an NPI 4.6L, until you do something about the cams at least, IMO there's really no point investing much money in bolt on parts, but if you're considering FI, I'd really look into H/C to make the most of the setup.

 

[BurningRubber]

Yep... if you are mechanically inclined then I am sure you would be really pleased with a full PI (99-04 GT motors are PI) heads/cam/intake swap. If you do it yourself it's usually pretty reasonable cost wise.

Gears will help out too, as well as a higher stall converter. All that adds up $ wise though.

 

[parrish5o]

Is this really exactly the same 4.6 that is in the early modular Mustangs? If so this will be easier than I anticipated. With the exhaust mods so far it sounds just like the average stock Mustang with aftermarker mufflers but it feels much weaker than any 96-97 GT I have ever drove. The motor is in good shape, it only has 80k miles on it but im sure it's much heavier than a Mustang. I always thought the Tbird had a toned down version of the Mustang 4.6 but I could be wrong.

 

[BurningRubber]

Yes it is the same 4.6. The "toned down" part is in the tune and exhaust setup I would imagine, but I don't think they were considerably down on power from the Mustangs of the same year.

It should be a Romeo engine, so you best bet for PI swap parts will be an 01-04 Romeo engine. Windsor parts will work and swap over, but there are several smaller issues to overcome. Some correct me if I am wrong on that, but I beleive the T-Bird's got the Romeo engines also.

 

[ErikTheBeast]

You may want to check out , TCCoA Forums - Powered by vBulletin if you havnt already. Its a thunderbird and cougar forum with alot of good info. Before I bought my mustang I was going to buy a 97 t-bird and build it up and id still like to do it someday.

 

[parrish5o]

You may want to check out , TCCoA Forums - Powered by vBulletin if you havnt already. Its a thunderbird and cougar forum with alot of good info. Before I bought my mustang I was going to buy a 97 t-bird and build it up and id still like to do it someday.

Wow, loads of info on this site. Thats what I have been looking for. Thanks dude!

 

[ErikTheBeast]

Glad I could help , that site really showcases some of the potential a T-bird has. Plenty of info on the J-mod and my favorite mod of how to convert hubs/axles to use mustang wheels.

 

[LaserSVT]

Where the hell is Brian?

I have a Mark and its similar to the Tbird. Its my DD and its quite lazy to drive. You shocks and suspension stuff are different but all the engine stuff is almost identical. Brian really knows them well though and should be here soon

 

[parrish5o]

Okay, I have another little tidbit for you guys to ponder. I have a 32v 4.6 and the trans from an 03 Cobra sitting in my garage I purchased from a buddy of mine a few weeks back. My goal is to hold out long enough to get out of school (right now I don't have the time or money to take on a project that big) and wedge it in my 67 Mustang. I had to almost empty my savings account just to buy this motor and trans and it is my dream to have an antique Stang with the high strung growl of a cammer but just out of curosity how easy would it be to put the 32v in my Tbird.

 

[Winters98GT]

I'd probably hold out till you get out of school, unless you can't resist.

The Tbird is a bit harder to make go fast than a stang. A few guys on here, such as JL, have gone real fast NA, but it takes a lot. Brian, our local Mod is a good guy to talk to on Forced induction on tbirds and cougars.

Are you doing the labor?

 

[scupking]

Get your self some 3.73 gears and it will be like an all new car (much faster acceleration) and still good MPG. Heck I get about 25 mpg on the highway with 3.73s on my 01gt and they are night and day from the stock 3.27 gears.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Wow...how did I miss this thread?

Yeah, there's plenty that can be done the '96-'97 T-Birds. The engine is essentially identical to that of the '96-'98 Mustang. If feels a little slower because as BurningRubber already stated, the tune and exhaust sytem are slightly more restrictive (205hp vs. 215hp) That and the fact that the Bird clocks in at over 3,700lbs.

My car is a little more on the extreme end mods wise (there are details and video's in the link in my signature), but its hardly as far or as fast as you're able to take them. My car has an impressive list of mods, but they were unfortunately performed in anticipation of a much larger blower kit than the one that I went with. The company I bought it from went out of business right at the time I was ready to put their "Race Kit" on, so I had to settle for the street kit they still had sitting on the shelf.

At 410hp/465lb ft of torque, it still no slouch, but I could have easily gotten away without all of the exhaust mods, ignition and fuel system upgrades, ported heads, or forged short block and still made nearly the same amount of power.

If you'll check out the power adder thread over at TCCOA, you'll see that one or two guys have actually adopted the Tork Tech kit for their car. I believe blown96bird has an ongoing progress thread with pictures and details of the install.

If a power adder isn’t something that’s in the immediate future, keep in mind the car will accept all the same mods as a ’96-’04 Mustang will. That includes full PI swap. The 3.73 gears are a good idea. Your '97 will have 3.27's in it from the factory, but because of the nearly 27" tall tire our cars have, it makes them feel like 3.08's.

Another member on this site you might want to PM would be TGJ . He’s got a pretty impressive grasp of these cars as well and may have a different route for quick ET’s than my own.

 

[parrish5o]

Dude, thats one nasty Cougar and one heck of a sleeper. I'm sure its a fun ride. I doubt I will ever take mine that far. Seems like I'm starting to spread myself too thin between projects as it is. My GT and any major mods to the Tbird are probably going to be on the back burner although the bird will have a set of gears soon. If its as cheap and easy of a mod as it was in the Stang I can't resist.

 

[Jacob_Royer]

My 93 v6 bird runs 8.1's in the 1/8th all day and gets 26/28mpg! Plus it will rape my mustang pretty badly... Oops forgot to mention its a sc The mustang has actually been quite a let down after owning a sc for the last few years. NPI sucks! ive done the PI intake a CAI and catback on the stang and it still feels gutless to me. Its got the 3.27 gears too. T-bird is a lot better ride for a long commute! i get sick of the stang after beating around for about 4 days! 102miles a day 7 days a week gets old fast!