[scruffman]

ok.. I know you can go from 4 to 8, but whay of 4 to 6?? is that an option?? would it require more work than the swap to the turbo 4?? my goal isn't mega hp, but I do want more torqe. 160 isn't much but 220 tq is nice for a car this small. I also want some good milage with gas.. the 8's are nice, but the milage sucks!!! my wife gt gets so,so milage and she baby's the car. and she wont let me drive it either!!!! maybe it was the curb I kissed doin forty?? I dunno!!!

[b_chandler]

Which 6 are you talking about? There was a brief period in time where the Fox Mustangs had a 200 or 250ci L6. They used a different K-member than the 4 and 8 cyl. cars.

I want to think there were a couple of early-mid 80's year models that got the [sarcasm]utterly fabulous[/sarcasm] 3.8L V6 I don't know or remember enough about them to say how they were hung in the engine compartment.

The problem with the older V6's as most people found out after the fact is that they weren't always the bang-for-the-buck they were pitched as. Bottom line is you got slightly more power than a 4cyl. at slightly better fuel economy than an 8 for which you paid a good bit more than the 4 cyl. and slightly less than the V8.

The 3.8L was (and probably still is) a motor Ford wishes it could forget. Blown headgaskets, cracked heads,and hydro-locked engines, are just a few of it's personality traits.

Now if you want to get creative, I'd love to see one of the new 210hp 4.0L OHC V6's with either a 6 spd manual or the 5 speed automatic in a Fox mustang.

[scruffman]

I was thinking one of the newer motors 2000ish up. say 03 oto 05 motor. didn't they fix their issues with those motors?? I had a 90 cougar with the 3.8, put almost 200000 miles on it and had no issues except for the digital dash!!! the power was so, so for a heavy car, but in a mustang I'd think it'd be a little quicker... plus the thunder chicken motor is always an option!!!! boost that one up and say bye bye!! the torque was way nice in that car..

one main thing for me is cruise control, I like to use it on the inter-states. the current car doesn't have it, so my foot falls asleep on long trips!!!

I even thought about putting on a carburator, but nixed that thought because I figured it use more gas than the v-8, I love the quadro-jet carb!!

[b_chandler]

Weren't the 03 to 05 V6s 4.0L OHCs? If you had a 3.8L Cougar with 200K on the clock, you were one of the lucky ones.

Cruise control shouldn't be that big of a deal. Most likely the wiring is already there for the factory controls. You'll just need the VSS and a couple of other things. A good J/Y donor would help immensely. I like CC on the big roads too. I get better mileage in my pickup or any other car because I'm not peddling it to keep up with or get out of traffic.

I have no issues with carbs. A good properly tuned carb can achieve good performance and fuel efficiency. The problem is the maintenance they constantly need. I don't care much for Quadra-bogs but I do like spread bore carbs. Little bitty primaries for pinching fuel and great big secondaries for taking care of bidness.

As I was saying earlier, I'd love to see a late model OHC V6 in a Fox Mustang. My wife drives an '06 with the V6 and while it's not V8 quick, it's still no slouch. Rated at 210hp, it's not far off the mark of 5.0L V8s from the Fox era.

The downside to all this cool swap talk is that outside of the common turbo 4 build ups ,and V8 transplants, none of the other options are easy. That being said, they'll also be more expensive, time consuming, and difficult. Now you have to weigh out the options. Is the effort worth the result? What do I gain and at what cost? Do I really like the car that much?

I dunno.

[scruffman]

I agree... the thought of the six is nice, but I'll most likely do the four.. in time.. I know where a motor is out of the car, so have it tested, or re-built and then look for the wiring harness.. already got the pc... and fmic, but I also like the t-bird ic, it just sits up top of the motor, scoop it for ram like air to cool the charge might look cool???

here a thought I almost did on my xr4ti, the intake. instead of having it bend over the motor like it does. move it to the forward position to help keep the air cool from a fmic. it saves you on pluming....

also I saw a picture somewhere, where they took the intake and bored it out, by taking the little 4 hole and making one big ass hole.. worth it??

[b_chandler]

It's better all around to go with a fmic. More room for a bigger core, better plumbing arrangement, and better airflow, are all reasons to hang the IC out front.

The gutted upper intake... Depends on who you talk to as to whether or not it's an improvement. Most say it hurts low end power but helps up top, some say it doesn't change anything, and some say it ain't worth the trouble.

What I agree with is the fact that the upper holes need to match the lower holes. The easiest way to do that is to match both halves to the gasket.

If you really want some good reading check http://www.turboford.net

[mustang_iislow]

Curious if you had pics of the FMIC setup, because i can't wrap my head around it. Seems like there'd be a ton of piping on the one side of the car to squeeze in.

[b_chandler]

There's two ways to do this. One way uses the stock intake position and does have some crowded plumbing.

The other involves rotating the upper intake(via welding or adapter plate) or custom fabbing an upper intake that points forward rather than across the valve cover. Now the charge from the turbo goes to the intercooler via the passenger side and leaves the intercooler and heads to the throttle body via the driver's side.

http://www.stinger-performance.com has pics of both setups and sells great examples of each.

[scruffman]

one will also keep a cooler charge too... crossing over the motor heats it up a bit..