My summer project. (help needed)

Jayls5

Registered User
Hey guys. This is my first post.

I own a 1995 V6 mustang. (146k miles and going strong)

I'm definately doing a complete 3.8 supercharged swap from a thunderbird. I'll be pulling out everything from the tbird except for the tranny.

I already have an underdrive pully from my 1995 3.8. I'm assuming it will fit fine. Correct me if i'm wrong. Would this underdrive pully effect the supercharger's output?

I want to overdrive the blower to 15psi:

http://racerwalsh.zoovy.com/product/RWA6503

If they 25% u/d pully were to be used in conjunction with that '15 psi' overdrive pully, what would the boost be? Should I even use the U/D pully at all?

With this power, i'm definately going to need more than my single 2" stock exhaust. Would headers be worth getting for a good performance gain? I'm definately going to be getting duals. Probably dual 2 inch, 2.25" if you guys think i need it. High flow mufflers.

I will probably pull out the whole rear end of a new GT instead of dealing with t-lok and new gears. I'll just use my stock auto until it busts.

What kind of power output could I expect without working with the internals? Would I risk busting the engine by increasing the boost? It is my understanding that the pistons are the weak point in the T-bird engine (as opposed to mine where everything is weak, :D )

I appreciate any help!

~Justin
 
I got a stock '90 Anny. to 15psi. by just instaling a K&N stock replacement filter and winding it up to 4,000 rpm in 3rd gear.

But, can't say that it made the car faster.
 
What do you mean underdrive? Underdrive crankshaft pulley?

The SC uses a jackshaft so it isn't driven directly off the crank pulley. The crank pulley turns a jackshaft pulley which turns the Sc pulley. If you install a smaller crank pulley, it will spin the SC slower as a function of the ratio in the jackshaft pulley.

If you're going to do that I'd look at finding an overdrive jackshaft pulley to offset the decrease in the rotation of the belt on the crankshaft.
 
Jayls5 said:
I'm definately doing a complete 3.8 supercharged swap from a thunderbird. I'll be pulling out everything from the tbird except for the tranny.

I already have an underdrive pully from my 1995 3.8. I'm assuming it will fit fine. Correct me if i'm wrong. Would this underdrive pully effect the supercharger's output?

I want to overdrive the blower to 15psi:


If they 25% u/d pully were to be used in conjunction with that '15 psi' overdrive pully, what would the boost be? Should I even use the U/D pully at all?

With this power, i'm definately going to need more than my single 2" stock exhaust. Would headers be worth getting for a good performance gain? I'm definately going to be getting duals. Probably dual 2 inch, 2.25" if you guys think i need it. High flow mufflers.

I'll just use my stock auto until it busts.

What kind of power output could I expect without working with the internals? Would I risk busting the engine by increasing the boost? It is my understanding that the pistons are the weak point in the T-bird engine (as opposed to mine where everything is weak, :D )

I appreciate any help!

~Justin

First off, what tranny do you have? That will make a difference, the AOD is stronger out of the SC, and if you are pulling the EEC out of the Bird, then you'll want to pull the tranny too, unless you're pulling it out of a '94-'95 SC. They had the electronically controled tranny, whereas the earlier SC's didn't. If your tranny is electronically controlled, then you'll need to stick with your EEC and have it tuned.

The underdrive will affect the supercharger, because it is driven directly off of the crank via a jackshaft pulley. One thing to keep in mind though is not the amount of boost, but the volumetric efficiency of the engine. I'd much rather be pushing 8-9 psi with my 8% overdriven sc than the 15 lbs I am now. I'll have more power because the intake temps will be lower. There's more to it than just "X" amount of pounds of boost.

You will definately need more exhaust. I recommend dual 2-1/2" all the way back. This will decrease your "boost" but your power level will go up. (Boost is nothing more than a measure of backpressure)

Power levels, if you are primarily using a stock engine will be very close to the stock rating of 210 ('89-'93) or slightly higher for the '94-'95 SC's. That is flywheel HP too, not rear wheel. Now you start mod'ing that engine and you can see the hp numbers go significantly higher. It just depends on how much money you have and what your final goals will be. But this conversion will definately get you better off than your stock V6. The pistons are not the weak point on the SC...The headgaskets are. It is very rare that I have ever heard of someone cracking or melting a piston. Headgaskets are common to fail if you don't do things like the exhaust if you are pushing a lot of air into the engine.
 
007_SuperCoupe said:
First off, what tranny do you have? That will make a difference, the AOD is stronger out of the SC, and if you are pulling the EEC out of the Bird, then you'll want to pull the tranny too, unless you're pulling it out of a '94-'95 SC. They had the electronically controled tranny, whereas the earlier SC's didn't. If your tranny is electronically controlled, then you'll need to stick with your EEC and have it tuned.

The underdrive will affect the supercharger, because it is driven directly off of the crank via a jackshaft pulley. One thing to keep in mind though is not the amount of boost, but the volumetric efficiency of the engine. I'd much rather be pushing 8-9 psi with my 8% overdriven sc than the 15 lbs I am now. I'll have more power because the intake temps will be lower. There's more to it than just "X" amount of pounds of boost.

You will definately need more exhaust. I recommend dual 2-1/2" all the way back. This will decrease your "boost" but your power level will go up. (Boost is nothing more than a measure of backpressure)

Power levels, if you are primarily using a stock engine will be very close to the stock rating of 210 ('89-'93) or slightly higher for the '94-'95 SC's. That is flywheel HP too, not rear wheel. Now you start mod'ing that engine and you can see the hp numbers go significantly higher. It just depends on how much money you have and what your final goals will be. But this conversion will definately get you better off than your stock V6. The pistons are not the weak point on the SC...The headgaskets are. It is very rare that I have ever heard of someone cracking or melting a piston. Headgaskets are common to fail if you don't do things like the exhaust if you are pushing a lot of air into the engine.


Thanks for the post. I'm looking at an 89. It already has a few things done to it...

89 Thunderbird Super Coupe, needs vibration dampner replaced, does not knock. UPGRADES: - overdrive pully one the supercharger - 70mm Throttle body - Flo-master exhaust - K&N cone air filter - 73mm MAF sensor - intercooler fan - Tranny shift kit EXTRAS: - differeential with 3.07 gears - a set of 3.73 gears not installed

It's the reason i asked abou the vibration dampner in the other post. I want to be sure that's whats wrong with it when i go to see it on sunday.

what do you think? it has 125k miles. He's asking $1800 and he lives a few miles away from me.
 
Your easiest swap will be to take it all. The engine and tranny. However, since you are doing the swap, there will be a few things that you might want to have looked at, or replaced just in case. Ask first if the HG have been replaced. If so, then you should be pretty good to go as far as that is concerned.
The rest of the mods, I would expect mid to high 14's in a SC...faster in a lighter car like your mustang.
As far as the HB, replace it with a BHJ unit. Much better quality, and solid. Just keep the old balance to get the veins off for the crank sensor. As far as exhaust, I'd recommend starting off with the mustang MAC shorty V6 headers. Then go with some mustang dual 2-1/2" back from there. I would not go with the underdrive crank pulley though as I don't know if it is neutrally balanced. If it isn't, then a machine shop may do it, otherwise, there are some SC underdrives out there to purchase. I don't recommend it though since the gains are negligible until you are looking for every ounce of power that you can get. On a stock car you're not going to see enough power to warrant the $$ you spend for them.

$1800 would be a fair price for a SC with those mods in fair condition. However, since you want the gut it and install the "good stuff" in your mustang, then I'd try to talk him down a bit. If the car is drivable, then take it to a quality mechanic to have it checked out. They will generally find some stuff that you wouldn't think of looking at that can negotiate the price a little lower. But when you are talking to the seller, you will know if they just want to be rid of the car, or if they are going to be very firm in their price. It all depends on what you want to spend to get the parts you want.

I'll have to check out your other post to see what you describe as the problem with the car.
 
I forgot to mention, he's giving me an extra 2 working blowers of unspecified years, a tranny that needs work, and new gears he hasn't installed yet.

I think it's a good deal as it is. I'm still going to talk him down though.
 
I checked it out. I recommend taking notes of how the car runs, if it does, and any visual oddities that you notice. It may be difficult since you are not as familiar with the SC as some of us. But report back here as to what the symptoms are and you can get a better idea of what might be wrong with the car.
 
007_SuperCoupe said:
I checked it out. I recommend taking notes of how the car runs, if it does, and any visual oddities that you notice. It may be difficult since you are not as familiar with the SC as some of us. But report back here as to what the symptoms are and you can get a better idea of what might be wrong with the car.

will do, i'm going to check it out sunday. thanks.
 
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