Upgrading to SuperCharger 3.8L V6

A

AustrianBird

Registered User
Hello! I am Patrick from Austria.. I bought myself a Thunderbird LX 89' 3.8L V6. I know that this is the SC Club and not the LX Club, but looking at some posts i saw that most of u are real technical einstein's. So.. i drive my LX Stock and i want to upgrade to a supercharger making it just a Little Faster, what have i got to do, which supercharger will it be an easy fit or hard work.. is it even possible ? How does it affect gas mileage and will a SC Front Bumper fit on a LX ? Enough questions for now.. would be very happy if i get some answers! Greetings from Tyrol/Austria.
Patrick
 
First off welcome to the site... There is allot more to an SC versus an LX model than just the supercharger. If you want an SC you should really look to see what is available in your area, which might not be much. If you bolt a supercharged system onto a stock LX 3.8 motor you might have a short-lived success. An SC has a stronger lower end and different heads and an LX. Plus the rest of the car.... :D I wonder what it takes to ship one over? They are going for cheap over here. I use to sell allot of 55 to 57 Chevy’s to the Swedes in the 80’s they loved them. Bought them cheap here and sold them before they got off the boat over there for good bucks, they did all the shipping. Good Luck…
Shoot me an e-mail if you would like to talk about it: flip@freebirdinc.net
 
Buy a real SC, I had the same thought with my 92 lx 3.8 NA, I asked all around on what it would take to supercharge it...Trust me the process isnt worth it..theres alot of uprgadeing that needs to be done..the two cars are very different.....the sc motor is designed to take the supercharger and well the 3.8 NA just wont hold......take my advice---buy a sc and enjoy it......
 
I would agree with AEDM8. A centrifigal supercharger will work better with your stock block as it builds boost in a way that is much more motor friendly.

If you are set on the Eaton supercharger, you may want to investigate salvage yards, searching for a trashed Thunderbird SC. Not likely to be common, that may help you as they'll still be around. Pull the whole motor, intake system with supercharger, and wiring harness and ECU.
 
Jacob_Royer said:
Don't waste your $ the N/A 3.8's are junk as they are! yet to have one last past 150k myself..
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My 3.8L had 156,002 miles on it when we pulled the engine.. and after a basic tune-up and a tranny service, it would have been good to go for another 156k miles. I trusted it to take me anywhere :D Why did was the engine pulled? Cuz a 3.8L Super Coupe was swapped in :D

-Melon
 
Hey... i dont have an austrian accent.. i am not arnold.. ;) But well oh well.. i will have to set with my low boost cause i drive the only thunderbird in whole austria so there is not even ONE PART here.. The LX is a very nice car, very comfortable so i must get used to not beeing an comfortable racer.. so i am just chilling and cruising around.. i Drove an AUDI S3 1.8T before so i miss a little something, Well for the post with the centrifugal charger.. how much $ and how much work and where to get ? :)
Thank you m8's
bye patrick
 
Jacob_Royer said:
Don't waste your $ the N/A 3.8's are junk as they are! yet to have one last past 150k myself..
Click to expand...

my fisrt car was na 1996 green lx with soft seats and plenty of bck seat. at 150132 the heads blew
 
.....check Ebay for the Vortech Centri's,you can sometimes pick them up from there at a decent price also check www.TCCOA.com as there are many on there who have added the centri's to their 3.8 N/A.....and yes a SC front bumper will fit on a LX,Ford started using the same front bumper for both cars around '91-'92 or so....good luck.
z
 
You can usually find them used for 750-2000 US. You just need to watch the for sale forums. A new one will cost around 3000.

You're also going to have to factor in the price of a chip, fuel injector upgrade, upgraded mass air flow meter, fuel pump, exhaust and misc other things to get you going. (Doing everything at once will save you some money) Do you want an intercooler too....that will up the price some.

Total will probably be around 3500-4000 for everything IF you do the work yourself, stick with the stock block and find some used parts.

Search the sites I mentioned above. They will yeild more info on the centri blowers and how they will work on your application.
 
Jacob_Royer said:
Don't waste your $ the N/A 3.8's are junk as they are! yet to have one last past 150k myself..
Click to expand...
:eek: ~"JUNK ... REALLY?? The SCs blow headgaskets at 90K, break HBs regularly and crank sensors, cam sensors and ABS modules trash themselves continually, and you callin' the 3.8 n/a JUNK?? Geeze .... my '89 n/a is at 170K, leaks gas, water and oil, clearcoat all peeled off, but there is NO more dependable car to just jump in 24x7 and get me to work at 28mpg than my lil' 3.8 n/a !! -END OF TESTIMONIAL- .....Patrick, ENJOY your Bird!!" :D
 
Well im glad somone has had good luck with those crap engines.. I swore i'd never buy another 3.8 as long as i lived untill i found out that S/C's have alot better engines in them.. i will give na 3.8's one thing they are suprisingly quick for what they are.. Probably why they don't last..
 
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