How To Mod my 3.8 s/c on a Budget?

MadMerc

Registered User
Instead of spending thousands of dollars that I dont have at the moment, what parts could I pick up at the auto wrecker that would do the job?
Like a throttle body, MAF, overdrive pullies, gears...yadda yadda yadda...all for a 90s/c?
If anyone has done a part exchange that works, please share.
and if something has to be modified to work, could you quickly explain.

Thanks for any help.
 
Id work on your exhaust first...Do a fuel pump...190lph..Any late model 70mm mass air..Just use your electronics...Get rid of air silencer....Pick up a smaller blower pully..Not much in the way of cheap mods...But thats where I would start
 
I agree with Damon; an exhaust similar to SCP's can be locally-fabricated for half the price, and is good for both performance and longevity. Then you can add an OD pulley and open up the intake with good results. Throw in a K&N panel filter when you lose the intake silencer, or seal the airbox and hang a cone filter on the old silencer elbow.

Also consider a shift kit, tranny cooler, cool fan mod and 160* thermostat [see Neiberts FAQ on tbscec]; all good and low-bucks.
 
I think I should rephrase my question a bit...

If I was standing at the entrace of an auto wrecking yard, what other make/model of cars could I rob a 70mm T.B off of, overdrive pullies that would equal a 10%, maybe score some 3.73 or 3.55 gears and so on and so on?

My exhaust is already cusom and very open, and I have a K&N filter and a rebuilt tranny with a Trans Go shift kit.

I live in Canada, and for me to buy a 200 dollar peice of equipment from the States would cost me alot more money in Canadian funds that I can't afford to spare right now.

Thanks again for any help. :)
 
Any late model V6 stang has a 70 mm mass air that you can use..As far as rear end gears..Do you have a stick or auto?..Also keep in mind that you can use the alimunum Diff from a Mark8 or maybe even a Cobra..Not sure on that one..But I cant see that being a cheap nor easily accomplished bang for the buck..WIth these cars there realy isnt that much interchangability with other cars..mayeb you can look at a fan for your intercooler...One from a motorcycle will usually fit well...Regardless goodluck:O)
 
91-up SC cars have a 70 mm unit as well ... look for the stamping F1SF 12B579 AA on the black electronics portion of the unit.


cheers
Ed Nicholson
SCCoO
 
Do you guys have Volvo's in Canada? If so pick up one of these out of a Turbo model.
VolVo%20IC.jpg

The next step has many options... You can buy a raised SC top and cut the collar nut off, then hope you can cut your factory lower IC tube off at a good point. Or you could ask around and find someone who can make a custom top and intake inlet (which would probably be cheaper than most raised tops). Have an exhaust shop bend some 2.5in pipe as your new intercooler tubes and use some rubber Gates pipe connectors to seal it up. With the factory IC out of the way, the Volvo's fits nice up front, and they're extremely light. Thats a poor mans front mount intercooler setup, and the total cost is about 1/2 that of most cars intercooler alone.
 
matt89sc said:
Do you guys have Volvo's in Canada? If so pick up one of these out of a Turbo model.
[With the factory IC out of the way, the Volvo's fits nice up front, and they're extremely light. Thats a poor mans front mount intercooler setup, and the total cost is about 1/2 that of most cars intercooler alone.

Sure we have Volvos in Canada ... in fact they used to build them in Halifax, Nova Scotia (east coast) for many years in the 70s and 80s !!

I know that Volvo cooler has been adapted by people into many applications, but does it have enough capacity for a 3.8 SC ? In my recollection, the Volvo was something like a 2.3 or 2.4L turbo.

cheers
Ed N.
 
I don't know the exact dimensions, but I know of 2 SC's that use the Volvo IC for a front mount. By looks it seems like it would have as much if not more capacity than ours. How would a person check capacity of an intercooler? Water? I'll look at it tomarow. You should be able to pick them up for next to nothing with the factory near-by. :)
 
Well, Halifax isn't really near by Toronto, unless you have a Concorde at your disposal ... it's about 1000 miles away !! And the plant closed up about 10 years ago I think anyway. But, I have seen those coolers advertised for sale around here, some of the guys who have been thinking about doing a front-mount setup around here may want to investigate that route.


thx
Ed N.
 
i dont know how much of a part capacity plays, but flow is what you want from an intercooler. it needs to flow atleast as much CFM as the sc is putting out. otherwise you will get a presure drop at the outlet of the intercooler. that i think is the most important thing to consider in an intercooler. i think a double intercooler would be good, but not stacked back to back. i would put them end to end, making one long intercooler and make it a front mount. just my 2 lincolns on the whole intercooler idea :)
 
Matt, can you post some more pictures of that intercooler setup? I'm having a difficult time envisioning how you close your hood.
 
If you're talking about the front mount setup, here's a picture of a Volvo IC mounted under a stock hood. Of course, theres more ways of doing it, but this is one of the easier arrangements.
karmIC2.bmp

Here's one of a more custom approach, but it needs an aftermarket hood to fit.
IM000128.jpg


If you're talking about the one in my signature, the hood won't close. Well not without a huge hole in it :).
 
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