3.8 performance

[MissingLINC]

Ive had my 92 Conti on hold for awhile. This past year I only put about 5000 miles on it, had some other projects on the front burner.

Ive been driving it daily the past couple months and the cooler weather sure makes a difference in the amount of get-up-and-go.

The stock mufflers will need to be replaced soon, I think I will put stock Mustang take offs on in thier place.

If the 5.0 Mustang MAFs are interchangeable then I will shop around ebay for a bigger MAF.

Anyone know if a Mustang UDP will fit?

If I have time during the holidays I will fab a cold air intake.

Ive never been a fan of chips, having to run premium fuel makes the operating expenses to high on a daily driver.

Does anyone know what thermostate is stock in a Conti 3.8? The car seems to run pretty warm, Im guessing 190.

Would dropping 10-20 degrees help any in the performance department?

Im guesing the 150 stock hp rating is really about 120 at the wheels. Anything to get an extra 10-20 hp would make a big improvement.

[pro-five-oh]

UDP? Underdrive pulleys? Not likely. Check with the V6 Mustang messageboards, there's a decent one on www.corral.net. (http://www.corral.net.) But since you're FWD, odds are it will not work. Also check with the SHO Shop. They have a good bit of Taurus stuff.

The Mustang MAF will help, but I have no idea how much. Don't sink a lot of money into the purchase, you might be let down with the results.

The thermostat is probably a 195, do not go any lower than a 180 on a fuel injected car. But yes, 180 Tstat is a good idea.

MAF, exhaust, and cold air (stock or PCV) will net you a few ponies, 20 is probably optimistic. 20 with pulleys is do-able.

Tell us what you end up doing. smile.gif

[mystery]

Does the '92 have one muffler or two? The '94 has two mufflers (in parallel, one on each side after a 'y' split) and I think it is the reason why it has 160 hp as opposed to 150.

[pro-five-oh]

Supposedly 1994 was the only year for dual exhaust...dual mufflers, that is. smile.gif

[MissingLINC]

My 92 has a resonator just behind the cats, it splits into two pipes with a muffler on each side of the spare tire well.

Everyone has the mistaken belief that its all about peak hp. Torque and higher hp throughout the normal operating range is much more important in terms of driveability.

UDPs need not be high dollar affairs either. Any pulley of a smaller diameter with the same bolt pattern and offset to line the belt up will work fine. Ive done quite alot of reading on the benefits of UDPs, some manufacturers claim the size of the pulley is not as important as the weight of the pulley.

I will go to the pick-n-pull with a tape measure. I used to P/T at Autozone, we had a big box of used pulleys, I swaped them around all the time on me and my friends cars. Ford is cheap, its surprising what will interchange between car and engine lines.

Our 3.8s are red-headed step kids. They left the Mustang in 86 and didnt reappear until 95 when we got the 4.6. There arent many off the shelf performance parts for us, we have to improvise.

[pro-five-oh]

quote:Originally posted by MissingLINC:
UDPs need not be high dollar affairs either. Any pulley of a smaller diameter with the same bolt pattern and offset to line the belt up will work fine. Ive done quite alot of reading on the benefits of UDPs, some manufacturers claim the size of the pulley is not as important as the weight of the pulley.

Weight and size are important. Heavier ones have more rotational mass (bad) and smaller ones spin the accessories faster: both at the expense of power.

I would check into the pulley sizes of the 1996-up Windstars, 1999-up Mustangs, and the new 4.2L Minivans and pickups. There's a good chance they are lighter to account for some of that extra HP.

Hmm...maybe someone can get a new Freestar or Monterey Minivan powertrain (4.2L) and can do a complete engine and tranny swap! Hmm...260lb-ft in a Conti sounds nice to me! :D :D :D

[Conti94]

Hey Pro

The 93 had the dual exhaust as an option.

MissingLINC, Why don't you try putting an exhuast system from a 94 on you're 92. Might be hard but I think it's worth a shot. :D

[Conti94]

93 had it as an option.

Sorry for typo, meant 93 on down. redface.gif

[MissingLINC]

I already have the duels. My 92 has 135K on it, about 8K on the reman engine. The undercarriage is in nearly perfect condition. My exhaust system is in nice shape except the driver side muffler is developing a hole that will come through before summer. I have a take-off exhaust from a 01 Mustang GT I bougt for $20. I plan on useing the GT mufflers on my Conti, cheap, easy, and a better flowing muffler. As far as the UDP, Im going to look around and do some measuring, the pulleys have to be exact, if the depth is off just a fraction, they will prematurly wear or throw the belt.

[pro-five-oh]

Sounds good MissingLINC, tell us how the Mustang mufflers sound and what you find in the junkyard when it comes to pulleys.

The airbox mod, mufflers, and pulleys might actually net you to 20hp, something you can actually feel when you hit the gas!

[Desert Stallion]

Hey, check out http://www.v6power.net

As far as power mods, maybe you can do a split-port head/intake swap, but I don't know how compatible the FWD and RWD motors are as far as heads and such, I know the blocks are different as far as tranny mounting stuffs.

I'm actually going to be doing a 4.2L swap with my sister's '95 V6 coupe with a truck motor, keeping the T5 manual and the dual exhaust I made for it.

The extra 60-80 ponies and 100 poundfeet over the stock single-port 3.8L should make the car a fun little mover. smile.gif

[Steve Moran]

From what I find by looking in the Walker Exhaust parts book it appears that from '91 on up the Executive Series had dual mufflers.
I never thought about a MAF I would have to grab one off the shelf and give it a try and let you know. I will order one if I don't have one for a Stang.
I installed a K&N Filter and a Tornado air "charger" and I re worked my air filter box and took out the restrictor in it and the one between the box and fender because there was plenty of room between the battery and fender, I replaced it with strait piece of hose and tucked it in the fender. I noticed a gain in acceleration but I still loose torque because my motor twists. Until I get a new part that the Ford dealer can’t seem to find in his parts book. It is not a motor mount but what I figure is a form of a torque strap, it is on the lower backside if the motor on my ’91 it bolts to the frame and to the motor. It looks like a “dog bone” on a GM engine but much smaller?????

[ December 18, 2003: Message edited by: Steve Moran ]

[pro-five-oh]

quote:Originally posted by Desert Stallion:
As far as power mods, maybe you can do a split-port head/intake swap, but I don't know how compatible the FWD and RWD motors are as far as heads and such, I know the blocks are different as far as tranny mounting stuffs.

I am sure getting the parts from a 1996-up Windstar will work fine. (fingers crossed)

[PeteAug]

I have 93 Continental, and I just made my own cold air intake for it. I posted about this a few weeks ago, but my post seems to have been lost. I was planning on posting a few pics, but my computer crapped out and my new one is XP, so I'm afraid to load my old software on it.

Anyway, I used 3" ID pvc pipe,around 20" long. Also, one 3" 45 deg elbow, and one 3'1/2" ID oval K&N filter, around 5" deep. Remove the stock airbox, the filter installs in the fender hole from below. Attach the elbow to the filter, the straight piece to the elbow, and the other end to the rubber intake bellows,and that's it.

I"ve run the car on my Vericom computer a few times, like all my vehichles, and it has surprised me how quick it is.

With the intake, I turned a best of:
0 to 60: 7.84 sec

1/4 mile: 16.10@89 mph

My previous best before the intake was:
0 to 60: 8.44 sec

1/4 mile: 16.31@87 mph

So, it did help, and the intake sound is loud. On another note, my previous stock 94 Tbird, 4.6, 3.27 Traclok car ran a best of 15.94@89 on the Vericom, and 0 to 60 best of 7.5 sec. Without the FWD wheelspin the Continental would be right there with it.

Anyway, the stock Continental massair is exactly the same as the stock Stang 5.0 massair, and the 73mm C&L is a direct replacement with the 19lb tube. It actually didn't seem to help over the stock massair, which surprised me, but I need to test that further.

The base timing should be able to be bumped up, just like on a Mustang, but I haven't done it yet...should help. Different mufflers, removeing the resonator should help too.

Stock Continental HP is 155 or 160 I believe, and I figure around 170 with the intake. The short gearing and good torque is what moves this car so well for a low HP motor.

[MissingLINC]

As a former SHO owner I closely followed several buildups regarding the stock exhaust. Removing the resonator from a stock exhaust made almost zero difference on a dyno.

On my car (135k) I feel that the exhaust will benefit most from better mufflers. Im concerned that my cats may be worn out and causing some restriction, but as I dont seem to have a loss of power I think Im ok, at least for now.

Im leaving the resonator in.

[pro-five-oh]

quote:Originally posted by Steve Moran:
It is not a motor mount but what I figure is a form of a torque strap, it is on the lower backside if the motor on my ’91 it bolts to the frame and to the motor. It looks like a “dog bone” on a GM engine but much smaller?????

I had mentioned that part on the other thread, some intrepid Taurus owner (ha-ha) used a chain and a bolt to accomplish the same thing as a torque strap. If only I could find that link! ARGH! :mad:

EDIT: found it! :D
http://www.tauruscarclub.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=55

[ December 19, 2003: Message edited by: pro-five-oh ]

[Lankin]

quote:Originally posted by pro-five-oh:
Supposedly 1994 was the only year for dual exhaust...dual mufflers, that is. smile.gif

Every early 90's Cont I have came acrossed has dual mufflers.But then again I havent seen them all!

[Steve Moran]

My '90 has a single muffler from the factory