I am having trouble finding any kind of proformance parts for the 87 3.8 v6 in my cougar. If anyone has any suggestions on sites where I can find some it would be awesome.
Your best source (indeed, your only source) for performance parts for your Cougar is an 87-93 5.0 Mustang donor car. There is virtually zero aftermarket support for the CFI 3.8, so an engine swap is pretty much your only option...
+1
Basically it's:
Step 1: remove CFI 3.8
Step 2: install better engine of your choice
Remove the CFI, I beleave a holly two barrel carb will bolt to the stock intake. Comp cams make performance cam for 3.8s and you can put newer mustang tubuler manifolds and dual exhaust. Or like everyone else has said, drop a v8 in. 302s and 351s have the same bellhousing as the 3.8 so just buy some v8 mounts and drop her in.
these places have a lot of parts for the 3.8 but it is not cheep.
http://www.supersixmotorsports.com/
http://www.moranav6racing.com/
And here is the place I got my roller rocker arms from, they're good and really easy to install. They say you get about 18HP and 20lbs of torque from the 1:8:1 ratio.
http://www.harlandsharp.com/ford_v6_v8.htm
^^^THIS, and TURBO. (low boost though) stock engine cannot handle more than 8psi MAX. Short of boost, though, yes - engine swap is your only real source for higher torque. Unfortunately.
Hooooly Geezus you paid almost $400 for a set of roller rockers????
does anyone have more info about switching out my 3.8 v6 for a 302 or 351? And what of 302 or 351 i can or should use?
334 bucks. Yeah I know it was a bit much. But you cant find them anywhere else for cheaper.
Yeah but you can buy 302 rockers and they work the same. And they're about 200 bucks cheaper. You just wind up with 4 extra rockers afterwards...;)
right here: http://www.coolcats.net/tech/advanced/ho_transplant.html
But are they 1:8:1 ratio?
you can get 302 rockers in just about any ratio you can dream of
Builds are based on your budget and what you will use the car for. Check my Car Domain for some V-6 ideas.
And then head on over to mine (http://"http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2218970/1983-ford-thunderbird")!
you can do the small performance parts like underdrive pulleys,roller rockers, port your throttlebody unit, msd setup,longtube headers. those are the easy and cheap parts.most of the parts you will want are for the mustang v6.
coolcats.net has a whole writeup about it. For a 302 you'll want to start hunting for am 87 tbird engine harness, which runs from the passneger side at the computer out to the engine bay, acros the riewall and plugs into two plugs over at the drivers fender well. I think in 87 the alternator harness is spidered into it. Personally, I did a very similar swap, from an 88 3.8l v6 to an 87 thunderbird 5.0. It's a lot of work, but a labor of love. My advise, go with a mustang HO, if you use a tbird 5.0 SO you'll regret it, like I did. regardless you want the tbird engine harness for a 5.0 for your year car, this eliminates splicing and testing and guesswork. Also, before you even begin, inspect your car thoroughly for rust. The strut towers looking in from the wheel well and inside on the engine bay, and floor boards etc. These cars rot out easily, and you don't want to spend all that time and money to swap motors to find out your car is a rust bucket(yes, I speak from experience).
I did a lot of research 3-4 years back about the 3.8, pretty much it's just burning money. The 3.8's are notorious for head gasket failure, any mods are just going to expedite the failure.
the 3.8 do have a head gasket problem but its a easy fix of changing the head gaskets and go with head studs not head bolt. then you won't have a gasket blowing anymore.
holy you're back! Haven't seen you on here in a few months... You just been lurking or what?
i have been on other forums to get parts and info for my big block malibu and high horsepower el camino lately. now im back to fixing my cougar since im tired of letting it sit for 2 years. so i will be on here alot more with my new v6 info and items to show you guys.