Ok, my situation is that I have an 87 T-Bird with a tired v6 in it. I'm having serious trouble getting to the spark plugs on the passenger side of the car, but will attempt to change them out this coming weekend. However, I was looking at getting a replacement K&N filter for the car as well. My question is would I even notice a difference in the performance by putting that filter in?
On a stock motor, youll see very little if any. K&N are great for many reasons, the flow needed for a stock motor can be realised with a stock filter. They do claim you will see better Gas mileage and i can agree with that. as far and power No you wont see anything noticeable..
as far as the six goes, either spend alot of money, or swap in a 5.0 or 2.3. Basically, the six gets the short end of the stick. It isnt a bad engine, its just overly under rated. Look into maybe changing out the parts from CFI to the EFI system that they use in the 88 up tbirds. Those are rated at 140HP where yours is at 120HP I think. Also, some v-6 mustang headers, a h-pipe and some port work would help out alot. Maybe a custom ground camshaft? Maybe even as far as a 89-95 supercoupe engine conversion(Yet to be done by more then one person, and he swapped the whole engine).But I think that is pretty much it. You could always rebuild the engine for twin turbo's. But yeah like I said. You can do it, but for less money/more performance go 5.0 or 2.3. If you absolutely want the v-6, then throw some money at it till it gets better.
http://www.moranav6racing.com/ <---3.8 stuff
http://www.cliffordperformance.com/ <---inline stuff, but they do custom cams.
http://www.amotion.com/ <---has cam & lifter kits both for 82-83 and 84-87. Anybody know why there would be a difference?
a K&N filter will barely do anything but change the sound a little bit, i didnt notice squat when i put the K&N in my car, and its a huge one, doesnt even fit the air cleaner properly
for the CFI cars, there really isnt a whole lot you can do to make it feel remotely like say, a stock 5.0
what are you willing to do to it?
Paul, i believe the difference is in the cam button on the front of the cam
If you don't already have these in your tool collection...
(http://content.sears.com/data/product_images/009/44815/00944815000-dlv.jpg)(http://content.sears.com/data/product_images/009/04435/00904435000-190.jpg)
get them and it will make passenger side plug changes on the 3.8 a lot easier.
Plugs, wires, and a distributor cap are a good start.
I'd skip the K & N filter and put that 35-45 dollars towards a good oil, air, and fuel filter as well as an oil change and coolant flush.
Check out my profile and go to my Car Domain site. I posted a bunch of stuff on my V-6 there.
By the way, welcome to the board!
Chris
I am thinking about duel exhaust my self now.(http://www.moranav6racing.com/images/spacer.gif) and for $150