Hi, I am new, Just bought a 1994 Mustang,friend tell me the v6 3.8 is no good?

[Icewalker]

Hi Guys/Girls, Im just curious,
Was a real downer, when my buddy told me the v6 3.8 is not a great engine for power, and not alot of performance parts, and considering the high milage on the engine, It's not worth keeping that kind of engine.......

Im curious in knowing someone with experience in this manner, is the v6 3.8 that pointless? That I should look for a used 5.0 to put it in my 94? How fast could I get a v6 going?

[232forme]

Originally Posted by Icewalker

Hi Guys/Girls, Im just curious,
Was a real downer, when my buddy told me the v6 3.8 is not a great engine for power, and not alot of performance parts, and considering the high milage on the engine, It's not worth keeping that kind of engine.......

Im curious in knowing someone with experience in this manner, is the v6 3.8 that pointless? That I should look for a used 5.0 to put it in my 94? How fast could I get a v6 going?

Your buddy is just like the rest of the population. The 3.8 has plenty of potential. Enough potential they have them running 9's

Originally Posted by 232forme

Your buddy is just like the rest of the population. The 3.8 has plenty of potential. Enough potential they have them running 9's

running 9's HEAVILY modded....mucho $$$$.

If the motor has tons of milage...drop a 5.0 in there. HP/$ ratio is better.

[dhuskers_11]

depends on how much money you have but pretty fast, teal has just short of 400hp in his 94

[Icewalker]

Really? Like I said I always wanted a mustang I finally got one, And was put down when he said that know what I mean?
So a 3.8 can be just as great as A GT Basicly? With time And effort ofcourse?
See basicly I bought the car as a project car aswell, consdiering the v6 has Very high Miles, But my Mechanic told me its running real good , And The Air considtioner still works hehe,

Sorry about all the questions :/ , But what could I do to lower those miles? I mean what pieces could I change from the v6 to basicly not be so old and used?

If that sounds stupid dont bother replying hehe.

[Icewalker]

Ya it does have alot of miles, Maybe it would be wise to drop a 5.0

whats the milage?

[232forme]

Originally Posted by zigzagg321

running 9's HEAVILY modded....mucho $$$$.

If the motor has tons of milage...drop a 5.0 in there. HP/$ ratio is better.

For your information justin from vmp tuning is running high 10's on a stock longblock and he has like 3,000 in the car.

[Icewalker]

umm im kinda embarassed to say, its not U.S either, 265,000 KM............

[Icewalker]

But the body is absaloutly out of this world, Its stock , but there is honestly nothing on it, its perfectly fine, I check the body inside and out. which is why I bought it for only 3500 CAN dollars.

Originally Posted by 232forme

For your information justin from vmp tuning is running high 10's on a stock longblock and he has like 3,000 in the car.

you can get a nice 5.0 for 3k and have $$ left over for mods.

you read into this too much my friend...so quick to thwart me.

you can make a SICK sixer...no doubt.

a 5.0 has more potential...fact.

if high milage means what i bet it does...the cost to bring his 3.8 up to be able to handle high boost would be a pricey thing to do.

now...dont get your paties in a bunch here...for the price he'd have to dump into his 3.8, assuming it does have very high milage...he could be lookin at a very low milage or new 5.0.

[spike_africa]

the 3.8 is a great motor and can hold 450rwhp. They are tuff motors even stock.

[Icewalker]

ZiggZagg, Where do I look at 5.0?
Yes it has 265,000 KM
What would I look into? and where for a 5.0? I dont need a BRAN spanking new one... But you know, something that wont kill my bank.. Im not one of the rich ones bro.

But Dustin, I have 265,000 KM's on it? can it be saved? and how much?

Originally Posted by Icewalker

ZiggZagg, Where do I look at 5.0?
Yes it has 265,000 KM
What would I look into? and where for a 5.0? I dont need a BRAN spanking new one... But you know, something that wont kill my bank.. Im not one of the rich ones bro.

well if ya want to mod your six...Teal Beast in this forum knows his stuff.

if you want a 5.0...google to start I guess. Ive never bought a 5.0.

where are you from anyway?

[Icewalker]

Im From Montreal .

Originally Posted by Icewalker

Im From Montreal .

cant help with the "where to get 5.0's" in Canada... it

good luck and congrats on your new Mustang!!!

[Icewalker]

Like For example, my v6 is at 265KM So how much would it be to basicly restore some of those KM's , for now im obviously wondering if I should CHANGE the engine, Or if It can be saved,

Thanks Zig

Originally Posted by Icewalker

Like For example, my v6 is at 265KM So how much would it be to basicly restore some of those KM's , for now im obviously wondering if I should CHANGE the engine, Or if It can be saved,

Thanks Zig

ok...dunno the answer to that.

If it were my car...Id drive it as is till the six blows up...all the while saving for a 351 motor to stuff in there...or a bored 5.0...you get the idea.

[Icewalker]

Ya, Well u know what bro? I could probaly sell the v6 completly To my buddy, He does demolition durbys , and it has high miles. so maybe i can sell him that and save up for a better engine, Can you tell me some prices on engines that I could put in my car? Maybe some that have free shipping in the states?

Originally Posted by Icewalker

Ya, Well u know what bro? I could probaly sell the v6 completly To my buddy, He does demolition durbys , and it has high miles. so maybe i can sell him that and save up for a better engine, Can you tell me some prices on engines that I could put in my car? Maybe some that have free shipping in the states?

sorry man...Im not a vendor or anything...go look at some sites that sell engines. good luck...and have fun!!!

[232forme]

Originally Posted by zigzagg321

you can get a nice 5.0 for 3k and have $$ left over for mods.

you read into this too much my friend...so quick to thwart me.

you can make a SICK sixer...no doubt.

a 5.0 has more potential...fact.

if high milage means what i bet it does...the cost to bring his 3.8 up to be able to handle high boost would be a pricey thing to do.

now...dont get your paties in a bunch here...for the price he'd have to dump into his 3.8, assuming it does have very high milage...he could be lookin at a very low milage or new 5.0.

so you spend 3,000 on a 5.0 and you are still slow. Dont do it.

[Icewalker]

What do I do Bro?
I dont have a huge budget obviously, Im not rich, But im willing to take the time and effort to get to the point I need to be, 5.0 is not good? What would you recommend, And how much ?

[spike_africa]

so you have 164,000 miles on your car. You could swap in a 5.0 but its alot of work. I would just get a used 99-04 3.8 and swap that in. Its not a very hard swap i have done it with teal beast and i think it was only $456 for a used low mileage 3.8 complete shipped.

You will have to swap some connectors change some wires around add a another coolant sensor the older ones have two sensor the newer 3.8 have 1 only. its not very hard at all. and you will go from 140hp to almost 200hp just from that swap.

Regardless it took like 3 weekends to do the swap and install a new clutch,and exhaust and an ATI procharger. and his car made over 300rwhp after that and 325 ft lbs. this was just 2-4 guys working on it on the weekends getting stuff done.

[Icewalker]

Where could I get the 3.8 is there some online shop with free shipping?

[dhuskers_11]

check on ebay

[Teal_Beast]

Spike knows whats up!

If i were you i would check local junkyards for 99-04 mustangs and pull the engine out. You can find them in the USA for 400-500$ fully dressed. Make sure you get the wiring harness with it. The swap isnt hard and you'll get a lot more power out of it.

the 99-04 3.8l is a great engine to start with and reacts very well to boost.

I know you will be very happy with the engine alone but when you get a power adder it will be all gravy, you'll enjoy taking out GT's.

P.S. here is a fun fact about 5.0ls There BLOCKS split in half at ~500whp, the 3.8lv6 block has yet to break and it has been brought upwards of 600whp and run a lot, not just 2 or 3 passes, we're talking driven on the HW, dosens of dyno pulls, and a lot of track time.

Take it from me, i did it with my car.

i bought my car for 3000$ 2 year ago.

500$ for a 2000 v6 with 20,000 miles on it
1500$ procharger @ 11psi
150$ for a chip
150$ for a tune

A few random $$ for misc stuff for the swap and BAM

309whp/313wtq for ~5,000$ including the car.

Also, i am not sure people on this board know how hard the swap is going from a v6 to a v8, You need to swap out so much stuff, the ECU, a lot of stuff in the dash its a mess.

v6 POWAH!

[Icewalker]

Well dude, you definitly answrd my question, im looking for a 99-04 v6 as we speak

[Teal_Beast]

Originally Posted by Icewalker

Well dude, you definitly answrd my question, im looking for a 99-04 v6 as we speak

hell yes!