Repair or Replace 85 thunderbird

[melfan]

I own a 1985 thunderbird. It has the 232, 3.8 V-6 and I am considering replacing it with the 302 V-8. I am having problems finding anyone willing to make the swap and do the overhaul. This is my wife's car and will only be used as a everyday car but I want to give it a little power kick. I want to know if I upgrade to the V-8 will the power increase be worth the expense compared to just rebuilding the V-6?

Does anyone in the central Pennsylvania area know any shops that could assist me?

Most places only do minor repairs and I no longer have sufficient space to do the work myself. I would also like to know if anyone has done a swap like this before and could give me a heads up on any problems you have encountered like upgrading the computer.

I have never worked on a ford with this level of electronics before so I am having trouble finding help.

Any advice you can give would be of tremendous value.

Thanks all,
Mark

[flewthecoupe]

The best place for advice is www.tccoa.com. For ease and less money, rebuild the 232. If you want more performance, build the motor to handle a blower and have the same setup, more or less, as the '89-95 Super Coupes.

[amac209]

a 302 won't bolt up to a 3.8 tranny. if you could do all the work yourself it would be worthwile but if a shop does it it could get very expensive. what i would do is get a crashed mustang 5.0 from the bone yard and swap over everything needed.