My Thunderbird Is Slow!!!!!

slowthunderbird · #1 02-02-2005, 03:35 PM

Hey Guys I'm Aaron I Have A '93 Thunderbird with a 3.8L V6 (232) And Its extremely slow I Need help bad. It Has 187,000 miles and I was wondering if there is anything I can do to get her movin' a lil quicker??? Oh Yeah I Have it straight-piped and I also have cold-air intake..........HELP!!!!

97Bird · #2 02-02-2005, 05:55 PM

A new engine.

emailer33 · #3 02-03-2005, 01:20 AM

hahahahha, not what he was looking for, but it's true. that or looking into adding the supercharger like teh SC's

contrinsic · #4 02-03-2005, 01:31 AM

u could either get a 4.6 or 5.0, or u get a supercharger off an SC, which is actually pretty cheap...like $100 out of a junkyard. but maybe getting a whole new exhaust system such as an X-pipe or H-pipe, plus changing the rear gears, from 3.27 to like 3.55, 3.73, or 4.10. also change your spark plugs. and if u really had the money go get a 351 windsor crate and a tranny, plus the things i mentioned prior, and you would have about 445hp right out of the box, then i dont think your T-bird would be slow.

INNES · #5 02-03-2005, 08:13 AM

you cant just put a stock supercharger on from the junkyard.on you car the motor is not designed for it you have a stock 3.8. the SC 3.8 are built stronger and i think the compression is diferent for the supercharger.
A cheap way for instant HP is nitros.but be real carful not to boost it to much. just a little because you dont have a strong motor. im not a fan of the 3.8.i read somewhere if you change and flush your coolent once a year it will eliminate the head gasket problem.

CamaroSSBoy346 · #6 02-03-2005, 08:27 PM

Well, you bought the wrong car. Thunderbirds werent meant to go fast, especially 3.8L N/A ones.

Theres not really much you can do with a V6. I think the fastest N/A V6 Thunderbird runs 15's

MeanMeanGene · #7 02-03-2005, 08:45 PM

No matter what you do to the 3.8 non SC, the first time you go over a 100 the head gaskets will blow. Don't waste your money/time. Find a 5.0 HO and drop that in. You will be happier, at least until you realize how often your going to have to fill up.

RickwithaTbird · #8 02-04-2005, 02:42 AM

first of all, I honestly dont believe the fastest N/A v6 tbird runs 15s... secondly, I drove my 3.8 over 100, over 100 times.

But I do agree, you probably need a new engine to go faster. About getting a 5.0 or 4.6... thats pretty hard to put into a car programmed for a V6... not worth it. Either get a new 232, or sell the car and get a 96 with a V8.

flewthecoupe · #9 02-04-2005, 11:20 AM

The headgasket misconceptions blow my mind. Non SC 3.8's can hit 11's and faster, just depends on how much money you want to sink into it. Sure, the V8's are easy to build, I won't disagree, but even 4cylinders have hit 11's without an SC or turbo.

With 187,000 miles on an engine, I wouldn't touch it with power adders until it was rebuilt. The 3.8 is a strong reliable engine. They had a couple years with bad head gaskets from the factory but once replaced with an updated/upgraded set there were no problems.

MeanMeanGene · #10 02-04-2005, 08:33 PM

I have asked that same question in many different forums and they all say the same thing. If you attempt to extract any power out of the 3.8 non SC the first thing to go will be the head gaskets. flewthecoupe, your the first person I have ever heard that said different.

You have to admit, that out in the real world, nobody builds a 3.8L for racing unless they just want to try it for the heck of it. Another point, there is very few racing parts for your 3.8L. There are some things you can do to the 3.8L, but when you add them all up you might as well just buy a 5.0L. I have provided link's where you can find some of these upgrades. If you just take the time to review all the substantial changes that were made to the 3.8L SC (220 hp) you will understand the limitations of extracting HP out of a stock 3.8L, and I own the 3.8L standard, the 88, the last year of the fox body, has the balancer shaft, and multiport FI. I like the engine, it's just limited.

Differences between SC and non SC 3.8
http://www.sccoa.com/articles/everwonder.php

Parts for the 3.8L (Gee I wonder why they have 7 types of head gaskets?)
http://www.moranav6racing.com/index.html

What you really need (For the cost of a set of racing heads for your 3.8 you could have...)
http://www.high-performance-engines....03_04info.html

flewthecoupe · #11 02-05-2005, 01:08 AM

Once the defective factory installed head gaskets have been replaced there are virtually no problems with the 3.8.

slowthunderbird · #12 02-08-2005, 03:03 PM

Thank You All For The Info And I Just wanted to Say Im Starting A "Help Aaron Buy A New Engine Foundation" LMAO!!!!!

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