matt/delk preformances flow #s

[mustangman02232]

http://3.8mustang.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181471

[SkylineUSA]

Holy Crap

Guess I should be building a 3.8

[mustangman02232]

the 3.8s are truely good motors, its kinda a shame that it hasnt been accepted by the hardcore mustang guys

[351wStang]

I've only get 2 more liters. Wanna race? LOL. That 3.8 is making some good power though.

[SkylineUSA]

Tell me more about the 3.8?

Best years, comp ratio, aftermarket, transmissions, power band, etc.

[mustangman02232]

Fords “essex” 3.8 is based on IMO one of the greatest motors of all times, Buick’s 231 Grand National motor, but instead of using Cast iron heads, ford used aluminum, which can be ported easier, and GMs hold heat like nobody’s business, and for anything over 600 rwhp on a Buick you need a short block ford also used a stronger crank the Buick did and power gains are more on fords 3.8 then on Buick’s 3.8. The ford 3.8 is far superior to the 5.0 or the Windsor block, the 3.8s heads put the 5.0 and NPI 4.6 heads to shame and outflows them, the essex also has stronger rods crank and mains, and the block wont crack in half at 500 HP like the 5.0s
http://www.babcox.com/editorial/ar/ar90134.htm

The best years are usually the 99-04s, they are split port introduction (like the GTs PI swap), 94-98 are single port, which have about 45 less HP, and 94-mid 96 are known for the great head gasket failure. However, when ford was developing the SN-95 mustang in 1993 they had a test mule V-6 with a thunderbird Super coupe motor in it (3.8 with a Eaton m90 on top) to this day, only the 05+ GT mustangs would touch it, even then it would still be a drivers race. this is still a somewhat common swap onto single port motors, but wont work on split ports, average numbers are 200 rwhp and 300 rwft/lbs of torque. With stock open diff, 2.73 gears, and 205 series rubber, they are good for 14.1X runs

Here is Matt’s dyno sheet, he is running a stock block and a stock f150 4.2 crank
http://www.3.8mustang.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173930

Another common swap is to get the crank out of an f150 v5 and stroke it to a 4.2 Tommy Morana has some good stroker motors as well as super six.
http://www.moranav6racing.com/category.html?CategoryID=16

Here is Justin Starkeys 3.8, it’s a twin turbo'd 3.8 automatic with a jmod (shift kit) that runs 17 psi on race gas and makes 430 RWhp, its his daily driver, and he’s running stock block, crank, rods, heads, and cam, basically it’s a TT kit with a good tune, he also sells nice procharger kits for the 3.8, he is probably also the best tuner out there for V-6 stangs
http://v6power.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36444
http://www.vmptuning.com/store/index.php?

Super six Motor sports is another know company, they have a green notch back with a stroked 4.2 in it and a 125 shot, it runs high 10s
http://www.supersixmotorsports.com/

Andy at TMA turbo also has some good turbo kits available, at 14 psi properly tuned, there would be no problem for a DD on a 3.8
http://tmaturbo.com/

Trannys are a T-5 or a 4R70W, both are mediocre trannys, Matt at delk is running a C4. One of the draw backs is the 7.5 rear, its not that its really a draw back, but it gets its bad reputation from the 7.5 tlok which was designed for the 120 HP bronco 2/ranger with the 3.73 + tlok option, they have been know to break on stock split port power with DRs. A Detroit true trac and TA rear girdle will help a lot

[neatofrito1618]

Yeah I saw it a few days ago, very good numbers. BTW Justin is making 450rwhp, and 14 pounds is a little too much with stock internals. If you want to be on the safe side you can only run around 10 PSI, which is still good for about 330-340rwhp on a stock motor.

[SkylineUSA]

Originally Posted by neatofrito1618

Yeah I saw it a few days ago, very good numbers. BTW Justin is making 450rwhp, and 14 pounds is a little too much with stock internals. If you want to be on the safe side you can only run around 10 PSI, which is still good for about 330-340rwhp on a stock motor.

What is the weakest point of the engine?

The block can handle around 600rwhp?

[neatofrito1618]

Originally Posted by SkylineUSA

What is the weakest point of the engine?

The block can handle around 600rwhp?

The cast iron pistons and connecting rods. The crank and block are very strong, Matt is running 650rwhp with the stock block and crank and so are other people making 450-500rwhp+ and no one has even broken one.

[mustangman02232]

Originally Posted by neatofrito1618

The cast iron pistons and connecting rods. The crank and block are very strong, Matt is running 650rwhp with the stock block and crank and so are other people making 450-500rwhp+ and no one has even broken on.

while they are the weakest part, they are still stronger then the 302s. Justins DD is set to 14psi, when he runs race gas it gets turned up to 17psi, a 11 psi procharger or a proplerly tuned 14 psi turob/twin set up will be fine with a good tune on an internally stock 3.8

yes the block can hold 600+HP, while no one has done it yet, it is believed for it to be capable of 1000 to the fly wheel

[351wStang]

Time to get a bigger turbo and turn up the boost!