D BERRY

I,ve been hanging around for a while trying to learn a little something about my Mustang. Since I,m new to Fords there is certainly a lot for me to learn. Just realized this forum doesn,t even cover my year. It is an 86 which means my v6 is basicly crap. Should have known cause the performance is awful. Would the best option for a decent amount of power be a v8 or a later year v6?

Dave

03shadow

later year v6s and v8s are pretty decent from 1999 and up.

NeoTokyo

Well first you should figure out what you want to do with your car.
Do you want to carve corners or go fast down the 1320?

The Great thing about the 79-04 Mustangs is that most parts are direct swapable or with little modification needed.

You can pick up a wrecked 99+ V6, GT, Cobra and swap everything over into yours or you can do a 460 based swap or any windsor.

There are endless options that you can go through but deciding where you want your car to perform best is where you will figure out how to modify it best.

Hell just search Fox500 because that might even be something you want to do.

D BERRY

I just want to be able to step on the accelrator and be able to get something besides a loud buzzing out from under the hood. Really it,s the most under powered car, except my VW microbus, I've ever owned. It doesnt even have a overdrive trans. Will the trans mate up to the 99+ v6? Thanks

Dave

03shadow

find a few from different years and different engines and see what you think. it will all depend on your budget

NeoTokyo

Whelp you could always keep an eye out for a wrecked 99+ V6, GT or 93-04 Cobra to do the swap.

pimpmeup

yeah that's right. i agree.

NeoTokyo

Well power wise, yes all three engine variants received more power and head/cam/intake revisions but as far as increased longevity/durability the V6 was them most updated with a new splitport head that did not have "Swiss Cheese" coolant passages and hardly has head gasket issues.

The Splitport head was actually around before 99' in other vehicles such as the 4.2L in the 97+ F150 but did not make it to the Mustang till 99'.

Now thats not to say that the new PI heads for the GT arent impressive or the C/Tumble Port heads on the Cobra that replaced the B/Swirl Port heads but as far as widespread major engine problems go I feel that the 94-98 V6 had it the worst.

DBovine

Wouldnt a 302 be a easier swap into a fox body, not to mention cheap. A basical 5.0l 302 will for sure be an upgrade to your six, and there wouldnt be as much electronics to deal with.

jimkaray

Well what is "decent power" to you? What is your budget and time frame? What about your skill level?
I'll make the assumption based on the car that you don't have a lot of cash or mechanical experience. If not then these are a few inexpensive suggestions that I would not recommend if I thought you were looking to invest in building a solid performing street cruiser.
1) Find a friend with tools if needed:-)
2a) Do a complete tune up w/ new fuel filter and synthetic fluids. Throw a can of SeaFoam in the tank as well.
2b) Swap in a free flow air filter and see about mocking up a home made cold air intake or at least remove any intake restrictions. I can't recall how the intake on that year with the 6 is set up but Home Depot/Lowes and some PVC pipe are your friend here.
3) Try bump up the timing a bit.
4) Find a junk yard that allows you to pull you're own parts. It is much cheaper buying parts that way and you'll gain experience wrenching on a car you don't have to worry about.
5) Check your rear differential ratio. If it's 3.08 or 2.73 upgrade it to 3.45 or 3.73, 3.27 is also an option but probably not worth the effort unless that is all you can find. Go to that U Pull It junk yard and find a Fox body Mustang or Capri with either of the gears and pull the complete rear out and swap it into your car. An open 7.5" rear is fine and are plentiful. 4cyl cars are more likely to have the 3.45's or 3.73's. Grab the speedometer gear out of the trans as well so your mph reading is accurate. This is going to be the upgrade that will make the single biggest performance improvement that you will do.
I believe you can get exhaust headers and you can always add a dual exhaust with out them but it is the rear gear change is going to give you the biggest performance boost.
If you're still unhappy then consider yourself addicted and either run from the Mustang or jump back in head first:-) Time to do some serious and realistic planning. Come up with a goal and a plan and a budget. If it doesn't make sense redo the plan. If you really want some serious power than as you'd be better off replacing the entire drive train with one from v8 car. You can always throw a carburetor on it to keep things simple.