3.0Taurass

Hey guys,

I was cruising craigslist and saw a 1990 supercoupe with 112k miles on it. Since its a supercharged v6 I figured you guys would know more about it than anyone else here. Plus some of you guys do the swap. Anyway, how much power can it make with mild/full bolt ons? I figure it sees big gains because of the supercharger? Whats a good price for it? Looks nice in the picrtures, ad says it a manual and has 10% underdrive pulleys, I'm assuming that = more boost?

HEAD GASKETS. Forgot about those. Tuning with obdI, pain in the ***?

Thanks

RyansQuick6

If you plan to put it in your taurus, you're gonna have waaaaaaaay too many problems, #1 being a tranny.

3.0Taurass

Oh god no, I'd drive the t bird. Although I would like to see one of the older 3.8 Tauruses try it lol

jthorn9

Super coupes are not bad cars, you just have to look for the normal things you look at with any old car, plus keep in mind, it's OBD1 which is not as easy to diagnose electronic issues as newer OBD2 systems.

The fact the car has a super charger is also a cause for concern as it could have been dogged.

Now onto your question. Yes you can make them make a little more power than the stock levels by going to a larger pulley but the M-90 S/C is severely limited because it's a roots blower and doesn't have a very high flow rate. I'm not 100% on this but I'm pretty certain the largest boost you can pull on the unit is 15 PSI and that may be getting iffy cause of the heat those units create. In short, you'll gain about 10 rwhp with that kind of super charger for each PSI of boost.

Hope that answers your question to some degree.

3.0Taurass

Thanks for the info. I figure it'd be worth checking out, test drive. Craigslist ad doesn't have a price and there's been a couple ads up since early January. Think 1500 sounds like a good starting offer?

ESG-642T

The good news about the supercoupe m90 is because of the way its mounted its intercooled (not after cooled) so you can run a large front mount intercooler.

It just gets out of its efficiency range, but with long tubes, full exhaust, over driving the blower 10 or 15% and gears they are fun little cars.

mustangman02232

i had a stock 93 for a couple months that was pretty fun to play around in, i got it for under $500 and resold it for $800 as i wanted something that wasnt slower then my work truck

bolt on and pullys id be willing to say new edge GT times with ~250 rwhp/325

NYstang

They arent bad- My friend has 2 (an 89 w/ a 4.2 which turned to a parts car, and a special ordered 95 that now sports the 4.2)

things to look for-
-blown headgaskets. easy enough, check the oil and for white smoke.
-rot- these cars rust all alone to rockers, and at the IRS mounts.
-firm ride problems- the firm ride doesnt tend to work after these years. Not a biggy, but if it doesnt work its a bargaining point.
-FYI, the taillights didnt light up until 92
-auto trannys crap out. watch for slipping, add a cooler
-manual trannys are T-bird/Cougar specific. the shift rods bend, and cause some problems.

now, for mods-
-exhaust manifolds. they are very restrictive on these. Not sure who makes replacements. the rest of the system isnt a ton better.
-repplace teh stock IC with a front mount
-larger blower hat
-smaller pulley
-stock it comes with 3.27 gears, and i cant remember if the T-lok was standard. but it is an 8.8 rear, so you can gear it. car is a bit heavy, so soem 3.73's or 3.90's would kick ***.