05 v6 upgrade decisions
 

I have a 2005 V6 5spd stang. It has 53k miles. CAI, exhaust basically stock. I want more power. The car has been wrecked and rebuilt and has a salvage title. It is a great car to me but because of the title I can not get much for it so a trade up to a GT is not really feasabile at this time

I am considering three upgrade paths. Please give me your thoughts.

1) Keep V6 and get X charger. Max horsepower around 300-350. Cost about $4500. Pros - easiest to do Cons - not much room to upgrade from here

2) Swap out for a 4.6 3V from a wrecked s197. I have seen motors with 25k complete with all acessories for 2k. From what I hear I would need
Engine $2000
ECU $500
8.8 rear $650
3650 trans $500
Clutch $300
Total $3950

Pros: good base with 300hp and open to GT bolt ons or FA from here
Cons: major surgery to car

3) Swap for a 2004+ 5.4 3V from a F-150. Motors can be had for $1500. Cost roughly the same as (2).
Pros Unique, more torque
Cons major surgery, problems with details on getting motor in as it was from a different vehicle, non standard application

NUMBER 3 DO NUMBER 3......


I know there are a couple of guys around here doing that so maybe they will chime in to help you out.

I have to admit #3 sounds the coolest but when you step back it really looks like a lot more trouble for not much gain. It seems #2 would be a no brainer, but #3 would be tricky and you would have the same HP and a little more TQ.

how bout V6+Turbo?

I have thought about that as well. The turbo and supercharger are roughly the same cost and have similar limitations on the v6.

It seems either a turbo or sc on the 6 would be the fastest of the three options now, but the 6 would be more or less maxed out. If I go to the v8 and want more power in a year I can add a sc or turbo to it.

Turbos and SC's do not have the same limitations on this motor. With the turbo, you can safely go high 11's to 12 flat if you have a conservative tune, and allow for proper cool down of the motor. The 4.0 is a cast iron block, and suffers from heat soak.

A few more things to note on your options:

1. Where did you get the 350 number?
2. Don't forget a drive shaft for this one.
3. You will also need to budget for a custom upper intake (stock one wont fit under out hoods). If you get lucky, you can get someone to fab one up for 1500 bucks, or go with the MMR piece for 2800 bucks. Don't forget motor mounts as well.

What are your goals with this car? That will help you decide what the best route is.

Thanks for the reply. Rygen I have read a lot about your car and what you did to it. The power it was putting out with the 6 was incredible.

There is a local mustang shop that specializes in performance stuff. From what I hear they are very reputable. We stopped by yesterday and they had about 15 mustangs they were working on. I was picking their brain on my ideas a little but and they told me that they have put turbos on the 6 before and it worked well, but they feel 350 hp is a safe limit before you start tearing stuff up. I actually mentioned your car and its power to them and they were impressed but they also wondered how long it would last.

Number 3 is looking to be out. Aside from the extra hassle factor the intake cost is going to make this one not realy cost effective for me. Looks like I am leaning more towards number 2 but 1 is not ruled out yet either.

What are my goals with the car? I want it to be reliable and streetable first. We want to be able to take weekend trips out of town with the car, etc. I really think I would be happy with the power of the turbo for now, but I am worried in a year or whatever I would want more and then what options do I have.

I am figuring on spending about 5k now to upgrade the car. Looks like all these options are in the price range now. Honestly if I stopped there I think the 6 with a turbo is the way to go but what if next year I want to spend another 5k. How much more could I squeeze out of the 6 vs putting a turbo on the 4.6 if I went that route now?

I would go with the turbo or the SC. After that you will get to a point that it is not a good streetable car anyway. So why even consider more mods.... If you go the GT motor there is more room to go and still be streetable but how much do you want to spend compared to upgrading?

Well with the options you are considering and the cash you're planning to lay down, there has to be some goal past streetability. There's a point that you reach when all of the power in your car becomes unnecessary to just have fun on the streets.

Maybe your looking to hit the track or drag strip on the weekends?

How long can you be without the vehicle? That must be taken into account because power and drive train swaps never go as quickly as one hopes.

get the big engine.. you only live once and potentially for a shorter period of time with a 5.4L engine!

Well I agree. I mean the car in its stock form does really all you need on the streets but yeah I would like to hit the track on weekends, race with buddies, etc. I certainly don't want to go all out and take away from the cars main purpose but I do want it to be fast.

Down time is not an issue. My wife and I both have other vehicles to drive. This car was bought as a toy.

If you really wanted a V8, just sellt he 6 and get a GT; all the peices will be there.

But if you're like some of us who just want a street/daily driver and see what can be done with the V6, well, you're in the right place!

If you think you might want to 'do a lot more' later, like over 400 hp, then do a moderate turbo now, and get into the 300's. Then AFTER upgrading your rear end, suspension, clutch, etc., if you still have and want to spend the bucks, you can build out the engine so it can handle a lot more power, and then up the boost on the turbo. Of course put on a turbo setup that you can later upgrade the boost with easily.

You can do the same, to a lesser final power level, with a supercharger.

And yeah, once you get the lil' f-er into the mid 300's, it'll become more of a race car and less a trip/daily driver car :). But hey, have fun with it, whatever you do!

I am a big fan of the PowerHouse turbo on the 4.0L's. Although I personally was considering a 5.4L-3v swap before going a different direction, I think the PH turbo would be a very good choice in your situation.

I would say three for sure! I've watched vid's on youtube of people who swapped for those engines. It's amazing heh, but please dont do the Supercharger... for the price of that you could probably trade the car in and get a GT...

The car has near zero value as is because of the salvage title. Generally speaking, they reduce the value to half... That car with clean title would be worth about $8-9k max...so you can guess that he can sell it for no more than $5K which is why he wants to upgrade the existing car...and that makes perfect sense.

If this is your toy and you have the facilities and knowhow...go big brother. A few folks here have done it...and you will have quite a unique ride.

So...I am all about number 3! Would I do it? Heck no...but your car sounds liek the perfect candidate.

So since you can't upgrade to a GT option three is the only option I would do!

Or if you have a lot of cash to blow, you can forget the F150 5.4 and buy a Ford GT all aluminum 5.4 engine from Ford Racing :D

Is money an issue? If not, maybe go for a 5.0 from TechCo. Taht would be an awesome upgrade.