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  1. #1

    Thumbs up Performance parts for 3.8L V6

    Hi, im new to this site. Ive looked at the pictures and read a bunch of threads on and off for a while but now its time to post a question:

    I have a 1983 GL mustang hatchback (door tag says half way into 1982) which came with a 3.8L V6 and a C4 auto transmission. Doing research on it I realized that its the first year for the 3.8L, so i decided to keep it and I currently have the block in the machine shop getting rebuilt.
    Here are my list of questions:

    -What roller rocker arms will work on my motor? Will aftermarket 5.0 rockers work?
    -For curiosity sake, will a T5 5 speed manual transmission off a 5.0 bolt up to my block?
    -I would like dual exhaust, what X or H pipe and complete exhaust system work on my car?

    NOTE: I got myself some short headers off of a mid 90's 3.8, which sandblasted and painted, and will plug the O2 sensor holes. Id be interested in both street legal, and off road options.

    Whats the best way of converting my 2 barrel intake to 4? Adapter plate, or custom welding?

    NOTE: I already have had it modified a bit in the machine shop, had to get new aluminium male tips welded on for the heater core hoses, the steel inserted ones rotted. They did a good job.

    Or, what carb would you recommend? What 2 barrel? What 4 barrel?

    What other performance parts would you recommend?

    And finally (for now): Would it be detrimental (to my car, not the enviro.) if I removed the air pump? Im looking for a little more pep, and if its not required to make it run smoothly, ill "forget" to put it back on.

    Thanks for any help you can give me
    -Steve

  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by 1983 GL V6 MUSTANG View Post
    Hi, im new to this site. Ive looked at the pictures and read a bunch of threads on and off for a while but now its time to post a question:

    I have a 1983 GL mustang hatchback (door tag says half way into 1982) which came with a 3.8L V6 and a C4 auto transmission. Doing research on it I realized that its the first year for the 3.8L, so i decided to keep it and I currently have the block in the machine shop getting rebuilt.
    Here are my list of questions:

    -What roller rocker arms will work on my motor? Will aftermarket 5.0 rockers work?
    as i recall, rockers from a 351c will work. there are however a couple of sites i will post later that carry full roller rockers for the 3.8 V6.

    -For curiosity sake, will a T5 5 speed manual transmission off a 5.0 bolt up to my block?
    yes in fact it will. the T5 was put behind the V6 in a variety of years, and the bell housing from a 5.0 will bolt up to the V6 block, just remember to get the right T5 with the bell housing. it wouldnt do to use a 95 5.0 bell housing, and try to use a 92 T5, the input shaft length was changed in 94 on the 5.0.

    [/QUOTE]-I would like dual exhaust, what X or H pipe and complete exhaust system work on my car? [/QUOTE]

    this gets a bit sticky depending on your local emission laws. if you have none, then you can have a custom dual exhaust made as long as you install the cats(its a federal thing you know). you might be able to make a 5.0 mustang dual exhaust work though with some effort and modification.

    NOTE: I got myself some short headers off of a mid 90's 3.8, which sandblasted and painted, and will plug the O2 sensor holes. Id be interested in both street legal, and off road options.

    again, check out the websites i will post links to.

    Whats the best way of converting my 2 barrel intake to 4? Adapter plate, or custom welding?
    websites have them.

    Or, what carb would you recommend? What 2 barrel? What 4 barrel?

    What other performance parts would you recommend?
    regarding the carb, i suggest a 500cfm edelbrock carb, they work great out of the box, and it is a size just right for your 3.8. the websites have cams available as well as split port heads and an intake to go with those heads. and yes they do add power to the 3.8.

    And finally (for now): Would it be detrimental (to my car, not the enviro.) if I removed the air pump? Im looking for a little more pep, and if its not required to make it run smoothly, ill "forget" to put it back on.
    leave the air pump in place, it doesnt use up much power, perhaps 3-5 at most, so you will never feel it, and you can add a bit of timing to get that power back.

    now for the websites;

    http://www.moranav6racing.com/catego...l?CategoryID=1

    http://www.supersixmotorsports.com/

    super six motorsports even has tech articles on their site, one of which tells you just how to install a T5 behind the V6.

    now a couple of suggestions, have the machine shop, or you do it yourself, put a chamfer on head bolt holes in the block. the early blocks have been known to pop head gaskets because the bolts pull that area of the block up, which creates a dimple that prevents the head gasket from getting a proper seal. the other thing you want to do is use a high quality head gasket, i prefer felpro blues, but the corteco MLS head gaskets are showing excellent results when properly installed.

    and here are a few more links for you to read up on. fyi these are for fuel injected engines, but they still apply;

    http://forums.tccoa.com/showthread.php?t=144269

    http://forums.tccoa.com/showthread.php?t=141039

    http://forums.tccoa.com/showthread.php?t=6680

    one more thing, if you do decide to do the split port head swap, the 3.8 and 4.2 lower intakes do interchange.
    64 falcon
    66 mustang
    05 grand marquis

    dont just believe in miracles, rely on them!

    fordsix.com admin

  3. #3
    FEP Member 83glxdroptop's Avatar
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    Wow Steve, first, welcome to the site and welcome to this particular corner of FEP. Performance for the 1983 to 1986 version of the Ford 3.8 will require some serious research and custom fab work on your part. That being the case because after market support for the carbureted 3.8 is almost nonexistent. Going from 2 barrel to four barrel intake, for example, can be done by searching for a custom machined intake (I have one) or looking at Tom Morana's stuff on Super Six Motor Sports. Also, keep in mind that 1983 3.8 is somewhat unique in that piston, head, and cam design were changed for 1984 to 1986. So on top of the scarcity of early 3.8 parts, it is even scarcer to find 1983 performance parts (cams, intakes, etc.). I've been down this road before myself. I realized it can be done and would be very unique. But at what cost and effort? Most opinions lean towards dumping the early 3.8 for a 1994 to 2004 3.8, if you insist on keeping 6 cylinders under the hood. One last thing, if you are not concerned with emissions, dump the cat and get rid of the air pump. Not problems with those things being removed.

  4. #4

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    Well, thanks for the welcome.

    I will just start off by saying that I'm sticking with the stock block, as i said before i already have it in the shop getting a short block done to it.
    I had the heads redone as well, prior to them doing a short block.

    Oh, also, there "are" emission laws where I am from, but there is NO regulation, other than your initial safety on your car when you first register it under your name. Just an FYI.
    -On that note, For exhaust, I was wondering if a pre-made system from "LATE MODEL RESTORATION" or other mustang sight for a 5.0L or later model 3.8L would work w/ little modification? Has anyone tried this? I know its always possible to go to a local dude, but I like the idea of putting it on myself so I know whats done. (Don't like other people touching my car.)

    To "rbohm", would you be referring to the top, valve-spring side of the heads for the chamfer? I have heard that head gaskets where a big problem for these blocks. How would bevelling the lip slightly help? I guess I don't quite understand the mod you are referring.
    I did buy all new gaskets, Ill have to check what the brand is on the head gaskets.

    I have actually gone to tom morana's sight and to super six before. I emailed one of them a while ago (cant remember which) and I remember him telling me he was getting out of it? Ill do a little more research though.

    For roller rockers:
    -What is with the ratio's? 1.8:1, or 1.73:1 (from Morana)?
    -Tom moranas are a little expensive, doing a quick search upon JEGs, there are plenty of options that are a lot cheaper when looking at "351c roller rockers"

    "rbohm", are you SURE 351c roller rockers would work on my motor?

    Quote form one of your links : "1982 Through 4/1/83: The original block was unique because it had a two-piece, rope rear seal that required a slinger on the crank and a corresponding groove in the block. It was an E2AE casting."
    Thats my block!

    Cheers!
    -Steve

  5. #5

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    Also, does anyone know "plstktnkr2" off in the real world? On his thread about "more than just a six" he is doing a supercharged swap and said he was willing to sell his unneeded modified 4 barrel intake. I sent him a pm, but no response.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by 1983 GL V6 MUSTANG View Post
    To "rbohm", would you be referring to the top, valve-spring side of the heads for the chamfer? I have heard that head gaskets where a big problem for these blocks. How would bevelling the lip slightly help? I guess I don't quite understand the mod you are referring.
    I did buy all new gaskets, Ill have to check what the brand is on the head gaskets.
    no, the beveling i am talking about is on the block deck surface at each head bolt hole. the early blocks had the threads done like other engines of the day in that the threads went right to the top of the hole. what this does in the early 3.8 blocks is allow the deck surface to dimple and prevent a proper even compression of the head gasket. what ford did with later blocks is deepen the bolt hole, and start the threads down in the hole slightly to prevent that dimpling. to do that ford had to make the deck surface a bit thicker

    For roller rockers:
    -What is with the ratio's? 1.8:1, or 1.73:1 (from Morana)?
    -Tom moranas are a little expensive, doing a quick search upon JEGs, there are plenty of options that are a lot cheaper when looking at "351c roller rockers"
    the 1.73 is the stock ratio for the 3.8/4.2 engine, the 1.8 ratio is the high ratio rocker. rather like the stock small block ford rocker ratio is 1.6, but ford offered a 1.7 ratio rocker in their motorsports program.

    "rbohm", are you SURE 351c roller rockers would work on my motor?
    no i am not sure, but i will say this, the rockers are very similar in looks, they use the same style fulcrum, and they are the same ratio. my advice would be to find a parts store local to you that is willing to work with you, and have them pull a 351c rocker that you can compare to your v6 rocker and fulcrum. if you can swap the fulcrum between the rockers, they will interchange. unfortunately thats the best i can do at this time.

    Quote form one of your links : "1982 Through 4/1/83: The original block was unique because it had a two-piece, rope rear seal that required a slinger on the crank and a corresponding groove in the block. It was an E2AE casting."
    Thats my block!

    Cheers!
    -Steve
    yeah, ford changes to a one piece rear main seal a year or two later. it isnt a hard upgrade though if you also want to change to the one piece seal. just have your machine shop cut the block and rear main cap to allow the use of the one piece seal, and machine the oil slinger off the crank. or better upgrade to the 4.2 crank rods and pistons. you will have to get the balancer and flywheel from a 4.2 to maintain proper engine balance, but thats no big deal, and on the plus side you gain the extra torque of the longer stroke. just a thought.
    64 falcon
    66 mustang
    05 grand marquis

    dont just believe in miracles, rely on them!

    fordsix.com admin

  7. #7

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    one more thing, here is a full roller rocker set you might consider;

    http://www.harlandsharp.com/ford_v6_v8.htm
    64 falcon
    66 mustang
    05 grand marquis

    dont just believe in miracles, rely on them!

    fordsix.com admin

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