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Bargain high performance for Ford 4.6L V8

GunHawke
Hey there from smokey ans sunny Forida[8D],

I'm thinking of picking up a '95 T-Bird with a 4.6L V8. Now....without all the Chevy vs. Ford banter....do y'all have some bargain type of high prformance tricks for the 4.6L V8? I mean, I may do an upgrade to the exhaust and the typical things, but are there standard things out there that don't cost more than this 100,000 mile car?

Thanks! I just want to have a little fun in the garage.....

Jim
GunHawke
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Comments

18 comments

Date Votes
  • Aspen79se
    I had a 3.8L V6. Without going into turbos and superchargers the best you can do is upgrade the intake and exhaust. I had a ram-air hood and custom wing on mine.
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  • Mk 19
    There are many things you can do to a 4.6 for a bit more power such as changing out the exhaust with headers, upgraded computer, cold air system with larger MAF, it'll all add up and give you a bit of a boost. But in the process of adding up horsepower it'll also add up the cost of doing the work. The most cost efficient way to build power in a modern engine is to supercharge it, it'll look like a lot of money to begin with but a supercharger will give you far more bang for the buck, here is a good link for one:

    http://www.allenengine.com/tbird1.html

    That'll give you 97 HP for $3,700, all of that other stuff above will cost the same and only give you 40 to 50 HP. Expensive, yes, but it is the most cost efficient way to build power.
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  • Big Sky Redneck
    If you are going to supercharge there is more to it than just bolting it on to do it right, I don't trust these kits that are claimed to work on a stock motor!

    To supercharge the correct way and not the HotRod TV way that will destroy an engine you need to do a complete rebuild with forged crank and rods, forged deep dish pistons with a ratio or about 8.5:1. Now you need to do head work, get them on a flow bench and do the port work. Valving needs to be upgraded and most important you need a cam ground for supercharged engines. Your cooling system needs to be upgraded, the drivetrain needs to be upgraded and dpending on how you build the engine and the boost you use the vehicle chassis will need strenghtening.

    There are two ways to supercharge an engine, the correct way and the HotRod TV way, the HotRod TV way will be a big dissapointment and in time destroy the engine. For all the more you would gain by supercharging or turbo charging a stock engine with a weak forced induction system you can build a naturaly aspirated engine to produce more horsepower.
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  • LOKO383
    quote:Originally posted by Pa Redneck
    If you are going to supercharge there is more to it than just bolting it on to do it right, I don't trust these kits that are claimed to work on a stock motor!

    To supercharge the correct way and not the HotRod TV way that will destroy an engine you need to do a complete rebuild with forged crank and rods, forged deep dish pistons with a ratio or about 8.5:1. Now you need to do head work, get them on a flow bench and do the port work. Valving needs to be upgraded and most important you need a cam ground for supercharged engines. Your cooling system needs to be upgraded, the drivetrain needs to be upgraded and dpending on how you build the engine and the boost you use the vehicle chassis will need strenghtening.

    There are two ways to supercharge an engine, the correct way and the HotRod TV way, the HotRod TV way will be a big dissapointment and in time destroy the engine. For all the more you would gain by supercharging or turbo charging a stock engine with a weak forced induction system you can build a naturaly aspirated engine to produce more horsepower.
    +1 especially in 100,000 mile 4.6 [:D]
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  • nards444
    i dont know how much i would do to a 12 year old car. A stock mustang, camaro, firebird, are going to be way faster then that thing
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  • 300Win_Mag
    T-chickens are fat slow turds.
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  • catpealer111
    Don't underestimate the mid 90's T-Bird. They're great handling cars with ALOT of potential. GunHawke, don't listen to the nay sayers, buy the car and drive it stock for awhile I don't think you'll be disappointed. As for the miles, 100,000 isn't alot of miles for a 95, that's less than 9,000 per year. With the right work, your bird will be a whole lot of fun. I'd jump at a 4.6 T-bird.
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  • Mossbergboogie
    New intake,new heads, and a supercharger thats all youll need.
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  • richbug
    quote:Originally posted by nards444
    i dont know how much i would do to a 12 year old car. A stock mustang, camaro, firebird, are going to be way faster then that thing


    The T-bird has a much better ballistic coefficient. Like a boat tail on a bullet, it does better at high speed.

    My 88 4 cylinder bird wouldn't hang with a 5.0 stang off the line, but from 60 to 150 it took them easily.
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  • catpealer111
    quote:Originally posted by richbug
    quote:Originally posted by nards444
    i dont know how much i would do to a 12 year old car. A stock mustang, camaro, firebird, are going to be way faster then that thing


    The T-bird has a much better ballistic coefficient. Like a boat tail on a bullet, it does better at high speed.

    My 88 4 cylinder bird wouldn't hang with a 5.0 stang off the line, but from 60 to 150 it took them easily.


    Are you talking about the Turbo Bird? Those are diamonds in the rough.
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  • Colt Super
    I don't agree with Pa Redneck.

    Just like when bolting nitrous on to an old engine, put the supercharger on (not a turbo-supercharger) and run it til you blow the engine. Don't go more than about 7 pounds of boost, and when you do the rebuild, then go for bigger boost numbers.

    But I think your question was more oriented toward little tweaks that are low cost, like in the days when engines weren't computer controlled.

    Is that correct ??

    Doug
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  • Mk 19
    I agree with Doug on this. A small amount of boost is not going to harm a engine with only 100,000 miles, gee-wiz, a modern engine is just being broken in at 100,000. One of the drag cars I used to run was a 68 Nova, it had a basic 468 with forged pistons and a cast crank and rods. The Nova ran 10.10's all day long. We pulled that engine out of the Nova after 100 passes and dropped it into a front motor dragster to run NE-2, but it would only turn 8.80's and we needed 8.50 to make the index. So we took that old 468 and converted it to alky with Hilborn injectors and ran 25 to 30% nitro, then it would run 8.30's. Everybody thought that motor wouldn't last, but it kept chugging along till we pulled it out at 275 runs. Yes it was loose, but it was still consistent. Just because a engine is broke in doesn't mean that your going to break it, a little extra power will do wonders. Just remember a engine is nothing but a air pump, the more efficient the air moves the better it will run.
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  • Big Sky Redneck
    I didn't say anything about his engine having 100,000 miles on it.

    Here is my point, for the horsepower gains you will achieve with adding a watered down supercharger to a stock engine and set it up so it does not grenade that stock engine you will be greatly disapointed. For 1/2 the money anybody who has even the slightest knowledge of how engines work can get more horsepower then that puny stockable supercharger will get.

    Hotrod TV sure does educate people [V]
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  • Colt Super
    I've built hot street and race cars since 1957, and have owned more than 100 cars that I have designed, turned the wrenches on, raced and sold.

    Supercharging is the cheapest way to make horsepower and torque.

    I certainly have a lot more to learn about cars, though.

    Doug
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  • nards444
    theres little things such as air filter, exhaust relatively little dollars will add a few here and there. But I think that adding a super charger at this might do more harm then good. Remember you will start having to run premium and have it serviced. To me a T-bird is a Taurus on steroids. Earlier i wasnt talking about the 4cly fbird, you get a tranny or z-28, it will kill that thing. But you will probably pay more as well. To me that just isnt the car to go hot rodding in.
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  • Colt Super
    Actually, that year T-Bird is built on a Fox platform, which is common to the Mustang.

    "turn it on, wind it out, blow it up...".

    Doug
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  • Mk 19
    quote:Hotrod TV sure does educate people

    I have never watched Hotrod TV, But I have been building and racing for most of my life. The first time I tore the heads off a small block Chevy I was 5 and I have been ether a driver or team member for everything from a bracket car to a Top Fuel team. I have personally been as fast as 7.02 at 202MPH in my Super E dragster.
    Yes, you should do everything you can to strengthen a engine that is going to have any sort of forced induction, but it is no guarantee against failure. I already mentioned the old nitro motor we ran in the NE-1 car that was never race prepared and had 275 runs on it before it was retired. I also ran a fully prepared 632 CI BBC that lasted 5 runs before it grenaded, that's right it cost me $30,000 to make 5 runs.
    Any type of improvement made to a engine will cause extra stress to that engine, but the smaller the stress the less it is going to effect the engine. A small supercharger is only going to put out 5-7 PSI, that is very little stress and can be considered less than raising the rev limiter by 500 rpm.

    Information below was taken from:
    http://www.procharger.com/faq.shtml#10

    quote:Will a supercharger shorten the life of my engine or drivetrain?

    That is a very subjective question, as the manner in which an automobile is driven directly affects engine life. Assuming a properly tuned system, proper oil change and engine maintenance, and similar driving, supercharging generally will not shorten the life of an engine, just as is the case with OEM turbocharging (with proper cooldown for turbochargers. A cooldown period after driving is not necessary with supercharging). This is especially true of centrifugal supercharging, which generates boost in line with engine rpm, unlike roots and twin screw blowers, whose low rpm boost can place additional strain on the engine and drive train.

    Superchargers can be used with automatic or manual transmissions and will not increase transmission wear under normal driving. When racing, however, the additional torque provided by supercharging will place additional load on the transmission, especially when increased traction is present, such as with slicks. This impact is minimized when the boost increases with engine rpm, as is the case with centrifugal supercharging and turbocharging.
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  • Colt Super
    +

    Doug
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