4.6 thunderbird. easly upgraded? need help.

bagged · Jan 3, 2006

i am looking into getting a 4.6 thunderbird. but first i wanted to find some info on how upgradeable they are. or rather how well they interchange with the 4.6 stang. so far i have picked up that PI heads and intake are a good start. a blower isnt real fesable...only t-bird one i can find is the allen.
i did a search and turned up no real good info. so what year is the better 4.6 year to go with. will it be simple to mod, or is it one of these cases that there will be nothing? how much of the mustang interchanges.

thanks

wht03GT · Jan 3, 2006

I'm confused, is this going into a mustang or do you want to modd it in the t-bird?

BooWFO · Jan 3, 2006

Tbird can be modded and they respond fairly well. Guy locally had one was SUPER clean he is currently selling his with all the parts on it.

stangGT97 · Jan 3, 2006

all the information you need about T-birds is here - http://www.tccoa.com/
good luck

bagged · Jan 3, 2006

thanks guys, i found that shorly after my brother told me to ask here, he has a 89 maroon GT with a vortech... but thats about every car on here aint it

TGJ · Jan 3, 2006

You want to get a 96 or 97 TBird. They have a lot more in common with the modular mustang than a 94 - 95 does. With a 94 - 95, you will find that in order to use some mustang parts, you will need to upgrade to 96 - 97 TBird parts. Also a few of the mustang SC kits will work on the TBird. I would recomment TCCOA as well.

Green&GoldGT · Jan 3, 2006

try this website www.supercoupeperformance.com

its got 4.6 and 3.8 tbird parts and maybe a few other cars

Gearbanger 101 · Jan 3, 2006

I'm the one your Brother was talking to earlier bagged. If the Allen Engine Development Kit isn't to your liking, a few of the guys over at www.tccoa.com are also using the FRPP blower with good results and even a few Vortech S-Trims. There's also one guy over there running a 1.7L Kenne Bell and although it does make some impressive power, it's not exactly cost efficient for our application. So if you don't like the idea of spending a lot of money, this one isn't for you.

As I told your brother, the '96-'97 4.6's were the best engines of the bunch and are essentially the same as the '96-'98 Mustangs, with the exception of true dual exhaust. Not to mention that if supercharging the car is in your future, the later engines are a better base to start from, as earlier ones require the '96-'97 upgrades anyway.

If you go with the blower and a couple of modest bolt-ons, 12's are cake. If you get creative with your blower combination and get the major bolt-ons on there as well as gear/transmission, low-12s, high-11s are possible. Beyond that, it's going to start costing you some big money.

If a blower car isn't in the cards, there's always nitrous. And in the same respect as the blowers, the Mustang kits will interchange with the T-Bird/Cougar engine. If you must keep it N/A, the PI head/cams/intake upgrade is good enough to get you into the 14's. You'll need most of the bolt-ons and some gear and transmission work to get it into the low-13s and you'll need to be really aggressive with things to get it into the 12s. Don't fret though, all is not lost. They can be made fast, you just need to overshadow the additional weight and IRS disadvantage (for drag racing purposes, anyway) that's presented, with more power and good traction.

TGJ · Jan 3, 2006

Hey, you are forgetting Mike S's aftercooled T-Trim, Jack K's as well and the other Mike S's AED Race Kit. I don't remember what Scott has on that 94 FrankenCougie of his, I know that it is an aftercooled M112.

98V6 K.I.T.T. · Jan 3, 2006

How odd.....I currently have a 95 4.6 T-bird in my hands as of like two days ago. I doubt I will look into modding it though.

bagged · Jan 3, 2006

Gearbanger 101 said:
I'm the one your Brother was talking to earlier bagged. If the Allen Engine Development Kit isn't to your liking, a few of the guys over at www.tccoa.com are also using the FRPP blower with good results and even a few Vortech S-Trims. There's also one guy over there running a 1.7L Kenne Bell and although it does make some impressive power, it's not exactly cost efficient for our application. So if you don't like the idea of spending a lot of money, this one isn't for you.

As I told your brother, the '96-'97 4.6's were the best engines of the bunch and are essentially the same as the '96-'98 Mustangs, with the exception of true dual exhaust. Not to mention that if supercharging the car is in your future, the later engines are a better base to start from, as earlier ones require the '96-'97 upgrades anyway.

If you go with the blower and a couple of modest bolt-ons, 12's are cake. If you get creative with your blower combination and get the major bolt-ons on there as well as gear/transmission, low-12s, high-11s are possible. Beyond that, it's going to start costing you some big money.

If a blower car isn't in the cards, there's always nitrous. And in the same respect as the blowers, the Mustang kits will interchange with the T-Bird/Cougar engine. If you must keep it N/A, the PI head/cams/intake upgrade is good enough to get you into the 14's. You'll need most of the bolt-ons and some gear and transmission work to get it into the low-13s and you'll need to be really aggressive with things to get it into the 12s. Don't fret though, all is not lost. They can be made fast, you just need to overshadow the additional weight and IRS disadvantage (for drag racing purposes, anyway) that's presented, with more power and good traction.

thanks for all the good info. i have no problems with supercharging its just the cost, its not that i dont want to drop the cash...its i just dont have it to drop...someday thow!
the guys at the thunderbird/couger site tell me PI cams,intake, 80mm MAF, GT intake tube, exhaust didnt say anything about the heads..ill ask em.
the transmission, im thinking 12" converter (crown vic) shift kits with some shop secrets and a ford motor sport 3.73 diff.

me and my brother put some N2o on the escort....i think i got the spray bug! hah so just maybe a fuel system up grade and a modest shot along with the other upgrades to shrug off some pescy sports cars?

TGJ · Jan 4, 2006

You are going to want a smaller TC, the Maraurder TC I suggested at TCCOA would be the cheapest alternative out there. You could look at some aftermarket TC's, finding a good one is the key. There is nothing wrong with doing the PI Headswap, if you choose that route.

1LowGT · Jan 4, 2006

i have a 97 cougar also with the 4.6 and plan on pi swap for it also,everything i upgrade on my stang i put it on the cougar it runs quite well

bagged · Jan 4, 2006

TGJ said:
You are going to want a smaller TC, the Maraurder TC I suggested at TCCOA would be the cheapest alternative out there. You could look at some aftermarket TC's, finding a good one is the key. There is nothing wrong with doing the PI Headswap, if you choose that route.

i found that the 12" converter is a stock size, ill have to ask my dad about that tomorrow. what size is the maraurder?
whats to be gained from the cams,head intake, and just the cams and intake?

thomas91169 · Jan 4, 2006

beef up the tranny first. it doesnt handle stock power, let alone modded output. do some homework on the J-Mod, tranny coolers and Torque Convertors. then do the PI swap to give you more power, as well as the normal bolt ons. dont forget gears also.

and yes, check out TCCOA.com, ive been there since 01', lots of great info on the things you need to do.

just letting you know, that its not going to be cheap.

Gearbanger 101 · Jan 4, 2006

TGJ said:
Hey, you are forgetting Mike S's aftercooled T-Trim, Jack K's as well and the other Mike S's AED Race Kit. I don't remember what Scott has on that 94 FrankenCougie of his, I know that it is an aftercooled M112.

I wasn't aware of Mike S (I'm assuming yo mean Siska?) having a T-Trim on an MN12, but I do know of his Whipple Blown Bird (AED Race Kit). I didn't mention it, because that's one of those "It's gonna cost you some big money" cars I was referring to. But yeah, last time I talked to Mike, he was still running mid-10's with it at over 130mph.....so to say it's making power is an understatement. Scott has a custom built M112 set up on his, but I don't think it's aftercooled. It still rocks either way though.

bagged said:
i found that the 12" converter is a stock size, ill have to ask my dad about that tomorrow.

The stock unit is a little bit bigger than 12" and The Maurauder converter is an 11 1/4" unit.

bagged · Jan 4, 2006

Gearbanger 101 said:
I wasn't aware of Mike S (I'm assuming yo mean Siska?) having a T-Trim on an MN12, but I do know of his Whipple Blown Bird (AED Race Kit). I didn't mention it, because that's one of those "It's gonna cost you some big money" cars I was referring to. But yeah, last time I talked to Mike, he was still running mid-10's with it at over 130mph.....so to say it's making power is an understatement. Scott has a custom built M112 set up on his, but I don't think it's aftercooled. It still rocks either way though.
The stock unit is a little bit bigger than 12" and The Maurauder converter is an 11 1/4" unit.

thanks for the clarification.
im going to show my pops the j-mod stuff and see what he says. i read throw it and people are seeming to leave out some more important facts than saying drill some holes and accum springs... should point out that they are milling down the pistons to add another friction!! or if running 4;10s or higher that the tail shaft lub mod on there. cant stand mushy transmissions my lincoln has a helva mooshie one

TGJ · Jan 4, 2006

I am referring to Mike Sullivan AKA GoldBird that has the aftercooled T-Trim... Of course his car is not running yet, but Jack's is.

Bagged:

With PI Cams and PI Intake, you are looking at about a 30 RWHP gain. Adding the PI Heads, PI Cams and PI Intake you will get about 40 RWHP.

There is more involved with the headswap, than just the cam and intake swap.

bagged · Jan 4, 2006

TGJ said:
I am referring to Mike Sullivan AKA GoldBird that has the aftercooled T-Trim... Of course his car is not running yet, but Jack's is.

Bagged:

With PI Cams and PI Intake, you are looking at about a 30 RWHP gain. Adding the PI Heads, PI Cams and PI Intake you will get about 40 RWHP.

There is more involved with the headswap, than just the cam and intake swap.

when you say more involved, are you saying that in a normal means or is there custom work to be done? a normal head swap isnt that big of a deal..unless the engine needs pulled to do so, which i would highly doubt but you understand what im saying.

TGJ · Jan 4, 2006

bagged said:
when you say more involved, are you saying that in a normal means or is there custom work to be done? a normal head swap isnt that big of a deal..unless the engine needs pulled to do so, which i would highly doubt but you understand what im saying.

The headswap is more involved, requires more parts. It is like doing a PI Headswap on a mustang but you have less room to work with under the hood.

4.6 thunderbird. easly upgraded? need help.

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