Thread: project v6 sleeper

Hey everyone, I have got a 96 mustang v6. It has pretty low miles (78,000) I thought about selling if for a gt but I am 20, going to school and paying for it all. So I cant afford it.
Here is a little information about me. My whole life my passion and the reason why I woke up in the morning was to play hockey, I have played ever since I could walk and loved every second I was on the ice. Right before turning 18 I was diagnosed with bone cancer (osteosarcoma). This sickness took hockey away from me, no if ands or buts. I have always loved cars but not like I do now. Cars give me a drive, makes me feel like I have something to live for still, so I lost the biggest passion I have had in my life, but when something is lost something is gained. The thing I gained is the passion to learn and work on cars. I absolutely love my car and its my hobby and my baby, even though it is a v6.

I love my v6 and have researched for around two years now. I have made up my mind on what I am going to do, although I am sure some little details will change. Here is the small list of what I have so far:

Dual exhaust with straight pipes
Cold Air Intake
Positrak & 3.73
Tinted windows
bullit gunmetal wheels

The plans I have for the near future:
A turbo kit
turbo spec'd camshaft
short throw shifter
tuned

The plans I have for the next year or two:
Split-port swap
polished and ported upper and lower intake
polished and ported heads
-maybe forged internals
-and when the time calls for it a gt rear end.

The turbo kit should be started in about two weeks so I will take pictures and keep updates going. I am sure I will have questions and snags, so any help would be much appreciated.

Ethan

I'm sorry to hear about your bone cancer. Have you beaten it?

That sucks you had to give up hockey. I played roller hockey (I couldn't ice skate) for about 8 years when I was a kid. It's definitely a great sport.

Sounds like you have some great plans for the car. I can't wait to see them come together. I talked to Evan this morning and he was saying the injectors are the only thing that he needs to take off. The kit should be on your car in no time!

That sucks to hear about the cancer and your passion but it is nice to see you are taking a positive approach to it and moving forward. I too am excited to see your plans come together as it is a unique project. Definately keep us posted with a build thread and lots of pics.

Yes I have beaten it, I have two and a half years left until I am considered cured. But yes I played ice and roller and was about to tryout for the pro inline team down in the springs right before I was diagnosed.

Cars really give me a "happy" place in my life now that hockey cant be such a big part.

I am very excited to meet up with Evan and get to know him and get the turbo and maybe some help from him. I will take plenty of pictures and notes on how the project goes. I am planning on starting it as soon as I get the turbo kit home. I just hope the heads will take the power until I can upgrade them, and same goes for the rear end.

Some day I would love to do a fundraising show or rally for pediatric cancer and give the proceeds as a scholarship, personal situations and even the hospital and group that treated me.

Good to see you have a positive attitude. Hope the install goes well and make sure to let us know if you need help.

thank you and I will definitely be asking questions so get ready cause I am sure there will be some pretty obvious ones

Sounds like you have great plans for your V6. I had a 1998 Forrest Green V6 auto and it was my baby all through high school and college (I wish I never sold it). I did everything I could to it, somethings I did multiple times (i.e. rear-end, exhaust, springs, etc)

I have just two suggestions:

Exhaust: If you want to keep your stock mid-pipe with cats, buy the Pacesetter Cat-Back adapter. You have to cut off the Y-pipe after your cats and install this H-pipe. Once this is complete, you can bolt on any cat-back made for a GT. It also comes with the passenger-side exhaust hangers too, but I ended up buying the Ford hangers because the ones with the kit were cheesey. FYI, the only difference between 94-98 exhaust systems are on '98+, the rear tail-pipe hangers are parallel with the tailpipe, the 94-97 are perpendicular.
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/...ck-Adapter-Kit

Rear-end: if you think you are going to eventually put a GT rear-end (ie 8.8") in, spend the couple extra hundred dollars and put in the 8.8 instead of putting the 3.73's and t-lock in the 7.5. You can pull an 8.8 rear-end from any 79-98 Mustang and it is a direct bolt-on. Your axles, brakes, everything will swap right over. The prices on 8.8 gears and t-lock should bethe same cost for parts and install. You could even go with a 99-04 rear end, but you will need the axles for it. the 99-04 rear-end will push the wheels out 3/4" on each side.

You didn't mention what type of transmission you had. If you have a manual, definitley upgrade the shifter to a MGW or other short-throw shifter. Definitely adds to the fun/love factor.

Good luck with the split-port swap and turbo install. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. I know a lot of tricks with the V6, so if you have any questions, let me know.

-Matt

Originally Posted by Matt88LX

Sounds like you have great plans for your V6. I had a 1998 Forrest Green V6 auto and it was my baby all through high school and college (I wish I never sold it). I did everything I could to it, somethings I did multiple times (i.e. rear-end, exhaust, springs, etc)

I have just two suggestions:

Exhaust: If you want to keep your stock mid-pipe with cats, buy the Pacesetter Cat-Back adapter. You have to cut off the Y-pipe after your cats and install this H-pipe. Once this is complete, you can bolt on any cat-back made for a GT. It also comes with the passenger-side exhaust hangers too, but I ended up buying the Ford hangers because the ones with the kit were cheesey. FYI, the only difference between 94-98 exhaust systems are on '98+, the rear tail-pipe hangers are parallel with the tailpipe, the 94-97 are perpendicular.
http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/...ck-Adapter-Kit

Rear-end: if you think you are going to eventually put a GT rear-end (ie 8.8") in, spend the couple extra hundred dollars and put in the 8.8 instead of putting the 3.73's and t-lock in the 7.5. You can pull an 8.8 rear-end from any 79-98 Mustang and it is a direct bolt-on. Your axles, brakes, everything will swap right over. The prices on 8.8 gears and t-lock should bethe same cost for parts and install. You could even go with a 99-04 rear end, but you will need the axles for it. the 99-04 rear-end will push the wheels out 3/4" on each side.

You didn't mention what type of transmission you had. If you have a manual, definitley upgrade the shifter to a MGW or other short-throw shifter. Definitely adds to the fun/love factor.

Good luck with the split-port swap and turbo install. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. I know a lot of tricks with the V6, so if you have any questions, let me know.

-Matt

Well I had already done the gears and posi in the rear I supposed I will just see how long that will last or keep my eyes out for a deal on a gt rear end.

And with the exhaust I bought the car with aftermarket exhaust and all I know is that they are divorced dual straight pipes from the headers to the tail pipes. Not sure if that makes any difference or not.

I will keep you in mind when the questions pop up! Thanks and will keep up the posts once everything starts.

Sorry, I thought you still needed to do the work. In that case, you will be fine with the 7.5 to at least 300hp+. Don't fix it until you break it. As for the exhaust, the dual straight pipes work fine. You don't need the crossover pipe (H or X) because the V6 doesn't fire 2 cylinders on one bank at once.

What mufflers do you have?

I have no idea which ones i have. I have look but cant tell cause i think the brand is on the side towards the cab. i can take another look once my knee is heeled up.

Do you have any turbo knowledge? if so what psi should i run on stock engine until i get all those upgrades i was talking about? the turbo specd cam should not be too far down the road.