Diablo canned tune on a 3.8

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shovel

shovel

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I sought this thing out specifically because of how boring it is to see all the non-gearheads moo about V6 Mustangs being disposable and hopeless - to me it's more of a skill test that a lot of people flunked. I don't really think the 3.8 is a particularly great engine but the flaws it has are a known quantity, and it does have some merits. I'll work with anything, just enjoy the process.

I wish I had more time to put into Youtube because this build series could have been a lot more entertaining if I did. When this car all comes together I hope a few people will "get it" and of course some folks never will.
 
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I sought this thing out specifically because of how boring it is to see all the non-gearheads moo about V6 Mustangs being disposable and hopeless - to me it's more of a skill test that a lot of people flunked. I don't really think the 3.8 is a particularly great engine but the flaws it has are a known quantity, and it does have some merits. I'll work with anything, just enjoy the process.

I wish I had more time to put into Youtube because this build series could have been a lot more entertaining if I did. When this car all comes together I hope a few people will "get it" and of course some folks never will.
I love seeing them being built there is a company super six I think? They have awesome parts for 3.8 v6s. I will gladly follow a 3.8 build any day ! I smoked some pretty fast trucks in a 3.8 5 speed new edge they were all shocked too.
 
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It'd be fun to throw some money at Super Six or Morana but I'm not in that tax bracket. I'd be curious how much they sell since Mustang owners as a whole have made a religion out of hating any piston count fewer than eight. Maybe there are a couple people out there building beastly Tauruses :)

I'm putting a set of SVO heads on my GT in the near future and when that happens I will have a spare set of 1.73 roller rockers that might make their way into the 3.8 just for giggles. I doubt it will have a significant effect on power alone. I look at tuning as a holistic process where each individual part might not make a huge contribution but as a whole they do add up. I wouldn't buy the roller rockers for this engine - they're "free" if I already have them.

Going split port is the obvious choice for making significantly more power and I'm not going to do that because I have arbitrarily decided on limits and once I'm swapping heads I might as well put a 4.2 bottom in there too (a whole 4.2 from a junkyard is not too different in price or difficulty vs. split port swapping my bottom end) and if I'm putting a 4.2 in I might as well just put a 5.0 in, and I already have a 5.0 in my other Mustang... hopefully you see where I'm going with that.

So this car is staying single port but I want to see how far I can take that. It's not too serious, just something to do while waiting to die.
 
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It'd be fun to throw some money at Super Six or Morana but I'm not in that tax bracket. I'd be curious how much they sell since Mustang owners as a whole have made a religion out of hating any piston count fewer than eight. Maybe there are a couple people out there building beastly Tauruses :)

I'm putting a set of SVO heads on my GT in the near future and when that happens I will have a spare set of 1.73 roller rockers that might make their way into the 3.8 just for giggles. I doubt it will have a significant effect on power alone. I look at tuning as a holistic process where each individual part might not make a huge contribution but as a whole they do add up. I wouldn't buy the roller rockers for this engine - they're "free" if I already have them.

Going split port is the obvious choice for making significantly more power and I'm not going to do that because I have arbitrarily decided on limits and once I'm swapping heads I might as well put a 4.2 bottom in there too (a whole 4.2 from a junkyard is not too different in price or difficulty vs. split port swapping my bottom end) and if I'm putting a 4.2 in I might as well just put a 5.0 in, and I already have a 5.0 in my other Mustang... hopefully you see where I'm going with that.

So this car is staying single port but I want to see how far I can take that. It's not too serious, just something to do while waiting to die.
Well thats pretty bleak, hope you enjoy your builds.
 

Tac1

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Just throw boost on this thing. Still might not be fast but the sound of the turbo spooling will make em wonder lol
 

Warhorse Racing

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I'm a huge fan of the 3.8L Mustangs. If you watch my results videos, you'll see a V6 can do pretty well against V8s on an autocross course. It's great to see more SN95 V6 content on YT!

I know you said you probably wouldn't buy roller rockers, but I installed Harland Sharp 1.8 roller rockers on my car and they made a big difference. An underdrive pulley also helped wake the car up a little.
 
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shovel

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I'm a huge fan of the 3.8L Mustangs. If you watch my results videos, you'll see a V6 can do pretty well against V8s on an autocross course. It's great to see more SN95 V6 content on YT!

I know you said you probably wouldn't buy roller rockers, but I installed Harland Sharp 1.8 roller rockers on my car and they made a big difference. An underdrive pulley also helped wake the car up a little.

I like your videos, good information presented clearly with numbers to back it up. And you're the only person I've ever seen acknowledge that there's more to suspension geometry than just lower and stiffer.

Since posting the above video I did learn that the small block rockers I own won't work on the 3.8 heads; if I had more of a budget I'd love to get more air into the cylinders while remaining NA and the 1.8 rockers are less work and less expense than a cam. If you've seen subsequent videos on my channel you know that I've had my hobbies hijacked. There's a big spreadsheet on my desktop full of ideas and outlines for youtube & car stuff and right now it just makes me depressed to open it because it all takes time, money and warm weather - I can only count on having one of those in the next few months.
 

Warhorse Racing

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I like your videos, good information presented clearly with numbers to back it up. And you're the only person I've ever seen acknowledge that there's more to suspension geometry than just lower and stiffer.

Since posting the above video I did learn that the small block rockers I own won't work on the 3.8 heads; if I had more of a budget I'd love to get more air into the cylinders while remaining NA and the 1.8 rockers are less work and less expense than a cam. If you've seen subsequent videos on my channel you know that I've had my hobbies hijacked. There's a big spreadsheet on my desktop full of ideas and outlines for youtube & car stuff and right now it just makes me depressed to open it because it all takes time, money and warm weather - I can only count on having one of those in the next few months.
Thanks! I'm trying to dispel the common myths about making these cars handle better. And I like showing people what a 3.8L Mustang is capable of. Hopefully, I can also convince some people that these cars are worth saving.

I watched "The 2023 Year End Video" on your channel. I sincerely hope things improve in 2024.
 

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