gamerndm

well, my long nights lurking on craigslist looking for cheap goodies have finally paid off- Have a look at what i got for $30.00:

Its a 3.8 V6 out of a 2000 Mustang that overheated, it has a pretty badly blown headgasket on one bank, but the heads and block are intact from what i can tell so far.









I plan to tear this engine apart and build it, and i mean BUILD it from the ground up, lower compression forged pistons and internals, and run a Twin turbo setup, probably dual Garrett T4's. My end goal for the motor is to be running a max of 25-30lbs of boost when i need it, somewhere around 15-20 most of the time, and a manual setup Nitrous oxide injection. Im looking in the ballpark of 450-550RWHP (note this engine came stock on the mustang at something like 190, but don't quote me on that).


Now im sure that you are all wondering "Now wtf does this have to do with toyota trucks and runners?"

Well Im getting to that part- Here is what this engine is going to go into when its all ready to go: My 1994 2wd PU.




I know that the truck is going to need all kinds of work to get ready for the engine, ill be upgrading all the brakes, drivetrain and rear end, suspension, and reinforcing the frame.

This truck was never meant to be a hardcore offroad rig IMO, being 2wd and all, but i think it will make a mean street truck when its done. It will sit about 2" lower then it does now, and look a lot nicer by that time too lol.


Let me know what you guys think, ill post updates about the suprises i find as i dig into my $30.00 motor lol

rdlsz24

Dang nice find! I've sold 25 year old Honda 3 wheeler motors that didn't run for more than $30!

Rob

Trustyrusty

Well, Neat project but IMHO those 3.8's are a terrible ty motor..

JohnRaven

Sweet find. Can't beat it for $30

just a 22re

yeah becareful on that motor there junk unless you can get around that but im just letting you know oh and get a very hevey duty oil pump cause they like to fail trust me i know

norcalsvx

i woudl like to see a mods list for the parts you will need to run 30psi on a crappy 3.8l ford, seems like this is going to cost a crap load (even though you got the motor cheap)

Flash319

I'd like to see 30PSI on that thing two. Good luck.........

machabees

Wow alot of anti-ford people here. or maybe just anti-3.8 people.
IMO this would make one heck of a sleeper setup. no one would ever expect that little toyta truck to be really fast. keep your body mods to a minimum and get an exhaust that keeps it quiet at idle and you'll just blow people away.
they'll never know what hit them.

gamerndm

yeah, im not a ford fan, but by the time Im done with it the only things that will still be ford on the engine are probably the block and heads lol

ill price some things up in terms of internals, but im pretty confident i can peak it out at around 30 psi. no way you would catch me driving it that way all the time though, i dont want to rebuild once a month! i know for a fact it can handle 12-14 psi on stock internals if its tuned right, so i think my goal is realistic.

Matt16

Sleepers are so cool. Somehow put sticky tires on the stock rims maybe a Save-the-Whales sticker on the back then smoke a Corvette at the lights.

jason191918

Is the truck going to sit 2" lower because of the weight? Haha.

Seriously though, looks good and good luck.

Like others said, a quiet exhaust would make it a sweet sleeper, except for the whole cam/turbo whine thing...

Second the Save-the-Whales sticker. haha

*Subscribed*

gamerndm

well, i was out in the garage, starting to dig into it, and as luck would have it, i actually broke my only ratchet that has the small socket trying to get the 11,000 bolts off of the top of the intake manifold, so i cant do much else til i go to the store

I did pull the spark plugs out, and cranked it by hand (it was quite hard to turn even with the plugs out), and out of 2 of the cylinders came a gush of oily, nasty coolant. So i know that the HG is probably half gone and in pieces on that side, but i knew that was coming. the other bank was dry, but INCREDIBLY dirty on the inside from what i can see through the hole, the piston tops look completly coated in carbon buildup, and the plugs were all black. As soon as i get another ratchet ill pull off the manifold and heads, and post pics of the carnage im sure ill find in there. apparently this engine got a pretty good beating in its previous life lol

jason191918

It's possible that one of the rods are bent due to hydrolocking from the HG going. Guess we'll find out.

gamerndm

I dont know about the rod, the guys i bought it from said that it still cranked right up and ran before it was pulled, but burned coolant and a little oil like a b****, i guess its still possible. I guess we'll just have to find out

gamerndm

so i went to my friends tonight to work on his truck some (were restoring a '70 Chevy C-10) and got the proper ratchets while i was there, so I was finally able to dig into the motor tonight when i got home. yes i took lots of pictures lol:

Got the upper Intake off:









Then I pulled off the wiring harness:









Valve covers, Fuel rails, and injectors off:









A pile of parts on my garage floor:







Im making headway, tomorrow ill pull the heads and lower intake, and see what im dealing with. I need sleep now though, its 5:46 am lol

gamerndm

well, i pulled the lower intake, and the rocker/pushrod assembly on one head, and cracked my 5/8 socket on the 2nd head bolt. great. this engine is eating my tools! so im waiting to go to the store again now before i can make any more progress.

iamsuperbleeder

dang man, the way it's going, it's going to cost you more in tools than it will parts

NicCantDecide

Oh man, I know the feeling haha. I lost 4 adapters and probably 7 sockets before I decided to buy 1/2" drive craftsman sockets . Luckily they were on sale at the time...12mm up to 36mm worth the money tho.

gamerndm

So I havent updated in a while, but thats due to the fact that I cant get half of the head bolts off. Ive soaked them all in PB blaster for like a week now, spraying them like everyday, and Im using like a 1.5-2 foot breaker bar, but so far i only have 5 of the 16 off. Anybody have any tips or advice?

UKMyers

Impact?