Are there any upgrades for this engine. I have looked all over the place for aftermarket parts and can’t find anything. There is a boatload of stuff for the v8 variants but none for v6 models. Any mod for hp would help. Also any website where I could find performance parts for this engine would be great.

background on this truck: received it from my grandmother it was her old truck since she bought a new one. Basically this truck serves no purpose to anyone in the family because everyone has a vehicle. So I want to make this thing a rocket ship.

 

The only way possible to make V6 truck powerful

 

Assume you can get that motor to breathe at 100% volumetric efficiency all the way to 6000 rpm. Even then it wouldn't compare to a 5.0 32v truck motor and those are pretty underwhelming motors in a heavy pickup. You need to turbocharge it to get what you want out of it.

 

I’ve got the same truck. There’s really nothing you can do unless you unless you throw a turbo at it, but even that won’t last long. Best bet is to swap it. I plan on putting an eco boost in mine when the engine finally goes.

 

I would suggest talking to these guys. I've seen a lot of their work with the 3.8 Essex. If anyone can help you, it's these guys.

http://www.supersixmotorsports.com/

 

I had a 2001 SCAB manual transmission with that engine. It couldn't get out of its own way. I finally traded it in on a 6.0 F-250.

If Grandma treated it right, maybe just leave it as-is to serve as a reliable workhorse.

 

How’d you manage that? Shift at 1500 RPMs all the time? It’s no record setter from the factory, but the occasional 3,000+ RPM jaunt that opens up those IMRC butterflies (peak torque kicks in around 3500 RPMs) does wake a 4.2 up.

Anyway, like mentioned above, SuperSix should help you out. It’ll cost serious money for serious pop. I sure wouldn’t mind a cam that’s good enough to get rid of the IMRC setup, but that’s not happening right this moment...sigh.

 

If you can find an 89-95 thunderbird super coupe the heads intake and super charger will fit the 4.2

 

Has anyone successfully done any of these boosts? Which is better the thunderbird super coupe manifold/supercharger install or the Super Six Motorsports adapter manifold for the M112 supercharger?

 

Saw a guy on the forum who slapped on the supercharger off a 5.4 lightning, lasted 6 months on 8 psi before he bailed out cause it was acting funny.
Can't find the actual forum on it tho