1988 Cougar LS

Topic: 1988 Cougar LS (Read 2299 times) previous topic - next topic

1988 Cougar LS

August 10, 2016, 10:04:40 PM

Hey guys,

I want to share some new pictures of my most recent car purchase and pick some of your brains. She is an 88' LS in oxford white with a velvet red interior. Fairly well loaded from the factory and in fantastic shape. I picked her up after I gave up on pretending to have enough time/energy/funds to fix my 87' thunderbird which progressed further and further into "project" status once I found rust and structural damage caused by collision. I wanted a car that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel with. Also, I believe I got a good deal on a car that's in exceptional shape for it's age. For a long time I considered waiting around for an XR7 or V8 LS model but ended up with a 3.8L model. My thoughts were that the standard 5.0L was not much more to brag about than the 88' 3.8L power wise and that I wasn't going to be doing any aggressive driving. That being said, although the engine runs super smooth and seemingly reliably I would like to squeeze more power out of it. I've done a lot of research into both 5.0L and 3.8L building and would like some thoughts. I'd like to get into the 200hp range at a reasonable price. Would it be worth doing an engine swap for the power potential and huge aftermarket support that comes with the 5.0L or would it be reasonable to squeeze enough power out of this block to make driveability more enjoyable all while preserving an unmolested example of a car?

Aspects that I have taken into consideration:

Pro: I current have a 302 block bored .40 over that needs rebuild along with most of the accessories that mount to the front.

Con: A substantially more powerful motor would need a beefed up transmission.

Con: A substantially heavier motor would require front suspension upgrades.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. The third option would be to find something else with more factory stock power to start with, and I do have the car listed for sale locally. I would prefer to keep it and work on it though as it will be hard to get another deal like this one on a car that I actually like a lot.

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #1 – August 10, 2016, 10:12:09 PM

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #2 – August 11, 2016, 03:15:44 AM

I don't want to call the 3.8 a boat anchor, the 88 up motor is significantly better then the 84-87 click systems. That being said... I had a good running 87 v-6 that supposedly had a new motor. It ran pretty good, and I could barely tell the difference between it and a 86-88 302. It could do a one wheel peel if I really got on it, and could easily do freeway speeds. Gas mileage was similar, just took a bit longer on on ramps and freeway merging.

For the same power levels, a 302 is way, way cheaper. Easier to upgrade, miles better aftermarket and really reliable. On a stock power level, the stock and should be fine, especially if you don't beat on it.

At the end of the day, it's your car. If you are gonna keep it forever, mod it to your taste. If you want to preserve it and sell it, then dont. You will never recover the money spent on modifications.

The cheap way to do it, find another 88 5.0 car. This will greatly simplify the swap if you go with a 302. I have 341k miles on an almost completely original 302. I just replaced the stock lower radiator hose last fall. I drove the car 200 miles today and drive pizza delivery 5 nights a week. With about $500 I could throw a complete h.o. upgrade at it and get it up to a factory rated 225hp Mustang spec.

If you are interested in doing a t-5, I used one out of a 2001 v-6 mustang. I picked it up off of Craigslist for $150 and I beat the carport of it behind my 302. Completely changed the way that the car drove and made it way more fun to beat on. Did the entire swap for about $400 in a weekend.

*edit*

Also, the suspension is virtually identical between non xr7 or sport models. The spring rates would be slightly different with a v-6, but even that wouldn't "need" to be upgraded. Moog sells replacement Springs for a reasonable price, the rear Springs are pretty much all the same, as is the rest of the suspension and even the rear end. Only 88 sport/xr7 or 87-88 tc's had an 8.8" axle, all the other cars had the same brakes and rear end. The v-6 might have 3.27 gears, but that would help perfomance over a stock 2.73 or 3.08 gear.

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #3 – August 11, 2016, 08:19:29 PM

The thought of throwing a T5 into the mix has crossed my mind. It's been a long time since I've owned a manual car and would like to have one again. I've read Eric's article on Coolcats.net about doing a T5 swap and noticed that he did not recommend this on a V6 model. Does anyone know what the major concerns are about this swap? I image the best thing to do if I chose this route would be to try to find a beat up or wrecked Turbocoupe for it's transmission and associated parts. It would be nice to have that beefier rear end as well...

Something else I was wondering about was how much of a difference doing some head/intake/exhaust work would make on this engine. Anyone have experience with this on the 3.8?

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #4 – August 11, 2016, 08:55:17 PM

I agree with Haystack. I am building a 347 (stroked 302) for my 86 T Bird specifically for the increased torque. I run a 306 (.030) in my Maverick that is almost stock, except that it has AFR 165 heads. It made 360 FWHP with an accessory load (water pump and alternator) on the dyno and I probably left another 20HP on the table with additional tuning. The point is, the 302 is capable of relatively cheap and reliable HP. Is it worth it to upgrade from the V6? No question about it.

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #5 – August 12, 2016, 02:44:28 AM

Here is a 88 3.8 t-5 swap thread
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?6042-Sn-95-T-5-swap-behind-3-8-Cougar-Bird-How-To

The 94-98 v-6 trans is the one to use, but the 99-04 trans is much stronger, upgraded to v-8 specs and then some. However, it uses a completely different speed sensor(oss vs vss) which will make the speedo read over 85mph by the end of 1st gear. The kph read out will reset at some point above 200kph and go back to 0, so you can use a basic or digital speedo along with a GPS app to figure out speeds if you so desire.

Another perk, when you decide the 3.8 isn't enough, you can use the t-5 trans behind the 302 using f-150 parts for half the price of 94-04 v-6 parts.

The 3.8's only real upgrade IMHO would be a supercoupe engine swap. The 3.8 is a good motor, but there basically is no aftermarket for them unless ya wanna go with a supercoupe motor, or the newer 99-04 when they actually started to make some power. However, you will be on your own to figure out wiring, it will be more expensive then even a basic 302 swap, and you will make less power unless you really max out a few credit cards.

Check out morana v6 racing and just price out a camshaft. You could almost pay for the whole 302 at that price, if they even still have one for you.

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #6 – August 12, 2016, 02:59:51 AM

Prices seem to be much lower then I remeber.

http://www.moranav6racing.com/category.html?CategoryID=5

But the intake section is where it gets pricey. It's about $700 for most of them.

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #7 – August 12, 2016, 12:14:40 PM

Nice Cougar!

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #8 – August 12, 2016, 08:44:55 PM

Thanks for all the information guys. I suppose I have reservations about doing the V8 swap because I don't want to jump into a huge project and become discouraged by its long duration and possible complications all while tearing apart a car that has value as it sits. That said, if I were able to complete the project to my liking I believe this is a car I would keep forever. Also, if I were to throw in the 302 I would lean toward doing a carburetor setup as opposed to EFI. Am I wrong to think this would simplify things and be a less expensive option? I am aware that it may be considered less reliable but this car is far from a daily driver for me. Also, I currently have a Holley 650 in need of rebuild. Thoughts?

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #9 – August 13, 2016, 03:09:22 AM

With a carb you have to replace the whole fuel system, rip out wires for the efi, but leave all the stuff for the body, convert to an older ignition system/msdbox ect.

For a efi swap, you unplug the existing computer, replace with a v-8 model and either add two wires for the extra injectors or replace the harness with a 302 model. You would need the v-8 plug engine brackets and a few sensors ect, but the same would apply to a car bed 302 swap. Not sure on the 88 v-6 fuel lines, but from what I remember they look the same as the 302 setup.

If you had all the proper parts and tools, you could have it driving in 8 hours if you are a quick wrench. Even still, it could easily be done in a weekend if you had the time. Probably the same for a carbed swap.

With efi I get 25+mpg freeway, the car starts right up, -27 degrees f or 110. I routinely travel from almost sea level to as much as 10,000ft elevation with no issue whatsoever.

1988 Cougar LS

Reply #10 – August 13, 2016, 05:37:50 PM

For the fuel system, he could do a regulator setup for a carb with the excess being routed to the return line. It's been like that with no issues. No need to redo the whole system.
OP, check out supersix motorsports. They make pretty impressive power with the V6's

I had thought a few times about doing a stroked S/C block with split port heads and running twin turbos .........hmmm I might do that for my black T/C...........