Common V6 Modifications

[jthorn9]

I will add more to this as time goes on, but for now here is a nice bit of info for you guys to go off of.

Air Intake
* Cold Air Intake - Frees up air flow by removing the paper air filter, air silencer, and, of course, the air box, to add both low and high end torque and power. Generally will add 2-4 rwhp, and 3-6 rwtq on an otherwise stock V6 Mustang, and still not much more on a moded stang. There are several types of cold air intake setups. Ram air intakes are one of the oldest ways of making a CAI, it simply has the air filter lie inside the engine bay with a heat shield to protect the CAI from heat. A "True" CAI has the air filter sit inside the fenderwell to draw in cool dense air directly from it's source, there is no way for moister to enter the air intake on a Mustang with this setup. The last is a high flow air filter drop in with an air silencer delete. This method can be done several ways, but the most common way is to remove the air silencer from the air box, and drop in a high flow air filter to maximize air flow, this is a cheap, and efficient way to make a CAI as is adds nearly the same gains as an aftermarket CAI. Good brands include, MAC, BBK, & JLT.
* High flow 75mm, 80mm, or 90mm Mas Air Meter (also refered to as a Mass Air Flow Sensor, the sensor actually sits ontop of the MAM) - This mod is required when your car exceeds stock MAF sensor abilities, or a larger diameter throttle body has been added, or high flow fuel injectors have been added (36lb or higher). Generally speaking your stock MAF will run off of any fuel injector up to 36lbs as long as your ecu has been properly tuned, becuase the MAF and ECU will automattically make most of the adjustments needed to run. A new high flow MAF is also only needed when you exceed 300+ rwhp as that tends to be the breaking point of the stock MAF sensors range, however, tuning can be made to make it last longer. Also, rule of thumb (mainly for V8s) whaver size TB you have, your MAF needs to be larger, for sixers, this is generally not an issue. High flow MAFs will add a few ponies, but nothing really sufficient, especially on a stock to mildly moded sixer. Good brands include Granetilli, Ford Racing, SCT, & Pro M.
* High Flow Larger Diamter Throttle Body - This mod will require porting of the upper intake to meet the new throttle body size, as your stock port opening on your intake will always approximately match your stock throttle body size. 94-98 Mustang V6s have a 50mm Throttle Body stock, and the only availible upgrade is a 56mm Throttle Body made by BBK. 99-04 Mustang V6s have a 60mm throttle body, and can take both a 65mm throttle body, or a 70mm throttle body. 65mm Throttle bodies are for mildly moded mustangs with heads/cam/intake work, and or some type of forced induction. 70mm throttle bodies are for highly modified V6s running both a combination of F/I and H/C/I work. Power gains on a stock sixer will be minimal to around 2 rwhp, but on a sixer with a lot of supporting mods, up to 10 rwhp can be gained. Good brands include BBK, Peformance Products as well as maybe a few others for sixers.

Engine
* Under Drive Pullies - Under drive pullies usually consits of a size reduced crank pully and size increased alternator pully, to prevent charging problems, but some kits now include size increased waterpump pullies to add both looks, and increased performance of your cooling system at idel. Under drive pullies come in both 24% size reduced cranks, and 42% size reduced cranks. Remember, the more reduction to the size of the crank pully, the more power gained, but the more strain your external accessories will take in the long run. Keep in mind that the power gained is peak power, not power throughout the power band, so performance gains will be minimal, but MPG gains will be made, and dynos will look better. General power gains are between 4-8 rwhp. Good brands include ASP, BBK, March Performance, and Motoblue. NOTE!!! You will need a new belt specifically made for underdrive pullies, as a stock belt will no longer work.
* Tuners, Chips, and Tuning Software - There is a wide variety of tuners, chips, and software availible, so do a little research to see what best fits your needs. Generally speaking, CHIPS are the oldest form of ECU modification. It's simple, you buy a chip with a preprogramed tune, install it directly into your ecu, and go. Most new chips have multiple tunes programed into them to allow for more than one type of driving condition. Downsides to chips are that they're pre programed, so any new changes that need to be made for new mods can not be made and the chip must be uninstalled and reprogramed. Good brands include Diablo, Superchips, SCT, Venom, ACT, Jetz, as well as many others. Tuners are a little newer in that they are generally a handheld device that plugs into your OBD port and allows you to modify a handful of parameters on the ECU to boost performance. They can also hold several tunes at once, with the option to modify each one for newer needs. Downsides are that they're limited to what they can and can't modify, so more indepth tuning may be needed on large scale projects. Good brands include Diablo, Sniper, Superchips, & SCT. Tuning Software is one of the more recent additions into the racing world and is used just for that, racing. Tuning software is used in conjuction with a laptop and allows you to modify every single parameter of your ecu to maximize engine efficiency, and performance. Downsides include massive learning curves, and the need for a dyno at times. Good brands include Tweecer RT, Sniper, & PMS. Power Gains will vary widely depending on your supporting modifications, as well as the route you choose, but generally speaking, tuners, chips, and software will net around 5-12 rwhp on a stock sixer with the aveage being around 8 rwhp.
* Porting & Polished Intakes and Heads - There is a lot with this category so more information may need to be researched or asked on the forums to get a better understanding of what all takes place. First of all, porting is the widening of the ports to allow for more airflow. An example of this is when you widen the intake manifold throttle opening port to match the new size of a larger throttle body. Other forms of porting is port matching, which is when you match your port diameter to that of the gasket that mounts to it as gaskets are almost always larger in port size than the opening they go on. Polishing is just cleaning up the port, either from factory defects (factory ports are never perectly due to mass production, so all that may be needed is a quick polish job to get rid of the extra aluminum or iron left over from the production process which has closed up the opeing a little), polishing can also mean that your simply cleaning up the intake or head ports from grime build up and or the roughness left over from the porting process. This polishing smoothens up the port surface to reduce friction on the incomming air. Porting can be done at home using a porting kit, which is sold at nearly every auto parts store, but it's sugessted that a pro do the job, especially heads. There are also several sites that sell pre ported kits, even though they do not support our site, a lot of sixers go there, and here is a quick breakdown of their kits. Remember to buy the kit that best suits your car, a too high flowing of a kit, is just as bad as too little air flow. The website is Super Six Motorsports

[jthorn9]

Exhaust
*Headers - Headers connect directly to your heads and are the first line of your exhaust. Stock V6s actually have headers and not exhaust manifolds, like most cars, so right out of the box they flow fairly well, and are good up to around 300hp. Headers come in many forms, types, and varieties. The first, and oldest type of header is of corse Steel. Steel headers are just that, headers made of steel, they are cheap and easy to produce, however they are very prone to rusting out over time. Chrome headers are steel headers coated in a couple of coats of chrome. Chrom headers not only add a nice bit of bling under the hood, but are also a little better insulating than steel as well as a little more rust resistant, one major downside is that they will discolor over time. Ceramic coated headers steel headers coated in a layer of ceramic. They are the best insulating on the market, and one of the most rust resistant forms of headers out. Remember, the better the insulation, the more power you'll gain on cated systems, and the cooler and more efficient your engine runs due to the loss of heat transfer from the headers to the engine bay. Shorty headers are just that, short, stock lenth headers, they run to just a few inches in behind the engine before they end and connect to the mid pipe. Aftermarket shorty headers are generally mandadril bent, which means, they don't have kinks where the bends are like some stock mass produced headers have. Long tube headers are longer than shorty headers as they go furthur down towards the ground. This extended length gives the air more time to cool and stablize before combining in the mid pipe wich allows for more power and sound. Power gains will vary depending on the supporting mod of the car, but generally speaking a stock sixer with shorty headers will gain 1 rwhp, and that's iffy, and a stock sixer with long tubes can generally expect to see a 3-5 rwhp gain, remember these numbers are with no cat back exhaust work. Also, long tube headers require a shorter length mid pipe, so a standard midpipe will no longer fit. Good brands include JBA, BBK, and MAC (although Macs are prone to rusting).
* Mid Pipe - the mid pipe is just that, the middle section of your exhaust, it lies between the headers and the cat back exhaust system. Mid pipes come in a variety of types, sizes and styles. Stock midpipes are called a Y pipe in that a Y pipe looks like a Y in that it connects to the headers, then bends to form one single pipe. Stock pipe width is 2.25" in diameter. H Pipes are just that, a mid pipe that looks like an H. Most aftermarket H pipes measure 2.5", so a shop would have to custom fab one to be 2.25" in diameter. H pipes offer much more sound than a y pipe will, and is one of the loudest midpipes on the market, however, in the upper RPMs, to have the extra sound a little tone and sound quality is lost. X pipes, are like an H pipe, but in the shape of an X. They are more milder sounding and have a tendicy to pop when the RPMs are falling after reving up, but they keep much better sound tone and quality in the upper RPMs. These two types of pipes were made so that their could be even air transfer between the pipes due to the odd fire of a V8 engine, V6s gain no performance from either or, it's simply sound that changes. Straight pipes are two parralell running pipes, there is no cross over in the middle. These are the loudest mid pipes, but also take the biggest hit to sound tone, and quality. Mid pipes can come with both cats, and no cats, having no cats is illegal in most states, and will not pass smog emissions, and is extremly hard to have installed as many shops will not install anything without cats. Only Mac and Pypes make mid pipes for V6s, but any shop can fab a pair for you. Power gains are debatable, but generally are around 1-3 rwhp.
*Cattaliatic Converters - Cats, as they are called, come in many forms, and quantities on a car. Mustang V6s have 4 cats, two are located just behind the headers, and the last two are located about 4-5 inches behind the first set. Cats are used to filter out the bad smells and gases caused from buring fuel in an engine. They function by slowing down the outgoing air, and allowing it to heat up, the air inside the cats has to reach a certain temperature before it can be let out, this heating up, along with a cats built in filters, are what allows them to remove a lot of the harmful gases in emissions waste. This is why great insulated headers can improve performance, and that's because the more heat not loss through the headers, the less time it takes the gases inside the cats to heat up and pass through. Removing the cats will add a deeper and louder tone to your car and will remove a lot of backpressure, but remember, too much backpressure loss has been proven to do more bad than good on lower powered cars.
*MIL Eliminators - MIL Eliminators are used on systems that have had the cats removed. They plug into the O2 sensors, and then into the the connect that runs to your ECU. They just tell the ECU that the O2 sensors are on and functioning perfectly, in other words, they keep your check engine light from coming on. Steeda makes one of the best sets of MIL eliminators on the market, remember, you will just need one pair.
*Cat Back Exhaust - Your cat back exhaust system is the last line of your exhaust, it is this part of the exhaust that includes the muffler and tailpipe. Stock exhaust is just a single 2.25" exhaust. Cat back V6 exhaust is a bolt on exhaust system that welds onto your stock y pipe. It is a form of dual exhaust, but isn't a true dual as there is about a 6" long peice of pipe that is a single pipe before the split occurs again. Cat back exhaust for sixers are generally higher pitched, and offer less sound quality than true duals, they also don't offer the added power as they barely free up any. True duals are just that, two pipes running independant from each other from the mid pipe back. To get true duals on a sixer, either a shop has to do the work, or you can buy a kit for a GT. NOTE!!!! You must buy a V6 mid pipe, and a GT catback exhaust!!! True duals are deeper in sound and offer better tone throughout the power band than the other two systems, aftermarket piping sizes are generally 2.5". Good brands include Borla, Magnaflow, Force Flows, Bassni, & Flowmaster.

Drivetrain
* Open Differential - This is your stock rear end differential. V6s come with a 7.5" rear end, with an open differential. This means that the back right tire supplys most of the power, the left tire only supllies the overload from the right, and mainly the traction, this is why most V6s suffer from one wheel burouts.
* Limited Slip Differential - A limited slip differential allows both wheels to supply the power to the ground. This allows for better traction upon lauching and allows your to put more overall power to the ground safely, which is key on high powered N/A engines or engines running F/I. Good brands include Ford T-Lok (for stock to mildly moded) Eaton, Auburn (for mildly moded), & Detroit (for midly to highly moded applications).
* Gears - Your rear gears are what transfers your power from your drivetrain to your differential. 94-98 sixers come stock with 2.73 gears, 99-04s come with 3.27 gears. The number is a ratio or either 2.73/1 or 3.27/1, this means that your driveshaft will turn either 2.73 or 3.27 times to every tire rotation, increasing this ratio increases accelleration, but decreses MPG, and top speed. Your gears also must match your rear end size. 7.5" V6 rear ends have several comon aftermarket sizes, 3.45, 3.73, and 4.10. Make sure to ask questions about which ratio is best.

[RyansQuick6]

We should build up a "FAQ" section, and a V6 section. It'll help a lot of the nubs that come along that we are oh so used to dealing with.

[jthorn9]

I've already sent in the request to start a tech sticky, but right now the regular fact stickies or write ups will have to do. Unfortunately I'm not a mod in the sn-95 forum, so I can't sticky these post, and yes this forum needs a sixer section.

[v6stang07]

yea if we could get the v6 and v8 post classified that would be awesome!