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3.8 head single port difference

3K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  jhiland32 
#1 ·
I read this quote in a forum from therangerstation.com and was wondering if there was any truth to it

"The Police Package Taurus, Lincoln Continental and 1995 Ford Windstar had a high-output version with better single-port cylinder heads and other modifications. It produced 160 - 200*hp and 220 - 230 lbf·ft of torque"
I also stumbled across a '95 Taurus wagon in a local yard that had 19# injectors instead of the grey 14#'ers.
 
#2 ·
There is a slight different head that was used on Windstar. I imagine they could have been used on the other models.

Not sure of how much better they truly are though.
 
#3 ·
According to wikipedia, the Police Pkg Taurus had a revised dual exhaust to account for the rated 15HP gain but no mention is made of revised heads.

Other changes included a larger fuel tank, stainless steel brake lines, standard 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS, a modified front grille fascia that had a slit to allow for increased airflow to the radiator, and a certified calibration 140 mph (230 km/h) speedomete

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Taurus_(second_generation)

Bottom Line: mildly interesting but nothing merits finding one of these as a donor for your car. If you don't want to spend any money at all (outside of gaskets), do your own hand polishing/gasket matching of your intake/heads. For a few bucks more, go splitport.
-g
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the input. I thought I may have stumbled over something. My future plans include port/polishing single port heads and upper/lower intake with a 4.2 short block and 4.2 cam, 19# injectors and a tune. I'm not trying to build a power house just a slight increase over stock. Thought about split port convertion but I'm staying with single ports to keep it simple.
 
#6 ·
That doesn't make much sense at all. It's the nearly the same level of complexity as what you are already planning (head gasket job, 19# injectors, & tune) -- unless you decide to go with a Windstar/F150 upper intake (hood clearance and air intake routing issues).

I'm not sure where you are going to get a 4.2 short block as you will probably find it easier to get the whole engine. This will give you the rail to modify, the splitport heads, and the splitport upper intake.

If you want to make all of it fit underneath the tbird hood, I can sell you my mustang splitport upper intake. I can even send you the lower intake with the IMRC's already removed and holes blocked off (one less item for you to mess with). You'll just need to add the Mustang TB/throttle cable, IACV, and TPS and you'll be good to go.

-g
 
#5 ·
The police package heads and the windstar heads are exactly the same. I don't know if they necessarily flowed any more, but I know they do have a larger combustion chamber, which will yield a lower compression ratio if you install them on your existing bottom end. Also I don't believe they had the revised thicker deck like the SC or 96+ 3.8N/A heads had, so using those heads would be a step backwards in terms of head gasket reliability. With that being said, there was someone on SCCoA who ran those heads on an SC and they made good power and they had no issues with it. Personally though, if you were looking for more power from the 3.8, my reccomendation would be to do a splitport swap. It isn't that difficult, and anything less than that is not going to make a noticable difference. Or another option, get some steeper gears in the rear.
 
#7 ·
Honestly if the block is coming out go SPI. With the right CR the 4.2 could handle a M90 but that may be beyond your goal.

If I was going to mod a N/A 3.8 first choice would be SPI/heads, then 96+ heads, and lastly SC heads; 4.2 block followed by 01+ block then SC block.
 
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