Lc3

[ProTouring442]

I recently picked up a '91 Thunderbird Supercoupe to become my daily good-weather driver. Naturally, I want to upgrade the thing.

I'll be doing all the "normal" upgrades, including 13" Mustang Cobra brakes, rebuilding the suspension with delrin bushings, 17" wheels, etc.

These cars came with a supercharged 3.8L V-6. Nice, but not quite what I want. Hence, I am thinking of a swap.

The supercharged Mustang 5.4 is a nice engine, but it's tall. It also doesn't make all that much power unless you modify it. There are some nice LS engines, but I think I'd like to stay with a supercharged motor, and the supercharged LS engines are pretty pricey.

But what about the Cadillac LC3, supercharged Northstar? It's a 4.4L that uses a different, sand cast block from the standard Northstar, and so does not suffer the head bolt and blown head gasket problems of the 4.6 Northstar. It also makes nice power in its stock form (469hp).

It uses the E67 ECU, so I would imagine I could get a harness for it, and a manual transmission flywheel and bell housing can be had. The engines themselves aren't so expensive (3K-4K for a good pull-out)....

Thoughts?