Well I'm a new guy here. My name is Brad Mason and I live in Daytona Beach, FL. I reciently sold my 1990 Mercury Cougar XR7 3.8SC (1 of 8592 ever built), which is the much less common cousin to the T-Bird SC. I had some substatial work done to it, and in that time I learned the car inside and out. Fianl numbers on teh car were 300hp and 380lb-ft. It weighed 4100lbs adn was a low 14 sec. car with steet tire and very poor 60's.

Well I hit the wrong button, so on to the rest. I reciently bought a 2000 Black GTP sedan with 45K and the gold package (all traces of gold minus the wheels have been removed or disguised). Right now I have a Speedbuilt fender well CAI kit and IAT mod, and I ran a 14.70 @ 95 in 67 degree weather and a 2.47 60'.

Tomorrow (Dec 4th) I'm installing my new 3.25 pulley. My question is will I have to switch to a smaller belt or will the fairly new one work? If I will need to switch what is the belt number (Gatorback or Gates/NAPA only please).

Also, do the GM 3.8 SC's have the same problem with poping headgaskets like the Ford 3.8 SC's did? Ford's have a problem since the coolant passage on #4 is so close to the cylinder this is the most common fail point.

Also what are soem problems I will have to watch for with my GTP.

Any racing secrets for launching the car. Currently I run 28psi in front 44 in rear, leave the line at 1800RPM and quickly ease in on the throttle.

One more, my current mod list looks like this. Cold Air kit= Done, IAT= DONE, Pulley= Done, SLP Loudmouth= Christmas gift, Digital HP COmputer= waiting, 50 shot NOS dry kit= saving for, re-inforced trans parts= i know i'll need these.
IS this a good combo or can anyone else think of something else to put in place of something or to add to the list. EAT MUSTANG= DONE....AND STILL HUNGRY!!

Sounds like your on the right track. As for the head gaskets. I havent heard any complaints about it. Keep in mind the 3.8L is the buick 3.8 and very very reliable. It can take what you throw at it. The only weak spot is the tranny. But its more of a problem when you start talkin low 13s and faster.

It does lookk like you are headed in the right direction. Just remember your car might not get the full potential of the 3.25 until you get the DHP PCM. Might actually hurt a little. It really varies car to car. Some other things I would do is put in a 180 stat and one range colder plugs. It will help you run the 3.25 better. IIRC gap the plugs to .055".

Track wise. You have a solid low 14 second car if you can get your launch down. Your 60's on stock RSA's should be 2.0-2.1. Try lowering the fronts 2 25 psi. I don't even do anything with my rears at this time to be honest. Try bringing the revs up to 2k to 2.5k and then ease into the throttle, about 1/2-3/4, then punch it once you get moving. Traction control off, performance shift on and third gear the whole way.

The trans stock is only rated for 280TQ. You should be okay has long has you don't do burnouts. A quick spin of the tires to clean them off is all you should need. The way you blow it is by one wheel turning faster than the other. This cause a pin in the differential to shear and 90% of the time it gets shot into the transmission causing it to go bye bye also. Also avoid going around corners hard and spining the tires.

Granted on the same token people have loss there trans when they were stock. Granted I think they abused them though in the way I described above.

Hey thaks guys! If anyone else has any tips or sugestions please keep them comming.

Welcome,

I never even knew they made SC XR7's.

As Hercman said, these engines are very reliable. One car magazine referred to it as "bulletproof." You shouldn't have to many reliability issues with the 2000. That's the third production year and most of the kinks were worked out by then (moisture in headlights, oil pan gasket leaks, etc..).
Just watch out for knock retard. Seeing you have experience with SC engines you probably know what that is. If not, do some research before you do too much more. We can help you out with some links. Wouldn't be a bad idea to get the car scanned either for codes or previous knock problems. If you are doing some big modifications, a Digital Horsepower (DHP) PCM is highly recommended.

One quick rumor to fill you in on for the track. With the computer (stock and aftermarket) there are people that claim as the gas goes under 1/4 a tank, the PCM pulls timing and slows the car down, much like it would do if experienced any knock. It's nice to save weigh by running a 1/8 tank of gas at the track, but you'd have to experiment with that yourself. I don't know of any definite source that will confirm that.

Have fun!

-Andrew

BTW - you must have some good racing stories. There's another post floating around (usually near the top). Don't hold out on us.

Yeah, there are quite a few stories from the Merc days and the new GTP.

The XR7 SC's were only built in 89 and 90 and only 8592 were produced total for both years, they were available with a standard 5-speed or optioned with the AOD auto (which i broke 3 time).

My latest kill was on a Comp G GTP who thought he'd show me a think or two with his Tap Shift. Guy lost twice fom a light and once on a 25 roll. He wouldn't even talk to me at the next light when I said "nice run".

Best kill in the Merc. was watching a 92 Vette blow up (black smoke and all out of the hood) after running at Orlando Speedworld. He tried racing the me on I-95 north going towards Daytona. I told my friend in teh car with me that if the raod was clear over the overpass we were "going for it" He hit it then I did, I pulled about 3 cars on him from about 85 to 140, and then watched him swerve a little and saw a plume of black smoke come boiling out of the hood. He quickly braked and pulled over. I spole with two Eclipse GST owners who saw us earlier they said he was stuck on the side of the road when they went by and he was smoking bad. 3.23 gears in a car like that helped, I found very little that could run with the Merc on the big end of the speedo, except LS1's, and heavily modded stangs adn LT1's.

I have noticed the car feels slower when it gets under a 1/4 tank, I glad I'm not the only one.

another great place for you to check out is
clubgp.com

enjoy your ride

Blown, are those RWD?

Nice races.

Yeah 1989 and 1990. The MN-12 platform which is what the Cougar, T-Bird and Mark VIII were built on from 1989-1997.

Well the new 3.25 pulley is on and I just "test" drove the car............DAMN!!! That thing got quicker fast. I love this Prix!!!

I just put my 3.4" on Monday.
I love the improvement!