you got a sweet deal!
you'd be wasting your time with a s/c or t/c.
some tbirds (same car) came in an s/c version with a supercharged 3.8.
my tbird has the 4.6 v8. :D
it sounds funny, but you should swap in an 02/03 explorer 4.6.
it's the same motor as the same year mustang gt's, except...