Roush 94-98 questions...............

cobra10494

Founding Member
May 14, 2000
206
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29
North Jersey
Recently sold my 99 35th ann.gt convertible.Always wanted a saleen so now is my time.Yea,I prefer the 94-98 body style to my recent departed 99.What I am looking for is a 96-98 s-281 vert or coupe,must be 5 spd and MINT.Preparing to be dissapointed with the straight line performance of the n/a non pi motor.Ideally I will supercharge the car if I cant buy one already so equipped.Is this a good idea and does the non pi motor respond well to the blower? How much better does the saleens suspension tweaks make the car compared to my departed 99? Do you think I will be happy? Asking you guys for an honest accurate opinion.C'mon where would one go but to you guys for the answers,Thanks!!!!!:lol:
 
SaleenCobra #96 said:
Looking for a 96 Saleen convertible with automatic transmission myself ...... can´t seem to find any .....

1998 Saleen S351 speedster #20 - Rio red
1998 Saleen Cobra speedster #96 - Laser Red
1994 Mustang 347 GT convertible - 12.41 daily driver
1968 Trans Am racer replica #28 - project - ready 07 season
1968 Shelby "Little Red" hard top prototype project
1966 Corvette 427 convertible, sidepipes, original car
1969 Mustang convertible
1968 Corvette 327 convertible
1993 Typhoon - turbo rocket

Damn!!! I thought I had a lot of cars :shock: Are all those cars currently in your possession?? At least I can say I have a garage in my back yard that is large enough to store that many.....:rlaugh:
 
marcus95 said:
I see someones old car in that pile.:)

Yep .... and according to the shipping company, the container will be delivered here in Copenhagen on sept. 9th. :nice: So far I only have seen pictures and a short video + a few comments from some of you guys .... I really hope it´s as nice as said.

Looking for a 96 auto S281 for a fellow member of Mustang Clu of Denmark. If anyone knows of one, I´d appreciate to get the lead.

By the way, forgot to add my all original - well used and worn - 1975 Ranchero which I will use to pull my racecar trailer next summer :)
 
Sorry .... not trying to hijack your thread.

I think the 96-98 S281´s perform pretty well in the roadhuggin dept. I do however feel they are only marginally better than a stock car, but with subframe connectors, UCA/LCA´s and a panhard set up, they really do good.

I have never been impressed with the performance of the 4.6. The 96-98 vert is a heavy pig as well. Even my SC´s Cobra feels slow compared to my 347 94 vert, even though if you clocked them, the Cobra would beat the 347 by a mile ...

We just sold my brothers 95 with a Vortech S-trim and performancewise it did not impress me. You had to rew it to the moon to get some action going. To me, the only way to "save" a mid nineties Mustang is to stroke it or add a Kenne Bell SC.

But if you are concerned about 99 vs 96 performance just go ahead and make the PI swap and then they are even ...... both slow ;)

But if you trip over a auto 96 Saleen vert then I would appreciate to hear about it :)
 
As an owner of what you are looking for, I can tell you that the stock motor would better serve as a boat anchor! :rlaugh: I was looking into doing the PI head swap, but it is not a good idea if you think you want to s/c the car. The pistons are different on the non-PI cars, so when you do the swap the compression ends up around the 10:1 range. In and of itself, that is not bad, but I believe you want to be around 8.5:1 for a blower (there are a lot smarter blower guys on this site to check with...).

Now, if you look around, you can find a 99+ crate motor to swap in. I bought a 2003 crate motor and did the swap. I also added the Comp Cam's XE270 cams, long-tubes, an OR x-pipe, 4-way flip chip (different settings for different octaines), aluminum flywheel, and 4.10's. I also kept the coil packs instead of swapping over to the coil-on-plugs. It would have been a wiring harness nightmare and I've talked to some people that say the packs are better. For me, it was simply the path of least resistance! After a tune and mild break in period, the car put down 293hp and 330ftlb torque (my signature block was with 0 break in) at the wheels. It makes it much more fun to drive and if I want to add a blower later I can. The best thing is that you can't tell a thing unless you look under the car and see the headers (well, the sound is definately different too...:D )

Like was mentioned earlier, the convertibles are heavy! I think it is worth it, but then again, I don't thrash on it at the strip either. I am planning on upgrading the brakes and swapping in a T-56, but I'm good with the power for now.
 
cobra10494 said:
Recently sold my 99 35th ann.gt convertible.Always wanted a saleen so now is my time.Yea,I prefer the 94-98 body style to my recent departed 99.What I am looking for is a 96-98 s-281 vert or coupe,must be 5 spd and MINT.Preparing to be dissapointed with the straight line performance of the n/a non pi motor.Ideally I will supercharge the car if I cant buy one already so equipped.Is this a good idea and does the non pi motor respond well to the blower? How much better does the saleens suspension tweaks make the car compared to my departed 99? Do you think I will be happy? Asking you guys for an honest accurate opinion.C'mon where would one go but to you guys for the answers,Thanks!!!!!:lol:
Buy a supercharged s351, IMO still the best thing saleen has done to date.
And there should be plenty to find in the year body style you want.

I agree with sal, the 96-98 engine is worthless, you'll notice those cars sell for much less than a 99+ or an s351.
 
ive got the regular 96 npi motor in mine, with a paxton at 9psi, methanol injection and an SCT pro racer pack (which took me a whole day to map myself) I can only put down 330hp and 340tq... not really great figures...

I'll be going with a forged 302 with ported pi heads and either a new paxton novi 2000 or a single t76 turbo kit...

EDGE
 
97 budget saleen with forged motor

unlike others on here that think you can't make power with a 96-98, i am here and have a 97 saleen with the pi heads/intake upgrade and plenty of other goodies and i couldn't be happier with power i am making. it's a 97 block, bored .30 over with 8:5 to 1 compression ross pistons, manley rods, beehive valve springs, comp cams(278's), vortech s/q s/c. now i have a couple of varieties, i can give you the #'s with that set-up with a 3.6 pulley non-intercooled which is 460rwhp 421rwtq.
recently i've added the snow performance methanol kit, and a 2.8 pulley which bumped my boost up to 17-18lbs. and it put me over 650rwhp. i forgot to mention that i do have a cobra crank, but the motor is fully forged, balanced and blueprinted and i am very happy. it's also on the market, and i have a guy that is having a fit to get it, but we'll see. i want an 05-newer s/c saleen. my buddy just bought a white one and i couldn't believe the power it makes with only 3lbs. of boost. anyways, my car # is 83B, and i'm registered with saleen, i'm in the saleen book and brad bowling who writes for modified mustangs is doing an article on my car in the upcoming months. he also as most of you know worked at saleen for years and wrote the saleen book. we ran up with each other at mustangweek here in myrtle beach, sc(i live 25 minutes away) back in july.
if you are interested and this guy fails to buy it, i can let you know, or better yet, if you are interested, it's rio red with a brand new black top, the motor i just described with all the specs, dyno sheets, 99-up chrome saleen rims, 3.73g, canton overflow tank, saleen heat extractor hood, and a brand new(well, my wife bought it for me for this past christmas) bumper. i was reading the saleen book and it seems that alot of budget rentals had sagging problems in the middle, so i have a brand new thicker one. pm me if interested, there is lots more to tell.
 
chrissaleen said:
unlike others on here that think you can't make power with a 96-98, i am here and have a 97 saleen with the pi heads/intake upgrade and plenty of other goodies and i couldn't be happier with power i am making. it's a 97 block, bored .30 over with 8:5 to 1 compression ross pistons, manley rods, beehive valve springs, comp cams(278's), vortech s/q s/c. now i have a couple of varieties, i can give you the #'s with that set-up with a 3.6 pulley non-intercooled which is 460rwhp 421rwtq.

Umm, you aren't really making any sense.
You are saying the 96-98 engine has potential and you are happy with it, but what you really have is a 99+ engine with forged internals.
Only thing you have from a 96-98 is the block.

PI upgrade pretty much makes your 96-98 into a 99+ engine.

So while you are saying you disagree, you really agree because that is what you used.
 
2000xp8 said:
Umm, you aren't really making any sense.
You are saying the 96-98 engine has potential and you are happy with it, but what you really have is a 99+ engine with forged internals.
Only thing you have from a 96-98 is the block.

PI upgrade pretty much makes your 96-98 into a 99+ engine.

So while you are saying you disagree, you really agree because that is what you used.

I'd have to agree :rlaugh:. Since you bored the 97 block, added forged internals, the 99+ heads, cams, s/c, etc. you don't have anything close to a 96-98 engine any more!