96-98 guys beware

TGJ · Feb 27, 2006

tomustang said:
dude i was lucky to get into the 15's

You must have been a horrid driver. I got high 15's at 3500' above sea level with my heavier, auto equipped 96 TBird stock 4.6L 2v. A stock 96 - 98 Mustang GT should be able to run low 15's high 14's bone stock.

tomustang · Feb 27, 2006

TGJ said:
You must have been a horrid driver. I got high 15's at 3500' above sea level with my heavier, auto equipped 96 TBird stock 4.6L 2v. A stock 96 - 98 Mustang GT should be able to run low 15's high 14's bone stock.

i was just kidding

billfisher · Feb 27, 2006

15's.... i was ripped off. maybe it was really a v6. i gotta go look at it closer. i would have eaten my tires to get into 15's with mine.

Mike97gt · Feb 27, 2006

TGJ said:
Ok, I am getting tired of arguing this, but I want to know why the adapter plate method is better than RTV and the PI gasket method.

RTV has been around for a long ****ing time and the big 3 US automakers at one in the past, RTV was how they made gaskets. I know of some RTV gasket made cars running 200,000 kms and counting with no issue of leaks what so ever.

Using the PI gasket, you have to use a small dab of RTV on 2 of the coolant ports, that is it. I posted pictures once where the RTV goes, but I am not looking for them now. It won't fail under boost because boost does not affect coolant flow. It will last because RTV is designed to seal against water and coolant.

What the adapter plates do is lift the intake manifold. Lifting the intake manifold, lifts the fuel injectors which affects the spray pattern. Using adapter plates requires you to use both the NPI and PI gasket, you also have to take that into consideration. You will require a tune using adapter plates to correct the A/F ratio.

The adapter plates have shown no better results( HP/TQ ) than those who just used the gasket and RTV method.

The best method, would be to have the heads port matched to the PI intake gasket with some aluminum welded into the coolant port. I would only consider this, if I was using ported NPI heads.

IMO, the next best method is the PI gasket and RTV method. The adapter plates IMO are a huge waste of money and would be the last method, I would use.

yeah but the problem is some people SHOULD NOT BE swinging wrenches. i have seen a few cars that were not RTV'ed right come in leaking. for the novice backyard mechanic it is much easier to thorw on some adapters.

when i do them yeah i rtv them.

zerosgt · Mar 2, 2006

Yeah, I'm working on beating my buddy's Honda S2000 and I'm not doing so well. He did a couple of mods since our last race and he's running in the 13's now. To cut down to that kind of time I'd prob be looking at doing a headswap, right? Or can I run consistant 13's with my NPI heads?

TGJ · Mar 3, 2006

zerosgt said:
Yeah, I'm working on beating my buddy's Honda S2000 and I'm not doing so well. He did a couple of mods since our last race and he's running in the 13's now. To cut down to that kind of time I'd prob be looking at doing a headswap, right? Or can I run consistant 13's with my NPI heads?

You don't really need PI heads, you will need cams and gears and you should be ok. I recommend Comp 262AH( PI ) and 4.30s. Johnny Langton was able to run consistent high 13's with a stock Mark VIII Torque Converter, 3.73 Trac Lok, Dual Exhaust, 90mm LMAF, 75mm TB, P&P upper intake, stock NPI intake, stock NPI heads, March UD pulleys and a SCT tune in a heavier TBird and he did it consistently.

DropTopPony · Mar 3, 2006

GoneMad96 said:
you lost to a civic! i didnt know that was possible!

I lost to a civic the first month i owned the car. I was still shining in the new car glow and cruising to work when a civic pulls next to me on a highway, we were doing 85. He punched it, I punched it and he drove away like nothing. He was as surprised as I was. Stock/NPI/vert/auto is a bad combo
Good thing i'm @100 rwhp more these days so i can atleast keep up now

Mike97gt · Mar 3, 2006

TGJ said:
Johnny Langton was able to run consistent high 13's with a stock Mark VIII Torque Converter, 3.73 Trac Lok, Dual Exhaust, 90mm LMAF, 75mm TB, P&P upper intake, stock NPI intake, stock NPI heads, March UD pulleys and a SCT tune in a heavier TBird and he did it consistently.

thats very impressive

zerosgt · Mar 4, 2006

We'll see where things go from here.

jlfrd96 · Mar 4, 2006

So the pi adapter plates are no good to get? Good thread by the way..we need more 96-98 threads. And where are you running that you can't beat a civic with a low 15? I ran a 14.6 in my 96 with just a x pipe and weld in mufflers which probably doesn't add much at all...and that was my only run at the track. Unless you have an auto i might have missed that.

cltgt · Mar 4, 2006

98blackmagic said:
if you 96 to 98Gt guys want a easy fix to the civic issue.......trade and get a Cobra, I did

Why do that? my car puts down 262/294 untuned. With my new cams and tune, should be close to 300. And it cost a lot less than a cobra...

SiLVeR_96 · Mar 4, 2006

I personally have beat a civic with my bone stock 96 gt but maybe that was cause he missed 2nd gear (amatuers) ... ive lost to almost every car out there you name it; BMW M3, 2dr 05 civic, iroc camero, 97 cobra which would throw flames every time he shifted, and some tuned Prelude. it seems i can beat almost anybody off the line but the m3 so far then after about 4 or 5 thou. Rpms 2nd gear i get raped not to mention the horrible drop in Hp when i pop it into 3rd ......when it comes to the "buy a cobra instead" business my question is why? I plan on droping in a Crate 4.6 w/ fully ported pi heads and hopefully a kenne bell unit for about 10000-12000 thou. Much cheaper than a cobra and a sleeper until the hear that whine of my S/C

SiLVeR_96 · Mar 5, 2006

I figure i would throw this in being that i used to work on civics with some of my buddies, against my will of course lol, must bone stock GTs can beat any civic with a non vtec motor but any vtec motor will beat Gt unfortunatly ...this applying to 96-98 GTs...99 ups smoke um

zerosgt · Mar 6, 2006

Yeah, I was racing the new 06 i-VTEC Si. That car is a real SOB to race. I kicked his ass off the line but once he hit that torqueless wonder of a power curve all I saw was his damn tails. Stock I've seen slips for high 14s. That's just not going to happen for me unless I start getting deep into the tuning. I'll have to do some pretty good s**t to it to be able to keep pace with my boys.

I have an actual question for you guys. I have a slight whine on occasion when I'm starting or shifting gears. It doesn't do it all the time and it doesn't do it that I've noticed on completely level pavement. I have 120k mi on her and I'm running a 5-spd GT that's a 98. Any ideas?

COramprat · Mar 6, 2006

zerosgt said:
I have an actual question for you guys. I have a slight whine on occasion when I'm starting or shifting gears. It doesn't do it all the time and it doesn't do it that I've noticed on completely level pavement. I have 120k mi on her and I'm running a 5-spd GT that's a 98. Any ideas?

So many things could it be here. (That sounded like Yoda...but anyway) Could be a little low on tranny fluid if you notice it on inclines.

As far as kills...I have had quite a few before the cam swap. A stock SS in the 1/8th...but he came around pretty hard after that. , A Prelude, SRT-4, MB C230 Kompressor, Civic Si, basically stock LT1 Z28, 85? or so 911, C4 Vette. Of course I lost alot too but by no means have I been a whipping boy.

zerosgt · Mar 7, 2006

I'll check it just to be safe. Here's a little more info for help with this diagnosis,

I notice it when the clutch is depressed all the way to the floorboard and the car is rolling up or down hill and just before the clutch grabs. But it will only do it when the car has been sitting for over an hour and it will only do it once, or sometimes it will do it once just as/before the clutch grabs going into reverse and then once as/before the clutch grabs going forward. After that it will randomly do it while I'm driving when I'm coming from a stop, but once again it will just do it in 1st and then the rest of the gears are fine. But it's not a constanly repeatable problem.

billfisher · Mar 7, 2006

i realize that npi and pi heads flow close to the same, but that small amount of low lift flow that pi heads have is all it takes to win the day. remember the time the percentage of time valve spends at those higher lifts and the energy required to get the charge in motion are critical. a 10 cfm difference AND better port shape = more power and torque. the pi heads can also take bigger cams without mods. i'm not trying to advocate anything, but i have used both heads, and the higher C/R and flow mean something. i ported my pi's myself, and the npi's were port matched to the PI intake. i made noticably more power with the added C/R and the PI heads. i can't quantify it, but at least 10hp more just from C/R maybe more from flow.

npi's make it easy, but pi's make more power with higher C/R.

COramprat · Mar 7, 2006

zerosgt said:
I'll check it just to be safe. Here's a little more info for help with this diagnosis,

I notice it when the clutch is depressed all the way to the floorboard and the car is rolling up or down hill and just before the clutch grabs. But it will only do it when the car has been sitting for over an hour and it will only do it once, or sometimes it will do it once just as/before the clutch grabs going into reverse and then once as/before the clutch grabs going forward. After that it will randomly do it while I'm driving when I'm coming from a stop, but once again it will just do it in 1st and then the rest of the gears are fine. But it's not a constanly repeatable problem.

Is it a squeak? Could be the first signs of the throw-out bearing going bad.

SiLVeR_96 · Mar 7, 2006

Unfortunatly for us 96-98 guys who are stock( if there is more than just me in that boat..lol), we cant beat many cars in a straight line ...but i have plans for my wild horse

As for the whine im getting the same issues...somewhat. it sounds like a t/o bearing like coramprat said. Which will whine after changing ur clutch sometimes. My car whines after sitting (and cooling down) for a while. It will only whine with my clutch pedal depressed. I got a 96 Gt 5speed. My question to you guys is...IS THIS A MAJOR PROBLEM??? i plan on bolting in a tremec TKO in the near future and have no plans of splittin' my drivetrain anytime before that.

zerosgt · Mar 7, 2006

Mine is more of a squeak that lasts about half a second and ony occurs while rolling and it occurs just before the clutch engages or while fully depressed and the car is rolling. It did it to me twice like that today, once with the car in neutral and once in gear, both times the clutch was all the way to the floor. Tomorrow I'm going to try to let it roll with the engine running and the car in neutral with the clutch in to see if it still happens so I can eliminate the clutch.

96-98 guys beware

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