Engine upgrades questions?

tjmaxx

Member
Jun 21, 2004
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So I am doing the PI conversion on my 96 GT but I want to add some extra horsepower over the standard PI parts. So I have the PI heads and cams from a 2003 GT. I plan to port the PI heads and I want to order some upgraded cams. I heard that the Comp 270's would be good to go with? But I was also looking at Comp 262's? now here is the real question, when it comes down to intakes I heard the stock PI is one of the best ones to get? Is it worth it to go Professional Products Typhoon intake, the Trickflow intake, or just stick with PI with the set up im going with? How much should I pay to get the heads ported and polished on average? Also im pretty sure I will need a dyno tune with all these parts correct? The only engine mods I currerntly have are full exhaus minus headers, cold air intake, plugs and wires, and I have BBK pullies I plan to put on, I will also be buying an Xcal 3 tuner.
 
Whats you end goal? Is it gonna be a dd? I've heared that with Typhoon you may need to grind away some casting flash inside of it but after that its a great piece. Esp. for the price. If you have the cake you might as well do the intake at the same time and have it port matched with the heads. You should probably look into LT's to get the most out of the H/I/C swap. If money is a problem you can still find some used headers or flowtechs are also inexpensive. And a dyno tune is always a good idea.
 
if you are going FI you should go with the 262s if staying NA go with the 270s. as for the intake, stay the hell away from the typhoon intake. they are crap. do a google search and you will see what iam talking about. some have had issues with getting it to seel up and one guy i know of had coolant spraying from a pin hole in the coolant crossover. I personally would go with the hps hardballer intake. I have yet to find anything on the net bad about it. plus it has plenty of extra material for porting.
 
back when it was all new again!!!

enginefinished.webp
 
Texas Hotrods sells the THR Harballer intake. I personally am waiting for the one from BBK. I have been pretty impressed w/ their stuff and like the idea behind the 5.0 intake they make. I am NOT bad mouthing the Harballer at all(I used to want that one) but, there are people on a few forums who have had bad experiences w/ Texas Hotrods. I havent seen any hard numbers on the Harballer but, I think the intake itself is good. I havent had any experiences w/ Texas Hotrods personally.

As far as porting heads, I paid 600 to get mine done by Modular Mustang Racing. I would talk to them or Fox Lake IMHO. I have heard good things from both. Fox Lake is the best you can get though IMHO.

I think a tune and heads will wake it up nicely, esp. if they are ported.
 
Would it be better just to buy like stage 3 Patriot heads or SVO's or something rather than spending the money getting mine ported since it wont be much more money after buying these PI heads I have?
 
If you buy new PI heads, you'll probably spend the same amount total to buy them and have them ported as you would for pre-ported PI heads. If having them ported, I would send them to Fox Lake. If buying pre-ported, you can't beat Modular Powerhouse. As far as intake, I'm not sure if the power gain is enough to justify the price difference between the aftermarket intakes and a stock PI intake. Rather than spending the money on an aftermarket intake, I'd just spend it on LT headers. I think you'll get higher gains from LT's than from an intake. As far as cams, I have the 262's and I love them, but the 270's are fine too. I wouldn't really consider any form of FI on a PI swapped GT other than nitrous. The compression on a PI swapped 96-98 is really too high for a supercharger or turbo, but ideal for nitrous. I know that you CAN put a charger or turbo on it, but I believe you'd just be on borrowed time. Just my opinion though.
 
My goal with this car is mostly street with a few track passes a year and I would like as close to 300rwhp NA as possible. I might add nitrous later on down the road.
 
I recently saw a few posts on other boards looking into the pricing and availability of these heads. They are priced at around $500.00 per head, a big drop from the $900.00 that they used to be and you could have them in about a week.