i'm dead (long)

[BlackVert]

i have a basically stock 96 with 4.10s it has pulleys and a timing adjuster that i bought last year.

after researching the pi headswap, i estimated that to do it right (w/long tubes, agressive cams, ported heads, tune), it would end up costing like $3000.

so i decided i'd be better off selling the 95 and buying a 95 and doing a headswap on that instead. i convinced myself that the headswap would cost much less than the pi headswap and the car would be as about as fast as a pi headswap car.

so i bought a 95. it had shorty headers and catback and a bunch of other non perfromance related stuff. i don't know what gears it has. the guy i bought it from said it has 3.73s, but i'm not convinced.

then i bought ported stock heads (thumper), trick flow street heat intake, pulleys, control arms, springs, and had the mechanic fix other minor things and make sure it would pass inspection and be reliable. i also bought a tweecer r/t to tune it.

i just got the 95 back from the shop today after the headswap. $4500 for parts and labor. it is not tuned yet.

after all that, the 96 still feels much faster than the 95. what is wrong with this picture? the gears?

i've been telling my wife all along that it wasn't going to cost too much and it is the car of my dreams. i was wrong on both counts.

i'm really bummed ... i feel like i made a $10,000 mistake and i should sell both cars and get a toyota corolla.

 

[1991vert]

you probably have 2.73s. jack up your rear end, put the car in neutral and have someone spin your tire once and count how many times your driveshaft turned. it should turn about 3 3/4 turns, a little less because of the .02 difference. i heard of people doing this, i dunno if it's accurate or not, but it couldnt hurt to try.

goodluck,
chris

 

[CManT1914]

This might be a stupid question, but what is a tweecer r/t?

 

[CManT1914]

you probably have 2.73s. jack up your rear end, put the car in neutral and have someone spin your tire once and count how many times your driveshaft turned. it should turn about 3 3/4 turns, a little less because of the .02 difference. i heard of people doing this, i dunno if it's accurate or not, but it couldnt hurt to try.

goodluck,
chris

He's right about the axle rotation thing. If they do have 2.73's, then it's really hurting your SOTP performance. What rpm's are you turning at 70 in 5th? 1750 is 2.73's, if it's more like 2250, it's 3.73's.

 

[Venom351R]

Your prob not getting full potential out of your intake b/c your ported stock heads are not flowing that much air compared to aluminum TW or AFR heads. A H/C/I swap on a 5.0 will usually net you around 300 RWHP along w/ exhuast, pullies and bigger MAF.

 

[1105]

That doesnt sound right... Everything I bolted on even without a tune I could feel the difference. My 95 stock could walk all over the 96-98 4.6's so I dont know whats going on with your car.

 

[95snoozer]

sounds like you wasted alot of money

 

[yellow5.0cobra]

nah he did not waste a lot of money.

The 95 has lots of potential, but what he SHOULD have done was drop a COBRA engine in the 96 and called it a day.

 

[Imyourzero]

so i decided i'd be better off selling the 95 and buying a 95 and doing a headswap on that instead. i convinced myself that the headswap would cost much less than the pi headswap and the car would be as about as fast as a pi headswap car.

96-98's that do the PI headswap are slightly faster than a stock 99-04 due to increased compression, right? So that would put a PI'ed 96-98 in the high 13's...and mid 13's with gears and a few bolt-ons. Am I correct?

If so, you're right...an H/C/I 94/95 is easily a mid 13 second car...and depending on what heads/cam you choose, as well as what bolt-ons it has, can be a 12 second car.

i just got the 95 back from the shop today after the headswap. $3500 for parts and labor. it is not tuned yet.

Does that $3500 include the heads, intake, control arms, springs, etc.? How much was the actual labor?

after all that, the 96 still feels much faster than the 95. what is wrong with this picture? the gears?

Yeah, probably the gears. Reason being, my 94 with Thumper heads, Edelbrock intake, 4.10's, etc. was a low-mid 13 second car. I whooped up on new GT's and pulled on LS1's from 0-100+ Now that I have AFR's and a much better MAF, who knows?

How fast was your 96? Exactly what mods did it have? I've driven 2 97's...both felt slow to me...and haven't EVER lost to a 96-98, modded or not. For your modded 95 to feel slower than the 96, something has to be wrong. Either the 95 is way out of tune or has stock gearing. Or the 96 was a freak...

 

[Zero Signal]

How fast was your 96? Exactly what mods did it have? I've driven 2 97's...both felt slow to me...and haven't EVER lost to a 96-98, modded or not. For your modded 95 to feel slower than the 96, something has to be wrong. Either the 95 is way out of tune or has stock gearing. Or the 96 was a freak...

I was gonna say just that.

 

[mytight95]

man i would seriously check the gears first.

then i would start looking for problems, because if it has 3.73's alone it should feel quicker than the 96 you had. At least feel quicker b/c of the torque difference in the motors. Tell us what gear you have and we start to help you pick it apart.

I have had many probs, and between everyone on heres help, and time i have managed to solve them, even managed to change head gaskets etc. having never done it before.


You will find it don't get discourage, b/c the first time you feel all that torque you ll change your mind

 

[tmoss]

sounds like you wasted alot of money

That's alot of help isn't it...........

 

[mytight95]

man sometime people on here can be immature and smartass(<edit if you wanna) so just ignore those peeps.


most people come on here looking for options etc., and are more than glad to try and help, after all the more info we have on this site the more problems we can solve ourselves

 

[Silver95Stint]

You shouldn't feel like you wasted money. With the H/C/I swap there are alot of things that could have gone wrong and it's just a matter of time before you remedy the situation. Plus you said that it aint even tuned yet. That alone could be the problem. Just because the 96 feels faster and accellerates smoother, doesn't mean it's faster. It could be all in your head.

 

[Rerun]

You shouldn't feel like you wasted money. With the H/C/I swap there are alot of things that could have gone wrong and it's just a matter of time before you remedy the situation. Plus you said that it aint even tuned yet. That alone could be the problem. Just because the 96 feels faster and accellerates smoother, doesn't mean it's faster. It could be all in your head.

I had the same issue, after my H/C/I I had a few problems, but after we pinpointed what it was and fixed it, car ran like a champ. Just stick with it, you'll figure out.

Toyota Corolla?

 

[StangJonGT]

Looks like you are focusing on the wrong thing. I don't know about others, but I mod for the fun of it, not to see how much I can get for how little. You sound like an accountant or a financial advisor--trying to figure out which car is cheaper to mod. Who cares? Drive the car you like, and enjoy modding it. That is the fun part, so stick with it and have some fun.


Jon

 

[AZ95GT]

Hang in there man! You'll figure it out. Get that tune and if that doesnt help maybe it is gears? I'm sure the answer is right around here somewhere. Good luck.

 

[95snoozer]

That's alot of help isn't it...........

are you kidding me... he spent 3500 on that?

he could have slapped a vortech on in an after noon and tuned it and called it a day or had a muuuuutch better heads cam combo for that priice.


yall always bash ported stockers and i debate yall for 5 pages, but when i say someone made the worng decision suddenly i am being rude.


he definitely needs gears 4.10s no doubt. cause we know that car isnt gonna hit 110 and thats a better gear.

 

[mytight95]

well i wasn't bashing ya for the heads, just the fact that he is just lookin for help. everyone would probably spend 3500 a little differently.

right

 

[95snoozer]

there is a t67 pro turbo kits 94-95 kit for sale for 3200 on a certain forum

brand new in box