Larger Throttle Body & Plenum - JLT CAI

[roadman4.6]

Looking at buying a 70 or 75 mm throttle body and plenum for my relatively stock '03 GT. Approx. cost is $300 from AM. Is this worth the money for the minimum gains on a stock car? Many mixed reviews posted. Car is stock 5 speed with only Flowmaster exhaust, BBK CAI - 30,000 miles. Long term goal is to get around 300 HP with maybe a set of cams.

Seems like the next logical upgrade from the forum input is a set of gears or a tuner. Don't want to sink a whole lot of money into a project (max. $2500), just want a few more horses. Car is a weekend cruiser and sits most of the Ohio winter.

Also looked at the JLT Ram Air CAI compared to the BBK. Is it better to have the inlet in the fenderwell or no difference. Some complained the JLT large tube took away low end power on a stock car. Or just save money and stick with the BBK.

I'm a novice here, so any suggestions would be appreciated from your experience!

 

[SteedaGT9150]

Your going to get mixed opinions on the subject. My lower intake mani just cracked, so I ordered a new lower, and a 75mm trickflow upper and throttle body. As soon as my throttle body gets here I'll give you my opinion.

My go fast mods are: bbk shorties, x pipe, magnaflows, pulleys, cai, and now the plenum and tb.

Also have misc suspension and drivetrain mods and 4.10's

 

[blubullett]

The JLT is a great intake and I noticed no loss of torque with it. If anything if completly woke up my car. But since you already have the BBK I am not sure I would switch, but it is probably worth a couple horsepower.

Gears were the best affordable mod I did for my car. I would do gears first if I was going to start over.

I would wait to get a tune untill you have some more mods. You said you want 300 hp so you are going to need to get cams and ported heads before you are anywhere neer there and I would wait to get your tune untill you get both of those.

For 2500 bucks I would get gears (600 installed), cams (700 install yourself), throttle body and plenum (300), and if smog checks aren't a concern depending on where you live get some longtubes and an x pipe.

Also, Im not too hot on AM right now. There is a thread on corner-carvers.com where some people are talking about thier business pratices. When they get a product that is selling really good suddenly thier own company "Stack" starts making a chinese copy of it and they discontinue the original companys product. Not too good for "American" muscle. Most products I have price matched lately have actually been cheaper at Latemodel Restoration Supply anyways.

Link to corner-carver, check out post 758. Whole thread is comedy, I love when Granatelli tries to defend himself. http://forums.corner-carvers.com/showthread.php?t=25368&page=19

After thinking about it for a minute you are going to need a tune after the gears so your speedo is correct and it will help make it run good with the cams too.

 

[Deleted member 38176]

I think that the TB/plenum should be among the last bolt-on mods done on these cars. If I were you, I'd do a full exhaust and gears first.

 

[03_TrueBlue_GT]

A good 75 hp shot of Nitrous can work too...

 

[BurningRubber]

Keep your BBK intake, spend the $300 on a mid pipe (offroad if you can) and put the rest towards gears or buying longtubes and a matching mid pipe.

The only mods worth doing an expecting a return are exhaust, gears and tune without getting into the bigger stuff. Cold air intake is fine, as it does help, but it's not something your going to notice a big difference with.

And yes, even a little hit of nitrous gives great instant returns. However, you will not want to stay with a little shot... it's easy to get greedy.

 

[BlackArtemis]

For $300 I bought a set of used BBK Lt's and Catted H (hate the sound of uncatted and of X pipes), this was shipped too.

 

[roadman4.6]

Thanks for all the feedback! Going to start with the gears for now as that seems to be a popular upgrade on the forum and take it one project at a time. Checked with 2 local shops - one was $295 and the other $350 for the install. Does that sound about right? Any preference as to what brand to get? (Motive, Ford Racing, or Richmond) Someone on e-bay has new Ford 3.73 gears with bearing kit & free shipping for $258. Sounds like a good deal.

 

[BlackArtemis]

FRPP (Ford) for sure

 

[BurningRubber]

x2 on FRPP. Only other gear I'd go for is Motive, and that'd be for 3.90's only. I COMPLETELY regret not having FRPP gears in my car.

Also, make sure you get a full bearing kit... it'll include the axle bearings and seals. Good idea to do those at the same time.

 

[SteedaGT9150]

I just put on a 75mm trick flow upper and tb and felt a noticable difference above 3500 rpms.

 

[roadman4.6]

That's great. I just bought the same set up last week, but haven't installed it yet. Couldn't beat the price plus had a discount from AM. Next upgrade is the 3.73 FR gears and a tuner when I get the car back on the road in the spring. Future will be cams and upgraded exhaust system when I have the cash. Trick Flow is located only about an hour from my house, right near Summit Racing. Summit has a great all Mustang show every year. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[SteedaGT9150]

Is your car a dd or just a cruiser?

If it doesn't see a lot of highway miles I would suggest 4.10's

 

[slayerripkdc]

I would say 300-350 for installation is a decent price!

 

[roadman4.6]

Car is a cruiser, but I take it to work once a week when the weather is good. Trip is 40 miles all highway. Will probably stick with the 3.73's.

Any experience with the Tuner? Is it worth the $379? Was looking at the package deals at AM has for the gears & tuner.

 

[BlackArtemis]

You at least need a speed cal to calibrate your car to the new gears. This will cost at least $75
I got the sct and 3.73 gear combo like 1.5 years ago and havent put in the gears yet hahha. But the tuner did respond well to my exhaust mods.