As many of you know I bought a PTK turbo kit for my car a number of years go. It was a top notch kit complete with a swain coated hot side, a turbosmart e-boost controller, and a T64e turbo. I then got busy and built my 331ci dart block as the foundation for this. Since then I added better heads, an AEM stand alone, 6 pt roll bar, etc which are all things I deemed necessary prior to installing the turbo kit. I also picked up a T76 turbo along the way too as I thought the T64e may be on the small side for this combo. Since then the car has run so well NA that I haven't had much desire to complicate things with the turbo install. It has run a 11.5 at 121mph. BUT... I'm bored with it and I want a power adder on my car to take advantage of the $5K shortblock under its hood. Now for my dilemma.
-I will not put a cage in this car which is something required in 'verts at 10.99 ET.
-I only want a car that'll trap 130mph. Those that say this isn't enough are nuts. My car is a street/strip/show car and 130 is PLENTY fast and is more than enough to compete with 99% of non-track only cars.
-Cost to install turbo kit. One would think that since I own almost every piece of the turbo build puzzle that it'd be an easy and relatively inexpensive swap. I figure I'll need >$3000 to put the turbo on. In my car the power level will be through the roof with the turbo and as such I'll need a new fuel tank, pump, lines, rails, regulator, etc. I'll also need larger injectors (I'm leaning toward high impedance 80's). I need to swap my 4.10 gears for either 3.27's or 3.31's. I'll need a new cam, lifters, and possibly pushrods. I may also need to pay for a tune. Although I feel confident tuning with the AEM, I don't feel confident using my car as a guinea pig to tune a 700+hp forced induction monster.
This brings me to my dilemma. I own almost everything needed to install the turbo kit, and a turbo mustang is something I've always wanted, but the funds needed to complete the install to my liking and the power output I'll likely see from it are both too much. I don't want a 700hp car as I don't want to start breaking everything else on the car that I have already upgraded. Since my goal is 10.99/130mph, I don't need all of this power. I could put the T64e on and it'd help me, but I don't like that idea.
I recently spoke to a friend that is going to be selling an S trim with low miles on it. My thought was to possible sell the turbo kit, send the S trim to vortech to have the Si upgrade done, and put it on the car. i can then pulley it for however many lbs of boost it'll take to hit my goals, it is a much simpler installation, and ultimately it'll be a lot cheaper as I could leave the cam be for now and only swap the gears. I also think that if I keep it an S trim for the time being and run 6lbs or so of boost that the car's factory fuel tank, lines, and rails would be OK. I'd still need injectors, but I have a HP walbro 255 intank in the cobra that I could put into the 'vert. This would hopefully get me into low 500ish RWHP and be in the safe zone without having to upgrade the entire fuel system. I'm really leaning this way right now if the S trim can be had reasonably.
WHat are your thoughts? Having two cars has also been a factor in this. if I only had the one then I could more easily swing the $3K to install the turbo, but since I have another money pit I can not afford to do it anytime soon.
-I will not put a cage in this car which is something required in 'verts at 10.99 ET.
-I only want a car that'll trap 130mph. Those that say this isn't enough are nuts. My car is a street/strip/show car and 130 is PLENTY fast and is more than enough to compete with 99% of non-track only cars.
-Cost to install turbo kit. One would think that since I own almost every piece of the turbo build puzzle that it'd be an easy and relatively inexpensive swap. I figure I'll need >$3000 to put the turbo on. In my car the power level will be through the roof with the turbo and as such I'll need a new fuel tank, pump, lines, rails, regulator, etc. I'll also need larger injectors (I'm leaning toward high impedance 80's). I need to swap my 4.10 gears for either 3.27's or 3.31's. I'll need a new cam, lifters, and possibly pushrods. I may also need to pay for a tune. Although I feel confident tuning with the AEM, I don't feel confident using my car as a guinea pig to tune a 700+hp forced induction monster.
This brings me to my dilemma. I own almost everything needed to install the turbo kit, and a turbo mustang is something I've always wanted, but the funds needed to complete the install to my liking and the power output I'll likely see from it are both too much. I don't want a 700hp car as I don't want to start breaking everything else on the car that I have already upgraded. Since my goal is 10.99/130mph, I don't need all of this power. I could put the T64e on and it'd help me, but I don't like that idea.
I recently spoke to a friend that is going to be selling an S trim with low miles on it. My thought was to possible sell the turbo kit, send the S trim to vortech to have the Si upgrade done, and put it on the car. i can then pulley it for however many lbs of boost it'll take to hit my goals, it is a much simpler installation, and ultimately it'll be a lot cheaper as I could leave the cam be for now and only swap the gears. I also think that if I keep it an S trim for the time being and run 6lbs or so of boost that the car's factory fuel tank, lines, and rails would be OK. I'd still need injectors, but I have a HP walbro 255 intank in the cobra that I could put into the 'vert. This would hopefully get me into low 500ish RWHP and be in the safe zone without having to upgrade the entire fuel system. I'm really leaning this way right now if the S trim can be had reasonably.
WHat are your thoughts? Having two cars has also been a factor in this. if I only had the one then I could more easily swing the $3K to install the turbo, but since I have another money pit I can not afford to do it anytime soon.