Need Suggestions. Upgrade My 2valve?

That's a sweet looking Stang man! I wouldn't say the 2v is weak, it just takes a different approach to get the hp you want compared to Chevy motors... There are guys that have put turbos, and superchargers on their 2v's that are making some impressive numbers. Also some have done full bolt ons with H/C and have got some good power out of a 4.6. I have read though that if you want to stay n/a the price is a little more.

Are you wanting 300hp at the crank or wheels? Either way do the P/I swap first if you want a nice power gain, then go with long tube headers, some bolt ons and gears to wake the car up a bit. Also working on the suspension helps a lot if you are concerned about 1/4 mile times.

Congrats on the car its really clean like I said before.

LOL @ the 2V being weak

Nightfire said:

LOL @ the 2V being weak

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Well, let's be honest: A stock 96 was kinda weak when brand new. If it's still basically stock it hasn't gotten any stronger in the last 16 years.

Having said that the 2V is pretty stout. The NPI engines weren't heavy breathers from the factory but they were built pretty tough and take well to upgrades. OP, if you want 300HP you're basically looking at a PI swap (intake, cams and heads from a 99-04 car). With a tune you're at ~265 to 270HP assuming everything else about the engine is sound. Add in some long tubes, swap out the stock PI cams for Stg 1 Comp (for example) 262AHs and a decent intake and you'll be knocking at 300 crank HP.

If you have your sights set on 300 rear wheel HP you're going to need another 50HP at the crankshaft. For that you're going to have to dig significantly deeper or look into a small shot of N2O.

Which body style do you like better? Your current or the 99-04 (new Edge)? Or are you talking about a newer S197?

If you like your current car, go for a PI head swap (PI heads, cams, intake) or swap in an entire PI motor. PI headswap will make more N/A power (by about 15 hp) because of the raised compression (which is good for nitrous...), while an entire PI motor with it's lower compression ratio will leave room for blowers or turbos in the future.

You can find entire PI motors (low mileage) from junkyards for <$700 (I've done it). You should also be able to get some PI heads from junkyards and/or online classifieds for a few hundred bucks. www.car-part.com Be sure to check out the Lincoln Towncars and Mercury Grand Marquis; after 2001, they have the exact same PI motor the 99-04 Mustangs do, but at about half the price for some reason. And if you really wanted to knock out a couple of birds with one stone, look for 2002-2005 Explorer/Expedition motors; they have the same heads/cams/intake/rotating assembly as all the other 2-valve 4.6s, but with an aluminum block, which knocks about 90 pounds off the nose of the car (which is very good in every performance aspect of a car).

Depending on what your budget/goal is, I'd throw in a set of cams and long tubes while you have the heads off/motor out. If a PI head swap, set of decent cams, and long tubes didn't make 300 rwhp (~350 crank hp), it would be right there at it. And trust me, a car with those mods runs well. Should be a solid high 12/low 13 second car depending on tires and driver ability.

+1 to all of that pi swap, cams, lt headers, throw a track heat intake on there while you at it, the plastic intakes on the pi intakes leak, and alllllll the bolt ons you can think of, throttle body, intake, pullys, tune, do it all

trinity_gt said:

Well, let's be honest: A stock 96 was kinda weak when brand new.

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I thought about adding that in my post but didn't bother.

stock 96 NPI 2V's are weak.

Keep it that condition and low miles are hard to come by, get a set of used PI heads, and clean them maybe a little port work and put some stage 2 cams in them, with that NPI bottom end and pi heads you will have ported heads with cams and a little bit more compression, and throw some longtubes and 4.30;s in her and all the other basic boltons tb plenum and pulleys and tune and you will be right at 300, with a stout running car