questions, all nPI people comments welcome

[Teen'93stang5.0]

ok, the parents are kinda mad about how my last car turned out (turned it into a track car on accident) and dont want me toutching this one AT ALL, like not even exhaust, intake, nothing

but of course i cant stay stock for long, so i need input on how far ill get with what i was thinking

basically i was thinking about doing all the little bolt ons that a person can do in a few hours in a garage without specialty tools....so heres what i came up with

the basic:
CAI, underdrive pulleys, TB and MAF senosor, C&L plenum, & possibly exhaust (at least an o/r H or X pipe so it wont sound too much different than stock) and then a Diablo chip to tie it all together in the end

the clutch is starting to go so i think that ill have my shop put a "stock" (spec or king cobra)replacement clutch in, and then ill do a shifter in the parking lot before i take it home

id love to do gears, but i dont think i could get it done in only a few hours so those will have to wait for a few months

so with all that where should i be as far as power goes

 

[Sam98]

ok, the parents are kinda mad about how my last car turned out (turned it into a track car on accident) and dont want me toutching this one AT ALL, like not even exhaust, intake, nothing

but of course i cant stay stock for long, so i need input on how far ill get with what i was thinking

basically i was thinking about doing all the little bolt ons that a person can do in a few hours in a garage without specialty tools....so heres what i came up with

the basic:
CAI, underdrive pulleys, TB and MAF senosor, C&L plenum, & possibly exhaust (at least an o/r H or X pipe so it wont sound too much different than stock) and then a Diablo chip to tie it all together in the end

the clutch is starting to go so i think that ill have my shop put a "stock" (spec or king cobra)replacement clutch in, and then ill do a shifter in the parking lot before i take it home

id love to do gears, but i dont think i could get it done in only a few hours so those will have to wait for a few months

so with all that where should i be as far as power goes

If your parents are already upset you should save your money until you move out. I'm guessing that is only a year or two away. The mods you mentioned won't do much to a 96-98 GT w/o PI heads. The H or X pipe will also make it sound much different (they won't miss it). If you don't want to wait, you'd be much better off using that money to buy PI heads and intake and doing the head swap. If you get ported heads you'll have even better results, and if you leave the exhaust stock you will have a sleeper...

 

[COramprat]

Shifter would be good as would the underdrives (will require a pulley puller) but don't go with the O/R x or h-pipe. IT WILL sound louder. Mine does. Forgo the CAI and just do a K&N with the silencer removed. If the clutch goes then go ahead and do what you want. Anything else should wait until either your parents say it is OK or you move out on your own. Go against your parents wishes and you may wind up walking.

 

[matsm21]

do a PI headswap and tell them it will increase the life of the engine!

 

[46gtsblown]

Take the $5000 dollars you will invest in your car and put it in to a investment portfolio of your choosing. When you are 60 take the $200,000 and buy anything you want

 

[Teen'93stang5.0]

hehehe, did that already, have a 1k portfolio that last time i checked was at like 5400, and i only got it after 9-11, so in a little over 3 years its grone more than 400%...


but anyway, i have the K&N with removed silencer already,

 

[Teen'93stang5.0]

and as far as the rest of the suggestions go, you really think i wouldnt see any gains from the MAF, TB, and Plenum, or any one or combination there of? and what can i do to gain more top end power without killing the bottom end? anything on this motor?

 

[Sam98]

and as far as the rest of the suggestions go, you really think i wouldnt see any gains from the MAF, TB, and Plenum, or any one or combination there of? and what can i do to gain more top end power without killing the bottom end? anything on this motor?

The heads are the main bottle neck and the stock MAF, throttle body and plenum are capable of flowing more than the stock heads will (unless you have a blower). Even with the blower, my HP peaks at about 5K and stays flat even with the boost continuing to rise. With these engines, it's all in the heads...