Starting Preformance Upgrades

buhjuh16 · Nov 29, 2005

Well this january i will have approx 600.00 to start spending on my motor. Right now its a completely stock 302 with 132,000 miles (3:73 gears to be installed, x-pipe and flowmasters installed). Im afraid of starting on this motor while its got such high miles without a rebuild first. But for a rebuild would i be better off starting out with a kit such as this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BUDG...018626820QQcategoryZ33620QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or should i just start on the motor. If i just start on the motor my idea was to startout with a set of used GT-40 heads. Such as :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GT-4...ryZ33617QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
while adding 7/16 rockers and new valve springs, along with a set of headers.
Which way would be the best to start out on? Will it hurt to start with such high miles, or should i start on other parts such as air intake, pulleys, 75mm trottle body? Or even just start out with an upper/lower intake (i was leaning towards the trick flow street/strip. Its mainly going to be street drivin but also taken to the track about once every 2 months depending on my work schedule. Any suggestions?

-sorry if this is repost, please point me in the direction of another thread if it is

94Blue302GT · Nov 29, 2005

First, figure out if you want to keep this car permanent or not.
Yes, a rebuild is in the near future it this car is going to be around for a long time. If you want to keep it for awhile, that's different.
Long term: rebuild into a 331 with some good heads and intake, such as some AFR 165 or 185's and a higher flowing set of lower and upper intake with some 1.7 RR, and all the stuff to make it a tight motor.

Short term: AFR 165's with 1.7 RR's and cobra intake, TB and cold air intake with a nice exhaust.

buhjuh16 · Nov 29, 2005

its deffinatly a long term car. How much would a rebuild into a 331 cost? I'm not really going to have the money for AFR heads + intake and rebuild i dont think. Im estimating i'll have about 1500 total to spend on it by may. After may i won't be about to spend hardly any money on it other than car payment and insurance because ill be moving to college and have to pay for appartment and all those bills. So im going to try and get about all i can get done before then. I may possibly be able to get 2000.00 by may bout itd be slim. I'll have to do the majority of the work myself so i dont want to get myself to deep into something i can't handle.

ProKiller · Nov 30, 2005

i would just start off small. your going to college, been there done that, start off with the supporting stuff.

get an intake and a tb mas and a cold air kit. that should give it some new life. keep the rest of the money for later, cause you'll prolly need it down the road. your giong to spend a lot more than u can afford on a rebuild or heads. start small. its a long term car....you have time for the big stuff later.

as far as the miles u have, i had 130k on a supercharged engine and i just replaced teh block. you should be fine with the stuff i said.

buhjuh16 · Nov 30, 2005

ProKiller said:
i would just start off small. your going to college, been there done that, start off with the supporting stuff.

get an intake and a tb mas and a cold air kit. that should give it some new life. keep the rest of the money for later, cause you'll prolly need it down the road. your giong to spend a lot more than u can afford on a rebuild or heads. start small. its a long term car....you have time for the big stuff later.

as far as the miles u have, i had 130k on a supercharged engine and i just replaced teh block. you should be fine with the stuff i said.

any idea what kind of times i can be expecting with that?

1105 · Nov 30, 2005

I say keep the money and save it until you get out of college or at least through the first few years. I had a good amount of money before I started college and wanted to do all of this stuff to my car in a short period of time and well now I'm driving a 89 nissan while my mustang sits in the driveway due to not enough time and money to work on it.

If it's your only car, leave it the way it is and only do some little bolt on stuff... Dont get into heads or a rebuild just yet.

SQUEEZE&STROKE · Nov 30, 2005

1105 said:
I say keep the money and save it until you get out of college or at least through the first few years. I had a good amount of money before I started college and wanted to do all of this stuff to my car in a short period of time and well now I'm driving a 89 nissan while my mustang sits in the driveway due to not enough time and money to work on it.

If it's your only car, leave it the way it is and only do some little bolt on stuff... Dont get into heads or a rebuild just yet.

Agreed X 1000

Similar thing happened to me...but I dropped all the money into it...331, victor jr heads, nitrous, suspension, now carb and fuel system...yes it is fast, but now I can hardly drive it on the street any more...insurance costs, fuel consumption, police pulling my over every 300 ft-directly influencing insurance, tires, wer on the driveline, etc, etc.

Keep it somewhat stock, have fun driving it, get done with school, buy another car, then tear it apart...just my .02...speaking from experience because now I have to buy another form of transportation

buhjuh16 · Nov 30, 2005

well maybe what i ought to do (weather i like it or not) would be to just save up and buy a 1000 doller 4 cyl. truck or car thats reliable and just take the insurance off the mustang or even see if i could even just get something like seasonal insurance. and then just start putting extra money that i have into the mustang. still though the whole college situation makes me worry considering im going to have 18 hrs of classes plus a 40 hour a week job to pay bills since i wont be making much. i just cant help but mod the mustang to be what i want it to be, guess its just something in me.

ProKiller · Dec 1, 2005

wow thats a lot of hours while going to college. i was doing a bit over 30 and it was h ell.

as far as your times with my suggestion. you could prolly be in the low 15s because u have a vert. maybe somebody else will chime in with their experience with a vert, i dont' have any.

FORCED2DV8 · Dec 1, 2005

I agree with the others just do small bolt ons or save it til later, You have to pay to play and going to college take alot of paying... Just keep doing a little here and there and it will come along. Definatly helps to have a second car though, a beater so you can work on the stang..

Green 94 5.0 · Dec 1, 2005

SQUEEZE&STROKE said:
insurance costs, fuel consumption, police pulling my over every 300 ft-directly influencing insurance, tires, wer on the driveline, etc, etc.

Keep it somewhat stock, have fun driving it, get done with school, buy another car, then tear it apart...just my .02...speaking from experience because now I have to buy another form of transportation

i have to agree with that. the fuel consumption thing made me laugh a bit though. i feel like there is a hole in the tank sometimes. i average 12mpg and have to put premium in it. getting to the point though, if the car is going to be your only form of transportation, dont get into anything beyond the basic bolt ons (cold air kit, exhaust mods, possibly an intake). once you get into swapping the heads and cam, reliability may begin to become a concern. if my 94 gt was my daily driver, i would buy a bus pass. in fact, my var has been down for a whole mess of upgrades for about a month and a half now. keep it simple since you are on a budget and the car is your daily driver. you will thank yourself for it later.

xkuntrycowboyx · Dec 1, 2005

already STUCK in College

I AGREE ALSO! ... i am a freshmen in college. And i had some money and put it all in my mustang. it was my only driver and was NEVER together... i always was doing something, and now i look at it as, i kinda wasted my money at the time.
Cuz im sittin in college, and can't buy a pizza, or go do anything that a college kid should and go have fun. I have like $25 dollars to my name and don't really have a job cuz my class load. I had to take out a loan and buy a truck for winter too. Soooo.... save ur money for two years.
If ur gonna do anything, i agree bolt-ons, and if u are going to spend money, chooose wisely and think about what ur doing. don't just go spending, find the best way to squeeze out ever cent you have!

if you go cold air, make ur own for instance... it's like $20.
and IMO, be careful on ebay. I shopped there alot, but ALWAYS check ppl's feedback, be careful, ppl WILL try and screw u on there.

scarless · Dec 1, 2005

Go to LKQ in Manchester, TN. It's about 180 miles from you and pick up a 60 or 100K mile Explorer or Mountaineer 5.0L engine. Just use the intake and heads and sell the block and all the other parts. You can make $250+ from all the parts. Get a valve job, new springs (trick flow kit), P shorty headers, intake elbow, and gasket set. Do a compression test on your engine first to make use it doesn't have any bad cylinders and is good enough to take fresh heads.

Maybe a better idea is to replace the engine. LKQ has a 60K motor for $550 stock # e1540 D51673. Replace the valve springs, get P headers, intake elbow, cam (or swap from old engine), timing chain (always a good idea), Oil pump (std volume) pickup tube and drive, dampner (Pro Products), new spark plugs (P heads use different plugs), thurmostat, gaskets, and maybe a new water pump. Swap all the sensors, the oil pan, distributer, fuel rails, brackets and accessories from your old engine and you are good to go.

LKQ 1-800-624-4856

90-100K engine for $385
Stock numbers: e1554-J43174, e1562-R50961, e1569-T51541, e1569-T51541

60K motor for $550
stock # e1540 D51673.

Scott_95GT · Dec 1, 2005

Man it seems everyone is in the same boat with school. I'm taking 12 units at CSUS as a Jr., and i have two jobs which add up to about 40 hours per week. Sometimes it can be out of control. 14 hour work days, little sleep, lots of caffine, classes, homework, research, ect.

As far as your car...I would go with a used, fresh motor for now. Lightly used 94-95 motors can be had for cheap online. If you get a good deal, you may have some cash left over to grab an intake or some valve covers or something to toss on before you drop her in there.

buhjuh16 · Dec 1, 2005

scarless said:
Go to LKQ in Manchester, TN. It's about 180 miles from you and pick up a 60 or 100K mile Explorer or Mountaineer 5.0L engine. Just use the intake and heads and sell the block and all the other parts. You can make $250+ from all the parts. Get a valve job, new springs (trick flow kit), P shorty headers, intake elbow, and gasket set. Do a compression test on your engine first to make use it doesn't have any bad cylinders and is good enough to take fresh heads.

Maybe a better idea is to replace the engine. LKQ has a 60K motor for $550 stock # e1540 D51673. Replace the valve springs, get P headers, intake elbow, cam (or swap from old engine), timing chain (always a good idea), Oil pump (std volume) pickup tube and drive, dampner (Pro Products), new spark plugs (P heads use different plugs), thurmostat, gaskets, and maybe a new water pump. Swap all the sensors, the oil pan, distributer, fuel rails, brackets and accessories from your old engine and you are good to go.

LKQ 1-800-624-4856

90-100K engine for $385
Stock numbers: e1554-J43174, e1562-R50961, e1569-T51541, e1569-T51541

60K motor for $550
stock # e1540 D51673.

i really like the idea on the motors. what exactaly is a valve job. Just changing the springs? I know i probably should save my money for college but just hearing all my friends at school and how their car or truck does this or that, i just cant help but have to keep up and have fun doin it. For example a buddy of mine has a firebird witha 350 in it and we're always goin back and forth. But as for just buying the 90-100k engine and using parts off of that, all the extra stuff i'd have to buy, around what would that cost excluding labor?? also, im still worried about having to do a rebuild with such high milage on the motor i have now. Around how much would that even cost? Ive got a 2nd vehicle i can drive (my gmas jeep, which she doesnt drive anymore) so im not to worried about downtime right now. Sorry to keep botherin yall with all of the questions, i just aint got everything figured out quite yet.

Starting Preformance Upgrades

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