Where do I go from here?

[mustang_jr+]

I have a 96 mystic.

So far I have:

PRO-M MAF, BBK TB, Pulley,
Long tubes, x pipe, high flow cats,
borla stainless catback. Chipped.
Pro 5.0 shifter, King Cobra clutch.

Alum driveshaft, Hotchkiss camber plates,
KYB shock/ struts, elibachs, edelbrock
Upper/lower arms, ford racing front arms.
Full length subframes.

What can I do to increase power that doesn't involve
replacing the heads / cams? Have I done all I can
short of supercharging?

Heads and cams are about $3100 not even installed.

What can I do that won't involve selling the farm?

 

[5.0's 4 ever]

You are at the end of bolt ons, if you want to make more power its time to go with a power adder or engine work. You could go with nitrous if you want to keep it cheap though.

 

[mustang_jr+]

What do you think a rebuild with forged internals would cost me?

If I rebuild and supercharge, cams and heads aren't really an issue, right?

 

[atnb93gt]

You didn't list whether or not you have changed rear end gears, if you have
not, then at least 4:10's would be a big difference over the stock 3:27's.

 

[5.0's 4 ever]

rebuild with forged internals I would guess around $2500-$3000 depending on who is doing the work and what brand of parts are going in it. The labor to remove, tear down, reassemble the shortblock, and then reinstall would vary from shop to shop, maybe another $1k in just labor.

If you going for a blower leaving the stock heads/cams will be ok, they work just fine with boosted applications.

 

[mustang_jr+]

I forgot the gears, I have 4.10 gearing.

Damn, 3K. I figured it was going to get expensive eventually.

I'm going to have to win a lot of card games to do this upgrade..

How much did your 330 turbo setup cost you?

and thanks for the info.

 

[5.0's 4 ever]

Boss 330 Racing built the shortblock. It consists of the stock block bored .020, stock crank, manley rods, cp pistons, and arp main studs. It cost $2500 but that was about 3 years ago so I'm sure prices have gone up since then. I have a total of $6k into my entire engine combo.

My plan is by the end of this summer to be running HPP's twin GT35R turbo kit.

 

[mustang_jr+]

With that done, what kind of hp can you safely do with the stock block?
We have the same car and it seems similar mods.

That's a lot of money for those heads, you get them used or new?

 

[5.0's 4 ever]

I don't think anyone has found the limits of a teksid block yet, John Mihovetz runs 6.60s with a teksid block in his race car.
My engine I am looking to make 1000hp on race gas and 700hp on pump gas, it can be done pretty reliably.

My 03 heads I bought used from karkraft. The heads and intake manifold I bought for less than $1k. Its all the brand new parts I put on my engine like oil pan, valve covers, all new valve train, chains, billet oil pump gears, ARP head studs, etc, all that stuff adds up.

 

[na svt]

short runner intake

You can still do plenty before you go into the cams and heads.

A properly made short runner intake will provide another 20rwhp at peak with even more after peak and th you will also lose no power down low.

IMRC deletes and your 4.10s should offset the minor loss in low end torque that occurs when the IMRCs are removed.

4,10s are okay but 4.30 are about the best street/strip gear, 4.56 are the by far the best gear for the 1/4 mile. Don't worry about high revs at hwy speeds or mileage losses, many peole run these gears and have had no issues.

 

[na svt]

With that done, what kind of hp can you safely do with the stock block?
We have the same car and it seems similar mods.

That's a lot of money for those heads, you get them used or new?

The block can handle whatever you throw at it. The rods and pistons are another story. I wouldn't take the stock internals over 500rwhp.