Using my tax return money on my 1990 SC auto. I need mod suggestions!

275hptbirdsc

Registered User
I should be getting my tax $ soon and I have been looking forward to upgrading my car. I am expecting to spend anywhere from $800-$1000 on mods for it. As far as mods go that are in it ( that I can remember I bought this car in August) are; 10% pulley, stage 3 shift kit, raised supercharger top like this one
mpraisedtoppowderthumb.jpg

the air silencer mod and some various body mods. As far as mileage goes there is 150,000 on the body 80,000 on an engine rebuild and 2,000 on a new tranny. I have 2 flowmaster 40s for it I bought in the winter so maybe some headers could go with it? Suggest away! Thanks! BTW Heres a pic of it before I bought it it doesnt have those rims anymore it has some 94 LX ones on it.
270951405_l.jpg
 
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I'd get complete exhuast done from the manifolds back, no need for headers, and look for a 94/95 supercharger and go from there. Since you are running a 10% pulley, I'd recommend you upgrade your intercooler or at least add a fan as its costing you horsepower right now due to excessive intake temps.
 
I would.......

Call dave dalke and tell him how much you have to spend and what he thinks is the best way to spend for what your looking for. Can't go wrong there.
 
I would get new intake system like the ZR or anything would be better than stock. I would'nt go with a SC pulley yet, but get 3:73 gears the ZR intake and put those Flowmasters on for sure. Just my thoughts

Jerry
 
Would this work for the gears? http://tinyurl.com/c3aswv

Yes, but I would watch what brand you get. I have had noise issues with a few of the lower quality ring and pinion manufacturers. Never heard of that brand (Pro 5.0L) producing ring and pinions. I'd be curious as to who actually manufactures them... If you watch the Ebay auctions long enough, a new set of Ford gears will come up. I think I paid 181.00 for the last set I bought. Including the fluid, bearings and f/modifier. Factory Ford gears and Ford Motorsport gears are two different things as well...Quality wise.
 
Two best mods I would recommend are the gears if you have the auto and a lentec valve body if you have a auto. The gears will make the car feel like you shed 500 pounds and the valve body will make your car shift like a sports car. I would sell the raised top unless you plan to run over 350 rwhp and invest in a double IC if your going to run a 10% pulley. Anything you do to the exhaust will lower your boost but will make more HP at the wheels. Ported manifolds will be all you need up to well over 300rwhp

Ken
 
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Thanks for all the help guys this is giving me more ideas than I had originally thought of but if you guys know of a place to buy the mods you are talking about could you give me a link to an online store I could buy them from?
 
IMHO, best bang for your buck if you can do the work.... I'd say get the exhaust done as mentioned, then get hold of Dave Dalke and get yourself a regrind cam mild specs with matching valve springs, 42# injectors, a C&L MAF, and a moates chip with a tune. The rest of the stock intake will be fine till your about 280 or so rwhp.

The raised top isn't doing anything for you so you could sell that and use that money towards something else like a 94/95 style blower, which you'd only need to run at 5% OD which will keep the air intake temps down.

Fraser
 
Thanks for all the help guys this is giving me more ideas than I had originally thought of but if you guys know of a place to buy the mods you are talking about could you give me a link to an online store I could buy them from?

Ken is correct, however both of those mods are pricey if your not doing the work yourself. You need to decide what you want to do first, which mod that is. Lentech valvebody is 500.00 plus a few hundred in labor and fluid. Rear gears are going to cost you about 300.00 with bearings and fluid, plus another 3-400 in labor....Thats if you buy the cheap stuff. Those genuine Ford gear kits I mentioned before are actually close to 700.00 retail...

So it may make more sense to buy something like this http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104768, except in the gear ratio you want of course (3.73). That way you can just buy the assembly already set-up and you and a friend swap the housing out one afternoon.
 
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If you want to go cheap on the gears, go find an old Turbo Coupe and take the 3:73 gears out of it. For example with my old 90 sc I was running 14.9 15.0 with small mods, and when I installed my 3:73 gears I was at 14.7. You will fell a big difference with gears and Those Flowmasters.

Jerry
 
Not all cars respond the same. I put 3.73 AND underdrive pullies on my black SC and I went from 14.6 at 96 to 14.3 at 95.

I think the underdrives pullies are the best bang for the buck.
 
Theres no need for a CAI on a stock engine, looks maybe. If you have the flowmasters, why not, but the stockers really arnt bad and you wont notice anything but a sound difference. My first mod was underdrives, I really didnt feel anything. With underdrives and some borlas and a magnaflow resonator I made 203rwhp so it made some improvement, that or the dyno had a crush on me(its happend before). If it was me, Id go with a ported late model blower, some 42lb'ers and a chip and tune from double deez.
 
Gears can be had as have been said here for less than buying new and having installing. I bought a lot of things cheaply on the parts forum. The lentec valve body while a little pricey gave the shifting a high performance feel. It can be installed by yourself. I did mine. Those two mods while a little pricely give you a definite feel of the pants improvement, a lot of things like the top, mafs, TBs, bolt on mods dont make the car feel as diffrent as these two changes. Cams and heads make the biggest bang for the buck but cost more, require more experence and a tune to make them work.

Ken
 
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