Performance decisions

XR7Kurt

Registered User
I'm looking for some input on what I should do next. While I have the car somewhat apart for a short time. I've decided to probably wait on going as far as the heads.
I guess what I'm deciding on are roller rockers, ported exh. manifolds, or things on the intake side. Or maybe the SCT chip from XR7 Dave would be good money spent. Anyone think it would make much difference with the few mods I have right now?
I can't afford everything now, if I did the chip for $300 that would probably be the only thing from the above list I could do immediately. I guess the chip can be done anytime though, without taking anything else apart.
I was thinking the roller rockers because I plan on doing the valve cover gaskets now.

Thanks,
Kurt
 
you can always port & polish the heads that's free but you'll want to take them to a shop and have them cleaned, have the valves lapped and new seals put in. Basically check them out. Then you can port match the manifold (also free) and pick up a CMRE stage 1 cam for under $150 I think. That's the way I'd go.

Sorry Kurt I guess I didn't read your post very well, but I think if you're going that far down you're only an hour from removing the heads anyhow.
 
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but I think if you're going that far down you're only an hour from removing the heads anyhow.
I'm a slow worker though and I know the head work will take me forever. When I do the heads it will also be time to replace the ps pump and a/c compressor. I want to do it now but I know they salt the roads up here enough that the car will be sitting some this winter.
If I did the roller rockers now would the stage 1 cam work well with them if I decided to do the cam later?
I'm kind of leaning towards the rockers right now.
How much of a pain is getting the exh. manifolds off?

Kurt
 
XR7Kurt said:
I'm a slow worker though and I know the head work will take me forever. When I do the heads it will also be time to replace the ps pump and a/c compressor. I want to do it now but I know they salt the roads up here enough that the car will be sitting some this winter.
If I did the roller rockers now would the stage 1 cam work well with them if I decided to do the cam later?
I'm kind of leaning towards the rockers right now.
How much of a pain is getting the exh. manifolds off?

Kurt
Well getting them off isn't the problem, its getting them out from underneath the car that causes a nagging twitch in your eye. In other words it'll piss you off to no end.
 
its getting them out from underneath the car that causes a nagging twitch in your eye. In other words it'll piss you off to no end.
What do they get hung up on? I may need to replace my motor mounts, if they were out of the way would that help with getting the manifolds out?

Kurt
 
Kurt,

If you are going to port the exhaust manifolds, just stuff a rag up inside of them and have at it. The rag will keep the steel filings out of any open valves. This is what I did. worked well.

I may need to replace my motor mounts, if they were out of the way would that help with getting the manifolds out?
Yea I think it would be helpful.

Good luck and may the SC force be with you

Bryan
 
My suggestion would be to add onto the intake side, maybe a BBK 75 MM throttle body, little port work on the intake plenum. A cold air intake system and then port your exhaust manifolds. Maybe a raised top? :cool:

If you take your heads off a little clean-up port work really isn’t that hard. Then you could port match the intake also. When I did mine I bought a porting set for about 50 bucks and did two sets of heads and the intake and still had stuff remaining.

I would hold off on the roller rockers right now, not sure what you would get out of them for the cost. I put a set in mine when I did the top end and not sure how much of a benefit they have. Maybe free up a little HP and let it rev quicker? Just seems that a motor with roller lifters should have roller rockers… Old school I guess. Lot’s of other stuff you could buy for $240 bucks.. :D

My two cents for what it’s worth.
 
As Flip mentioned, roller-rockers won't be worth it....at least right now. Not sure what path I'd go. Not sure, if you have gears already, but they'd be a great bang for the buck. Not sure if the raised top will be worth the cost and FWIW, I ran 13.54 on the stock throttle body, so I'm not sure if that should be next.

Obviously, porting the heads or a new cam would be a nice addition. A chip would probably help some, but I'd probably wait until you get a couple more mods before I worried about it.
 
Not sure, if you have gears already, but they'd be a great bang for the buck.
I have 3.27 gears lined up. (J.V. hint, hint) ;)

So it looks like no on the roller rockers and throttle body, for now.

If you are going to port the exhaust manifolds, just stuff a rag up inside of them and have at it. The rag will keep the steel filings out of any open valves. This is what I did. worked well.
Are you talking about porting the exhuast ports without removing the head or did you port your exhaust manifolds yourself? I was planning on getting tbird88 manifolds, for the price they seem hard to beat.

Now you guys have me thinking about doing the heads and getting a cam so I skimmed through my Haynes manual which said you have to remove the oil pan in order to remove the timing chain cover. Is this true? The oil pan sounds like the worst part of the whole thing.

I really appreciate all the input it's keeping my head from spinning too fast. :eek:


Kurt
 
XR7Kurt said:
Now you guys have me thinking about doing the heads and getting a cam so I skimmed through my Haynes manual which said you have to remove the oil pan in order to remove the timing chain cover. Is this true? The oil pan sounds like the worst part of the whole thing.

I really appreciate all the input it's keeping my head from spinning too fast. :eek:


Kurt

I've never installed a cam without rebuilding the engine, but I think you should be able to do it without dropping the oil pan. Maybe I'm wrong.
 
You can replace the timing cover without pulling the pan.

However: If the headgaskets have not been changed in the last 100K miles, then that simply must be done first. Whether or not you do port work is up to you, but you must take care of the headgaskets first.

Once you are done with that, then see how much money you have for other parts. If you are not going to do headgaskets now, then don't do anything else other than port the exhaust manifolds. And yes, you can do most of it with them still on the car. I also port the openings where the bolt bosses pinch them down, but that requires removal of the manifolds and a caliper to make sure you don't break through. ;)
 
Oh, and any time you have an extra $300 is a good time for a chip, but the best time is after you've had a dyno pull and AF reading taken. Its easy to make changes to the chip later on down the road, but you might as well have all the benefits of it from the start. :) (No, that's not a sales pitch either. :p)
 
Are you talking about porting the exhuast ports without removing the head or did you port your exhaust manifolds yourself?
Kurt... I was talking about the exhaust manifolds. The exhaust ports on the heads don't need any porting. They are too large already.
As Dave already stated, the oil pan doesn't have to be removed in order to remove the timing chain cover.

Bryan
 
Kurt... I was talking about the exhaust manifolds.
Got it, at first I wasn't thinking that shavings could get up to the head through the manifold, but on second thought I can see it being possible.

However: If the headgaskets have not been changed in the last 100K miles, then that simply must be done first. Whether or not you do port work is up to you, but you must take care of the headgaskets first.

I don't know when or if the head gaskets have ever been done. My thinking on the roller rockers was that they were something that would be an upgrade by being more efficient and not putting any additional stress on the head gaskets. My understanding is the higher ratio increases how much the valves open. Is this correct?

Kurt
 
Well, I've decided I don't want to go most of the summer without driving the Cougar. There's an autocross in 4 weeks and I want to go to the Dream Cruise back home in Michigan in August so I'm just going to fix what must be fixed(almost) and get it back on the road.
Along with the balancer and pullies I'm going to get a new radiator, 180F thermostat, spark plugs/wires, replace the oil pressure sending unit and install a dual gauge pod with a oil pressure gauge.
This way I can have fun for the summer and be better prepared for some bigger work when the time comes.
I would also like to get my 3.27s in. Hint, hint. :p

Kurt
 
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