Biggest bang for the buck mod i should do next?

Jayls5

Registered User
Current mods: Intake, 73mm MAF, 70mm TB, 94-95 inlet plenum, raised top, 10% OD pully, UD pullies, flowmaster exhaust, intercooler fan, shift kit, (3.73's not installed yet, but i have them)



What's the cheapest bang for the buck mod i should do next? Port/Polish heads? Headers? Port Blower? Dual Intercoolers? What do you recommend?
 
Jayls5 said:
Current mods: Intake, 73mm MAF, 70mm TB, 94-95 inlet plenum, raised top, 10% OD pully, UD pullies, flowmaster exhaust, intercooler fan, shift kit, (3.73's not installed yet, but i have them)



What's the cheapest bang for the buck mod i should do next? Port/Polish heads? Headers? Port Blower? Dual Intercoolers? What do you recommend?

Double IC and chip/dyno tune with give you the best "bang for the buck" right now. The better IC will allow more timing and leaner fuel to be commanded which results a significantly more power.

Not headers for sure.

There is a difference between "bang for the buck" and next recommended mod.

I would recommend head work and cam next but not sure if that will provide the best "bang for the buck" right now.

At this point you already have the car pretty well bolted on.

A better blower will increase ACT which is bad. Headers may be beneficial at some point, but only at 350+rwhp. A double IC will reduce ACT which really just paves the way for a better blower. Heads (and cam) will reduce boost, paving the way for a better blower, and also reducing the need for a better IC (of course until you up the boost again). The most gains will be felt with ported heads only AFTER you also upgrade the blower.

The key is to maintain about 13-14psi. If you are already there, it is time to find ways to move more air through the motor, which will reduce boost, and then find ways to build the boost back up again. It's a balancing act. If you put the better blower on now, it will icrease boost levels and ACT's at the same time, and while you will feel some improvement, engine stress will be highly accentuated.
 
XR7 Dave said:
A better blower will increase ACT which is bad. Headers may be beneficial at some point, but only at 350+rwhp. A double IC will reduce ACT which really just paves the way for a better blower. Heads (and cam) will reduce boost, paving the way for a better blower, and also reducing the need for a better IC (of course until you up the boost again). The most gains will be felt with ported heads only AFTER you also upgrade the blower.

The key is to maintain about 13-14psi. If you are already there, it is time to find ways to move more air through the motor, which will reduce boost, and then find ways to build the boost back up again. It's a balancing act. If you put the better blower on now, it will icrease boost levels and ACT's at the same time, and while you will feel some improvement, engine stress will be highly accentuated.

Dave always knows what he's talking about...I'm learning this the hard way right now...I ran a 15.0 on a stock '92 blower pushing 11 lbs at best...I've since upgraded to a '95 blower that has been ported, with a 5% pulley pushing over 15 lbs of boost and have seen a best of 15.2 with it. The intake temps, even on a cool day are just too high to get more power. I've got to free up the IC and exhaust up more to get out of the blower. So right now, I'm stuck until I get the IC, heads and exhaust done.
 
XR7 Dave said:
Double IC and chip/dyno tune with give you the best "bang for the buck" right now. The better IC will allow more timing and leaner fuel to be commanded which results a significantly more power.

Not headers for sure.

There is a difference between "bang for the buck" and next recommended mod.

I would recommend head work and cam next but not sure if that will provide the best "bang for the buck" right now.

At this point you already have the car pretty well bolted on.

A better blower will increase ACT which is bad. Headers may be beneficial at some point, but only at 350+rwhp. A double IC will reduce ACT which really just paves the way for a better blower. Heads (and cam) will reduce boost, paving the way for a better blower, and also reducing the need for a better IC (of course until you up the boost again). The most gains will be felt with ported heads only AFTER you also upgrade the blower.

The key is to maintain about 13-14psi. If you are already there, it is time to find ways to move more air through the motor, which will reduce boost, and then find ways to build the boost back up again. It's a balancing act. If you put the better blower on now, it will icrease boost levels and ACT's at the same time, and while you will feel some improvement, engine stress will be highly accentuated.

So i'll need a chip and a junk yard IC. My current intercooler and fan looks like it's a pretty tight fit as it is. I'll be able to fit the other IC and my fan?

Here's how it looks now...

engine.JPG


Can i get a pic of some dual IC setups? Since i'm going to be at the junk yard, are their any that you know of in other cars that would be better than 2 stock ones, or should i just stick to the T-bird ones?
 
what helped me most was porting exhaust side of heads colder spark plugs and colder thermostat
 
Best place to grab another IC is usually on Ebay. They usually go on there for around $50. I believe Rick Z has an extra one he'd probably sell you for $50 too. If you go to Jenro's tonight he'll probably be there. When they're welded together they still mount in the stock location, you just have to modify the radiator bracket in front of the stock IC. I have a double IC being made for mine right now by Brian Solomon out in Washington.
 
So i'll need a chip and a junk yard IC. My current intercooler and fan looks like it's a pretty tight fit as it is. I'll be able to fit the other IC and my fan ?

The double IC is just an IC that uses two cores (twice as thick) and the top and bottom tanks are modded accordingly. The additional thickness from the second core goes on the side of the IC that faces the front of the car.

Your fan location and IC tube connections will not change, but you will need to remove the rubber bellows and do a little trimming of the radiator mounting bracket to make room for the double IC. Mine also fit very snug against the side of the radiator tank and banged against it a little.

Here is a pic of how mine looked.

enginebay091402.jpg


David
 
Get one from Fast Freddie

Get a Double IC from Fast Freddie they aren't that expensive and he does a really good job. Don't attempt to make one unless you are good at welding and other stuff. Go to the For Sale forum and he has a topic listed as 3/4 tops by fast freddie here is a pic of my Double IC from him. I polished it though.

engine1.jpg
 
Ok so a dual IC and the intercooler fan should fit if i trim away some of the radiator fan plastic?
 
It will fit

You have to trim some of the radiator support, and remove the according (piece of plastic in front of stock IC) in front of the IC. Not hard to do at all and you can get a 8" fan on the back of the IC. I however have 2 fans one in the front and one in back, so there is plenty of room for one.

Drew
 
Tom,

Those are welds that hold the diffusers in place. Back when that picture was taken (2002) I had a set of ESM ported and diffused IC tubes. The diffusers were basicly knife edge style aluminum plates inserted in a couple places on the tubes that are intended to reduce swirl/turbulance to increase air flow. I couldn't really tell a diffirence between them and stock IC tubes.

David
 
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