Beginning stages of Modification of a 1995 GT.

[Sklander]

The car has been sitting for awhile, but gets driven at least every two weeks. Fluids are changed regulary.

The car runs strong, but has ~110,000 miles on the clock.

I am looking to do a complete exhaust and a CAI first. Any recommendations for exhaust? I'd like to go Long Tube headers, but what brand? And what exhaust has been proven to work best for the car?

Is there any reason in going H/C/I with a car with this mileage? Would it be a good idea to do an engine overhaul before getting into the serious modifications like a blower?

 

[Lightning Struck]

The car has been sitting for awhile, but gets driven at least every two weeks. Fluids are changed regulary.

The car runs strong, but has ~110,000 miles on the clock.

I am looking to do a complete exhaust and a CAI first. Any recommendations for exhaust? I'd like to go Long Tube headers, but what brand? And what exhaust has been proven to work best for the car?

Is there any reason in going H/C/I with a car with this mileage? Would it be a good idea to do an engine overhaul before getting into the serious modifications like a blower?

For exhuast long tubes is the way to go as far as maker, MAC / BBK / or hooker is some of the best ( and most common ) match that with a mid pipe and take your pick of catback kit. The old school choice is 2 chamber flowmasters, however the newer exhaust systems have become very popular like Magnaflow / SLP / MAC / Bassani / .......so its up to your personal taste as to what you want, loud or raspy :dunno:. As for doing a build with heads and cam, I would not do it on a engine with your milage, some guys may say its fine, but NOT in my opinion. What is the point in spending a couple grand on a nice built motor and put all that money on a old worn out high milage shortblock that is not up to par. Spend the extra cash to do a re-build :thumb:

 

[95KBGT]

i have a KB at 11psi on a stock internal block with 86K on the ticker.

 

[Sklander]

i have a KB at 11psi on a stock internal block with 86K on the ticker.

I like your attitude.

I decided to try a full MAC setup from Art at artsperformance. Should I get the 2.5" system? What is a "Prochamber"?

As far as H/C/I, I am a big fan of Air Flow Research. I'd like to go to a 4v head if possible. Is this possible?

 

[Matt94GT]

Make sure u let art know your a member here!

Prochamber is a diffrent design of a H pipe, personally I like the straight thru H pipes but I have heard the prochamber is pretty damn awesome I havent seen or heard one in person. 2.5" is a good exhaust size.

 

[95KBGT]

i have a KB at 11psi on a stock internal block with 86K on the ticker.

I like your attitude.

I like your style...


(name the movie for 2 points)

 

[SVTGizzi]

i like ur moves!


starsky and hutch!!! :dancing6:

 

[Eastcoast5.0]

2.5'' is fine The Prochamber will be a tad bit quieter than an o/r H. AFR heads are nice, 4V? Your mixing up engines. AFR doesn't even make heads for modulars. If you wanna drop AFR's on to your existing shortblock you can only go with 165cc's. The 185cc's require a notched piston.

My advice: If you're gonna keep the car for a while, build up all around the motor. Gears, exhaust, suspension, etc. Then when the wallet allows or the current engine shits the bed drop in a nice fresh engine.

 

[Sklander]

I think he knows I am a member being that I contacted him through PM.

I did some reading and understand now that a 4v just ain't happening....

I stopped by a local shop here and had a long discussion about what to do with the car with the owner. Its a place called Slater's Mustang's. He knows his stuff (I guess) and was telling me a couple do's and don'ts.

If you wanna drop AFR's on to your existing shortblock you can only go with 165cc's. The 185cc's require a notched piston.

Slater didn't say anything about this. He said either would work great, but the 185's were probably a bit overkill.

He also told me that the 5.0's respond very well to Vortech. When I asked about intercooling he said it wasn't entirely necessary and that he had a 600RWHP on a 17PSI vortech with no intercooler. I wasn't going to sit there and call him a liar, but this seemed unlikely to me.

What I am shooting for is ~450RWHP and I am pretty confident that with the aid of a Vortech and the supporting mods it can be done.

 

[95KBGT]

i like ur moves!


starsky and hutch!!! :dancing6:

lmao :bunny3: :rollinglaugh: Me and my buddies say that all the time at bars or parties. we also do that thing from ricky bobby. Shake...and bake

 

[Eastcoast5.0]

Slater didn't say anything about this. He said either would work great, but the 185's were probably a bit overkill.

Straight from AFR's site. http://www.airflowresearch.com/185sbf_sh.php
A 2.02 valve is too big for stock pistons, unless you get a set of Trickflows.

Boost sounds like a plan but with 110k on the clock and you'll be picking up the pieces eventually when you could've forged the assembly and done a nice h/c/i to accomodate boost later.

 

[Sklander]

I am starting to think about the cost of dropping a new crate in versus all the potential problems from the high mileage motor.

What do y'all think? I think it would be fun to just run her till she blows. She is still really strong and she's been taken care of...

New forged pistons and rods would probably seal the deal as far as reliability goes, huh?

 

[ryclef331]

Your goal of 450 is reasonable (with a rebuild). IF you want to go forced induction, you gotta do it. A fresh 306 will be more than adequate. REMEMBER, when you start seeing #'s around 500 to the wheels, you're gambling with the stock block. If I knew then what I knew now...I never would have thrown a fully forged and studded stroker bottom end into my STOCK block. I woulda have done a 306 and saved for a better block. Now, I'm tip-toeing around with my nitrous jettings trying to keep it safely around 500 on the spray. As for the guy claiming 600hp on 17lbs non intercooled...sure...maybe. On a stock block...not for long. I wouldn't want that motor in my car. If I were in your shoes...a 306 with forged pistons and rods, stock crank freshened up, a good heads cam intake PACKAGE, and a S-Trim with around 9lbs should get your there reliably provided your tune is money. Choose your heads and intake setup wisely. Pick something that you can grow into down the road. If you don't want to do the blower route, nitrous is alway a viable option! A good H/C/I 306 should have ZERO problems pumping out 300+ to the wheels. A single nozzle wet kit jetted to 125hp and you've met your goal! You can pick up used kits for CHEAP. I just sold an entire Compucar wet kit for $200!! Dig around and do your homework before you spend you hard earned money on some parts that don't work together or worse yet, at a shop that builds you a timebomb.

 

[SvtBlack95]

Your goal of 450 is reasonable (with a rebuild). IF you want to go forced induction, you gotta do it. A fresh 306 will be more than adequate. REMEMBER, when you start seeing #'s around 500 to the wheels, you're gambling with the stock block. If I knew then what I knew now...I never would have thrown a fully forged and studded stroker bottom end into my STOCK block. I woulda have done a 306 and saved for a better block. Now, I'm tip-toeing around with my nitrous jettings trying to keep it safely around 500 on the spray. As for the guy claiming 600hp on 17lbs non intercooled...sure...maybe. On a stock block...not for long. I wouldn't want that motor in my car. If I were in your shoes...a 306 with forged pistons and rods, stock crank freshened up, a good heads cam intake PACKAGE, and a S-Trim with around 9lbs should get your there reliably provided your tune is money. Choose your heads and intake setup wisely. Pick something that you can grow into down the road. If you don't want to do the blower route, nitrous is alway a viable option! A good H/C/I 306 should have ZERO problems pumping out 300+ to the wheels. A single nozzle wet kit jetted to 125hp and you've met your goal! You can pick up used kits for CHEAP. I just sold an entire Compucar wet kit for $200!! Dig around and do your homework before you spend you hard earned money on some parts that don't work together or worse yet, at a shop that builds you a timebomb.


he said it all.... good job

 

[d_punch]

just like rycleff331 said DO YOUR HOMEWORK. i listen to a shop thats was doing work on my car, not that the shop was bad, but later on as i began to learn more and more i realized that i could of done better with the money that i put in. if i did the research instead of just buying what someone said "would be a good combo".

if your looking for AFR setup. they now sell fully CNC ported AFR 165's heads that flow almost as much as the 185's. remember i said ALMOST not they flow as much as 185. if i hadn't already bought the 165, i would of bought the cnc ported ones without a doubt.
http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2005/05/DynoDuel/ here's some info on them.

the best advise i can give you is do your homework and have a goal for the car. don't do like me and jump around. i start to piece the parts for a NOS setup then i wanted to do a blower. and now i have a turbo setup sitting in it's boxes for almost 2 years with a motor thats pretty much setup for Nos. with crazy coin thrown at it,, and it's not that fast. plus i don't have the money to finish it. :slap:

so ask a shit load of questions before you go out and start throwing cash at the car. trust me

 

[Sklander]

Its a repetitive things I hear: "DO YOUR HOMEWORK". My homework is telling me that I am going to blow this motor into a million pieces and I'll be half way between nowhere and BFE with a dead cell phone and a pile of oily metal on the freeway.

eBay is sure looking good. Looks like I could get a 5.0 with less than 3,000 miles on it for under $2,000. Hey now! I will keep my eye out for some good deals on complete crate motors, too.

How do the trannies in these cars hold up? Rear end? What HP range do these things start to detonate?

 

[Eastcoast5.0]

detonation is tune related....nothing to do with hp.

Wait, what do you mean, how much hp can the tranny hold?

 

[ryclef331]

He means how much before the tranny will explode. They're rated at "300lbft" of tq. I've seen stock cars blow them and I've also seen T5 live behind 11second rides for a couple of years. I wouldn't gamble on it. There are a couple companies now that make gear sets for them (G-Force and Astroperformance). I run a G-Force T-5 in my car....loved it...till I blew 3rd out of it. I'm switching to an auto now...

As for the Rear End....throw sticky tires at it and you're gambling....BUT put good internals in it and its golden! The 8.8 is a VERY stout rear when built. I run a Detroit Locker and moser 31 spline axles. Some people do C-Clip eliminators and a spool. The choice is up to you....how hard are you going to hit it? Slicks? Drag Radials? Do you want to drive it everyday? Can you put up with the click-pop-bang and tire chatter that comes with SOME of these traction devices...These are all things we need to know. What are your intentions for this car? We know the power level you want to acheive but how comfortable do you want to be when you get there? What do you want to run at the track? Etc.

 

[Sklander]

Its gonna be a street car only. It probably won't ever see slicks and may see the track once or twice once the build is done.

The car won't be driven daily. Weekend Warrior is what I am after. The car has a new gear set in diff, although it was before my time when my Dad did it and he isn't exactly a car guy. He just likes monster power and has the cash flow to let me create a seriously sick vehicle. I know the ratio was raised because my dad said "it was like he woke the car right up". I guess he had some 3.73's tossed in? I am not sure.

Crate motors look like they go for around $4,000 for a well equipped long block. Is this a standard price? Is there a certain website I can go to that has the best prices?