Just a guy trying to make his car faster

RossDaBoss

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Hey guys, figured it's about time I hop on a forum and actually start learning about cars; other than them making vroom vroom sounds and going fast I don't know too much. More than the average person, but that ain't saying much. Anyways,

I own a 97 GT. Bought it from an older lady about 2 years ago whose husband passed (God rest his soul.) He did quite a bit to the car. Nothing crazy but it's definitely faster than a stock mustang. I believe this sums up everything:
1. CAI and BBK throttle body
2. Aftermarket ignition+a tune for 93 octane
3. Aftermarket camshaft (wish I knew the brand!)
4. Entire aftermarket exhaust system, X and a Y pype. No cats. I'm swapping it out for an H pype system (also without cats) soon though, needs replacing.
5. Short shifter and a stage 2 (I think?) clutch.
6. Some phat 18s on the rear, 17s I believe on the front.

One thing I did is take out the rear seats, everything in the trunk aside from speakers. So saved maybe, idk, 100, 120lbs there?
Also getting 4.10s and an LSD as God intended swapped in when I get the exhaust work done.
Got a buddy who used to be a mechanic, but he knows little about mustangs. He's gonna help me tighten the suspension after I get the LSD and everything for cheap.

I was wondering what my next steps should be to make it faster. I see guys all the time saying their SN95s are pushing 300, 350 hp non FI. How do I get up there? How much power might I have as is, outta curiosity?

Might I be better off just saving 4k for a supercharger in a year or so? Right now I'm pinching pennies but I could get one next year for sure. 20201010_104514.jpg Any thoughts and comments are appreciated. Gonna try and upload a photo of my babies' engine bay.
 

apsmith49921

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Welcome. Does the car have the PI heads and intake? If not that's your next step. With pi heads intake and an aftermarket cam you can make close to that 300. If you want to know what cams they are pop a valve cover off and they should be stamped.

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RossDaBoss

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Welcome. Does the car have the PI heads and intake? If not that's your next step. With pi heads intake and an aftermarket cam you can make close to that 300. If you want to know what cams they are pop a valve cover off and they should be stamped.

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How do you tell if you've had a PI swap? I really don't know jack about cars to be honest. I know the camshaft is aftermarket but I'll check the exact brand later on.
 

apsmith49921

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Is the coolant crossover tube aluminum. Its where the big black hose on top connects to. Runs from one head to the other

There is a picture. The one on the left has aluminum the other is plastic. If your car has the plastic cross over its non pi heads and intake. If ita aluminum its possible it has the heads too. Can anyone chime in on casting numbers or Mark's? I dont seem to remember there being anything besides intake ports
79b0de196304996cce5a6755643076a7.jpg
 
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RossDaBoss

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Is the coolant crossover tube aluminum. Its where the big black hose on top connects to. Runs from one head to the other

There is a picture. The one on the left has aluminum the other is plastic. If your car has the plastic cross over its non pi heads and intake. If ita aluminum its possible it has the heads too. Can anyone chime in on casting numbers or Mark's? I dont seem to remember there being anything besides intake ports
79b0de196304996cce5a6755643076a7.jpg
Er... do either of these pics show what you're asking about?
 

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RossDaBoss

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Er... do either of these pics show what you're asking about?
Okay, I think these should show it. Just had to look up the anatomy of an engine to get an idea
God I have so much to learn
 

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apsmith49921

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Appears to be aluminum. Looks like a pi intake to me.

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RossDaBoss

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Appears to be aluminum. Looks like a pi intake to me.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Yeah? That's awesome! So odds are I'm pushing a good 260ish, 270ish hp already? I wish I could get a dyno tune but I don't know of any places nearby. Guess I just need to check the cam now. Car is still hot from driving around a lil over and hour ago though.

Retarded request but I really am this mechanically inept; could someone circle the valve cover on my first picture I need to remove to see what cams I got?
Luckily I know how to use a wrench and other tools. Just never really had to. Wanna force myself to learn this stuff though. I tried looking up valve covers to see where they are in the engine bay but all I'm finding on Google is Honda covers -.-
 

apsmith49921

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They are where the oil goes. I recommend getting on youtube and searching 4.6 valve cover removal. They can be tricky. If you could get some help probably be even better

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RossDaBoss

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They are where the oil goes. I recommend getting on youtube and searching 4.6 valve cover removal. They can be tricky. If you could get some help probably be even better

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Ahhh. Yeah I think I see where I'd need to start going at it.
Just to be safe I'm gonna leave it for when my buddy can help me. Or just ask my mechanic to check. I'm brave but uh, not that stupid. Thank you for the prompt responses by the way man, I really appreciate it :)
 

lwarrior1016

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Do me a favor please. Get a picture of the plastic manifold right behind the alternator. There are some npi intakes that had the aluminum coolant crossover also.

The cam cover isn’t that bad. If you watch a video on it and know what you’re up against, I’m positive that you can do the removal.
 
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RossDaBoss

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Do me a favor please. Get a picture of the plastic manifold right behind the alternator. There are some npi intakes that had the aluminum coolant crossover also.

The cam cover isn’t that bad. If you watch a video on it and know what you’re up against, I’m positive that you can do the removal.
I THINK I got what you're asking for in one of these two pics lol.
Valve cover removal isn't bad for a newbie job eh? Maybe I will do it then. Gonna have to tomorrow though. Car is still pretty warm!20201010_214012.jpg 20201010_214012.jpg 20201010_213901.jpg
 

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ttocs

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not being mean but I would wait for your buddy that knows for sure what the valve cover is before you take it off. Asking your mechanic to check would probably be a 30 min bill minimum unless it is that buddy.
 
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RossDaBoss

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not being mean but I would wait for your buddy that knows for sure what the valve cover is before you take it off. Asking your mechanic to check would probably be a 30 min bill minimum unless it is that buddy.
No offense taken. I'd rather take the precaution anyway honestly. I'll look up videos tomorrow but if I have any doubts... yeah, gonna let my buddy show me how its done.
 

ttocs

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We all start from that point. It was not that long ago I was afraid to do the same thing, and needed to be. Personally when I am in a project I have never tackled before I like to have that friend that knows at least a TAD bit more than I do to at the very least tell me to stop before I REALLY screw up. With that being said there is a lot to be learned from youtube.
 

dwcopple

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I have an NPI intake with aluminum crossover. That's not a surefire way to determine it. You need to look in the cylinder valley at the depth of the intake runners and also the location of the coolant pipe
 

lwarrior1016

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On a pi intake, the first runner (round plastic tube like thing) will go to the driver side. Npi will go to the passenger first. That’s what I was trying to see but the air silencer is in the way.


On second though, looking at the pictures again, it looks like it is a npi intake.
 
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RossDaBoss

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We all start from that point. It was not that long ago I was afraid to do the same thing, and needed to be. Personally when I am in a project I have never tackled before I like to have that friend that knows at least a TAD bit more than I do to at the very least tell me to stop before I REALLY screw up. With that being said there is a lot to be learned from youtube.
Yeahhh.... it doesn't seem to hard the way he makes it sound but just in case I'm not doing it alone lol.
I have an NPI intake with aluminum crossover. That's not a surefire way to determine it. You need to look in the cylinder valley at the depth of the intake runners and also the location of the coolant pipe
U-uh. Look at the what? Only thing I understood is the location of the tube haha.
On a pi intake, the first runner (round plastic tube like thing) will go to the driver side. Npi will go to the passenger first. That’s what I was trying to see but the air silencer is in the way.


On second though, looking at the pictures again, it looks like it is a npi intake.
Hopefully these show what you need to see. If not, could you be more specific in its location? Like, explain it as if you were trying to get a literal retard to find it. Haha.
 

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lwarrior1016

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I promise I’m not trying to be mean.

that filter you just pictured, follow it up to the engine. The shiny metal pipe goes into the black elbow that says bbk. That is your intake and throttle body/plenum respectively. The bbk plenum bolts down to the top of the engine onto a plastic part. The plastic part is the intake manifold. The intake manifold is made of what looks like tubes that go sideways into the engine.

See that black box with a hose on it right in front of the bbk plenum? Lift that black box up and take a picture of the plastic intake manifold underneath it.

please tell me if I’m not clear enough
 

lwarrior1016

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@RossDaBoss do you know what the alternator is?

Right behind the alternator is an aluminum section that goes from one side of the engine to the other. We need to see the plastic part of the intake manifold right behind that aluminum section.
 

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