The PI Headswap and You -

is that a decent deal for someone who doesnt really know much about engines, and doesnt really know about piecing a kit together???

 

Excellent write up!

 

I am swapping my 96 4.6L out for a 2004 PI 4.6L. How do I go about the different ignition setups?

96 = coil packs

04 = individual coils

Do they both plug into the same module?

I also have all the 2004 wiring. But I don't think I even need it.

 

you dont need all the wiring. use your quad coil packs instead of the COPs. it will save alot of headache. there is a write up on the site on how to transfer the 96-98 quads to 99-04 COPs.

 

I would figure that the 99-04 are more efficient hense the switch to them with the new edge ???

Can you explain the headache with the COP's?

 

the headache is just wiring. search around for the write up. its a great how-to. he did a good job on it. very straight forward and easy to follow.

sometimes a switch isnt always better. In this case i think it is, but i dont find the benifits strong enough to outweigh the headache, you may feel otherwise.

 

Hey guys, I just got a PI intake w/o the Aluminum crossover. What will I have to do differently on the install. Most write-ups give all the info needed for aluminum crossovers but not for the plastic....still have to drill and tap?

 

Great read. You gotta love the SEARCH BUTTON!! I didn't check to see how old the origional post was, but I wanted to subscribe to it so I don't lose it. Exactly the info I was lookin for. :headbang:

 

Car Craft just came out with an amazing article on this very stuff. I prefer the 2 valve because its so much cheaper becasue you need 2 cams instead of 4. and on my typical 18 year old budget that sounds really good.

 

Hey everyone, just joined the forum today as it seems to have alot of members with real experience with these 2v engine.

Ive been doing some research into the PI swap for my 98gt. I have some basic questions, that hopefully some of you can answer.

Firstly, Im looking into the swap, but also into a 75-120 shot of wet nos, as well as a blower. I know that I am going to have to pull my engine this summer anyways as i think my valves on the rhs of the block are cooked. Back to the point if i want to both go FI as well as the pi swap, will the pi heads, plus the blower not raise my compression past stock internal failure point? I am not dead set on the blower, but i am pretty set on going with a spray and the pi swap. If i do go the route of spray and pi, is there a cam any of you would recommend over the stock pi cam?

As a side note i have the bbk 78mm TB. Will this fit on a pi intake?

Thanks guys

 

In regards to the coil packs, I simply upgraded mine to MSD high output packs when I did my swap. I really feel like I felt a difference when my motor was screaming, and so did the people I normally ran with I really felt a loss of power up top after I did the PI swap before the MSD coils.

 

Did my Pi swap a few months back thanks to this write-up. Stock PI head swap, Dorman intake, mostly stock everything else. Theres a noticable power gain but my favorite is the exhaust note, I'm running a BBK off road x-pipe with dual Pypes mufflers. It sounded good before but after the swap....AMAZING. Heres a pic going back together.

 

nice!

 

Hi guys, I'm thinking of doing the swap! What I would like to do is get some feedback from those of you who have done the swap and have driven your cars and get some long term reflections from you and whatever advice you may have for me.

I currently own a 1997 GT with an automatic transmission. I have roughly 100k on it but it is super reliable and have never had an issue (owned it since 1999 w/ only 20k when I bought it) should I replace some older parts w/ the newer parts ...pistons etc...). I really like the idea of adding some much needed power to this car that has been a daily driver for a couple years now. Some of the questions I have is what kind of MPGs have you gotten since the swap? Do I really have to use premium? Can I get away with mid-grade? Would I have any possible mechanical issues following the swap? What other upgrades should I consider while the swap is being performed? Finally is it worth buying the kit from latemodel restoration or should I piece together used stuff?

 

Depending on what you want, you can do an entire PI motor swap. I found one at a junkyard for $600. You still get almost as much power as the PI headswap, but don't have to run premium and can still supercharger or turbo it in the future (since the compression isn't bumped up).

 

I think a full motor swap would be a lot more than I'd be able to do. I like the idea of putting in a PI motor fresh out of a wrecked 99-04 GT but wouldn't I need all the wiring, ignition and so on? How much harder would the full motor swap be over upgrading the heads and intake on mine? Keep in mind I'm not interested in supercharging in the future just want some extra grunt from my daily driver.

 

This is an awesome thread! Great information. Just to show the benefit of the PI head swap, here are the numbers I made with it. Used to have a friend that worked in a small dyno shop and sometimes would let me come by after hours and run it for free. This was a dynojet at 700 ft elevation. Also, I ditched the PI cams for Comp 262's. My runs were:

Stock = 184 rwhp
After my cat-back = 189 rwhp
After catted x-pipe = 197 rwhp
After PI head swap, comp cams, and tune = 265 rwhp

That's a 68 rwhp gain from the swap and tune. I'd estimate the comp cams probably gave me about 15-20 rwhp more than PI cams. So approximately 48-53 rwhp came from the PI head swap and tune. Not too shabby.