which mods to start?

[canesboyy2]

ok, so i have a 1996 mustang gt 4.6L.. (110,xxx miles)
all stock except k&n air filter..
im looking to do mods.. what are some good mods to start with?
i read about cold air intake, gears, and PI swap.
for the pi swap, i was talking to my buddy who only works on mustangs and he said he can get all the parts and install the complete swap except cams for $800-$1,000. Is that a lot for a pi swap? Also, is there anything i should know about the swap, and other mods? ccasion14:

 

[97stanger]

if i were you...no less than 4.10 gear, PI manifold, midpipe and catback, and then suspension/radials.

the complete is definately a nice bump in power though

 

[amy98gt]

+1 on that
if your having trouble finding a cam and intake ask your local junkyards for the 99 and up crown vics. it the same pi heads and cams. i got a whole crown vic motor for $500 used the heads cams intake and sold the rest of the motor.

 

[GDTrumbo]

Ummm. The Vic's were not PI until '01 and the cam P/N's between Mustang GT & Crown Vic are not a match. Just an FYI

GT

 

[MustangChris]

ok, so i have a 1996 mustang gt 4.6L.. (110,xxx miles)
all stock except k&n air filter..
im looking to do mods.. what are some good mods to start with?
i read about cold air intake, gears, and PI swap.
for the pi swap, i was talking to my buddy who only works on mustangs and he said he can get all the parts and install the complete swap except cams for $800-$1,000. Is that a lot for a pi swap? Also, is there anything i should know about the swap, and other mods? ccasion14:

cold air intake
long tube headers
catted x pipe
cat-back exhaust (mufflers)
ignition coils
wires
plugs
short throw shifter
under drive pullies
gears

the intake, exhaust, and ignition set up wont really add a lot of power, but it will give your car the ability to breath and operate more effciantly, which should help with power and gas mileage.

the short throw shift, the under drive pullies, and the differencial gears are the best bang for the buck modifications (in my personal opinion) these are great mods to save up for and to get the most performance out of for the least amount of money.

as for the P.I swap: $1,000 is a STEAL... esp. if that INCLUDES install.... i mean, headstuds are $200 alone! lol...

its a pretty extensive project, unless you have someone experienced. I have been saving up parts for 2 years, and this summer i hope to rebuild the entire motor (including PI Swap)

if you need OEM PI cams, let me know. ill give you the hook up for a cheeeeeep price on some used ones. I know a guy who owns a head shop, and he throws them away! lol! mileage may be unknow, but i can hook you up

 

[novi281gt]

nope u are wrong .. I have a 99 crown vic motor in my car and its a P.I .. I bought mine for 400 bucks ported the heads and did everything else to it....

 

[MustangChris]

nope u are wrong .. I have a 99 crown vic motor in my car and its a P.I .. I bought mine for 400 bucks ported the heads and did everything else to it....

400 bucks?... hmmm... did your 1996-1998 computer work okay for that motor? maybe thats what i should be looking for... LOL!

 

[novi281gt]

nope u are wrong .. I have a 99 crown vic motor in my car and its a P.I .. I bought mine for 400 bucks ported the heads and did everything else to it....

400 bucks?... hmmm... did your 1996-1998 computer work okay for that motor? maybe thats what i should be looking for... LOL!

yup works damn good lol .. Im dragging ls1s so I guess its working lol... I got the motor some how by luck lol My first stock motor blew up and I posted it up on chraigslist that I needed one and somehow some old man called me telling me he has one and I pick it up ... All i did was clen it up paint it , got the heads port polish , installed cams , lts etc etc and workd damn good .. now Im boosting on it lol

 

[GDTrumbo]

I went to my rebuilders ref. material (Babcox). No solid #'s showing that ALL '99-'00 Vic's got the PI equipment. I'll research it more but the engine builders I've talked to about it don't look for any blocks before '01. They also go to a solid cam shaft (as opposed to the OEM hollow/pressed-on lobe style).

GT

 

[MustangChris]

nope u are wrong .. I have a 99 crown vic motor in my car and its a P.I .. I bought mine for 400 bucks ported the heads and did everything else to it....

400 bucks?... hmmm... did your 1996-1998 computer work okay for that motor? maybe thats what i should be looking for... LOL!

yup works damn good lol .. Im dragging ls1s so I guess its working lol... I got the motor some how by luck lol My first stock motor blew up and I posted it up on chraigslist that I needed one and somehow some old man called me telling me he has one and I pick it up ... All i did was clen it up paint it , got the heads port polish , installed cams , lts etc etc and workd damn good .. now Im boosting on it lol

nice.... :-D

 

[MustangChris]

I went to my rebuilders ref. material (Babcox). No solid #'s showing that ALL '99-'00 Vic's got the PI equipment. I'll research it more but the engine builders I've talked to about it don't look for any blocks before '01. They also go to a solid cam shaft (as opposed to the OEM hollow/pressed-on lobe style).

GT

i was told they started PI in crown vics in 97, to test for the mustang.... but i honestly have no idea. thats what i heard on a myspace forum a few years ago. i wouldnt trust it at all...

 

[novi281gt]

idk lol , mine was a PI lol I check the heads and everything so it was A O K! LOL

 

[MustangChris]

its pretty obvious when you take the heads off if they are PI... hell even the intake manifold.

 

[GDTrumbo]

Since these guy's are "rebuilders" and not really hot rodders they do pay most of their attention to casting #'s no matter what it came out of. I talked to one of them last night and was told that they like the '96-'98 Teksid block best (because of the comp. ratio surely). I can do without the jackscrews on the main caps myself. They prefer the the Romeo '02-'04 head castings (for the latest beehive style springs and lack of the ladder type cam bore caps). As for the cams, they wear out the '03-'04 Mustang replacement part numbers. As I stated before, rebuilders have found that the hollow cams in the trucks engines will actually "wobble" or "wave' in their bores under heavy loads/uphill which can play with cam timing slightly, so they opt for the solid barreled cams.

So saying that there were '01 PI heads in the Vic's is true. Even stll, the '99-'02 and '03-'04 cam part #'s, identification #'s and grind spec's do not match.

There were many cam profiles used in the 4.6L since the 4.6L sat on a rack in the R&D department at Jaguar when Ford bought them in '89. Yes, this is an engine with Jaguar origins.

So if you count, there are 10 short blocks, including some FRPP parts, 9 heads including the FRPP (P/N M-6049-D46) head for '96-'98. Then there are the long block combinations. About 15 in all, as well as several OEM cam profiles.

So novi281gt, I was wrong about the '99 PI Vic, but all PI's are definitly not created equal.

GT

 

[MustangChris]

good to know...


so the best 4.6L blocks are the 96-98
the best heads are the 02-04 (damn, 1 year off, i got 01, but im getting custom springs anywho)
and the best cams are from which year?

 

[novi281gt]

its cool gd ... always nice to learn something every day about the 2vs thanks for the info bro! my heads are ported so= good lol

 

[Zwolaver21]

Maybe start out with midpipe, catback, 3.73 gears. After that you can find a good pi long block with decent mileage for less than 1000 if you look around, throw some headers on while doing this. Then save up for a super charger.

 

[GDTrumbo]

good to know...


so the best 4.6L blocks are the 96-98
the best heads are the 02-04 (damn, 1 year off, i got 01, but im getting custom springs anywho)
and the best cams are from which year?

I'm not real sure on the cam spec's, that's another search. I know the later Romeo cams returned to the bolt-on gears (like the '96-'98's), where the '99-'01 Windsor's had the pressed-on type. The grinds are supposed to be different but I have no hard spec's.

I've gone through some of this as I intend on creating a PI combo for mine. Sean Hyland has a very good builders book available for $23. I'd buy his book but wouldn't buy an engine from him as he has a spotty past with consumer sales & such.

Research always pays off......

GT

 

[MustangChris]

gotcha. so we dono which years for sure had the the solid cams?

and i know for a fact my 01 romeo cams had bolt on cams

 

[GDTrumbo]

No. All OEM cams for the 4.6L were "hollow". Don't know about the '05+. Some suppliers to the engine rebuilders supply cams that are machined from steel billet.

GT