drewman_93

ok so i don't want to dump much money into this car as the way i see it(don't hate me) if i'm going to spend my money making something fast...might as well do it to a v8. i have no cat...high flow muffler...intake rain shields off and MAF sensor screen off. is there anything else i can do for little to no money to see noticeable horsepower gains? basically...where can i get the most bang for my buck?

Chezoom

iTrader: (2)

lighten it up, rip the intireor out

madbomber824

iTrader: (2)

yeah u could rip it out then sell it and put money towards v8 motor.lol......anything with timing?

LunaticLsXDream

350 is cheap enough... You can go to the pick n pull around here and get a running 350 TBI with computer, wiring, and tranny for $300... Gut the interior, and grab a v8.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

cut the bottom of the air boxes off. so when you pull the air filter you can see the ground, then dont go driving through huge puddles, lol. weight reduction, maybe bump the timing a couple of degrees. i know you dont wannas spend $$, but have you done a tune up at least (TomP tune up)? That will definitely bring it back to where its supposed to be and then you can benefit more from anything you do/ have done.

drewman_93

kinda. my spark plugs are delcos and they look fine. oil changes and new filters. thats about it. i do like to drive through some big puddles....how do i advance the timing?

FireInMe17

what does advance timing do? never heard of doing that....

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

to advance the timing, you need a timing light. get it warmed up, disconnect the EST which is by the heater box under the hood, its a brown wire(do a search to see pics of where its located). loosen the hold down for the distributor, start the car back up and set your timing to like 11 or 12 degrees. then shut it off, tighten down the bolt, start it back up and retest it to make sure you didnt bump it, reconnect the EST and youre good to go. advancing the timing will change when the spark plugs light the air fuel mixture. doing this a bit earlier will give the engine a bit more power, dont go too much or youll lose power.

rsrsrs

iTrader: (9)

You'll gain acceleration but lose top speed if you advance the timing correct?

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

you might lose a bit at top end, but how often is he going to want higher speeds over acceleration. most scenarios i can think of, id rather have accel than max speed.

rsrsrs

iTrader: (9)

This is true. What would the most you could advance it?

drewman_93

no idea...but i agree. low end over top end any day. accel over speed. raw power over gutless 150 mph rice burners.

2_point8_boy

No such thing. With the "mods" that you've already done you picked up MAYBE 2 HP. The thought that you missed is that the systems that came on our cars were also pretty much designed for the V8 cars. The air box is the same, the MAF is VERY similar, the exhaust systems are the same. If it can flow enough for a V8 that is double the size of our engines, it can more than outflow the 6-er.

I know you're going to say that you feel a difference, but that's because you WANT to feel a difference. I hear the same thing out of my customers after I do an oil change and tire balance on their cars. They say "Oh, my God! it feels so much pepier!" The power of the mind is incredible.

The bottom line is that there are no cheap mods for noticeable power gains. I've been there, done that, then learned how cars actually work and that companies WILL increase power if it's cheap and easy. Power sells cars. If it were that easy, they would have done it from the factory.

I am no way bashing V6's, as I was the very proud owner of one. I just don't see why people think they can get a ton of free/cheep power.

Now, if you want real power, be prepared to dump some money. Speed costs $$$...How fast do you want to go?

drewman_93

the thing is...i completely agree with what you are saying. but the companies put many things on vehicles for either emissions, fuel economy, or longevity and they are not afraid to compromise performance. not to contradict you, but i have picked up about a second on my 0-60 time with the intake and exhaust. this i have verified with a stopwatch and tested on the same road in the same manner every time. what i was basically asking...is there anything i can take off or put on to compromise fuel economy and emissions for performance, or any inherent flaws built into these cars. like the throttle body coolant bypass...designed for sub zero temperatures..and i dont live in that climate.

oh sorry what kind of power am i looking for? whatever i can scrape up with little mods such as stated above. i'm not one to build a performance v-6...i guess i'm just not unique...but if i have to drive it(as i do for now), i would like to scoop all the possible horsepower i can out of it.

johnny090881

iTrader: (1)

defintely true

FireInMe17

will advancing the timing on it do much for mileage? how would that affect it? this would be something i would consider to make mine a bit more powerful.

Another good idea is to get it a new rear end, not necessarily a new one but a different one, if you have 3.23 gears like me you know they pretty much suck, i want something not so steep like a 3.73, and on one thread the guy is using a custom 3.90, but a 3.73 or even a 4.10 will fit right in to your car.

2_point8_boy

Yeah, there's no room for human error there. Trust me, you would have to gain some serious HP to knock an entire second off you 0-60 time. That means that you would have knocked, like 2 seconds off your 1/4 mile time. There's no way you got that kind of HP with simple intake and exhaust mods, that in reality didn't change your flow even a little.

jensen73110

iTrader: (4)

Everything will cost you some money. Even free mods like porting your intake manifold cost the equipment to do it.
Penny mod costs a penny. Raises your fuel pressure a bit. Seems to help on v8s.
Advancing timing is free I guess....
Do you have inspections? If not, rip out and sell the smog pump and charcoal canister. Save 20 lbs there and gain $20.
The ranger 2.9 injectors seem to be a good mod and are cheap. That is next on my list.
Get some rockers from a fwd GM v6. The ~1996+ cars came with roller tip 1.6 rockers, while ours are 1.5 non-rollers. I picked some up for $20 on ebay, but haven't installed yet.
Do you have rear drums? Change them out for aluminum. I swapped mine last year for $30 and dropped rotating weight. Plus they are shiny.
Underdrive pulleys are cheap. Or drill some 1 inch holes in your stock pulleys to make them lighter.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Is this true? If so, how exactly do I set the valves with them, the same as before? I have a set in my garage that's just collecting dust (along with the rest of my 1998 3100 setup) and I need to do my valve cover gaskets. Might as well do both at the same time.

Oh, and another ???... If I already have a code 45 (can't seem to get it to go away for now), would the swap make things worse?