Cheap Modifications.

[Blksheep5]

Anyone have suggestions..
I hear crimping the FPR will increase pressure
equaling higher boost possibilities.. etc

As long as it'll work I'm down for trying it, I love freebies!

[ex_are_four_tea_eye]

Mustang 10-hole wheels are my favorite cheap mod.
15x7 and can be found for cheap... I paid $35 for all four of mine... less than scrap price!!
They stick out further than stock and give the car a much better stance, IMO.

[NiggyMerk]

Unplug the Knock Sensor.

[hEaT]

Anyone have suggestions..
I hear crimping the FPR will increase pressure
equaling higher boost possibilities.. etc

As long as it'll work I'm down for trying it, I love freebies!

Please don't do that. Car will run rich at idle and these cars are already pig rich under boost. What keeps you limited to 15psi is the lack of an intercooler. Adding more fuel isn't going to cool the charge temps down to keep from pinging.

Cheap mods? Get a boost controller and set to 15psi. Unplug KS (LISTEN FOR DETO!). That's about it for free/cheap stuff.

Everything else is going to cost money. A fun and relatively cheap combo is a 3" elbow, downpipe, exhaust with no cat, intercooler and LA2/LA3/8UA/PE ecu with a big VAM. That will probably be $500+ when all is said and done, but really wakes the car up.

[Blksheep5]

i'm currently at 15psi now..
and i am looking for either mustang wheels or tcoupe snowflakes.


but if i crimp the fpr i plan to do it with a fmic.

[hEaT]

but if i crimp the fpr i plan to do it with a fmic.

There is no need to. The car runs rich, too rich actually, as is with an intercooler. Doing that will just make fuel pressure completely unpredictable and make the car slower and have worse fuel economy.

If you really think you are going lean, throw a wideband in and an adjustable FPR as a bandaid.

[coupelx]

with an intercooler boost upwards of 20psi is possible. after that its a crap shoot. i ran 24psi with alcohol injection.

[Blksheep5]

basically plans are..
adj. fpr bigger inj. la3/vam combo, fmic & possible meth.

edit: ported e3/e6 whichever is stock on and 89' (brain fart)
3" from dp to rear

[xrattiracer]

just remember, cheap mods now often turns into expensive repairs later.
do it right or not at all.

[bw_krupp]

This was copied from this forum (somewhere in the distant past, at least its cheap!):

The fog light switch is before the relay so this is all low current.
Just pull the switch out and put a jumper wire between the grey wire
with the green stripe and the yellow wire. The grey wire is the dash
light circuit. This will trigger the fog lamp relay any time any lights
are on.

If you dim your dash lights more than about half way you will loose the
fog lamps. Automotive relays need about 9 volts to stay on.

Changing things at the light switch will cause your lamp out warnings to
not function correctly.

\Go to radio shack and pick up a pack of 1N4003 diodes. Two in a pack
for .69

Get access to the wires to the fog light switch. I pulled the guage
cluster.

Strip some insulation from the gray with green strip wire and cut the
yellow wire.

Take one diode and solder it between the gray wire and the yellow wire
next to the switch. Make sure the stripe on the diode is near the yellow
wire.

Take the second diode and connect it between the halves of the yellow
wire. The stripe on the diode goes towards the switch.

Wrap everything up and put back together.

Here is the behaviour:

Key off, lights on. Only parking lights on.
Key on, light switch first position. Fog lights and parking lights.
Key on, lights on high or low beam, fog lights on.

Fog light switch must be on for fog lights to be on in any setting.


For the $0.69 cost and a few minutes time, it is definently worth it.

[hEaT]

basically plans are..
adj. fpr bigger inj. la3/vam combo, fmic & possible meth.

edit: ported e3/e6 whichever is stock on and 89' (brain fart)
3" from dp to rear

I'd skip the larger injectors as well unless you go to a standalone.

[Blksheep5]

maybe microsquirt as well.. depends if i wanna fiddle with that stuff

[coupelx]

forget the adjustable regulator and spend the money else ware like on the alky injection.

[BuzzBomb2.3]

just remember, cheap mods now often turns into expensive repairs later.
do it right or not at all.

x2

The cheapest way I can see making power is to do some cutting that you may not like. If you don't care about "asthetics" then you can chop a hole in the bonnet, pull out the VAM and bolt a cone filter to it or pull the head, intake and exhaust manifold then do some good port and polish work.

Think of money as ammo for a gun. If you keep pluggin away at a target then eventually you'll hit the mark, but if you aim carefully and make the appropriate judgement then you can do the same job with less resources.

[worked_xr]

Seems to be several good points here, but not a lot of focus.

For cheap (under $500), relatively easy (bolt-on), reliable (won't risk damaging the motor or driveline) mods that increase performance, you will probably want to do "the usual". This assumes that the car is currently in good running condition with a good recent tune-up, and full maintenance done.

1. Unplug knock sensor (free)
2. Set base timing to 13* BTDC (free)
3. manual boost controller ($40-ish)
4. intercooler ($230-ish)
5. LA series (or PE) ecu & large VAM ($130-ish)
6. cone filter with "cold air box" or plumbed from fender well ($50-ish)
7. turn boost up... 18-21 lbs. (free)
8. BPV or BOV as needed ($50-ish

Beyond the bolt-ons, but still cheap and reliable, you can add:

1. 3" exhaust ($200)
2. Port turbo manifold (free if you DIY)
2. Port head (free if you DIY)
3. Gut & port intakes (free if you DIY)


This will get you in the 250-280hp range and 250+ ft.lbs. or torque; plenty to make the car fun while remaining tractable, reliable, and economical. And notice, no need for larger injectors, AFPR, tuner, or any of that stuff yet. And to be honest, even with this stuff, you'll probably have to start upgrading other stuff on the car, like the clutch, suspension bits, maybe the brakes, engine mounts, etc. So even "cheap" upgrades can start getting expensive quick.


But, if you're still looking for "budget" upgrades, you can start adding stuff like a cam & springs upgrade ($200+), tubular turbo manifold ($200+), bigger turbo ($300+), external WG ($150+), water/meth injection ($200+), and more boost to 22-27 lbs. (free).

Now, at this point you'll probably start needing that AFPR, bigger injectors, and a standalone or tuner. And you'll probably start running into drivability and reliability issues. And by this point, you should have definitely upgraded the clutch or done a T5 conversion, rebuilt the entire suspension, upgraded the brakes, stepped up to some pretty serious tires, and installed an LSD. Basically, by this point, it ain't cheap anymore. And mind you, you haven't even touched the short block yet. And you could still step up to a pro-ported head or Folvo conversion.

I guess my point is that it's a slippery slope that is way too easy to get started down. Just remember that just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Hope this helps.