What should I do??

[streetsmart]

Hey there everyone. I have an 04 Comp G that is currently a daily driver. It has about 77K miles on it and is in overall good shape. I decided I was going to put about $4-5k into the motor, but since I am learning about motors, I am unsure of which path to take. Should I build around the SC, or do I say screw it and go with a turbo kit, perhaps from ZZP? Does anyone know how dependable a turbo would be for this car? I want to give it more balls, but I dont want to kill it that fast either!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Mike

[DnaProdigy]

Taking on a turbo can be a big challenge, can you afford that much downtime on your DD?

[gtpsleeper]

depends how far you really want to take it to be honest...and with a turbo not as many of us have experience with them so it would be hard to if you have alot of problems...just my .02

[Bio248]

turbo cars have a tendency to be very fast, but go through parts and money like its going out of style.

[JJ91284]

Intercooler, Rockers, smaller supercharger pulley (3.0), modded fuel rails, headers, tuner, 42 lbs injectors). All that can be had for under $2,500 and should put you in the low 13's(street tires) and 12's with slicks.

Rest of the money save for a trans. Your engine should be fine with those mods too.

[streetsmart]

Supposedly the kits from ZZP are fairly easy to install. I am having a mechanic friend (who owns a shop in MD and has a history of building track cars) do the work, but he says I could go either way. I am somewhat torn. If I kept the SC I was thinking:

-headers
-downpipe (potentially an electric cut-out as well)
-IRC plugs 1 temp colder (already done)
-ZZP 1.0 PCM
-PRJ wires (already done)
-180 T stat (already done)
-3.5 pulley (since its the 04 the KR is more prevalent)
-High Flow Throttle body with spacer
-1.9 rocker kit w/ springs
-CAM??
-intercooler??

I wonder what kind HP I would be getting to there? Does an intercooler make a big difference on this kinda set-up? Sorry for all the questions, I am very interested in GP's and I am trying to learn on the fly!

[gtpsleeper]

rockers are better for DDs IMO...for MPG

[Liquifire]

Supposedly the kits from ZZP are fairly easy to install. I am having a mechanic friend (who owns a shop in MD and has a history of building track cars) do the work, but he says I could go either way. I am somewhat torn. If I kept the SC I was thinking:

-headers
-downpipe (potentially an electric cut-out as well)
-IRC plugs 1 temp colder (already done)
-ZZP 1.0 PCM
-PRJ wires (already done)
-180 T stat (already done)
-3.5 pulley (since its the 04 the KR is more prevalent)
-High Flow Throttle body with spacer
-1.9 rocker kit w/ springs
-CAM??
-intercooler??

I wonder what kind HP I would be getting to there? Does an intercooler make a big difference on this kinda set-up? Sorry for all the questions, I am very interested in GP's and I am trying to learn on the fly!

DO NOT GET A ZZP PCM WHATEVER YOU DO!!! you will also have to figure how hot of plugs, a lot of people have to run 2 ranges cooler to combat KR.....HP depends on just this base setup, or on the intercooler or how big of a cam....

[blueguy]

Buy that PCM if you got money to spend on another motor.

You can't get a high flow TB since your car is electronically controlled...your stock TB us going to have to do.

I say you need these mods for one quick DD.

Custom Tuned PCM
180* T-Stat
Autolite 103's
ZZPerformance Stage 2 or 3 Intercooler
42.5lb. Injectors
Headers of some kind
ZZPerformance Modular Pulley System with probably a 3.2" pulley

As for Cam or Rockers...I say a S1X or XP...they don't really hurt MPG's THAT bad...I still say mid to high 20's when I was nice to my XP'ed setup. As for rockers...they are more DD friendly...but there is nothing like a cammed car for sure...plus you get more power out of it.

[Bio248]

you can run 12s with rockers, but you need the driver mod and an intercooler.

if you want to run anything faster than maybe mid 12s either run a cam or run e85 (big injector time).

[streetsmart]

cool thank you for the replies....

do you all know of any other sites that sell good stuff? i have only been to zzperformance.com, pfyc.com and 3800performance.com. i looked at prj's site but there wasnt much there for sale.....

thx

[Bio248]

if you want a big setup, talk to PRJ. he is the absolute best guy to go to for literally everything with making power for our cars. except for maybe transmissions, which is where you would talk to dave at TEP.

how fast are you really looking to go? i think a turbo setup might be a bit much unless youre going for mid to low 11s.

[00gpgtp]

how fast are you really looking to go? i think a turbo setup might be a bit much unless youre going for mid to low 11s.

x2. I think a turbo is gonna put you over your budget by the time you factor in a trans that can handle it.

Being that its a DD i would just mod it with the sc (you have a gen V already which alot of us envy you for). you can get pretty decent hp while retaining reliability, even with a cam. ide say the big things you should do is intercooler, headers, cam, tune. if you can do the work yourself, you should be able to do all that with money left over to put into the tranny.

[streetsmart]

x2. I think a turbo is gonna put you over your budget by the time you factor in a trans that can handle it.

Being that its a DD i would just mod it with the sc (you have a gen V already which alot of us envy you for). you can get pretty decent hp while retaining reliability, even with a cam. ide say the big things you should do is intercooler, headers, cam, tune. if you can do the work yourself, you should be able to do all that with money left over to put into the tranny.

thanks for the heads up. do you think that stock tranny wont handle those mods for very long?

[Bio248]

a 12 second car will eat a transmission for lunch if you beat on your car. if you drive it nice it should last a little while, but i wouldnt expect it to keep on chuggin.

[00gpgtp]

depends on how you drive it. i know someone that has an 02 with s1x, gen v, togs, and is still running stock tranny. car dynoed 330. car has ~85k miles i believe.

he did tell me that its showing wear but still goin. so you may get away with stock for a while but if your gonna be puttin track passes on it and are a "spirited driver", ide look into gettin at least the hard parts that fail (you already have 3.29's so thats good). how many miles on the car?

edit: my trans totally went out at 127k miles. at the time it had headers, 3.4, and some other stuff. dynoed 238. so its a hit or miss, just plan on puttin money into it to be safe. again, if you can do the work yourself you can get a trans while yours is still in good shape and sell yours to get some of the money back.

[streetsmart]

the tranny has 78k on it and seems to be in great shape. I believe I will do most of the work, but how hard would the headers be on this? That scares me a bit because there doesnt seem to be a ton of room.

i will talk to prj, but do yall know of any other sites besides the ones i listed(zzp, 3800performance, pfyc)??

thx again!

it looks like i will start with the CAI, pcm, 3.5 pulley, cam, rockers, headers and perhaps the electric exhaust cut out (i already have the 180 tstat and plugs and wires.) it appears i should be pushing around 330hp or so at the crank.....???

[blueguy]

Who cares about HP numbers...it doesn't matter really.

And you can't do a CAM and ROCKERS...unless you do a VS Cam with 1.7's...there is too much lift. So pick one. I still say the cutout is a waste, but to each their own.

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[Bio248]

you can only run a cam OR rockers.


edit: GJHASDFJQERFWEVS. screw you nick.

edit edit: PRJ can cut you a cam to whatever specs you want so if you want to run 1.7s or 1.8s he can accommodate you with a cam that will work with them.

[TheOtherNick]

Get a cam and port the heads. Then slid the rear header in with the head off.