Weekend mods, will I be sorry?

[WantaGT]

Alright guys,
I have a 65mm throttle body and underdrives that I am going to put on my 91 LX that I had from my last 5.0. After that my bolt on's will be completely done. It will have 3.73 gears, a short shifter, headers, catless h-pipe, mac cat back, MAF sensor, pulleys, throttle body, subframes, shock tower brace, K&N panel filter...basically all the little stuff. Well I found a new Cobra intake at the Jeg's retail store for $349. Will it be worth it to throw it on with the throttle body and pulleys. I mean will it, in conjunction with the other mods, a nice kick in the pants? My ultimate goal is to get a novi 1000 later in the summer and have a dead realiable street cruiser. I have seen dyno graphs where the stock intake and cobra are identical on the low end with the cobra about 15 horse afrom about 3500 on. I figure even with a slight loss in low speed torque the gears will compensate. I am getting the intake tonite but I can always take it back if I get negative feedback here. Thanks guys!

 

[Tonys96Cobra]

Ditch the UD pulleys and get the intake! My $.02

 

[JBeezy53]

Keep the UD pullies, when I did that install I could actually feel the difference. I would wait to do the intake until you do the H/C or if that won't be for a long time you can go ahead and throw it on.

 

[Roland69]

get the intake

 

[blu5092]

I would stay away from those pulleys dude. I had them on for years and went through several batteries and at least 2 alternators. The pulleys drop the alternator speed and causes a low charge. I purchased a higher voltage alternator and it still killed my batteries. I repurchased the stock ones and reinstalled and the voltage is now back to normal....kind of. 5.0's are notorious from the factory to run a lower charge with your accessories on. So, my friend, unless you are willing to only drive in the day, then you can go with the aftermarket pulleys. Everything else you have seems to be fine. I have found the following upgrades to be signficant if you want the cheapest HP mods.

1. K&N ...use the side intake. Having it sit in the engine bay will just suck up hot air.
2. CAt back 2 1/2...Flows are great. 2 chamber or 3 if you need to be a little quieter
3. Intake....GT40
4. Bump up your timing. The disadvantage here is that you will have to use premium, although I've snuck in regular and didn't notice any issues. No pinging.
5. Check the TPS voltage. Make sure it's in the right range
6. Remove the stock fan clutch and radiator. Replace it with a super cool radiator and flex fan and spacer. This not only keeps the engine cool at all times but also puts way less drag on the water pump. My 92 water pump was still good when I replaced it. My heat indicator never goes above the first mark.
7. Replace the thermostat. Go for a higher temp. Runs leaner but more power
8. change the upper and lower rear control arms. They twist when you step on the gas. I used BBKs and I could feel the difference
9. Weld the torque boxes which could tear apart or crack from the chassis if your car starts to produce more HP.
10. Tie up the front and back with some stiff steel subrame connectors.

Hope that helps

Blu5092

 

[dwhiskie]

Do the underdrives but leave the factory alt pully on if your concerned about charging issues

 

[jjd975]

I have never had any issues with pulleys.

Get the intake.