Tax Return - Supercharger on High Mileage Car?

[97predator]

The tax return worked out very well this year so I have a little money to spend on the hot rod (finally!!!) I have 2400$ to spend and want to get the most out of it. The car is a 2002 GT and has 125,000 miles on it. She runs strong and has never had any problems internally. The mods to the car are:

C.A.M. Longtubes (bobo MAC's from what I understand)
Stainless X-Pipe with Cats
Pypes Violator catback
3.73 Gears
Steeda Tri-Ax
Terminator Clutch
Tokiko HP Shocks/Struts
Steeda Heavy Duty Rear Upper Control Arms
Steeda Adjustable Rear Sway bar
Ford C-Springs
Mach 1 CHin Spoiler and grill delete

I put in new motor mounts last year and am going to do the transmission mount, steering bushings, and swap in a cobra steering shaft as the steering has gotten a little loose. I think the longtubes cooked the rag joint.

My long term goal is to eventually have the car supercharged, wheels/tires/cams and get to about 400-420 rwhp on the stock bottom end. When it lets go one day, go to a built engine. My questions are:

1) Is it a good idea to add a supercharger to an engine with this many miles?

2) Since it is a street car, would a roots or centrifugal be better for the longevity of the engine -peak power vs. wider power band?

3) The older Saleen kits use an M90, could the M112 be swapped on later?

4) Is the non intercooled Tork Tech Cobra kit a good option?

5) Would I be better to do the cams/wheels, and lower the car more this year - then do a forged shortblock - then blower? Or get blown and add on?

6) And for opinion and input - Should I go 17 or 18 on the wheels and what are your thoughts on deep dish Bullits vs. FR500's (anthracite as the car is mineral grey)

Any input is appreciated. The money's burning a hole in my pocket as I've been waiting since 2002 to do this type of work so I just want to make sure I don't do something foolish. Thanks.

 

[puma1552]

Build the engine, then put the blower on it.

Do it once, do it right, IMO.

Putting a blower on a 125k mile engine is just asking for trouble.

 

[trinity_gt]

My long term goal is to eventually have the car supercharged, wheels/tires/cams and get to about 400-420 rwhp on the stock bottom end. When it lets go one day, go to a built engine. My questions are:

1) Is it a good idea to add a supercharger to an engine with this many miles?

Assuming the engine is in good shape, if you were to take it apart today and measure every component, you'd probably find that it's fairly close to how it was when new. There's a bit of glaze on the cylinder walls but there's crosshatching still visible, a hint of a ridge at the tops of the cylinders...the bearings look good, the journals are in good shape with no gouging etc etc. In other words, miles in and of itself are not necessarily a go/no-go gate when it comes to mods.

If the engine makes no noises and has good compression -- both in absolute terms and for each cylinder relative to its companions -- and if the engine has never seen the high-side of the temperature gauge (i.e. been overheated) nor over-revved, I see little reason to worry about putting a blower on it.

Keep in mind though that even an infant, brand-new shortblock will be put at some degree of risk with 420rwhp. An elderly, if robust, shortblock with lots of "experience" will at best fare no better...

2) Since it is a street car, would a roots or centrifugal be better for the longevity of the engine -peak power vs. wider power band?

You may get more peak power potential with a centri and a more gradual build-up of torque but the P/D (positive displacement) blowers give outstanding instant-torque for daily driving.

3) The older Saleen kits use an M90, could the M112 be swapped on later?

Maybe someone else knows for sure but I doubt it, at least not with the same lower intake.

4) Is the non intercooled Tork Tech Cobra kit a good option?

Don't shoot for 400+rwhp while entertaining thoughts of non-intercooled blowers. With that sort of set-up you really should be limiting your boost to ~6psi.

5) Would I be better to do the cams/wheels, and lower the car more this year - then do a forged shortblock - then blower? Or get blown and add on?

If a blower is in the future, be careful with choosing cams. BLower cars don't need the same cam specs as N/A cars do. And if a forged shortblock is in the cards, don't bother with cams now at all. Put them in when you're building the long block.

And if you do a forged bottom end, you should consider a "proper" (read "not cheap") blower setup. Get a blower with an intercooler capable of at least 15 psi. Don't bother with a strong bottom end and then saddle it with a non-intercooled kit because it's cheap. In for a penny, in for a pound...

BTW, put some money in the budget for fuel system upgrades if you want "big" power. For 400rwhp a KB BAP on the stock pump will suffice but you'll want to look at other alternatives for more than that.

Any input is appreciated. The money's burning a hole in my pocket as I've been waiting since 2002 to do this type of work so I just want to make sure I don't do something foolish. Thanks.

Q: How are the ball joints? Control arm bushings? Brakes? Struts/shocks? Would that money be better spent attending to issues the car has right now or is it all good to go?

 

[Maxpowers]

I agree with everything trinity_gt said except the psi. Do not measure the amount of psi you can go with when looking at difference types of FI. 6 psi on a vortech will give you a different amount of power than a Paxton. Same with the M90 vs M112. What I would recommend you do, is find out what hp you want to be at, and then determine which blower you will need to get you there.

That being said, it up to your personal preference. Would you rather get some power now, run it till it blows, and the build the motor?

Do a compression and leak down test. That is the easiest/cheapest way to tell you how healthy your motor is. If anything seems off, then I would say to build the motor first.

I would not recommend getting cams and FI on the stock motor. FI alone should be enough, depending on what kit, to get you close to the stock limits of the motor. You also need to consider that when you put cams in with that many miles, the head components will need upgraded.

 

[joshjwc9]

With your dollar amount, and with the rest of the people recommending above, let me speak from experience. I have a '99 GT with 135k miles and 2k miles of it with a Vortech on a stock 7psi pulley. Non intercooled and I reside in FL. The tune is spot on, with plenty of timing being pulled as our temperatures rise this spring. If your car isn't ragged on and shows good compression and doesn't burn oil (or much of it), you should be fine with a entry level blower and a very good tune. You may be paying a little more than what you posted to piece together a kit and get it tuned properly. I spent close to $2800 piecing together a used kit, although I've made about $400 back from selling stock injectors/MAF/CAI, etc. It is possible to piece together a kit for around $2500, it just takes time!

The tune is the most important part! I cannot stress that enough!

 

[97predator]

I appreciate all the input. I think I can find a quality kit for 2K or so and have talked with a few folks selling them, but the all in amount for miscallaneous parts, tuning, etc. makes me htink getting it done, installed, and running for 2400$ is a bit of a stretch.

With regard to Trinity's q's about maintenance, I was planning, if I went with wheels I would lower the car a bit more and go to the X2 ball joints, bump steer kit, and add subframe connectors. I also have a line on a set of Hitech Stage II cams which I can run until I go to a blower when I have more funds, and then swap it out down the line. It sort of seems like I may be better served redoing the front suspension, getting wheels, and installing the cam as my "power fix" for the year (or two). I want a blower bad, but the money doesn;t appear to be there.

Also, I'm thinking of running the SVE Anthracite Deep Dish wheels from late model resto, anyone have pics of them on their car?

 

[johnnyt03gt]

my baby got 100k on her, i need to save up for an MMR short block.