To pulley or not to pulley

[knightmare90]

Hey guys, I just got myself a black 94 Mustang GT. I'm looking for cheap power, as we all do, and I've been considering underdrive pulleys. While I'm certainly not a car idiot, I'm no car genius either. What I want to know is how much do underdrive pulleys really help when it comes to power? Will it help or just make my engine run hotter?

Daniel

 

[xr8d302]

All it does is free up parasitic losses. To be honest, I wouldn't touch pulleys until you're trying to squeak the last few hp out of your combination

You want cheap go fast stuff, buy gears.

 

[Adam95GT]

Waste of money... You would get more power out of a fresh air filter, plugs, wires and a clean maf.

 

[ProKiller]

some people have had great success with them, others haven't felt a darn thing. I'd also say to get gears first or exhaust or just a tune up.

 

[knightmare90]

My plans are for a BBK Cold Air Intake, Headers, and flomasters. If I go with 3.73 gears will I need a tuner?

 

[revhead347]

cheap power
Daniel

That's an oxymoron if there ever was one. Pulleys don't do a whole lot, but every little bit helps. If you really want to free up some power, the exhaust is a great place to start. Don't waste your money on Flowmaster's though. I would buy a performance muffler if you want to get some more power. Flowbastards do almost nothing for performance. They are also poor quality, and rust out pretty quickly compared to other mufflers.

Kurt

 

[knightmare90]

What exhaust would you suggest? I want to buy headers, and the x pipe at the same time and I am working on a bit of a budget.

 

[final5-0]

Pulleys do give a gain

Too many peeps have seen it on the strip and on the dyno

Now ... is it gonna be a huge gain ... No

I've seen peeps report 1 to 1 and a half tenths on the strip

Also ... Pulleys are a common thing on better looking low/mid range
dyno curves that have caught my attention

And Why Should That Surprise Anybody

If you free up drag on the motor
Torque will be seen all across the power band :Word:

On stock or very mild modded Stangs that will still idle at like an
idle speed as low as 650 rpm ... pulleys will not put all that much
juice with the motor just barely spinning over and at night it is
likely you will see the lights dim a bit during idle

If you are running a big high draw amp sound system .......
Pulleys might not be something you would wanna do

Pulleys have worked out great for me
however
My cam needs an idle speed of about 900 rpm
and
I don't have a big sound system

I've never noticed my lights dimming at night

Grady

 

[revhead347]

All the stuff listed above, and they look cool.

Kurt

 

[SpartaPerformance]

You always start with the free and cheap HP first! CAI, pulley's, and a power tune up with 1 step colder plug, tps adjustment, timing adjustment a good set of wires, and a TFI & ignition coil from D.U.I. These parts are relatively inexpensive and easy for even a beginner DIY. Top it off with a nice cat back exhaust and you'll feel like you have a whole other beast. Headers are a good idea down the road if you decide to get a cam and some heads.

 

[revhead347]

Actually, start with the free hp. Pull the donkey dick and push up some initial timing.

Kurt

 

[knightmare90]

I hope you guys know that I'm soaking all this up. But I do have a couple of questions.
1. What exhaust should I get?
2. Is there any reason to get 8.5mm wires as opposed to 8mm wires?
3. There are many different prices for spark plugs. What is the gain if I buy the more expensive ones.
4. When I buy the ignition coil, should I buy a cap and rotor at the same time?

 

[xr8d302]

Our 5.0's don't like platinum plugs...just go and buy regular replacement plugs and you'll be fine. My 302 ran horribly on Bosch Platinum 4's, will never run those again.

If you don't want to have to buy another exhaust again in 4 years, go with Magnaflow or one of it's competitors. They sell quality exhaust peices that might be a little expensive, but you'll see why once you get'em.

Buy the coil, cap, and rotor at the same time, yes.

 

[revhead347]

Let me cover some of your questions.

1. Spark plugs. Don't get soaked in by a high price. Most platinum plugs are designed for better longevity, not performance. The best performing plugs have always been the cheapy Autolites, or the cheapy NGKs.

2. Buy spark plug wires based on brand, not diameter. The Accels and Taylors have always worked great. The known junk brands are Ford Motorsport and MSD.

3. I always recommend going to longtube headers if you are going to swap out the intermediary at the same time, because there is a large performance gain. However, it is a lot of work. You have to lift the engine off the motor mount on each side, and disconnect the steering shaft to get them in. I usually recommend the BBK longtubes, along with the intermediary of your choice. BBK sells a decent quality X-pipe to go with their headers, however the last time I installed this setup, I had to adjust the width of the X-pipe a little. I was surprised to find that a BBK intermediary did not work with a BBK X-pipe.

If you don't want to waste your time on longtubes, then just get unequal length shorties, and an h-pipe. There are lots of argument over which produces the most power, the X-pipe, the h-pipe or the prochamber. There really is not reliable proof that one produces more power over the other. BBK and MAC are both decent brands for the shorties and H-pipe.

Kurt

 

[96darkhorse]

i did underdrives and ran a short belt(smog and a/c bypassed) and got some good power...id say you can get from 10-15 rwhp from the two