general newbie questions...

[RogueSHO]

i have a few...

1. when i'm over 4k and the "secondaries" open its great! however i have no idea what this means except that the car sounds and feels suddenly alot faster, almost like a turbo. it's my understanding that only so much air is let in and it opens up at aroun 4k. still when i'm at low rpm's i get crap, like sometimes theres a pop of puff sound and it sputters... what's that about?

2. what and where is this silencer cone i hear of?

3. what would anyone recomend as far as perfomance chips?

4. ok, exaust... not a turbo so less than 3' right? but what? i'm thinking custom 2.5' true dual, 1 cat each and decent mufflers... i don't want it rediculously loud (right now there's a hole in one of the mufflers and at 3k it sounds like a honda with a snappy exaust, it's embarrassing) but i want it to sound mean and give me power of course. suggestions?

5. intake... maf... tb... suggestions?

any info appreciated, myke

 

[NEILL93SHO]

I am not the greatest source for advice on the forum, but i can tell you, that for performance, you can't go wrong with custum y-pipe, free flowing MAF, and sub frame connectors. When i put my Tokico/eibachs on 3 months ago, i did not expect much since my old stuff was fine. That money was well spent too. Thes e cars cost money.. Just price some of the aftermaket stuff. I have been bitten by the SHO bug. It grows on ya! The problem you are having...did u run the system check? Could be quite a few things. Fuel filter, plugs etc..Enjoy..If you can be more specific, i am sure some of the gurus in here can help..

Mike

 

[DHMag]

RogueSHO:
i have a few...

1. when i'm over 4k and the "secondaries" open its great! however i have no idea what this means except that the car sounds and feels suddenly alot faster, almost like a turbo. it's my understanding that only so much air is let in and it opens up at aroun 4k. still when i'm at low rpm's i get crap, like sometimes theres a pop of puff sound and it sputters... what's that about?

2. what and where is this silencer cone i hear of?

3. what would anyone recomend as far as perfomance chips?

4. ok, exaust... not a turbo so less than 3' right? but what? i'm thinking custom 2.5' true dual, 1 cat each and decent mufflers... i don't want it rediculously loud (right now there's a hole in one of the mufflers and at 3k it sounds like a honda with a snappy exaust, it's embarrassing) but i want it to sound mean and give me power of course. suggestions?

5. intake... maf... tb... suggestions?

any info appreciated, myke

hiya Myke, and welcome to the SHO Forum. im still somewhat new to the SHO community but ill go ahead and try and help ya out. first of all, the secondaries are 6 butterflies in the air intake plenum. at 4 grand, they open up. just like secondaries on an old Holley carb. as for the sputtering, it could be dirty plenum runners, dirty fuel injectors..all in all, poor maintainance. if you know about the 60k service these motors require, then youll take take of the low idle sputter when you perform the 60k. secondly, from the factory, Ford installed a cone (looks more like a horn to me) on the air intake (pre-filter side). only thing it does is quiet the harmonics from the motor. i just removed mine 2 weeks ago and noticed a GREAT difference in power. detailed instructions are available at shotimes.com for removing the cone (its just a tad different between the Generation models). 3rd, i do not justify a chip unless you are going to heavily mod your vehicle. only advantages to getting a chip is you can custom tune it for your cpu and mods. but if youre still wanting one, i hear a lot about LPMs, i dont recall where ive seen them advertised though. maybe someone else can tell ya where to find them. 4th, my exhaust is still stock. the only manufacturers of cat back systems for the SHO are Walker and Dynomax. shoshop.com also has them but youll pay a pretty penny for it. shoshop also has Y-pipes, with or without cats. from what i know, most aftermarket exhausts for the SHO are either 2.25 or 2.5. i believe stock is 2.25. as far as mufflers go, ive always been a Flowmaster guy, but to each their own. 5th, your MAF can be upgraded to a 55mm, 73mm, or 80mm, depending on your current mods. the stock MAF is more than sufficient for any common mod available for the SHO. when you start supercharging it, then youll want to upgrade. same type of scenario for the throttle body. intake can be ported and polished, shoshop.com has pricing on that. as far as suggestions go, id say stay stock for right now, repair/replace/maintain what needs to be done. get it running reliably good, then consider your options. the SHO is not a cheap motor to upgrade/mod. so prepare to part with your wife/gf/other half/dog/lung/arm..whatever it takes. good luck and we hope to see ya post a bit more. also, it helps everyone out just a bit if you include your model year of SHO.

 

[stevetatro]

Hi, Myke. Welcome. Make sure you do a search on old threads before posting new ones. Not that we care to read or respond again, but you'll probably get more detailed information from the absolute best sources if you do a search.

1) This could be caused by a lot of things. Most likely just plugs and/or wires. For the heck of it, pull a plug wire off the plug and look in the plug well and see if there's a bunch of fluid (could be oil or water). If so, you could have fouled plug wires.

2) The silencer cone is just a cone-shaped insert into that quiets the noise of the intake a bit. Removing it will enable a tad more intake noise, but will provide no increase in power. Doesn't hurt a thing to pull it out.

3) There's a gentleman named Ted Breaux (sp?). He's on this list once in a while and custom programs Lifetime Performance Modules (LPM's) for the SHO. Do NOT buy a Superchip, especially if yours is an ATX, as it can do more harm than good. Ted is an expert on the computer code in the SHO and can create a chip to do what you want to do and go with whatever modifications you have. If you modify more later, you can send the chip back to Ted and he'll re-program it for you for a very small fee. I think initial cost is $200. Do NOT buy a chip from somewhere else or you will be wasting your money.

4) People have had really bad luck with true duals on the SHO. It seems that a true dual system decreases backpressure a LOT and the SHO doesn't respond very well down low. Sure, it would increase HP up top a little, but the SHO doesn't need help up top. You have to strive to keep the most torque you can. Only after a serious power adder would true duals be a good idea.

5) The MAF and TB are both adequate, as evidenced by the thousands of people driving 400-500hp Mustangs with the same size MAFs and TBs as the SHO. I'm not saying you won't gain a couple of HP by replacing them, but don't expect miracles. Scott (username SDPATT) just posted a good intake mod the other day. It doesn't include some expensive cold air intake setup with the small cone filter in the fender, but it just makes sense. The intake already pulls in lots of cold air. A K&N panel filter is around $40 and will do the job nicely.

I think the first thing you should do is make sure the SHO is current on maintenance items. If not, it will cost you a fortune in the long run. Do the 60k, clean the engine and intake, and it'll be beautiful and run well. Next, do suspension and brake upgrades. These tend to provide the most fun for MOST people who own an SHO. You can spend $1000 adding on drivetrain bolt-ons and only gain 20hp. Or you can make your car handle like an M3, stop like a Cobra, etc.

Good luck.

 

[shojuan]

Good advice there. Suspension and brakes are the weak link on the SHO. There are cars with a lot less power that have better suspension and brakes and are more fun to drive than the SHO because of it. Get your suspension and brakes up to ***** and combine that with the power of the SHO and there you go.

Best mod you can do starting out is a 60K service. There's a lot of original power that can be recovered by performing the service on a car that hasn't had one is a while, or at all.

There are some other catback systems available like the ATR stainless system. Not too many people have that system yet and it will probably become a favorite. PP stainless y-pipe with the stock catback would be the best engine mod after you've done the 60K and upgraded brakes and suspension. You won't gain nearly as much by replacing the stock catback with an ATR. Another reason to keep the stock catback unless yours is rusted out or you have lots of money to spend on mods (and if so then lucky you!)

Have fun!

Rick

 

[luigisho]

Start with checking the plug wells for moisture. I would suggest replacing plugs and wires first. The recommended replacement plugs and wires are the motorcraft agsp-32pp plugs and the wr-4033 wires. Not that we are motorcraft junkies, just that these have proven to perform consistantly better than most cheaper aftermarket replacements. Cheapest source is http://www.fordpartsnetwork.com

 

[RogueSHO]

i was thinking in the direction of 60k first then suspension... i just wanted to consider my options based on other's experience while i have time to think about it (a.k.a. saving up enough dough). the reason i'm concerned with the exaust primarily is one of the mufflers has quite the hole going on... i don't like when my car sounds like a raspy honda. nor do i want to dump any money into a replacement just to upgrade later. as far as "how is the condition of the engine?"... well let's just say i got it for $1500 and it's less than perfect. i wanted to get my hands on an SHO for about 3-4 years now so i couldn't pass it up. i did remove a couple plugs and they need replacement... badly. i also have a small leak near the top of the engine... some of the oil from there made it's way down to one of the plugs. i do agree that bringing it up to health is my best bet... i just need to know where in ne to go for the 60k.

and btw, it's a green 92, mtx with 130k

mykull

 

[TimboSHO]

He He... I just bought an 89 Lt. titanium with 130k for $750
Just got struts and replaced valve gaskets, and it's a dream come true. Still need quite a few things, but it's a poor college student's car. Still reliable and fun.

 

[projectSHO89]

i also have a small leak near the top of the engine... some of the oil from there made it's way down to one of the plugs

Oil in the plug well is from a leaking seal between the valve cover and the head INSIDE the well.

If you do your 60K vlave adjustment, the seals come in the Fel-Pro gasket kit.

Steve
89