What to spend my money on??

[CplPflummUSMC]

I have a 92 MTX with 137K on it and I am about to start building it up. My questions are:
1. Who makes the best performance struts/shocks?
2. Who makes the best aftermarket pads/rotors?
3. Finally, for a N/A motor what would you spend $1,000 bucks on?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry should have said this sooner, but all motor mods should be bolt on as i have a 3.2 that I am planning to swap in so all tear down mods will be done to that engine. My ultimate goal is about 300WHP. Thanks for all the help.

SEMPER FI!!

 

[BlackonBlack89]

go with suspension and brakes. Some coin can be spent but it is the best bang for u buck. Spend ur money here and you will not regret it.

Then tires and wheels if you prefer looks over go. Again the engine is expensive to mod, n/a wise. ( hp per doller wise) Wide wheels and sticky summer tires are worth it. plus it looks SO much better.

Then for 1k go with y-pipe, BBB, ported intake, and some n20. would make a fun car for the 1/4 track and still a nice DD. ooo and N/A 300whp is impossible really. N20 will get u close for about 1/20th the price. seriously.



OOO and I almost forgot. Maintence first. 60k and other saftey related objects. steering, brakes, tires, ect

 

[jedhead]

I have a 92 MTX with 137K on it and I am about to start building it up. My questions are:
1. Who makes the best performance struts/shocks?
2. Who makes the best aftermarket pads/rotors?
3. Finally, for a N/A motor what would you spend $1,000 bucks on?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry should have said this sooner, but all motor mods should be bolt on as i have a 3.2 that I am planning to swap in so all tear down mods will be done to that engine. My ultimate goal is about 300WHP. Thanks for all the help.

SEMPER FI!!

1. I like Koni's, but there are others that are less expensive that work well.
2. I like Performance Friction Carbon Metallic pads. I cryo treated my stock rotors and they have lasted on three different SHO's. I now have custom 2-piece 12.5 rotors with Baer/PBR calipers and PFCM Z-Rated pads.
3. I would go with a good y-pipe and Tweecer. With the tweecer you can be ready to get the most out of any future mods. The Y-pipe give you the most gain for the buck.

I would concentrate on maximizing the torque curve instead of horsepower when doing your mods. What makes our SHO's perform well is the wide torque curve. With the proper mods you have a strong torque curve from 2200 to 6200 rpm.

Bob

 

[38SHO]

redo all the suspension bushings, strut mounts, upgrade your swaybars

get aluminum subframe bushings, rear strut tower bar, koni stuts with either cut Moog springs, Intrax springs, or a coilover setup

upgrade to atleast the 11.6" gen 3 sho brakes, if you plan on other then stock wheels that are bigger, plan for 13" cobra brakes.

for performance do a y pipe, under drive pulleys, and ported intake/BBB's

these seem to be the mods that make the most difference...

 

[pitaSHO]

Y-pipe then save for a turbo or supercharger. IMHO the best bang for your buck is F/I. After building one N/A car with all the mods, and buying one modded out even better than what I have, it's not worth the money for the hp that is gained. If I had it to do all over again I would just go F/I and skip the rest.

Chris K.

 

[LOUDSHO92]

A y-pipe is a good place to start: SHO Source

Konis and Intrax (If you can find them) or Eibachs: Koni

A 13" brake kit will give lots of braking.

 

[Brett]

suspension and 96+ brake upgrade. y-pipe, nitrous. Never gonna get 300whp with stock internals and bolt ons. if you look hard enough might be able to find decent deals on a used tweecer and zex kit, still probably bust 1k though.

 

[genob2]

I strongly suggest picking up a wave trac diff.. Welding the diff is the bare minimum.

 

[CplPflummUSMC]

OK so N/A is not the way to go. Got it. So Y-pipe is the only thing to worry about now. Who makes the best one? equal or unequal length? I realize this is the wrong forum to ask but since the thread is started is a turbo or supercharger the better way to go? Also if i am opening up the exhaust is it justifable to open the intake with a 80mm MAF? If so who is the best bang for the buck? I am going to heed all the advice and build the handling first. For a DD are the larger rotors nesecary? I was thinking slotted and cross drilled rotors with great pads(mostly for the looks and the slightly better cooling), will this suffice? Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Phoenix]

OK so N/A is not the way to go. Got it. So Y-pipe is the only thing to worry about now. Who makes the best one? equal or unequal length? I realize this is the wrong forum to ask but since the thread is started is a turbo or supercharger the better way to go? Also if i am opening up the exhaust is it justifable to open the intake with a 80mm MAF? If so who is the best bang for the buck? I am going to heed all the advice and build the handling first. For a DD are the larger rotors nesecary? I was thinking slotted and cross drilled rotors with great pads(mostly for the looks and the slightly better cooling), will this suffice? Thanks again for all the help.

N/A or F/I , Its gonna cost you either way if you push it to the max.

I got a pretty much maxed out (only thing missing is the hi compression pistons) N/A setup , and **** I love it.

But if you're looking for HP-for-dollars , then F/I would be a little cheaper.

 

[LOUDSHO92]

OK so N/A is not the way to go. Got it. So Y-pipe is the only thing to worry about now. Who makes the best one? equal or unequal length? I realize this is the wrong forum to ask but since the thread is started is a turbo or supercharger the better way to go? Also if i am opening up the exhaust is it justifable to open the intake with a 80mm MAF? If so who is the best bang for the buck? I am going to heed all the advice and build the handling first. For a DD are the larger rotors nesecary? I was thinking slotted and cross drilled rotors with great pads(mostly for the looks and the slightly better cooling), will this suffice? Thanks again for all the help.

The one we sell at SHO Source is nice unit. It is full stainless and you can get it catless as well. SHO Shop dynoed theirs (Which ours is based on) and had a gain of 11hp. FYI

IF you open up the intake side a Ported intake with BBB's is a better way to go. Only then if you want the larger MAF add it. We offer the 80mm which requires a LPM or Tweecer or the PMAS that requires no tuning.

Turbo and S/C both had their advantages and disadvantages. We will have a turbo kit in the near future.

At least go for the 96+ upgrade it is very much worth it. Hawk pads will help as well.

 

[SHOtime2511]

cross drilled rotors are garbage,stay away from them.

 

[FOMOCOTOSHO]

cross drilled rotors are garbage,stay away from them.

I have cross-drilled & slotted rotors on my front brakes and love them. If you do a lot of heavy-duty performance braking you need them. Standard solid or ventilated brakes do not dissipate heat well enough & the excessive heating and cooling causes the rotors to warp; then u get brake pulsation. The slotted and/or cross-drilled rotors are far better at cooling down the rotors. I don't think the brand is so much of a difference on the rotors. The cross-drilled feature is good, but the slotted cools even better; and of course both is the best. The only down side is you can't resurface the rotors once they are worn out.

 

[CplPflummUSMC]

I keep seeing this "BBB" mentioned, what exactly is that? So realalistically how much WHP can you get NA vs a within in reason F/I setup? I know it is kinda apples to organes but I am not looking to have a 700+hp firebreathing monster as stated I would like 300WHP. Also I have a complete spare enigne for both displacements so which ever one of these I decide to build will get internal work (cams, head work, etc..). So with these parameters which set up would you guys for N/A or F/I? Again thanks for all your help.

 

[Phoenix]

Big bore butterflies.

270 whp (300 crank hp) can be done N/A. Area91 and me have similar setups and thats what he's getting. my mods are in my sig.

 

[BlackonBlack89]

go with nitrous and a couple bolt-ons, by far the cheapest way to get ur 300whp.

Or u can go nuts with it.

 

[jedhead]

The original reason for cross drilling rotors was to allow gas build up when the pads were heated a place to go. Gas build up on the old organic pads could be so great that the gases could float the pads off the rotors. Today's pads do not have a problem with producing too much gas when heated. The slots in the rotors were created to remove glazing that can build up on the old organic pads over time. Good quality modern pads don't have a glazing problem. Rotor mass helps the brake system cope with the heat. The better rotors will have curved vanes within the rotors to pump air to cool off the rotors. Most of the time "warped" rotors are really not warped but instead have a uneven deposit of pad material on the rotors surface causing the pulsing sensation. High quality pads, rotors and proper seasoning/break-in procedures will prevent this problem.
Cross-drilled and slotted rotors do look cool, but they are more for looks than performance. When I bought out the SHO Shop, Vadim had a pile of cracked cross drilled rotors from stock to 13" diameters from customer cars.
Some BMW, MB, Porsche and other high end sports cars come equipped with cross-drilled rotors, but most of those rotors were designed with cross drilling in mind with extra materials to keep rotors from cracking before pad replacement.

Bob

 

[Brett]

I keep seeing this "BBB" mentioned, what exactly is that? So realalistically how much WHP can you get NA vs a within in reason F/I setup? I know it is kinda apples to organes but I am not looking to have a 700+hp firebreathing monster as stated I would like 300WHP. Also I have a complete spare enigne for both displacements so which ever one of these I decide to build will get internal work (cams, head work, etc..). So with these parameters which set up would you guys for N/A or F/I? Again thanks for all your help.

300whp is near impossible to achieve without touching your internals. On the other hand, with the proper fuel set up (pump, injectors, tweecer, FPR) 300whp is easily attainable on moderate to low boost without having to touch the internals.

 

[LOUDSHO92]

I keep seeing this "BBB" mentioned, what exactly is that? So realalistically how much WHP can you get NA vs a within in reason F/I setup? I know it is kinda apples to organes but I am not looking to have a 700+hp firebreathing monster as stated I would like 300WHP. Also I have a complete spare enigne for both displacements so which ever one of these I decide to build will get internal work (cams, head work, etc..). So with these parameters which set up would you guys for N/A or F/I? Again thanks for all your help.

BBB: SHO Source

N/A: 300hp Max

F/I: 350hp+

It all depends on want.

 

[jacen2912]

here's one simple thing that just makes me cringe: get rid of any rust first. get rid of any nagging issues first. get rid of any missing pieces on the car first. make sure the car is problem-free (IE no CEL's) before you even start, or all problems will become SEVERELY amplified.