Tooky
Serious about performance
Hi, I've recieved some great advice on this issue so far, but I want to ask the board to see if there are any other opinions.
I'm currently running a best 12.58 with stock parts on 100 octane and usually run 12.7s or so. My goal is a seriously fast street car that is reliable and driveable most of the time. I am willing to spend significant time turning wrenches but I want a street car and not a dragster. So what I'm looking for at minimum is a vehicle that can run consistent high 11s the majority of the time I run it anywhere. Right now if I take someone for a ride in my truck it's a low 13 second ride and pretty unimpressive. Rarely do I give someone a ride when it happens to be making peak power.
So I have a few grand and I'm preparing to drop some serious $ on my truck for the very first time. I was gonna put on a PT51 turbo upgrade and then do a torque converter if the spool turns out to be too slow (and rebuild the tranny) and same thing if the injectors turn out to requre 50#s. No problems there. And I've already got the $390 SMC Alcohol Injection kit so hopefully I can run ~20 PSI Boost on 93 octane once I get that dialed in. I really look forward to tweaking with the alcohol and spending time on it. My problem is I'm not sure the turbo (and converter/injector) upgrade is going to give me enough power increase to satisfy my minimum requirement (consistent 11s). I imagine it running 12.2-12.3s or so and maybe an 11.99 on the best days. That isnt' fast enough to warrant the $ spent.
Would I be better off with a different vehicle? I'm open to Turbo Regals, F-bodys, Fox body Mustangs, big block "hot rods", or DSMs. I like my Syclone a lot though and the AWD is a big attraction for my "street car" criteria, and the originality of a rare truck scores big points in my book. But my bottom line is I want that hard acceleration over anything else. I wish I knew if the PT51/stock motor idea would be building "enough".
My final option is to build another 4.3 motor for my Sy on the side and do forged bottom end, camshaft, and not much else. Then add a big turbo (PT63-ish) and try to run mid-low 11s or faster if the build allows. Problem is I dont have any real accessibility for a place to store and build a motor at this point in my life. I could rent a storage unit and do it there but its not as convenient. But I'm willing to do what it takes so this is still an option. I guess if you think if I build the PT51 and run it I'm gonna be really disappointed, then you should tell me I'd be a lot happier just building a built motor to begin with and not spending any time/money on a stock motor idea. OTOH it seems silly to discontinue use of a tight 35,000 mile stock motor. Ahhhh decisions, decisions. Please help. 8)
I'm currently running a best 12.58 with stock parts on 100 octane and usually run 12.7s or so. My goal is a seriously fast street car that is reliable and driveable most of the time. I am willing to spend significant time turning wrenches but I want a street car and not a dragster. So what I'm looking for at minimum is a vehicle that can run consistent high 11s the majority of the time I run it anywhere. Right now if I take someone for a ride in my truck it's a low 13 second ride and pretty unimpressive. Rarely do I give someone a ride when it happens to be making peak power.
So I have a few grand and I'm preparing to drop some serious $ on my truck for the very first time. I was gonna put on a PT51 turbo upgrade and then do a torque converter if the spool turns out to be too slow (and rebuild the tranny) and same thing if the injectors turn out to requre 50#s. No problems there. And I've already got the $390 SMC Alcohol Injection kit so hopefully I can run ~20 PSI Boost on 93 octane once I get that dialed in. I really look forward to tweaking with the alcohol and spending time on it. My problem is I'm not sure the turbo (and converter/injector) upgrade is going to give me enough power increase to satisfy my minimum requirement (consistent 11s). I imagine it running 12.2-12.3s or so and maybe an 11.99 on the best days. That isnt' fast enough to warrant the $ spent.
Would I be better off with a different vehicle? I'm open to Turbo Regals, F-bodys, Fox body Mustangs, big block "hot rods", or DSMs. I like my Syclone a lot though and the AWD is a big attraction for my "street car" criteria, and the originality of a rare truck scores big points in my book. But my bottom line is I want that hard acceleration over anything else. I wish I knew if the PT51/stock motor idea would be building "enough".
My final option is to build another 4.3 motor for my Sy on the side and do forged bottom end, camshaft, and not much else. Then add a big turbo (PT63-ish) and try to run mid-low 11s or faster if the build allows. Problem is I dont have any real accessibility for a place to store and build a motor at this point in my life. I could rent a storage unit and do it there but its not as convenient. But I'm willing to do what it takes so this is still an option. I guess if you think if I build the PT51 and run it I'm gonna be really disappointed, then you should tell me I'd be a lot happier just building a built motor to begin with and not spending any time/money on a stock motor idea. OTOH it seems silly to discontinue use of a tight 35,000 mile stock motor. Ahhhh decisions, decisions. Please help. 8)
