TAF
11-03-2003, 08:11 PM
After 42 days, I finally drove her home tonight. I've now "taken delivery" for the 3rd time and she's better....stronger....faster.. .. Than EVER!!!
Look at her! (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1185)
Let's recap from an earlier post:
Let me start by giving you my stock baseline numbers from August of '02 when there were 2500 clicks on her.
Bone Stock – 241.9 RWHP 261.2 RWTQ
That same day after installing Dennis’ chip, 4:10’s, ‘Stat and Cooler Copper Plugs (not the Denzos)
RPC Stage 1 - 252.0 RWHP 283.6 RWTQ
Then I wanted to see a NEW baseline to see what effect the pullies had since my last pull. Especially since I posted that I could definitely tell a “seat-of-the-pants” difference immediately after the install. Well...I wasn’t imagining things…(now keep in mind there are about 10K clicks since the Dyno posted above and the car has continued to feel better as the miles run up) But….
After Pullies - 267.0 RWHP 288.5 RWTQ !!!
So…with that new baseline, it was time to get the “fine-tune” from Jerry and the FordChip boys. After he fixed the AFR (air-fuel ratio) and made a couple of tweeks…here are my final numbers after the tune - 272.7 RWHP 297.3 RWTQ
Now to the past couple of weeks:
After she had set in the Body Shop for 3 weeks getting a new face-lift and a new rear end...we strapped her down for some new baseline #s...
New Baseline - 268.9 RWHP 294.8 RWTQ
I remember post more than a year and a half ago that said you "won't get ANY gain from upgrading the exhaust". But, we have some choices out there and I looked at all of them. I spoke with Nick at Kooks who was a GREAT guy and pondered whether to go in this direction. I was also impressed with what was stated as the HP & TQ gains with the Kooks headers. However, upon closer review of the dyno sheets posted, I didn't see the across-the-board gain that I was looking for or feel that the total numbers given were on the right track for me. As well, my car is still my business car and I was concerned about moving the collectors under the passenger compartment and what affect that would have on interior noise.
So I knew what I needed to do...and, anyway...my car has been improved and enhanced by Reinhart Performance, it's a Reinhart car...so I then turned to Dennis....again. The next decision was to do either the ported & polished manifolds or the SVO shorties. I must say that I made an aesthetic decision as well as a performance decision...I LOVE the looks of those shorties over the manifolds. So with the final decision made, I had installed Dennis' shorty headers, x-pipe and hi-flow cats. I also wanted to provide for the board something that had not been posted before...a TRUE before/after install of this single mod. What did I get? 15 RWHP & 15 RWTQ...across the board!!!
However, during the install we had to re-use the 2" pipes from the stock H-pipe back to reach from Dennis' kit to the mufflers. This potential "bottle-neck" concerned me so I consulted an exhaust expert here in Atlanta. He designed a custom cat-back system which would include 2.5" direct pipes from the X-pipe to 2 new 18" Magnaflow mufflers. I then (once again concerned with aesthetics) wanted to do something about the tailpipes which you can see through the rear wheels. I thought about having them polished to have a smooth flow into the new OEM tips I purchased for replacement from Wes Chain...but, we decided the best thing to do was to paint them black and make them disappear...so that's what we did. We also moved the new tips out about 3/4" to make for a cleaner look that clears the rear bumper.
So...what are the final numbers now?
289.9 RWHP & 316.5 RWTQ!!!
I've almost met my goal of moving the stock, stated crank HP & TQ to the rear wheels, normally aspirated with simple bolt-ons from Dennis! And the car is unbelievable now!!! Now I'm ready for Jerry's visit on the 15th for a Dyno-tune to see how much more we can eak out of this engine!
You can examine the Dyno sheet below to see what can be gained from upgrading the exhaust from stock. Green = before exhaust upgrade Red = after installing Dennis' headers/x-pipe & hi-flow cats and Blue = after install of Dennis' kit with the cat-back upgrade.
Oh...and I also upgraded to a Baer Brake kit, braided-stainless steel brake lines from Kenny Brown, a real working Oil Pressure Gauge with the OEM face and I went ahead and put a new set of shoes on her at all 4 corners.(BFG's OEMs)
Pics are below and more are in the Gallery:
Baer Brakes (front) (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1190)
Baer (fronts) 2 (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1192)
Baer (rear) with Black painted OEM calipers (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1193)
Magnaflow 18" Stainless mufflers (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1191)
FINALLY...I get to post a pic of my red valve covers (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1187)
Steve Babcock's autograph and date on the coil covers (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1188)
I'm in love...all over again!!!
Look at her! (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1185)
Let's recap from an earlier post:
Let me start by giving you my stock baseline numbers from August of '02 when there were 2500 clicks on her.
Bone Stock – 241.9 RWHP 261.2 RWTQ
That same day after installing Dennis’ chip, 4:10’s, ‘Stat and Cooler Copper Plugs (not the Denzos)
RPC Stage 1 - 252.0 RWHP 283.6 RWTQ
Then I wanted to see a NEW baseline to see what effect the pullies had since my last pull. Especially since I posted that I could definitely tell a “seat-of-the-pants” difference immediately after the install. Well...I wasn’t imagining things…(now keep in mind there are about 10K clicks since the Dyno posted above and the car has continued to feel better as the miles run up) But….
After Pullies - 267.0 RWHP 288.5 RWTQ !!!
So…with that new baseline, it was time to get the “fine-tune” from Jerry and the FordChip boys. After he fixed the AFR (air-fuel ratio) and made a couple of tweeks…here are my final numbers after the tune - 272.7 RWHP 297.3 RWTQ
Now to the past couple of weeks:
After she had set in the Body Shop for 3 weeks getting a new face-lift and a new rear end...we strapped her down for some new baseline #s...
New Baseline - 268.9 RWHP 294.8 RWTQ
I remember post more than a year and a half ago that said you "won't get ANY gain from upgrading the exhaust". But, we have some choices out there and I looked at all of them. I spoke with Nick at Kooks who was a GREAT guy and pondered whether to go in this direction. I was also impressed with what was stated as the HP & TQ gains with the Kooks headers. However, upon closer review of the dyno sheets posted, I didn't see the across-the-board gain that I was looking for or feel that the total numbers given were on the right track for me. As well, my car is still my business car and I was concerned about moving the collectors under the passenger compartment and what affect that would have on interior noise.
So I knew what I needed to do...and, anyway...my car has been improved and enhanced by Reinhart Performance, it's a Reinhart car...so I then turned to Dennis....again. The next decision was to do either the ported & polished manifolds or the SVO shorties. I must say that I made an aesthetic decision as well as a performance decision...I LOVE the looks of those shorties over the manifolds. So with the final decision made, I had installed Dennis' shorty headers, x-pipe and hi-flow cats. I also wanted to provide for the board something that had not been posted before...a TRUE before/after install of this single mod. What did I get? 15 RWHP & 15 RWTQ...across the board!!!
However, during the install we had to re-use the 2" pipes from the stock H-pipe back to reach from Dennis' kit to the mufflers. This potential "bottle-neck" concerned me so I consulted an exhaust expert here in Atlanta. He designed a custom cat-back system which would include 2.5" direct pipes from the X-pipe to 2 new 18" Magnaflow mufflers. I then (once again concerned with aesthetics) wanted to do something about the tailpipes which you can see through the rear wheels. I thought about having them polished to have a smooth flow into the new OEM tips I purchased for replacement from Wes Chain...but, we decided the best thing to do was to paint them black and make them disappear...so that's what we did. We also moved the new tips out about 3/4" to make for a cleaner look that clears the rear bumper.
So...what are the final numbers now?
289.9 RWHP & 316.5 RWTQ!!!
I've almost met my goal of moving the stock, stated crank HP & TQ to the rear wheels, normally aspirated with simple bolt-ons from Dennis! And the car is unbelievable now!!! Now I'm ready for Jerry's visit on the 15th for a Dyno-tune to see how much more we can eak out of this engine!
You can examine the Dyno sheet below to see what can be gained from upgrading the exhaust from stock. Green = before exhaust upgrade Red = after installing Dennis' headers/x-pipe & hi-flow cats and Blue = after install of Dennis' kit with the cat-back upgrade.
Oh...and I also upgraded to a Baer Brake kit, braided-stainless steel brake lines from Kenny Brown, a real working Oil Pressure Gauge with the OEM face and I went ahead and put a new set of shoes on her at all 4 corners.(BFG's OEMs)
Pics are below and more are in the Gallery:
Baer Brakes (front) (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1190)
Baer (fronts) 2 (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1192)
Baer (rear) with Black painted OEM calipers (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1193)
Magnaflow 18" Stainless mufflers (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1191)
FINALLY...I get to post a pic of my red valve covers (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1187)
Steve Babcock's autograph and date on the coil covers (http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showphoto.php?photo=1188)
I'm in love...all over again!!!