I did a quick search, but didn't find an answer to this...

Would there be a performance increase/reliability concern if the headgasket was swapped with a slightly thinner one on a 400 kept N/A? (My non-engine guru status shows through right about now.) Am I better off porting/polishing head, etc.?

(Background: Turbo/super is too involved for me, and nitrous' power is too short, and crazy machining can make the engine run like a funny car's...so I'm doing some planning. Hoping to hit >300whp in a 400. Other suggestions are welcome...)

Thanks!

 

You will be raising compression, but where are you going to source these head gaskets from? I would only do it if you are also going to machine the heads. However; I think there are cheaper and safer ways to get 300rwhp out the 1uzfe.

 

Thanks for the reply... I haven't yet looked into sourcing a thinner headgasket--just wondering if it would be worth investigating.

A piggyback question--I'm not too familiar with the porting/polishing/boring/decking/sleeving/etc thing, so does anyone know the best bang/buck when it comes to this type of machine-shop work?

(Need reliable, not-crazy-expensive-horsepower without going nitrous or FI.)

 

I havent really heard of anyone doing these kind of mods. Not to say they dont exist. The only problem I can see with doing these kind of mods is tuning the car for it since from what I understand the ecu really doesnt like to be tuned. If trying to get 300wheel your best bet is to do headers exhaust intake and then get a SAFC and get that tuned. You might not hit 300wheel but maybe 280+.
hope this helps.

 

yea, headers, cats and exhaust along with a freer flowing intake are the first mods you should consider, then maybe an injector cleaning and balancing and a higher stall TC along with a piggyback fuel/timing controller.

only think about headgasket if you're willing to spend the bones needed to do the whole job, increased comp on the stock pistons/rods isnt the most adviseable thing, and you pretty much will HAVE to have the block/heads machined to get any real increase in comp.

maybe you should read up on a roots/eaton style supercharger?

 

Machining the head/block is a given on most headgasket job you do if you want to ensure no seepage will occur.

What needs to be done to effectively gain power through compression is to get better flowing heads. Raising the compression while still using OEM heads wont give you the gains you're looking for. Port and polish with some more aggressive cams, and then you're talking

 

I know you can change the exhaust cam but I heard you cant really change the intake cam.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. I think, at least for now, I'll stick with:
Headers
Exhaust
Intake
SAFC, tuned
75 shot of N20 ???

That should get me close to 300whp. A PI TC and 3.76 LSD rear end should help with launches, too. I would LOVE a turbo/supercharger, but I just don't have the time/money to deal with troubleshooting a pieced together kit. If I could find a proven, maintenance-free "kit", I'd go for that!

 

If you are going NA, and looking to do headwork, and raising your compression, and you'll need to change cams to tune it properly, are you willing to spend that money you'll need to have a detuned to pass smog? and WHY can't you go forced induction? You'll have just as many problems with a poorly tuned NA setup as you will a FI setup.

Even worse, is the fact that, if something goes wrong, you gotta dig into the motor to figure it out, whereas if something goes wrong in an FI setup, most likely, it'll be something wrong with a turbine, piping, fuel/air, and not the actual engine.

Dollar for dollar, it's much better to dig into forced induction, rather than an NA setup, that will net you much less hp.

5k might give you an intake, headers, exhaust, safc, if you are lucky a pnp, and you need that labor money too, since you don't know how to do most of this stuff.

Tuning costs an easily 100-200 an hour depending on who you go to, and how well they are known for tuning.


5k on a turbo setup, or supercharger setup, will get you a reliable running setup, easily over 300hp on the 1uz, and awesome.


Check out JPI, they have plenty of options, from stroker kits for like 7800+labor, to full FI setups, and it's all inhouse, which means you buy from them, they put it in, they tune it, you're happy, they are happy, you're broke, but you are fast now.

Good luck with running through your options again.

 

PS. Would changing the exhaust cam on an N/A car help?

 

Thanks, Caoboy! Yeah--I know what you mean... I'm just nervous about the troubleshooting that comes with FI. I've spoken with JPI--they sound like they know whats up, and I don't mind the travel, but the price with install/tuning is a couple grand north of my budget.

I wish someone had a plug-n-play kit for this car for $4K that made ~400 rwhp. Dammit.

 

Im not really sure how much hp you would get off a exhaust side cam. I just know some people have done it. I was thinking about doing it and read some horror story about it and it scared me enough to not want to do it anymore.

If your looking for 300wheel you should be able to do it with the setup you said and a little bit of nos. I asked a guy who is runing 125 shot and he said that the 400 should be able to run a 75 shot easily with no problems.

I am contemplating going the nos route only problem is I live in Cali

 

400 rwhp is a lot to ask for for $4k Kit. Since no one makes a kit your best bet is to try and find someone selling their RRM S/C and tweaking it.

 

I think you PM'd me about the nitrous. My brother has his nitrous routed and hidden so that you would not be able to see it. That would take care of any visual inspection. It's very easy to remove as well for those every few year checks.

 

5k for headers, exhaust, & AFC .
Also 5k to get a turbo kit please post link so I can buy two and sell the other and make some of my money back