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I have a pretty clean 92 SC400, and a rusted but mechanically good 93 SC400 parts car. I'm going to strip the 93 and don't want to leave behind any key components.
I'm going to pull the engine and trans. The 93 has about 140,00 miles on it. I'm thinking of giving it a refresh. Pull the heads, pans etc check condition, re-gasket and crate up as a spare. I expect to find good cross hatching on the bores and will pull a bearing cap or two to check for clearances but don't expect to have to change any internals (unless it makes sense). I'm thinking that while it's out and apart doing some basic mods for a a few extra horses or to address a design weakness, might be a good idea. I'm unfamilar with this engine, I'm more of a small block Ford guy.
I'll be keeping things largely stock, no boost or nitrous, and nothing that'll affect reliability. I'm not against some porting or intake/exhaust work, converting to later model injection/ignition etc.
Modifying a used UZ engine is a bottomless pit, into which much money and time can be poured without satisfactory results.
Anything you can do yourself has almost no effect.
Anything significant is $$$.
probably sage advice, if I do anything it'll be parts that can be easily transferred, like headers/intake. On my Ford I extrude honed the intake aside from a bunch of other internals work. This will be a daily driver and treated gently. If nothing else improving breathing will improve fuel economy if I keep my foot out of it.
The biggest bang for your buck with the UZ is exhaust manifolds and a good 3in catback exhaust.
I'm unfamiliar with the exhaust arrangement but assume there are a number of header options. I'd welcome a few suggestions. When buying car parts, stereo's, camera gear etc I prefer to hit the "value sweet spot". By that I mean the cheapest items usually are poor quality or not durable. On the high end you're chasing diminishing returns. I like to get the best value, spending a little more is fine but I don't need the absolute best.
With that said, any suggestions?
On the cat back, I assume there are readily available systems? I'll consider that when I need exhaust. My current set up will be good for a few seasons, although the car did have a muffler delete making the car a little throaty/raspy under throttle. I lean towards quieter and will be aiming for that at replacement time.