I just bought a 96 gt and need help on making it go fast it is an automatic i have read this forum and people are talking about pi what is that please help thanks i have about 1800 to spend right now

 

PI stands for Performance Improvement and are the heads that came stock on the 99-04 Mustang GT's. The blocks are virtually the same, but the heads between the years are different (i.e. 98 v 99). The head change netted around a 45-50HP increase, bringing the Mustang GT into the Mid-200 HP range at the flywheel.

A PI swap is when you take the stock heads off of your 96 engine and replace them with PI heads, and change the intake to a PI Intake manifold (the one with the aluminum crossover). If your intake has not cracked, I would suggest doing a PI swap with that 1800 burning a hole in your pocket and get a tune with it. Thats good for a nice jumpstart to your HP game, since those cars only came stock with 215HP at the crank from the factory.

Just my .02

 

what else do i have to do to make it work and how much will it run is it hard to do myself

 

if I were you, id do nitrous, gears, and reprogrammer.


If you are asking if you could do a head swap yourself, then, you cant.

 

search ebay for pi head swap kit there is a guy who sells are new parts with everything needed for really cheap.

and with these heads it will bump your compression up to 10.4:1 i belive it is. this is beacuase the Pi heads have a smaller combustion chamber then the older non PI heads so ford added larger pistons in the 96-98 modles to get some compression out of it.

basicly it a non pi headed motor with PI heads swapped on wil make more power with the same mods as a 99=04 GT will becuase you have the extra compression which makes more power. you will need 93octane gas with a PI swap.

 

i have a 96 gt as well its a 5 speed tho...my plans are to put 4.10 gears in...the car has flowmasters but their gonna get switched with the slp loudmouth cat back (mabe ill get the mid pipe as well)...cold air intake...and i just got done installing my 99+ intake manifold cuz mine was cracked...and ima put some drag radials on their and be done with the mods for a bit

 

No way I wouldnt spend that much money for a headswap when a blower will make waay more power than PI heads. The headswap will cost you as much as it costs for a blower.

Just slap a nice vortech supercharger on it with a decent exhaust and be done with it. You almost have enough money for one right now. Look for a deal on one or just save up for a little while longer.

If you do the headswap your car will likely be out of your hands for a while. Depending upon if the shop you are working with will be able to install it there at the shop or not. You will have increased compression from a headswap and thats a not a desireable thing unless you plan on keeping it N/A forever. Worse gas mileage too. If you do a headswap you will probably want to put a PI intake, new intake elbow, throttle body, and CAI on it too. Your talking serious money here....

All that when you could just take one whole day to install the supercharger (you can do it) and youll be more than satisfied with the performance. The car will only use more gas while its under boost. Most kits come with a premade tune for your car. All you have to do is plug a new chip into your computer.

Seriously look into a supercharger. It may sound like a big deal but trust me that headswap will be alot more involved timewise and moneywise.

 

I have a 96 GT aswell and i am going to do the head swap the best place to look i www.parkwayperformance.com they have the whole kit with all you need to do the swap and doing it your self depends on your ability and tool supply but if you are going to get those i waould go ahead and have them ported and polished while the are off the car and it will add a little more power

 

how does a headswap cost as much as a blower? they guy on ebay sells kits for $1450 i belive i cant remeber the price but its well below 2k i dont know of a single blower kit for our cars that less than that or equal to it.

 

i am with you africa the cheapist blower i have seen is 3 grand

 

honeslt its your best bet. its not ot expensive you can have fun working on your car while your at it. and if you to adding a set of cams would be a good mod as well but that would but it near 2k for a set of cams. i would go witha used set as there are always some for sale around the internet.

 

Sure, so that when he decides that he wants do dial up the boost without forging any of the internals or anything and he grenades his block, clutch, and tranny, he knows who to blame.

 

For $1500 for heads... heres the deal - bump that mess - spend the $1500 to get your internals FORGED!!!! - u'll pick up some power... but then when you add a charger u will be ready to rock! - you then put 20+lbs on the sucker and you talking 500+ rwhp - the stock heads and cams will hold u just fine - spend that to forge out.. then save and get a charger - by far the best way to go in the long run - especially for a daily driver

 

Let me clear a few things up here, I have actually done the swap and paid out the money.
1. You can find a set of PI heads/cams/intake for a reasonable price. I bought mine for $500 shipped. Then I sold the cams for $100 so I only had $400 in the heads/intake.
2.You do NOT have to run 93 octane fuel with a headswap. I run 91octane ETHANOL of all things.I ran it before I got it tuned and after. I wouldn't even have got it tuned if it weren't for putting cams and a converter in it.
3. A headswap is nowhere near the price of a blower.
4. By the time its said and done, I would plan on having about $1000 invested.
5. Plan on around a 30-40rwhp increase.

Adam

 

Took the words right out of my mouth.

PI swaps can be done no problem for under $600. OR, spend $2500 and get some good after-market heads and cams. That would be worth 100 hp...almost as much as a blower, but for about $1000 less.

Either way, you have a better foundation for a blower in the future.

 

Actually I was gonna hook him up with Derek Downs' phone number. He has a set of fully ported an polished heads that were done by Livernois Motorsports. All you do is add your cams, but he just sold them for $1100. I know they work because his stock shortblock 2000GT ran 11.83!!!


Adam

 

where did you guys find the heads for that price and what are ur guys opions on the VT stage 1 cams

 

you just search around the internet on modular ford forums till you find them for cheap.

 

alright thanks