very true.. still extra strain on the bottom end though. No denying that. Wear builds up.

 

someone mind fillin me in on the PI definition, price to do myself and difficulty?

 

Check my post I covered most of that.

 

With that kind of cash, I would take some steps. Being that it's your DD and you want to have some fun! I'd do a PI head/intake/exhaust/cam swap. Save the extra cash and use it when it's needed. * A note try to do all the work yourself so you can learn how things work just in case if it breaks down you will have some knowledge to do a quick fix.

 

18 is a great age to start learning how to build a car. Along those lines, I'd start with a few easier things that will be useful even if you do end up putting thousands of dollars into the car. Everyone needs a good cold air intake and exhaust pipe. These won't get you a ton of power but it will get some grease under your nails.

A CAI and exhaust are just bolt-ons. Start there and after that I doubt you'll be quite so intimidated. Then you could get a used 5.4l short block and some PI heads and intake and build your own engine. The nice thing about this is, you're building a new engine, not just rebuilding yours, so you can take as long as you want and still have your car for daily driving. You'll not just see more HP out of that engine, you'll see a lot more torque too and you could definitely do it yourself for less than $4k.

Seriously, don't worry about taking classes. I'm working on a degree at a pretty brutal school and working on my car has been a great stress releaver. Sure, it takes time out of an already busy schedule but you really feel like you're accomplishing something.