Hi all im just looking for some advice on what order to do some mods to my car.
So far i have a 2.5" cat back system and thats about it really.
I picked up another head on friday that has had a lot of work done to it ported and polished xr6 valve springs hardened valve seats etc the head looks in great condition and the work has been done to a very high standard. would i gain anything by having the head machined to up compression a little as well or is it not really worth it?
Also on my list of mods is a set of extractors unsure on what brand i am going for at this stage but by the looks of it the cat will need to be shortened no matter what brand i go for is this true??
I will also be putting in an after market cam at this stage a 1636.
would i be better off waiting until i have all the bits ie cam extractors etc and doing it all in one go or do the head first cos i have it and the extractors when i get them and the cam when i get that or any other order.
I would only break it all up and do it bit by bit so i could see what mod makes how much difference but i will be doing 3 times the work by doing it all at different times would there be any other advantages to doing it all at once or break it up???
Opinions comments all welcome, anything else i could/should do before during or after as well would be appreciated

Cheers

Marchy

you can go the 1636, or wade has a new profile they have just finished testing. bigger than the 1636, but would go well with the port and polished head.

go the extractors first (pacemaker), the exhaust shop will shorten the cat when they do it, pacemaker release instructions with their extractors for exhaust places on how to do it.

has your head gasket been done? if not, then good chance to change you head, use an AU head gasket and chuck in the came at the same time.

y do u need 2 shorten the cat

Beacause extractors are a fair bit longer than the stock headers are.

and the stock cat is only a 2 or 2.25 inch inlet IIRC. they flange it out to 2.5" do they not?

Correct. They gotta make the flanges meet up, and performace parts are bigger than stock, so.

well is there any way the cat can be altered without taking it to a shop or is there an aftermarket cat that will bolt up easily??? any one have any hints as im trying to do all work on the car myself that i can

i don't think there is a bolt-on cat for the fords as a aftermarket part....as for stretching the cat u could try with a hand expander but if u took of your standerd engine pipe(it has the cat in it) to a exhaust shop the would cut it out and flick it up for a 6 pack it's not that hard just some welding skill's are needed to reweld back into place......give it a go ya self once you see it i'm sure u could work it out

happy fitting

Well i fitted the extractors tonight pretty simple would have been much easier if my sprained wrists had some more strength in them but i got there.

I went to a wrecker and picked up a cat to get me out of trouble but its had its guts removed (yes i know about the legalities) would i be better off leaving that in there or get the magnaflo cat fitted (see below) Would there be any great problems with leaving the gutted cat in there ie power loss/gain?? or is the legalities the only real draw back? I need a new gasket for the cat before i will know if its made any difference its a lot louder but its leaking a little so that may be causing some noise.

I was quoted $380 to fit the extractors and supply a magnaflo 2.5" cat and fit it does this sound ok?? Now that the extractors are fitted i guess it will be less not by much tho not really sure.

Now to order my cam for my slightly better than stock head

Cheers all for your words of wisdom

Marchy

Here's a CAT that works well.

 

 

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My homemade Exhaust on 88EA sedan. 009.jpg [ 485.85 KiB | Viewed 134 times ]

Here's a CAT that doesn't work all the time. .....Damn CAT.

 

 

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