Getting more power?

[Shadrack]

My best friend has the following, and i'm trying to help him make his truck faster.
He has the following on his 2001 S-10, 4.3L, 5-speed, ext. cab Xtreme.

Exhaust (flowmaster, with no cats), TB Spacer, K&N FIPK, B&M Short Throw Shifter.


What mods to do next to get the most power?

Here are the mod's that he wants to do next. He is going to order all three and install them together.
Flex-A-Lite E-Fans
Shortie Headers
Computer Chip/Program/ or Edit (if possible)


However, he doesn't know much about the mods, so i'm volunteering on helping him. I'll do the installation of them, with his help. So, how would those mods add up? And, what would you all recommend doing?
Thanks

[OBI WAN]

E-fans are a great debate and there is and article in the articles section on e-fans. You lucky to make any power of a noticable amount all the time.

Headers would be my choice. It changes and add power to the whole RPM power curve and is the #1 area of restriction etc within and exhaust!

Programmers for the most part do well when first installed, but after time get learned out of the OBD2 and end up a minimal gain.

And Edit which I have toyed with for about 8 months is the better of the bunch, but still isnt what its cracked up to be UNLESS you NEED it, By that I mean youve changed something so dramatically that the base OBD2 program doesnt or cannot properlly deal with the modifaction. I've toyed for quite some time to gain maybe 10 h.p. that has stayed!!

[DROPPEDGMC]

i think headers next for what he has. do they make mids or long tubes for it? check into it if so. that would be your best bet

[OBI WAN]

No long tubes anymore!!!! You might be able to make a set of Edelbrocks work, but I aint gonna say that!!

[LEADFOOT]

JBA ceramic coated headers!!!!! Its what I should have done first. This site is loaded with good info on this topic. When you get some time search the whole site and you will see for yourself, no need to ask questions its all here already. But if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

[Shadrack]

E-fans doesn't add power???? I've seen dyno (by real people) results showing approx. 15hp to the wheels by adding e-fans. This was on a 5.4L Ford F-150, but still.

So...would headers and E-fans would be a good combo?
Also, i'd say he will get the JBA Nickle Headers, mainly because of price, and the possiblilty of selling the truck or doing an LS1 swap in 5 or so years down the road.

[LEADFOOT]

E-fans doesn't add power???? I've seen dyno (by real people) results showing approx. 15hp to the wheels by adding e-fans. This was on a 5.4L Ford F-150, but still.

So...would headers and E-fans would be a good combo?
Also, i'd say he will get the JBA Nickle Headers, mainly because of price, and the possiblilty of selling the truck or doing an LS1 swap in 5 or so years down the road.

From what I have felt by adding E-fans is that by removing the clutch fan, the motor revs a little faster. The reason for the gains on the 5.4L is that the fan may be bigger and the fact that the motor is bigger. The smaller the displacement in the motor the less the gain. I have been told by lots of people the the ceramic coated headers are well wearth the money. They also last alot longer. Like I said in my previous post there is alot of info on what your wanting to know. There is not enough people on line at the moment to get everyones opinion so I would suggest reading through some of the areas on the 4.3L and you will find alot of answers to the questions you have. Jedi has posted some info on the E-fans. There is also postings on alot of other mods. Headers is the most popular to start with. Check all the mods I have, I can't get the full effect out any of these because I don't have headers. I'm sure you have heard of air in, air out, I have freed up the intake track and added some power adders but I haven't got to the air out part. JBA ceramic coated headers, exhaust reworked and Wynjammer super charger going on next month..............just my 2cents

[Shadrack]

I'll check out the other forums. Thanks for your help.

[nomaboy]

the only way you will see all the potential gain of the headers is with a new and bigger y-pipe. from my experience. I didn't even get 1 tenth with just the headers. when I got a custom y-pipe made it took about 3 tenths off 1/4 mile.

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

Looking at the list. . . Current mods look OK, except for one: get rid of the TB spacer -- it's worthless on the SFI motors. Other than that, You've covered most of the bases aside from an ignition system.

[OBI WAN]

I'll check out the other forums. Thanks for your help.
Screw the other forums! The forums here and especially the articles section which it seems everone overlooks. Chevy High Performance mag did a test on efans and found little to nothing and stated aint worth the hassle.
OTHER sites have the opinion, er butt dyno testing by most of its members, the true gear heads have burned out and left due to constant BS quarrels over nothing really.
ANd also remember, Magazines for the most part are piad big dollars from these companies to advertise a product for sale. What happens is they go to a particular company due to emails etc asking about a mod. The company then picks the vehicle that has the most problems and will show a gain on a dyno, then do that vehicle. The articles you read where there is no dyno test done for a mod make you wonder!!

[joker2040]

Shadrack--There are also some fairly cheap mods that your buddy could do. Like the EGR mod and the throttle body restrictor. These two mods aren't going to show rwhp numbers like headers but they will help throttle response.

I have headers (JBA Ceramic Coated) and I like'm. I still need to get a bigger y-pipe though. I have the following mods in my sig and it got me the time below. Granted I couldn't get any traction on street tires. If I had some slicks then it would have been a great deal faster.

[Supercharged-ZQ8]

Screw the other forums! The forums here and especially the articles section which it seems everone overlooks. Chevy High Performance mag did a test on efans and found little to nothing and stated aint worth the hassle.
OTHER sites have the opinion, er butt dyno testing by most of its members, the true gear heads have burned out and left due to constant BS quarrels over nothing really.
ANd also remember, Magazines for the most part are piad big dollars from these companies to advertise a product for sale. What happens is they go to a particular company due to emails etc asking about a mod. The company then picks the vehicle that has the most problems and will show a gain on a dyno, then do that vehicle. The articles you read where there is no dyno test done for a mod make you wonder!!I think the forums HERE are what he meant. . . Leadfoot had posted to search the site, and I think that was the intent of the reply -- not "other" forums, but other sections on THIS one. . .

[Shadrack]

Yea, I meant searching other "topics" within this forum. My bad on that.

[Shadrack]

Okay, i've talked it over with my buddy, and he's up for this. So... here are the mods I think we have decided to go.

Shortie headers. JBA Nickle plated (el cheapo, but oh well) ($350)
Full Exhaust from the headers to exit. Run 2.25" pipes, no cats, to a x-pipe, to dual Flowmaster 40 Series Originals (might be dumped, not decided).
Then adding a 75 shot of Laughing Gas.

On the bottle, it should give him close to a 100hp gain. He's wanting to outrun a Mustang GT.
And, if he has enough money, then we'll add in E-fans.

Also, what is the "Diffuser Removal" mod, and how it is done?


Thanks for your alls help.

[joker2040]

The diffuser mod or the restrictor plate mod as some call it is done by removing it from the throttle body. If you take the top of the intake off of the throttle body then open the throttle body up as if you were giving it gas you'll see the "restrictor". The way I took my off is first I removed the whole throttle body so I didn't drop anything in my engine. Then I took the butterfly out of it. (Comes out with 2 small screws) After that you can cut it off with a dremel. I left some of it on the butterfly though b/c it is rivetted on. If you pull the rivets out then you'll have 2 big holes in the throttle body when it is closed. Thus making is get more incoming air at idle forcing it to idle higher.

If you guys need some help with it or wanna see my nitrous setup then let me know. I'm sure we can meet up somewhere in Lex. Also I can hook you up with an EGR limiter.

In the end you should be running close with a stock Mustang GT. They aren't that fast in the first place. Camaros are a different story though!

Well the new 2005 Mustang GT's are suppose to pull a 14.2 @ 102mph.

[biglouie_underpressure]

100 shot of naaawzz?

[Shadrack]

Nah... just a 75 shot.

[biglouie_underpressure]

auto or 5-speed? if 5-speed may want to get a window switch for the bottle. for some reason i hit the rev limiter on top of third spraying every time i run the 1/8th.