So after about a year of suspecions on a lack of performance from my truck and none of my remedies working such as air filter, fuel filter, cleaning of MAF, sparkplugs, coils ect. I finally took it in to a shop to have the problem diagnosed by one of my buddies. Turns out the CATS are clogged. I have a 5 PSI backpressure between the engine and the CATS. According to the MODUS this is causing the MAF to under report the air coming into my engine by 25% causing the lack of performance and MPG loss. I also have a broken manifold bolt on the passenger side causing a leak which might be adding to the problem.

Now where to most this would be a pestering problem that is costly and unwanted. Im looking at it as a good opperunity and a great excuse to drop a few bucks and begin my quest of engine performance.

I have spent the last couple days searching the forums and think i have a pretty good idea what I would like to accomplish in the short and long run. In the long run i would like to have a supercharged set up wether its a lightning motor swap or actually bolting one on my current 5.4. Like I said this is long term and not important at this time.

Right now I would like to do a full exhaust, Headers, highflow cats, muffler. And possibly a tune/programer.

I found this kit after reading on the fourms.
http://www.sparktecmotorsports.com/h10792s-cats.html

Longtube headers and highflow cats. I understand I will need to extend my o2 sensors so boche seems to be the top choice? From what i understand the extentions are problematic so best to replace the whole sensor?

I currently have a flowmaster muffler but i would like to get a Borla and do all 2.5 inch stainless pipe. I dont know much on the borlas yet i need to do more research. I was also thinking of welding in an electric butterfly valve midpipe somewhere.

So my shopping list so far:
OBX Longtube Kit with CATS
Borla muffler
T-8 Locking stud bolts
Boche extended o2s
Electric butterfly

So please any input on this project would be greatly appreciated!!! I will continue to do my research but wanted to get a thread going as well! I want to make sure I am buying all the right parts and get the result im looking for. Also good places to buy from, best prices/good customer service. I need all the help i can get guys!

Thanks!
-Jesse

 

i got the pacesetter headers and they sound mean i think i paid 350$ on ebay. i also got a 75mm tb that woke it right up i paid 175$ also on ebay but had to grind down the intake like 1/8in maybe!! to be a smooth fit so a 70mm probably would fit nice just a few suggestions and the borla sounds awesome my buddy has it on his Denali its a cat back but what a beautiful sound.... sounds like hp hahaha good luck and ebay probably has the cheapest parts and name brand to.....

 

and the iridium plugs are very good to i think i paid 50$ for them

 

iridium plugs, ceramic coated shorties, 2 magnaflow hiflow cats, 2 gutted cats, had to modify the 02 sensors. the 75mm throttle body, port n polish upper intake, electric fans, low temp coolant sensor. also, if you haven't done it already, take the "play" out of your gas pedal. most trucks after a while will get loose. it's a free mod that makes a big difference.

underdrive pulleys are ok, but i spun the center out of one and never did bother putting them back on.

 

You might also want to check why the cats are plugged. They should not be. Running rich or having a plug that is not firing will let raw gas into the cat, which will plug them.

 

I had the rear COP fail because coolant was dripping on it. Thats the only thing i could think of.

 

Shorty headers have been proven to not have near the gains vs the long tubes. So save your money for long tubes.

I would say plan a true dual exhaust with those OBX's (drooling btw) They come with the Y pipe, don't use it. Instead, run an x pipe to true duals with dual 4" magnapacks, or borla's 4" mufflers on 2.5" exhaust.
Bosch will work fine. They are oem, but most will say that the motorcrafts out perform the bosch. So, like most enthusiasts stick with motorcraft for trouble free
Then, a custom tune which wasnt on your list.

 

Im honestly not a fan of dual exhaust. Having a nice strait stainless pipe all the way back dumped over the axel is my forte. I was hoping to pull together a really nice clean look.

But since we are on the subject of duals, Wouldnt a 2.25" pipe be nessisarly for appropriate backpressure, scavenging and other exhaust phenomenons?

I belive the 2.5 inch pipe is for a single in single out set up only.

Also, would motorcraft o2 sensors have longer harnesss on them?

 

2.5" is fine if your not running mandrel bent. Plus you said you plan on going super charged so 2.5 would be better.. Don't worry about back pressure worry about scavenging and velocity.. When i did long tubes i used the Bosch O2 sensors with the 20" long wires and haven't had a problem yet..

 

Also if you want single get the magnaflow y pipe and rub 3" back to the a borla of your choice and then exit of your choice..

 

he is right about the power gain on the shorties. i only did them because i had a contract worked out with gibson.

 

Iv been doing some research on the getting a tuner. What setup are you running and who did your tune? Did you need a custom or were you supplied a canned tune to fit the needs of the Long tubes

 

I am running Long tube OBX headers no cats with 2.5" nonmandrel bent duals with a magnaflow x pipe with two borla turbo mufflers 90'ed behind each tire. I did not need a tuner for the LT's or the no cats because of the Gotts O2 mod. But i did get an Edge cs programmer from PHP with a custom 87 tow and 93 Perf. PHP no longer does CS and CTS tuning but they do tune the gryphon and other programmers. I would suggest a custom tune for your LT's it helps even out your system from running lean and it brings out the leftover power of the LT's on a stock tune. A custom tune is the best way to get the most out of your mods.

 

I have been looking around on the PHP website. I dont see an option for a Gryphon programmer in a version other then CS or CTS. I was also hoping for a version with a dash mount. What would be a respectable programmer i could purchuse to have custom tuned?

 

Ahh that's right the Gryphon is only for the 2004 and up they had problems with the 97-03 ones. Something to do with the cable. You can also look into troyer, 5star tuning and there are a few others. Go look in the the chip,tuner, programmer sections there is alot of info there. I have only had experience with php so i don't know to much about the other tuners. I believe they used SCT and diablo programmers.