With the recent addition of the superchip, I've pretty much finished. Here it goes
JBA headers
Cat-back exaust (custom magna-flow SIDO)
K&N Intake mod
Poweraid spacer
Custom cold-air intake routing

Too much $$$ but it was all worth it!
I estimate to be running between 250-270hp (off the engine, not rear wheel), sound about right? If that's the case, here I come v-8's! All I can say is, now, I'm glad i kept my truck. It's been good to me.

I've stayed away from all the "electrical" mods (mods that use electricity, like fans, pulleys (which reduce output)) because I'm currently upgrading stereo. total 1500 watts so I need that juice!

I still want the blower, perhaps next year once I get situated in the military... and nitrous was an option but knowing me, I'd use it all the time and kill my engine.
Any thing else I can do?! My truck has been pulling wonderfully, esp since I put the chip in two weeks ago. even though I had the battery unplugged during the whole install, with lights on, I've noticed the performance increasing since it was put in. I'm not going to complain, that's for sure!
Quesiton is, is porting worth it? If I ported the upper and lower intake manifolds, what's the expected gain and estimated cost?

Well, now that my truck has over $3000 of my $$$, all I can do is give it more!

 

Only 3K? Dang, and I thought I was cheap.

 

Well, I figure I've done pretty well. I haggled reasonably for most of my current stuff, including the audio. I had a girlfriend during most of the mods but now, much more cash is freed up to spend on my true love, My Ford!

 

Originally posted by BJays Red 150
I had a girlfriend during most of the mods but now, much more cash is freed up to spend on my true love, My Ford! [/QUOTE]

Girlfriend = major cash drain crisis. Hehe.

 

tell me about it. every weekend i spent about 40-70 bucks on going out at night. that would add up fast for that SC that i have been wanting

 

If you use a class D amp for your subs and a decent capacitor, your 1500W system won't put very much drain on your electrical system.

I have a 1200W (RMS power) system in my ranger and I can't get the headlights to flicker or anything. (stock electrical system, no capacitor)

 

Actually, my listing was total power. the amp is an MTX 6500D for the subs that usually puts out near 700watts at 2ohms. The other amps are an 8302 (150x2@2) and an MTX RT2120 (50x2@4). it's not as much about the power being available, but I'd just rather not put too much strain on my electrial systems, esp when my total audio value will be around 2k.

 

I'm afraid that you are going to butt heads with a fuel management issue. The V-6 comes with 19lb injectors. A six pack of those is efficient only up to about 250 hp when they are clean and functioning at full efficiency. As they start to attempt to deliver more fuel above that amount, their efficiency starts to drop quickly, leading to disappointing power gains for later mods.

Porting and polishing the upper and lower intakes (while leaving the butterfly valves intact can have a nice impact on the top end, with gains of ~10 HP or more not unheard of. Add that mod to ported and polished heads and you could be talking about a combined improvement of near 30HP (the mods compliment each other when done together, but don't deliver a whole lot when done seperately). However, given your total current power:

202 base
FIPK + 10
Headers +15
Exhaust +8
TB spacer +2
superchip +20 (25 or so with custom program for headers)
gives about 257-262 HP.

At 262 HP, you are pushing the Fuel injectors to around 85-90% of capacity, leading to possible performance loss. If you do the porting and polishing, you will be extremely close to 300 HP (with most of your power coming near the red line), however, your injectors will likely hold you back to closer to 275 HP.

This would neccessitate a change to 24 lb, or even ~30 lb injectors. The 24lb injectors would take you to a bit over 300HP, which will be fine for the porting and polishing. However, combining your existing mods with the supercharger (read, mega power, good airflow through engine + forced induction = lots of power), you could come close to exceeding 350HP, and, if you take advantage of the fact that you can crank up the boost a bit with a different pulley (and you will probably want to, since you've allowed the engine to breath better, the supercharger will not build boost as well due to it all being let out of the engine, I have personally experienced this phenomenon with a 350 Chevy in an old camaro [it was my best friends] that had a 150 blower (the baby blower that is great for stock engines) It was quite strong, until we added headers, a bigger exhaust system with turndowns, and some other, minor plumbing changes, then, it would no longer build enough boost with even the smallest pulley). So, if you want to go with the supercharger, and you're certain of this, the ~30 lb injectors are the way to go. They are available through ford motersports and other outlets.

Also, there are other fuel system changes that you might have to consider. The 24lb injectors are fairly conservative, and not much should have to be done to support them besides just installing them and getting a programming update for your superchip (neccessary to help the computer deal with the change). The stock fuel pump, which is the same that is used on the 4.6 V8, has enough capacity, as does the rest of the fuel system. With the ~30 lb injectors, you will likely begin to run into capacity issues with the following items:

Fuel pump
Fuel mamangement unit
Possibly some plumbing as well.

Though you might get away with just going to a "high flow" fuel pump, I would talk to someone that knows a lot about the v-6 fuel system and its capacity before I went this far.

When its all said and done, you could potentially have a V-6 that produces almost 400 HP (would likely require a custom ground cam, but do-able). Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, pray that the bottom end holds together, its not designed for that kind of power at the crank. Think major engine upgrades to support that.

Honestly, I would get the 24 lb injectors if I did the porting and polishing and stop there. I might get the blower one day, but, I would let the injectors be an artificial safety device, keeping me from putting too much power to the bottom end.

I pulled most of this information from the several forums on this site, my own basic mechanical knowledge, experience with a few friend's cars, and some discussions that I had with mechanics in the past when I was planning to put turbos on my F-150 V-6 (lots of planning to do there, finished on the list of mods and upgrades neccessary over $5000 worth of work) and then my wife got pregnant. The budget disappeared and I bailed on the project.

 

Also, if you Port&Polish the intakes and heads (or even just the intakes) and/or go the supercharger route, you might also want to consider a larger MAF and Throttlebody. While mildly and moderately modified engines don't show much of a gain for the money for those two mods, they are critical for high-horsepower applications. The stock TB and MAF start to significantly impact the performance that your engine can generate between 250 and 300 HP. So, just doing the intakes, the TB and MAF probably won't help you much. Doing the intakes and heads, the TB and MAF will definitely show up, though, you'll still be in that "grey" area, so the gains still will not be at their maximum. However, if you do some porting and go for the supercharger, you'll definitely want the TB and MAF, and, probably will want them even if you don't do the porting.

The engine still needs to know how much air is coming into it, and a MAF that is being forced to flow more air than it is rated for does not accurately tell the computer how much is passing. The TB needs to be large enough to allow the needed air to pass without causing excessive restriction.

 

My hat goes off to you Nola Ford guy. Excellent and most informative posts. I havent' even considered replacing the injectors, thinking that I have yet to due anything serious enough to require such.
Sadly, I think I'll end up staying away from the Blower. Hell yeah, it'd be sweet, but I am a student. I leave for The navy in March 26 where I'll persue a carreer in Nuclear Engineering. I'm excited, can't wait till I leave actually...
I think I'll definately consider bumping up to the 24lb injectors. I have a friend at work who has mechanical experience/some connections with ford who could probably get me the injectors at low cost. I'll talk to him today and run the idea by him.
I've thought about replacing the MAF and Throttle body, but figured It wouldn't really be worth it unless I went ahead and used the Vortech. Like you said, they're not really noticible by themselves but compliment a mod like a supercharger. I'll call around over the next week and see if I can dig up some information on the porting/polishing. Quesiton is, that sounds like a line that'd be crossed with regards to warranty. I would consider that a serious modification, assuming it could lead to excessive wear. In my mind however, it all just seems like it'd help the engine to run more "efficiently", producing more power with less effort.
Last thing regarding the injectors. That's going to kill my mileage huh? Right now, I'm doing pretty good with the addition of the chip, I'm at about 14.5 Mpg and that's 50/50 city/hwy. Much better than the 13 I was at.
Anyway, again, thanks for the information, you've been most helpful.
Brandon

 

Really should depend on what you intend to do with the truck. Granted, it sounds like a daily driver (thus your feelings about gas mileage) so there are lots of things to consider here.

First of all, 19lb injectors are fine for the modifications that you've done so far. There is no need for more fuel than they can efficiently deliver given your current setup. However, I would recommend the 24lbs if you port and polish both the heads and intakes. If you do just the intakes, you probably won't need it. If you do both the heads and the intakes, then, definitely, because your engine will be much better able to flow air and will need the ability to move the fuel as well. However, you do both the heads and intake, and the injectors, then you might as well do the MAF and TB. They all compliment each other, but, hold each other back when done seperately.

However, consider this, all of the above upgrades are "top end" upgrades, helping you out in the 3500 RPM + range. There are other questions that you need to ask:

How often do I rev that high?

Do I have a standard or automatic transmission?

What's my rear end differential ratio?

Where am I most concerned about performance; coming off the line (initial acceleration and speeds below 65 MPH, or, am I more concerned about the upper ranges of speeds (highway runs, passing at speed, top speed challenges)?

How important is gas mileage to me, really?

Where do I do most of my driving? The city or the highway?

If you don't commonly rev the engine much past 3500 RPM, you just aren't going to see the gains these other mods give you. If you rear end ratio is a 3.08 or a 3.31, you aren't going to get the the upper RPM ranges quickly anyway.

Consider the following upgrades:

Rear Axle Drive ratio: If at a 3.31 or a 3.08, consider a 3.73, or even a 4.10. If already at a 3.55, a 4.10 will be your only upgrade worth doing, a 4.55 is available, but, tends to be too high for the street. If you do lots of city driving, this won't make much of an impact on your fuel economy. If you do lots of Highway driving, and really are concerned about mileage, I wouldn't touch this upgrade, or, if I did it, I wouldn't go past 3.73.

And, since this is a truck, with a relatively unloaded rear end, make sure that, if you do do the upgrade, you make it a limited slip rear end, if it isn't already. The entire rear end upgrade can be done, with labor, for less than a grand, and will pay big dividends in the acceleration market (nice kick in the pants).

You can find out your axle ratio by decoding the axle code from the vehicle information decal on the drivers side door. Take the code, and do a search in these forums for "axle code". THen, match your code with what you find.

 

I think your estimates of HP increase is high .
Probably more like 20-25 HP

 

Major MODS???? HAHAHA... What are my up coming mods then?.

In reality your more than likely at 240-246BHP; Which is the top OK for the 19lb. injectors. Remember, if you are to upgrade your injectors you have to have an aftermarket MAF due to calibration reasons... you CANNOT use your stock MAF

 

Hell, why not just put a beck racing engine in your truck???

www.beckracingengines.com In turn key form only 5000 smackers. Who cares if they're made for GM's

 

Everyone has been most informative, I hope to keep this up...

In regards to the questions posed: This is my daily driver, hell, it's my baby! Automatic, and I'm pretty sure it's 3.08 gears. I'd like to say gas mileage isn't too important to me, but it is and it isn't. Honestly, i realize it's a truck, it's going to suck no matter what I do to it compared to other cars on the road. With that in mind, part of me says screw it and do whatever I want, but the other part of me is still trying to be reasonable.
Currently, my acceleration off the line sucks. I've got larger tires so it doesn't help either (not mudders or anything 265/75/16's). Accell isn't all that important to me, but perhaps I should consider going to at least a 3.55...
The buddy I mentioned previously. I talked to him yesterday and he said he could get me a pro-M MAF for around 150-200 bucks, and the injectors for about the same price, Ford Motorsport. I really like the idea of porting everything but he was saying I probably wouldn't see much more that 10-20 hp from all the work, not too much gain for a grand. I suppose with The injectors, TB, MAF, and porting, at about 1500 bucks, then it'd be worth it.
Because I'm leaving for boot camp in two months, that'll have to wait a little while then. I'll probably end up doing it though. For now, I think I'll go for the Elec fans, it'll help to free up a little more torque.