What can we find for cheap in salvage that will make our cars better?
Obviously an LS1 driveshaft and C5 brakes are nice, and the Ford 15 lb/hr injectors seem good, but what else? Any roller tip rocker arms with higher lift? Any cams that are better? Yeah, hybrid stuff adds tons of power, but I'm trying to see if there is anything we've missed....

 

If you want to do a swap, The 3.4L engine is pretty common in the 4Gen Fbodys.

 

go to the junkyard and find yourself a T5 to replace that 700R4. the 5 speed manuals drive 100% better than the 700R4.

 

It definately changes the feel of the car. More power to the ground and alot more pep.

You can grab a '165 ecm & t-bird maf and do the '165 swap. DIS igniton can be retrofit too. I have a horsepower calculator on the latest version of my 6E ADX that makes tuning pretty easy. You may be able to retrofit 3x00 roller rockers on iron heads if you grind the body down a bit so they don't rub. They're 1.6 ratio. There really aren't any better flat tappet cams to be had out of a jy (which I wouldn't dare try anyway) but with a little work a roller cam can be retrofit. That will extend the powerband a bit and give you more useable range before valvefloat kills the show. I know my motor's choking at valvefloat the way it is now because I can watch power steadily climb until about 5500 rpm then plummet like a rock. You could probably retrofit beehive-style 3x00 springs too. That would probably do the most for extending the powerband.

 

^Yeah, I thought 3x00 rockers, but then read that they have guides machined into the heads and wouldn't work on iron heads without some cutting.

 

1.6 rockers from a 94/95 3100 supposedly work on the iron heads. the 96+ roller fulcrum rockers most likely wouldn't.


for engine performance that's about it unless you switch to gen3 stuff. You need flow to make power, Gen1 and Gen2 stuff just doesn't cut it.


The stock Gen3 cam is extremely similar to the stock Gen2 cam, and should be the same as the later gen1 cams. I remember there was a change at some point but i forgot the years. Still though, a bigger cam without better heads is like wheels without tires.

 

The pedestal can be removed with a pair of wrenches and some muscle. Then the iron head studs can be used with the right locknuts.