choinga

So, I'm going to have to take my 951 to my local shop on Monday - if you've read my recent threads, I likely have a blown head gasket and I'm not a good enough wrench on these cars yet that I feel comfortable taking care of that.

So, provided that's all it is, I'm going to have them look at the rear cam gasket and replace any hoses back there while it's open.

My guess is this is going to cost me about $1500 w/ parts and labor. Is that accurate?

Anyway, so if I had a budget left of about $6500 to spend - what would you do next?

I seriously need to fix my rear end...not sure if fix is the right word...but it's noisy...as in the car's coasting in 2nd and it's whirring back there like crazy. So, not sure how bad that is or how much that i going to run me to fix...but let's just say it's a $2k fix for numbers sake. So, I'm down to $4500...

With $4500 on a pretty stock car what would you have your shop do? I already have a 951MAX chip set. I want to put in a new dual port WG and possibly a Vitesse MAF.

Any and all recommendations are welcome. I don't want to go crazy - but plan on keeping this car for a long time and just want to get to get it running well and any good bang for the buck upgrades that give solid performance. I'm not interested in putting a 350RWHP car together...

With $4500 should I be able to buy a Vitesse MAF (~$1250), Lindsey Dual Port WG (~$400) + gauges and MBE (~$100) and get all of that installed and tweaked with some $$ left over for something else?? (I have a new vacuum kit on the way - might as well have them replace all the lines especially if a new dual port WG is going in at the same time...)

Would I have $$ left over an would i need: new injectors? a new turbo?

DarylJ

Stop even thinking about upgrades. Start with making the car right first.

All of the vac lines, especially the ones under the intake should be changed if needed. Front seals, AOS seals, oil cooler seals, whatever else is leaking. Make sure the ISV is working...if not, replace it. Figure out if you transaxle is having problems of if its torque tube bearings.

After that, start the upgrades. Don't complicate diagnostics by putting upgrades on a car that's not properly sorted.

Edit: re-seal the throttle body - I can probably keep coming up with these all night, as will others.

Airflite40

ditch the 951max chips, and buy the Vitesse kit. you will not be disappointed.
I would get a tial38mm over the lindsey but thats me.
Also I would do a full SFR exhaust, polished if you like shiny things.
And a rebuilt stock turbo should do you proud guvna.
If you want to run stock boost pressure (12psi) leave all the stock stuff (cycling valve etc) but if you want to run higher than stock I would get an electronic boost controller, or a manual one at least (black **** works fine)

edit: make sure they put in a widefire headgasket

Mark944na86

Stop thinking HP, start thinking suspension. Tires, swaybars, shocks and struts, bushings. Best performance bang-for-buck out there.

JohnKoaWood

That is where I started, but also where my car needed it the most, and yes believe me, you can blow that $4500 on suspension parts easy...

I have spent close to 5K on my car over the last 2 months to sort it out, and set it up the way I want it, and I'm not done yet...

Koni Yellow
PS reseal
Drilled Brakes
Pagid Pads
SS Brake lines
Euro Fog lights
Wiring and relays for the fogs (I want the setup a little different than comes with the kit from Paragon)
Dansk Cat Back
Monoball A Arm bushings
Monoball strut mounts
New Tail light Lenses
New hood liner
Odometer Gear
Wheel bearings
Twist wheels (still need tires@$750 or so)
Rear suspension bushings
Things Above here replaced due to being needed in some way, on some level
Things Below Here done to ensure life of car
Water Pump
Timing Belt
Balance Shaft Belt
All fluids changed to Best available (Swepco, RedLine, ATE Blue, Porsche Coolant)
Light Bulbs (yes all of them, at least to have replacements on hand)
Engine front seals

A Head gasket is a great place to take care of a bunch of expensive to repair, not as expensive to replace parts "While you are in there". Make sure you fix or replace EVERYTHING on the engine, drive train, and Chassis BEFORE you even think about modding ANYTHING for performance, especially if the car is a long term keeper...

Oh and yes both my P-cars are long term keepers...

amirpc

What shop do you use?

choinga

TPWS

unless you'd be interested in helping (and making some $$, of course) ....just saw your engine rebuild pics...very nice...

JohnKoaWood

You could always have the shop pull your trans and have a reputable P-Car rebuilder re-build it for you...Do a search they are out there and usually start off around $1200 to start, goes up from there depending on internal damage or worn out parts....

Jeremy Himsel

Excellent advice. Just be sure you an John discuss potential down the road mods so he can have you covered when you upgrade turbo's and injectors later.

choinga

My PO covered many of those items. Koni's on the rear, SS brake lines, drilled rotors up front and pagid pads all around (front brakes are basically S2 spec), TPWS fixed my power steering leak when I brought it back down here, I've got a Speedforce 3" exhaust. Clutch & TB/Water Pump were done about 10k miles ago. So, I'm good there...definitely good on the clutch for a while...

I'm starting to double think any PSI related upgrades and just keep the engine stock (well, maybe the Lindsey boost kit...loved the fast spool...).

So, if I dump the Vitesse that prolly saves me at least $2k in parts and labor... (and probably a lot of tuning headaches as well...)

I still need a new WG though...

So, my definites right now are:

1) head gasket job + seals, hoses, etc... 'while they are in there...' $1500
2) tranny work - have to wait and see what the verdict is here...gotta fix that noise...it's driving me nuts. I'll guestimate $2k...could be more.
3) WG...figure $400 for the WG and I'm guessing about 4 hours labor for install?? So...$800ish here?

I'm at ~$4k. Let's say I've got $3k for parts & Labor...what next?

JohnKoaWood

What about the front suspension? Coil overs and Camber plates can make that 3K disappear in a quick way...

Interior work over?

Head work while the head is off can make 3K also disappear...

Also before making any decisions, find out what is going on with the tranny, syncros and a few other internals can make your 3K also go away...

Airflite40

nope! no tuning headaches with Vitesse. If I could do it over I would just bite the bullet and get the Vitesse MAF.

Why does he need coilovers and camber plates?? AFAIK this is a street car, not a DE/track car.

Regular koni suspension is just fine for the street.

and dont forget have them use a widefire head gasket!

choinga

definite on the widefire gasket. The tranny is the big question mark...like you said, that could eat up what's left pretty quick...I'm allocating $2k for it...certainly it won't eat up the other $3k and run me $5k to quiet down my gearbox???

Definitely don't need any coilovers and camber plates...this car will never see the track. My suspension/steering feels pretty solid...not saying it IS...but from what I can tell, it's not the place that I need to focus, at least at this point.

My interior is mint. I'll let my mechanic coach me on the MAF. I don't mind dropping $2k for it and to get it installed...I know it's a good upgrade...but I'll wait to hear is opinion on how he thinks my car will handle it and go from there. Thanks for all the suggestions!!

Mark944na86

How about:

A couple of these, at $166 ea
http://www.paragon-products.com/prod...-1414s-xdo.htm

combined with this, at an extra $265
http://www.paragon-products.com/prod...rhk-nr-xdo.htm

for <$500, you've got a hell of a start on front suspension!

New a set of of quality front tires, beef up your sways, some solid bushings -- for $1000, you've got some nice hardware, and some change probably. Bang for buck, IMHO.

J Berk