Originally posted by caholland:
C'mon guys how much did you really spend on yput 3L swaps? Only 1000 dollars,... lets be real! It's no surprise that F/I, whether it be turbo or s/c costs lotsa dinero, especially when you factor in needed engine, tranny, exhaust, braking upgrades, tunning, etc needed to get things running optimally. Personally I love my cougar but I also realized that when starting this project that no amount of money was ever going to make it a super street machine, as it would only be just quick car. And after $6,000 plus dollars it is still just quick not as fast as a darn neon cheap srt-4 or wrx for goodness sakes. It's all matter of preference and availability on which set up you prefer. I insist that if you spent any time behind the wheel of s/c'd contour or cougar you'll be amazed at what a different vehicle it is with F/I. If some of you fellas think that jsut because your cars make more torque down that your car is inherently faster I say c'mon let's go for a race. I guarantee that I'll catch you but you won't catch me! But seroiously though, we all take pride in our time, effort, energy, and dollars put into our cars. lets remember that to respect and appreciate individuality. Cuz what works for me may not be what works for you. But together with our 3L's s/c's, and turbo's in hand we can all take down the honda, toyota, mazada, subaru, mitsubishi, hyundai's rollin around thinking that they can hang with american muscle!
Courtney



$1750 For 196wHP right out of the box!! With low compression too!
$1000 for 3L engine
$250 for gaskets/bolts and misc. supplies
$400 for machine shop work to install 3L valves and valve job.
$0 Labor since I did it but it was in my off time.

Remember, I didn't get the best deal on the motor though it was a great low-mileage engine. Bnoon comes to mind as the cheapest 3L swap, that guy can take some cheese and turn a rat in a hamster wheel into a capable powerplant if you let him.

This utilized the stock SVT air intake with drop-in K&N, stock SVT exhaust with gutted cats (didn't help), stock SVT fuel injection and ignition systems.
You tell me how that can be beat? With only dropping the catback to see how much the stock exhaust restricted the motor, I made 215 HP on the same day with stock intake still in place, 217 with a large airfilter borrowed from Keyser for the final run of the day.

After $450 in exhaust work/parts and tuning I was running around in street trim with 207-210 wHP all day every day still netting 17/30 city highway mileage.

That is why all this talk of "bigger and better MAF's and fuel injectors for a 3L" is f'ing waste of time and money.
Put the sweat into making your intake system breath by head work and P&P significantly in some areas while having some restraint and common sense in others.

*****Edit************
I gotta add to the comment about respecting effort and individuality.
I do have great respect for it in other people because for one, I want that same respect for what I have done and brought to the table, and two, I see very few people who have done anything original.
Tell me how bolting on a supercharger kit is original when anyone with $3500+ has the same exact kit you do? Not to take anything from people like Kinger who did TONS of original stuff with his S/C , Knuconcepts, Bstone with his chip tuning, WorldTour, fast4dr and others being right with them. However, those people took a basic bolt on kit, had ideas and tried/succeeded and made it better. The 3L swaps and hybrids on the whole are a better demonstration of originality and effort because there is no one right way to do it, only proven facts and just major guidelines for people to follow as they choose their own route to make their motor. Not evey 3L turns out awesome, but in most cases they are a labor of love for the cars.
No bolt on S/C gives you that.
These are just my opinions and I'm sure there are others who would agree with me that have the experience to say "been there and done that". This isn't disrespect, its just the facts.

Last edited by warmonger; 10/09/03 12:31 AM.
Former owner of '99 CSVT - Silver #222/2760 356/334 wHP/TQ at 10psi on pump gas! See My Mods '05 Volvo S40 Turbo 5 AWD with 6spd, Passion Red '06 Mazda5 Touring, 5spd,MTX, Black