Kevorkian wrote:This is the part where everyone tells me how to do it
Everyone keeps telling me that the gt-four was never a monster power house and that no matter how much work I do to it, it just will never be a super powerfull car. Well F&%K them. I want to prove them wrong, I dont care if it costs me 30k and takes me 5 years to do it. I'll show those bastards!!!
First thing, is a rebuild. If you're talking serious power, you need to be 100% certain that your engine's internals are up to the stress you're talking about. Rebuild with new gaskets, new pistons, rings etc. Discuss with your mechanic / whoever does the rebuild for you, what your options regarding aftermarket parts are. You want quality forged pistons and a good headgasket at the very least.
My list of things to get done so far are as follows.
custom extractors connected to 2.5" straight through piping with no cat, heading out a decent muffler.
You may want to sit down and make an actual goal of how much torque / power you want your car to produce. Its all well and good saying you want "heaps" of power, but you need to be definitive, as that is how you will end up deciding what parts to use. For the amount of power it sounds like you're talking about, I'm not entirely sure that 2.5" would be sufficient.
a decent boost gauge and bleed valve and bov
Someone may need to correct me on this, but afaik, you don't need both the BOV and the bleed valve ... its one or the other. Again, for the amount of power you're describing, a high pressure BOV would be best (eg: Sard R2D2 is rated at around 30psi).
front mount intercooler so I can up the boost a fair smack.
Front mounts are nice etc, but again, unless you have a definitive mark for the power you're after, you can't say for sure if you require this. EG: the WTA intercooler off an ST185 RC, or an ST205 WRC (not sure if standard 205's have the same cooler) is enough to handle up to around 350hp with moderate mods. Anything more than that, and you may need to investigate options for front mounting. Don't forget, front mounts = money, and lag.
after those few bits i'll probably change the suspension, then brakes so I wont kill myself in a hurry.
I'm glad to see you included brakes and suspension in your plans
Whiteline in Australia sell a very highly recommended suspension upgrade kit for ST185s which includes shocks, springs, strut braces and sway bars. The parts are available individually as well as in a package. The rear sway bar is adjustable, and is apparently one of the best you can get.
then i'm not really too sure what else to do. I'd like to go crazy and have the engine rebuilt but i'm sure that is going to take like, 6 months to get done.
As I said before, define the amount of power you're after, and you will know if you can get away with not having to rebuild. Rebuilding should be the first step in producing the big numbers on a ~15 year old engine.
Last (but DEFINITELY not least), don't ever look past a good aftermarket ECU. Doesn't have to be the best on the market, but you get what you pay for with ECUs, and as the ECU is the "brain" of the package, it should be done first, and done right.
GL
