SCT And Other Modifications

06/29/2007

What can really be expected out of the SCT, assuming you have a mostly stock car?
Is there any benefit to porting the intake manifold without likewise porting the exhaust to match?
What about the torque converter that SHObros offers? Any experience out there with that?
I'm considering my next round of modifications probably to take place in a month or so. Money burning a hole in my pocket so it needs to be spent, I guess.

northgajaguar@windstream.net
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My thoughts...

The SCT is dependent on what tuning goes into it. The equipment
itself gives you access to a lot of parameters of the PCM tuning, but
you need to know what you are doing to see any benefit. Off-the-shelf
programs will help with some things like MIL light elimination (for
mods that would trigger a code), basic transmission behavior (shift
points, for example), and some drivability issues. It can help
somewhat with performance, too, but most of that would be coming
through the improvements to the trans behavior. You won't be bumping
HP by much, if any. At any rate your best bet is to find someone who
knows how to program for these SHOs, as any generic programs will
leave you disappointed in the long run.

There is no appreciable benefit to porting anything on these cars. If
for some reason the inside of the intake looks like it has casting
flash sticking out, then remove it, but otherwise I wouldn't bother
porting the UIM, LIM, or heads since the gains would be negligible.
You may want to remove the secondary butterflies as they don't do any
good anyway, and they just get in the way and eventually get gummed up
and break your IMRC.

I don't know anything about the TC that SHO Bros sell. It has to be
better than the stock TC though, especially if it's fully brazed (I'm
just assuming that it is).

My personal recommendations?

The first order of business on any SHO is to add a tranny cooler and
flush the trans and refill with good fluid. I recommend the stock ATX
cooler from a Gen 2 SHO (you have to check eBay, junk yards/recyclers,
and/or SHOforum classifieds to get one). It fits perfectly on these
cars. I'm running one of those as well as a 19K GVW stacked plate
cooler.

After that, get some good tires (and wheels if you like) and good
brake pads. Remove the air silencer on the intake and replace it with
3" tubing. Then consider tweaking suspension components (the rear
sway bar should be upgraded to eliminate the stock under steer, and the
front subframe bushings suck so they should be swapped out w/ rear
bushings or solid aluminum bushings.)

Then I'd think about getting a tuner, and doing the cosmetic stuff
(tint, lighting, etc.) If you like the look, a carbon fiber
cowl-induction hood can help shed weight and get rid of heat from the
engine compartment (a known issue on these SHOs).

Dan Carman
Philadelphia, PA
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You forgot the most important point Dan, start saving for a transmission.

Best advice anyone can give you as a new owner: Get it welded, and
start a tranny fund. The trans will go, it's not a question of "if",
it's a question of "when". Owners have had trans failures with little
mileage, and some others have driven their SHO's over 100k without a
failure. It's a crapshoot.

Porting and polishing will show some benefits, but not as much as
you'd normally see with a conventional V8 such as a small block Ford
or Chevy. Seems with these cars (and the V6 cars as well) that it's a
sum of a few different modifications along with good tuning from
someone that knows the SHO well that will net you some HP gains.

Bob Gervais

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