96 TBird 4.6

well, at almost 108k miles i was leaking coolant all over my intake manifold..turns out its cracked and needs to be replaced. i want to go the PI route but i dont have the money to get a chip and tune for the increased air flow so im just going with a new replacement. plus, im not trying to spend too much money on this car since i wanna sell it soon for a 5.0 fox body..

Acer2428

Dude, do the PI swap. I had the same thing with my car happen w/ 60k miles... It's cheap if you take your time.

mustang_montana

you can just do the pi manifold if you dont have the cash, its the same cost roughly as the replacement. either one you chose, though, get the aluminum crossover model not the same one you have now. unless you wanna have it crack again

oh and if you get the pi intake manifold you will need to move your water hose that runs below the intake manifold, i moved mine over the top so the manifold would clear.

96 TBird 4.6

but will i need a chip if i do the PI intake manifold?

and is there any slight gains with the regular replacement being it has aluminum crossovers?

|MusTang

if you go with the same intake as stock but with the alu cross over,no gain.you are paying the same price for the pi intake.go for it.

96 TBird 4.6

how much horsepower would i gain, roughly, from just the PI intake?

Gaspi101

I did the PI intake alone for the same reason--cracked at temp housing. I didn't notice ANY gains, despite what people might tell you. The power comes from the PI heads. ALSO! don't spend money on an adaptor plate or anything--the PI manifold mates just fine if you use a PI gasket. Good luck!

Mr. Jones

well I disagree
and I have dyno results to prove it.
PI manifold and x-pipe with cats made 255hp and 311 tq. with 3.90 gears on the dyno
no PI heads or cam.
Thats not seat of the pants or hear say.
I did use plates, my own plates because I would not pay $650 for a kit.
total cost is about $360 for a new manifold and my plates with gaskets and coolant tube.
you use the original hardware. my plates are thinner than the other ones. No hood clearance problems!
They match the ports and keep the injectors closer to their original location.
I am presently running a vortech on this setup and I will be verifing the new HP #
check out my site for pics, instructions and plate info. If you don't want plates no big deal
the site is very good for install details. do the PI manifold with a alum crossover the car will run fine without a tunes.
tuning does improve the HP I gained 6 HP from it.
HP will increase at the upper RPM level. peak will be at 4800 not 4400
HP should increase by 15 with manifold alone.
www.unitedmajority.com

Yes PI heads and cam are better than NON-PI. beware of those "performance improved non-pi manifolds" this is a alum. crossover on a NON-PI design and it will not improve HP as someone stated.
you can get a ford PI manifold with the alum. crossover for $160 -$192
look for the stangstore or www.mustangtuning.com

LuvBottles97GT

"I" would get the heads and the intake, but if you dont have the cash then just get the PI intake. The intake will need the adapter plates, but I know that one of these guys on here sells them. Just search it and you should find out all you need to know!

Gaspi101

NO! You don't need adaptor plates. Although the heads/manifold runner passages are of a slightly different size, the manifold's are bigger, meaning, that you can place the PI manifold on NON-PI heads and it will bolt on just fine with no leaks or problems. I did the swap myself, and I'm telling you--they match up fine. An adaptor plate will just be throwing $100 or more away!

Check the pics. Notice how the PI gaskets match to the NON-PI heads?