First thing to do is figure out how you want to make your build hit 500Hp on either pump, pump w/ meth/alchy, racing gas or e85, Then do you want to make it with bolt on TD04s or a larger TD05 turbos. Then do a lot of research to figure out what parts/mods are needed to support it. To hit that hp reliably you'll pretty much upgrade every major component of the car to do it right. quick list of categories needed (not in staged order):

1. Intake - Arc2 or GM MAF + MAF-t (Need to replace stock MAS)
2. Exhaust - Downpipe + Test Pipe/Hi flow Cat; Gutted Pre-cats
3. Tuning - Chrome ECU, piggy back or other replacement
A/F & boost Gauges + boost controller
4. Turbos - DR650/750s are proven bolt ons for that power range
5. Fuelump, Injectors, FPR, meth/alchy injection
6. Transmission/Xfr Case - supports or new end housings
Clutch, driveshaft(not necessary but helps getting power to the ground)
7. Engine: upgraded heads & Internals
8. Cooling: Oil and FMIC

You can knock out the rest of the exhaust mods pretty quick and will give you a nice immediate impact.

There have been some similar build threads the last few months with the same hp goals and are all filled with great info.

Good luck.

 

This is far and away the best, no B.S. GUIDE I have ever seen

Cjbron guide 3000GT VR4 Performance U[pgrade Build Stages

He approaches the process from a realistic, real world experience based background without your typical Internet forum know all that spouts stuff he heard somewhere. It's a methodical guide that explains everything.

A real "must read"!

But be warned, his is not a " bolt on quick and cheap hp" list, he has over $30K in his full on build.

 

Awesome link, hadn't seen it before. Definitely a must read.

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step one. get lots of $$$
step two call pampena motorsports and talk to ray
step three. give money to ray
step four enjoy a properly built car that makes the power and has reliability.

 

Distance alone may make this nearly impossible unfortunately.

And thanks everyone else for your help!

 

Just wanted to give you some props for going about the build in a methodical way. Researching, doing maintenance, more research and planning, etc. Very smart!

I have never done a full on build but have modified my car a bit and I just have a few tips:

Research the hell out of any part you want to get. If you have any doubts about it, just save up a little longer and get what you really want. Almost everytime I have settled or did something half way I wish I would have just gone all out and took a little more/time money. Do it right the first time!

Don't forget to enjoy the car. It is easy to get caught up in modifying and numbers but sometimes it is better to just enjoy the car at the stage it is at. In fact this summer I am going to button up a few things (alignment, tune, etc) and I am planning to just race, race, and race some more. No more mods for a while hopefully!

 

That is exactly why I have waited 18 months to do anything drastic. I drove it pretty much stock all of last summer just to get a handle for the car.

As for settling for lesser parts I have already decided I will not be doing that. My favourite wheels, although probably way too common, are the Volk TE-37s. Due to money I almost decided to buy a replica set, or similar looking set for a fraction of the cost but I saved up some money and bought the actual wheels. I plan on doing this with all the parts through the build. A little more time and money is worth the peace of mind in my opinion!

 

We need to know what kind of fuel you plan to run to make 500AWHP. There's a difference between pump, pump + meth, race gas, or E85.

 

I think I may have modified my plans after doing some research over the weekend. I think my currently goal is to build up to 400AWHP on pump gas... that is my first goal at least.

 

The first question is how did you arrive at the goal of 500awhp? Is it a number you plucked out of thin air, or are you looking for a performance goal in mind? Shooting for a power goal is great, but remember that dyno's are tuning tools and can vary quite a bit from dyno to dyno, so what are you looking for out of the car?

 

Referenced some other builds on here to come up with a number. It may have been a little random, I admit, and for that reason I am trying to do as much research via other builds as I can.

Pretty much what I am looking to complete here is a build that will make for a quick daily driver that can put up decent times on the track. Some may say a stock 3000GT can do that, but I am interested in getting more out of the car.

 

Alright with the emphasis on "more" you need to then answer the fuel question. What do you have available?

If it is a higher octane fuel (showing you are in Canada, so its 94-95 octane)? You can expect most TD04 setups to get you around 400-450hp on pump gas. 500 is stretching them and you'd probably need methanol injection or E-85. Or you'd have to explore options such as cam timing, higher than "normal" boost levels (probably 20psi+), etc.

Power is one thing, but you need to ensure the vehicle is ready to accept the power as a system. That includes drivetrain, brakes, suspension. You have a 93, so you should have a forged crank 4 bolt motor and a 25 spline transmission, that should all easily support the goal (at least 450 easy).

 

94 Octane is what is readily available in my area. Options like E85 are much harder/nearly impossible to obtain.

As for supporting mods for the power I understand that as well and am making sure to set aside money for that side of the build as well. I've already begun looking into some upgrades for the suspension and brakes.

I thank you for your input! You are helping a ton!

 

500hp? this will get close to it on your pump;

chrome with tactrix and evoscan ~850
evo maf ~150
19t's ~1000 for kinugawas with HL wheel and then ~200 to have your exhaust housings bored for them
evo 560 injectors ~200 or so don't remember. flow tested and serviced
aeromotive 340 pump hotwired ~180
dual core fmic 500-600 oohnoo's or cxracing
3" exhaust from precats ~400 for ebay m2
gutted precatscats- free
and a new clutch- stage 3-4 xtd ~200
=~3850$


and it's always good to have 99 lifters and poly motormounts.

but before you do this you should probably do a 60k service if you don't know when it's done the last time..

...and do a whole lot of reading on how to tune with chrome. Or get someone good to do the tune for you.

 

Wow perfect timing, I was just about to ask the same question. Is it possible to get 500awhp on pump with just boltons and no meth on California piss (91octane)?

 

with bolton you mean td04?

like said 19t can get you close. the most expensive td04 "dr750" can get you there. but are they worth the price. you be the judge of that...

and going above 500hp and dr750 you probably need to start thinking about forget rods and pistons.

 

Just FYI you don't really need to do anything with brakes or suspension if they are in working order. If you plan to road race maybe but the stock brakes and suspension are pretty good.

 

500 is a good number. 400 is very pedestrian. If you are going pump gas, I would get a 16g kit or better yet, a dynamic racing T3 setup. DR800 or 900. 800's spool faster than 16g and have at least as much power potential.


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Thank you all so much for the information! This is definitely giving me some direction.

 

I'm at 400WHP on 91 pump. I think your octane is higher in Canada so my setup might push 450WHP over there. My main mods are

Ross / Pampena forged pistons and custom rings
Dynamic Racing DR650 turbos
Greddy Type S BOV
IPS shorty downpipe with test pipe
Gutted rear pre-cat
Supra fuel pump with JNS hot wire
EVO 560 cc injectors
EVO 399 MAF
K&N FIPK
Southbend K05075 Stage 3 OFE clutch
Apexi Super AVC-R with 2 bar MAP sensor
AEM 30-2310 wideband sensor
Clone ECU with adapter harness running Chrome 2.0

I'm at about 18psi. I'm working on a race gas tune right now to see how far I can push the setup. Most people say the TD04 turbo hot sides prevent you from getting much above 450WHP. I think TSB's point was that advanced heads could compensate for that but at a high cost. For 500+ I think you're better off going to a bigger frame turbo that will flow better.

 

You talk about the goal being "500 AWHP" then say you have a limit on funds.

I've seen this a lot and it can't be done this way. You cannot base your planning on a HP or Dyno number then restrict the monetary budget. There's nothing wrong for hoping for a possible HP range but it should not be 'the goal' unless you are willing to not restrict spending as needed.

This type of goal also makes it hard for any shop to help plan it out or take it on because you want a number result which can be done a number of ways. And if the funds are insufficient then a lot of other things suffer. There are many things that should be done that have nothing to do with the HP output. Brakes, suspension, certain electronics. And IMO looks matter as well so maybe fixing that dinged up paint job. These aren't always done if the sheer HP is truly your goal but it ends up being pretty anticlimactic.

A much better way to look at it is to consider your budget. Both current and projected long term. Look at your current budget and what it can support. Plan in advance, as best you can, for interaction of purchases to work with future plans. Sometimes this is the most important to reduce the amount of parts you buy more than once.

IOW - make sure whatever you buy will work now and also in the future. This is not always possible but when it is try to achieve that. Such as: if you want full engine and other parameter control like nitrous, speed controls, custom controls (EMS based switching) then get an AEM before spending money on piggyback electronics that my not meet your future needs. A little more upfront but once all things examined (cabling, options, not needing to buy a boost controller, etc) not that much more really. Anyway, just an example.

It all depends on how tight your budget is. What I am trying to say is forget about basing your plans on any HP number. Build it as your budget allows and then the HP will be what it will be. If you base your purchases on HP alone you will not have, IMO, an overall successful, or happy, build project. Those that don't either:
A) run out of money - this happens a LOT and the cars get parted or sit forever or are just a pile of poor planning and a disaster because near the end the owners tried to finish without having enough funds to get it done properly, or
B) do not achieve their hopeful numbers and are disappointed (and blame the platform, the parts, the tuner, etc), or
C) achieve the number but the rest of the car is in dire need, poor handling or brakes and so one. Plus it looks like crap with faded paint and dents (which might not matter to some but most guys that have a budget and this is their DD or not a dedicated project car, then looks can matter), torn up seats, banged up windshield. You get the idea.

Anyway, just a different perspective to think about. It may help decision making and reducing any waste of money. Plan smart and not based on a dyno number. The power will be what it will be.

It looks like you are being patient and doing some good planning and research. That's a good thing.

One last point and I don't know if this applies to you but for many it does.
500AWHP is a lot of power comparatively. That's almost double stock power output. Try driving a friends 400AWHP car and see what you think. Go from there. You might be surprised that for your uses (especially DD type uses) lower numbers will satisfy you just fine.

 

^good advice.


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400 pump and 500 AWHP on e85 is what my car will be tuned to. The shop doesnt want to go over 500 on a daily driver. Anyways to make a long story short.. I came in with the same goals and thought 8k would be enough. Next thing I know 22k or something like that I am at now. I added different gauges, coilovers etc, polishing, porting, ceramic coating etc.. Those are things you don't really think about when you start the build and they add up FAST!