With a stock downpipe you only got 50% of available improvement

 

I bought a 3" downpipe on ebay for $90 new and paid my muffler guy to install it ,remove the cat and go 4" from the 3" dp to the factory 3.5" muffler and then to a 5" stainless tip I bought on ebay for $9 ,Think he charged me $200 to do all the work and the 4" piece of pipe. So basically $300 and I didnt have to do it myself. Not that I mind doing the work but my welding skills suck and taking out the stock downpipe would have taken me 4 times as long as he took.
If you want to do it yourself you looking at under $150 for the dp and pipe to go from dp to stock muffler. Its nice and thoaty but good throaty and a nice power difference..
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"Dog Hair Racing"
2004 GTO ,Almost stock,3790lbs , 1.7 60FT / 12.8@106
1996 F250 Powestroke,3" dp,no cat,5"tip,46637 filter,not quite as fast
1972 Oldsmobile 442 ,work in progress

 

what should be my first mod?? I have a stock 97 F-250 with everything stock. What you yall start with? I have gotten some great info on the site. I am going to have about a grand to spend on mods and I am not sure where to start?? I am a fireman here in Memphis so we get the Hypertech for only $ 50.00. Other than that what should I do?

 

You should get guages first. When I do may rebuild I'm thinkind for me:

Boost
Air temp post turbo/pre cooler
Air temp post cooler/pre intake
Fuel Pressure
Oil Temp
EGT Left Manifold
EGT Right Manifold
EGT Post Turbo
Trany Temp
Xfer Temp
Rear Diff Temp
Front Diff Temp

There were 12 disciples also.

Then get a bigger down pipe. Loose the kitty & muff.

jimbo

 

I took the joy of removing my cat and muffler with a sawzall. And it sounds awsome, i love hearing the turbo with everyshift. But after i did this i had someone tell me that it was bad for my engine. They said it didn't have enough backpressure. I know that can cause valves on a gasser to crystalize, but will it harm old smokey?

 

You don't need gauges before improving your exhaust and air intake systems. Improvements in those areas will only help your vital statistics not push them to new, more critical, levels. So first = new exhaust: 3" downpipe (most important), 4" pipe from downpipe back (it helps), gut/remove the kitty (a big help), remove muffler (your choice prbly not much help but it's worth 5 KOOL points). Second = replace stock air intake many choices here from a Ford aftermarket system to a home made open element, start a thread on this subject and you will get more info than you can assimilate.

At This point you need gauges because almost any other mod will adversely affect your EGT. You can get by with an EGT gauge the others are fun to look at, may give you some hints of trouble, and will get you 27 KOOL points but EGT will save your engine. If you tow or carry a significant load then Tranny temp is highly recommended. One point on the EGT there are two positions in which the probe can be mounted, pre turbo and post turbo, and arguments are made to support either choice. IMHO pre turbo is the only way to go (I know I just started a big bruhaha but that's my opinion). There is a lot of heat lost at the turbo and you dont know how much so there is inherent error in a post turbo probe. Just remember the error gets larger very quickly as you approach critical temperatures. Since the life of the engine is at stake I want to KNOW what the EGT is not guess at it.

Now you are ready for some serious Mods and a whole world of choices are out there from simple programmers to stage 3 injectors, throw in propane and/or nitrous and/or water injection and your mild mannered 97 PSD can become a real beast.

CAUTION: The Surgeon General has found Modding to be addicting and hazardous to your bank account

 

This has been debated and debunked here many times. The Turbo provides all the back pressure you need. Remember this Diesel engines need to breath easily both in and out.

 

Yeah thats what I thought, it feels good to have a supportive second opinion.

Thanks and keep truckin'