Homemade Horsepower
by Fredrick M. Trippler Jr. ©2004
I have a white 95 Cherokee, 2.5 L , 5 speed, 2×4 SE with black trim. When I first bought it I couldn’t even keep up with traffic! I’m not rich by any means but I can be quite inventive and mechanicly inclined when I need to be. So most of what I’ve done I made myself and/or got the parts cheap or for free. I’ve spent 22 months on these projects,researching and testing. They do work and you will see a difference, believe me. Try these at your own risk to persons or property. I assume no responsibility or liability for anything posted here, including any federal, state and/or emmission laws, manufacture warrentees, insurance and/or safety. These are just ideas I’m passing along.
- A “true” cold air intake. $5.50 (From Home Depot)I made it from 3″ PVC drainpipe. First, I removed out my entire air box. Next, I cut a 3″ hole in my fender wall and stuck the pipe through my fender above my tire. I have plenty of room for the air filter because I have a 3″ suspension lift with stock height tires except they are 1″ wider. I glued on a 90-degree elbow and another short section. I had to make a brace to hold it in place so it didn’t bounce around. I also had to reroute my CCV and Charcoal Tank lines. I drilled holes in the rubber elbow coming off the throttle body and used gasket sealer to hold them in place.
-High flow cone filter. ($25.00 from Pep Boys) I clamped it on the end of the intake pipe so it sits in my wheel well right behind my bumper. I’ve had no problems with rain. I don’t advise driving in deep water though. (Laughing)If you are planning to, don’t cut the hole and keep the cone filter under the hood.
-E-Ram air. ($25.00)(Homemade) I went to a marine supply store and bought a 4″ 230 CFM 12 volt DelMar Bilge Blower. I used 4″ to 3″ PVC reducing couplings to make it fit. ($2.50 from Home Depot)I installed it in my intake with a switch in my door panel. When I flip the switch alot of extra cold air is pushed into my intake. A 2.5 liter engine naturally consumes 86 CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) in 5th gear going 65 mph. So that means that I’m pushing 8 PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch)Not bad for a plastic blower (Laughing)
-Flowmaster Muffler.($38.00 on E-Bay) After the shop welded it in I had them cut off the rest of my exhaust pipe to lessen some back pressure, I only left 1″. Then they added an elbow and now my exhaust is in front of my rear tire. I also had them shorten the pipe that’s between the cat and the muffler to make it all fit right. I set off everyones car alarms when I drive by (Laughing)
-High Flow Universal Cat ($80.00 from Pep Boys)
-Shorter serpentine belt. ($30.00) that didn’t include A/C, which also eliminated 2 idle pulleys for less parasitic loss. I also removed the entire compressor and hoses to lesson weight by 30 Lbs. Do NOT bleed the A/C yourself. Any A/C shop can recapture the freon for you, then you can remove the compressor.
-Throttle Body Spacer. (Free) (Homemade) I cut it from a PI” plastic cutting board and used high temp gasket material on each side. I had to also put a 7/8ths” spacer under my throttle linkage bracket as well. I used a couple nuts and washers. Be sure the cable is stretched all the way out or it will idle real high. The spacer keeps the throttle body cooler.
- 4.0 Throttle Body ($42.00 from E-Bay)
-Copper core spark plugs. ($5.00)
-160 Degree thermostat.($5.00)and added Water Wetter. ($8.00) The colder your engine runs the more horsepower it has. Make sure you warm your engine a good 5 minutes when it’s cold.
-Manifold Intake Heat Shields. (Homemade) ($15.00) I purchased a roll of high temp gasket material from Pep Boys and three 10′ rolls of 2″ wide aluminum tape from a hardware store. I cut two 4″ x 6″ rectangles out of the gasket material and covered them with several layers of the tape. I slipped them between the intake manifold and the exhaust manifold to insulate the intake manifold from the heat. I secured them with coat hanger wire that I taped between the layers. Next I wrapped the entire intake manifold with metal heat tape all the way to the air filter minus the throttle body. After that, I took a turkey baking tin,($1.50)smashed it flat, folded it in half and wired that under my intake manifold. I drove for an hour, stopped, pulled the hood open and stuck my hand on the intake manifold. It was cold! (Try that at your own risk as well)
- Removed factory 30 lb. rear bumper and brackets and replaced it with a 65″ long 3″ dia. schedule 40 ABS plastic pipe with end caps which weighs next to nothing.($15.00 from a plumbing supply store) I secured it to the back end with two 3″ pipe clamps after I painted it black. I also painted behind the bumper area black also. Call me crazy but my steel jeep is still stronger than todays plastic and fiberglass crap.
-Complete Tune-up.($70.00)Cap, rotor, plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, all fluids etc.
-When your all done with everything, detach your positive battery lead. Turn your ignition key fully forward and hold for 30 seconds. Re-attach the positive cable. This will wipe your computer memory clean. It will rev high for a minute then settle down. Now drive “normal” for a couple days to reset everything so it can relearn the new mods. (Free)
Total Cost about $950.00! Not bad huh. If you had a pro shop do all this with performance name brand parts, were talking thousands! Some people call it “Ghetto” or “Redneck” mechanics. All I can say is that’s it’s way faster now and I still have my savings account intact. Hang onto your stock parts. You might need them come smog testing time.
Remember also, less weight = more horsepower & better gas mileage. Anything you can do to lesson that is a big help. Every 100 lbs. you can get rid of is 3 additional horsepower. It adds up real quick.
One thing for sure, I can keep up with traffic now!
-Another added bonus is my MPG went from 12 to 17.
-Load it like a Freight Car
-Polish it like a Show car
-Drive it like a NASCAR
