H/C/I swap vs. Kenne Bell ?

**roush08** · 06-03-2014, 11:15 AM

I saw the Kenne Bell superchargers for 86-95 Mustangs are 25% off down to around $2300 ? Sounds like a pretty good price and has me thinking at that price, what is a bang for the buck for a street car ? A H/C/I swap which in parts alone you'll likely be around the same price if not more than the Kenne Bell when it's on sale. Opinions on anyone that has grappled with the same decision ?

**John4cam** · 06-03-2014, 04:53 PM

both.....

**PaxtonShelby** · 06-03-2014, 05:32 PM

I never saw that answer coming...

**somethingclever** · 06-03-2014, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by john4cam

both.....

this

**went9s** · 06-03-2014, 11:04 PM

what kenne bell? Some of those blowers are tiny.

**celeste** · 06-04-2014, 09:21 AM

HCI will give you such a better driveability feel than just throwing boost at a stock car. I always feel that when I drive vehicles with a blower and they are stock aside from a blower, including my roush, it feels like it is a stock car until you are at 5000 rpm or higher and into full boost. The car just feels totally forced to perform better. With HCI you will completely change the hp and torque curve of the car across the entire rpm range.

It also depends on what you currently have. If you start throwing boost and adding internal pressure to an engine that has been stock for 10-20 years you start pushing gaskets and putting stress on things that it is not ready for. Many will tell you that they have bolted blowers on 150,000 mile cars and never had problems but I have had problems with introducing boost to stock motors that are 20 years old. They may have gotten away with and congrats to them, but I can attest to problems happening. I can remember taking an old sn89 paxton ball drive and bolting it onto my stock 5.0 with 93,000 miles and first thing I did was pushed a head gasket and then one thing led to another and finally had the entire shortblock rebuilt before it was up and running right. That was with introducing only 5lbs of boost to an otherwise stock car that performed flawlessly before the blower.

I think the HCI is a great start and then add a blower down the road if you want more power. Just make sure you put a set of good head gaskets on it if you plan on getting crazy with boost down the road.

So many factors to figure in and is very unique with every individual car. Those are my experiences, I am sure that others will chime in. Hope that helps some.

**PaxtonShelby** · 06-04-2014, 09:38 AM

Great advice there. ^^^

**Maxpowers** · 06-04-2014, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by celeste

I think the HCI is a great start and then add a blower down the road if you want more power. Just make sure you put a set of good head gaskets on it if you plan on getting crazy with boost down the road.

x2
Add the supporting mods first. If you add the blower, you'll need to retune once you upgrade the HCI.

**roush08** · 06-04-2014, 10:39 AM

I have been leaning towards the h/c/I but the price drop made the Kenne Bell very appealing. The idea of doing the h/c/i and
throw boost at it later with the groundwork of better gaskets already in place makes sense. Are there good h/c/i packages bundled or is it better (not necessarily cheaper) to piece things together ?

**Zoom50** · 06-04-2014, 01:55 PM

Where are you seeing the $2300 deal?

**Zoom50** · 06-04-2014, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by Zoom50

Where are you seeing the $2300 deal?

Go figure, on their website! http://www.kennebell.net/KBWebsite/P.../PriceList.pdf I thought maybe it was through a re-seller

**roush08** · 06-04-2014, 05:55 PM

When I talked to them Tuesday afternoon they said they only had 2 kits left. Not sure if they were just trying to get me to buy right then or if they truelly only had 2 kits left. They told me when those kits were gone the sale was over

**celeste** · 06-04-2014, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by roush08

Are there good h/c/i packages bundled or is it better (not necessarily cheaper) to piece things together ?

I have personally never ran any of the following combos but also never read anything bad about them.

1. Trick flow 350hp top end kit. Includes everything you need and seems to be a guarantee to satisfy package.
2. Holley Systemax top end kit - seems old school (and the upper plenum looks very 90's) to me but always seems to produce great power. I actually don't know if these are still available anymore?
3. AFR 185 heads with a custom cam and then the intake of your choice but I know that AFR makes really good stuff but they are not cheap.

If you do the HCI combo, you would really benefit from ( and in my opinion a necessity) a 65mm or better throttle body, 24lb or better injectors, 73mm or better MAF, and a bigger fuel pump. A tune would help but I don't think it is a necessity at that point.

Final point, once you get this ball rolling you find out that many other parts will become weak links. Your clutch or tranny (assuming its a t5) may not like this power. Your tires will not "stick" anymore and the list will go on and on. If your tranny is okay with the power, it may not like sticky tires. It's endless!!! Not trying to deter you, just giving a heads up.

**roush08** · 06-04-2014, 09:33 PM

I had a guy whose opinion I think high of recommend the Holley intake ( I was not sure either if they still made them or not - but found out they do ) along with Trick Flow heads. Did not get a recommendation on the cam, but it was a starting point with the heads and intake. I had figured on the other parts you had listed above as well - all part of clearing the air path and getting enough fuel to feed everything.

**Dan B.** · 06-05-2014, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by celeste

Final point, once you get this ball rolling you find out that many other parts will become weak links. Your clutch or tranny (assuming its a t5) may not like this power. Your tires will not "stick" anymore and the list will go on and on. If your tranny is okay with the power, it may not like sticky tires. It's endless!!! Not trying to deter you, just giving a heads up.

Quoted for truth!!