[Black_GT]

If you want to mod the drivetrain of an NA PT without going to see Hahn, then don't expect a huge gain. The normal routes apply here: free-er flowing intake and exhaust. Synth oil. Plugs and wires. More indepth mods would include: cams, porting and polishing head, switching to a GT intake manifold, motor mounts to get the power to the ground more efficiently, shave the head and dek the block to get a bit more compression, etc... Stay away from the snake oil, like the Tornado, the electric supercharger, AIT chips, etc.... Spend some time searching the forums (not just this one) and see what others have had success with.
This was originally posted by GR8FLPT on another (better) forum:
[quote]quote:
This is what I have done to my ole' 01 LE PT. Just about everything short of opening the motor up & swapping out cams & pistons...

Well I have been getting quite a few emails about my old car. My 2001 LE auto because of the mods I did to it. I felt it would be better to write something up to help out those with N/A PT’s.

1st mod that makes sense is modifying the stock air box. You can buy a after market CAI & bypass all this but I do not believe it is going to be that much more improvement over what I have done to mine. I ended up modifying the stock box because of cost vs. performance. I feel that my stock air box pulls (allows) as much air after the mods as any of the other aftermarket versions out there for a fraction of their cost.
My cost after the mods was around $48, a lot cheaper than the FIPK. That’s money in your pocket or for other mods.

The only CAI box I felt that really did the job completely was the Volant CAI. It is an awesome looking & performing CAI. It’s about the same price as a K&N FIPK. The Airaid is a close second & then the K&N FIPK. The reasoning is I think the heat shield on the K&N FIPK could be better. I believe the K&N FIPK still sucks in some hot under hood air.

Anyway, 1st remove the interior white snorkel tube. If you are willing to work at it, you can cut it down; reglue it back together to get a smooth transition into the inlet hose to the TB.
Remove the white paper filter & replace with a K&N drop-in filter.
Now here's the part that really made the difference as far as the air box was. I removed the snorkel tube that goes to the fender. Then I went to Home Depot & bought an assortment of 3” plastic drainpipe elbows & couplers. I cut a hole in the bottom section of the air box where the stock snorkel was mounted. Then I enlarged the hole to 3". Then on a chop saw (hack saw will work fine) I cut the 45-degree elbow to fit where the old inlet tube would fit.
I then cut the coupler in half. I epoxied one of the half’s to the outside of the section of tube that would fit outside the box & glued the other “ring” to the tube on the inside. This held the elbow perfectly.
I sanded the edges for a smooth transition & made sure that the tube & box did not hit the fender & cause a rattle. I further added a piece of foam to around the hole of the fender opening to the new inlet pipe. This insured that none of the heat of the engine compartment was getting in. Now I had a TRUE COLD AIR INTAKE!

You can insulate the air box with aluminized bubble wrap (insulation). This will help in reducing the air temp also.

2nd mod:
Adding a Header. I can’t tell you how much this helped the low end on my car. I used a Hedmann 4-2-1 header. There is a debate over these & which style or brand to use. Personally, the Hedmann did the job for me. They are a PITA to install & you really should use a lift. It will make it that much easier. Any advice here is some of the heat shield bolts come out from above & some from below. Just check which is which otherwise you will tear them off the shield. The shield is thin aluminum.

3rd Mod:
Swap the exhaust. I went with BTG duals. 2.25” pipe. The N/A pt needs some backpressure. The BTG’s also have removable baffle