Got your pm.
K&N FIPK is a good place to start.
A catback exhaust would be your next logical mod. Magnaflow, Flowmaster, Gibson....all give the same results pretty much it's just a matter of what kind of sound you want.
Next after that I'd go with a larger throttle body. I know BBK used to make one (66mm). Explorer Express I think still sells one too.
After that, get a tuner or chip from Bamachips.
All of the above will help.
Still not enough? Get an upgraded camshaft. Compcams makes one called 49-410-8 that you can swap in without changing valve springs and will give a HUGE improvement. You will also need 5.550" pushrods from
www.pushrods.net. You can swap the cam with the engine in the truck and the heads still on the motor.
You might next look at a Zex nitrous kit part #82011....keep it to a 75hp shot and you'll be safe and good to go.
That pretty much covers it without tearing into the heads or motor too much. You can do all these mods yourself...the hardest being the camshaft swap....which you can do in a weekend if you take it slow. All of these mods complement each other and you can do them over time. As far as cost, you should be able to easily do all of the above for less than 2 grand if you shop around. If you know right away you're going to do the cam and/or nitrous I'd wait to get your tuner/chip after those mods so it can be set up to take advantage of them. You don't need to upgrade your injectors with the setup I listed above either.
If you're going to be using nitrous heavily or going further than this, I'd invest in a set of Borla, BBK, or JBA headers also. They were worth 15 hp/torque on my motor. If you aren't using a power adder then probably not worth it. They are also a hassle to install, unless you pull the heads or the motor.
Don't buy:tornado air thing, throttle body spacer, etc. They don't work.
They are where I bought my programmer for my X, came with 3 custom tunes from BamaChips. I think one come with the SC kits, maybe as an option.
