My plan so far

[96-Talon-TSI]

So I bought The 96 tsi awd as seen in my profile, I purchased it from a repo yard who was auctioning it and I ended up paying 3200 for it. It was completely stock with 73k and a bit of exterior damage and some issues under the hood. I took it for a drive after I picked it up to get an idea of what I was working with. The 1st thing I noticed was low oil pressure and running hot.....yeah the water pump went and the head gasket went with it. so off came the head. I rebuilt the entire head using the same inners and had it decked with the oil port opened up a bit (as seen in another thread) I then replaced the water pump, all pully's / tentioners, timing belt. As of right now she sit with the intake mani off, exhaust mani off (with 1 broken stud in the block) I have the aftermarket parts listed in my profile but nothing has been installed. I would like some suggestions on things to take care of while it's still apart. My HP goal is 350-400 and I'll have a few bucks to spend when I get back from Iraq next month. I'm trying to keep the rest of the project to about $2000 with a cheap macco paint job. And yes I have read the stages of upgrades but I would like some personal opinions and experiences. Thx.

 

[gringo72884]

Arp headstuds, Evo 3 turbo or larger, 550 injectors or larger, 190lph fuel pump or larger, AFPR if you are using a 255lph fuel or larger, Full 2.5 or 3 inch turbo back exhaust, fuel control such as APEXi super AFC or DSMlink if you want more control and add those parts on your profile. Those should give you a good starting point.