So... This all looks like a good build so far; You've got the basics, and I saw you have an EMS selected and listed. I would make sure you get that early on in the game. Save your cash on the other stuff, for now, and get that, because that's where you're going to run into a big 'ol wall, if you're slapping in large, chunky cams, and have huge intake ports, and such.
Two or three things that are generally missed with an N/A build are balance, weight, and simplicity. It's easy to make a build overly complex, but what you're going to want to do, at least in my eyes, is to remove what you can, and lighten what you can't from the point that the engine transfers the power to the transmission; The crank. At the same time, you want to make sure the crank is balanced, and if you have it out, and can work on it, there are some very important things that can be done to it. You can take a good hunk of weight off, as well as knife-edge said crank, and get it coated to repel oil, which reduces frothing and the possibility for air in the oil delivery system. This is a very in-depth modification, but is worth considering, since you're going to want as much power transferring from your engine to the wheels. Oh, and get yourself a lightweight flywheel, too. I feel that a lot of folks try and take the brute force method of N/A tuning, where they just bolt on a lot of parts, and try to suck in more air and fuel, rather than trying to make more of the power reach those little rubber patches nestled under the car!
Since we're on the topic of quality of power, things to consider are some very intensive head work, too. Porting out that head isn't a small task, and there are a LOT of improvements to be made. The valve shrouding is a little crappy, and there are lots of sharp edges in the combustion chamber (read; detonation bad!) and the casting marks on the intake and exhaust ports are pretty terrible. The throat on the exhaust side needs to be opened up, as it hits a rather extreme angle before exiting, which causes a lot of turbulence in the exit flow. This removed a lot of the burbling at idle that my car did with the high lift cams, as a bonus. =) On the intake side, you have some huge runners, but they should be port matched, and smoothed as per normal. No reason to make this cavernous, as I daresay that side of the engine flows well enough to get to about 7.5-8k RPM. While I'm on that topic...
Rotational speed. Horsepower is a function of RPM and torque. So, let's focus on the RPM portion. Plan to spin this motor a bit faster. My redline was set at 7250 after I did the cams and head work, and after a fashion, I backed off, in order to lighten the crank pulley and the flywheel. Once that was done, I realized a proper balancing should be done before I reached 8000 RPM. And as far as this is a limitation of the crank, it's also a limitation of the stock intake hardware. The intake manifold was unsuited to higher-than-stock RPM levels, so I started down the path of building up IRTBs ... Wow, what a b****. =) I was trying to keep the EGR, which just plain killed me, pretty much. So, after abandoning the last semblance of emissions control equipment my car had (I had already moved the evap everything, and so on... I still kept a cat on the car, and will forever; I feel it's worth it) I got my IRTB's running, and went through three ECU attempts, with the third bearing fruit. It had everything I need, but the old ECU kind of had to sit out from the party, while still being there, wallflower style, to control a lot of the interior and accessories. No biggy.
Simplicity... When I say that, I mean, remove what you don't need... Sure, if you drive it daily, you may NEED a lot of things; Splash guards, heat shields, bolts... Who uses bolts anymore, anyway?
Epoxy should be fine! All joking aside, however, there are a lot of unnecessary solenoids and such that come with the emissions equipment. I'd suggest simplifying the vacuum system by removing these, and the electrical system will thank you the same!
Also, don't forget the last thing on the drivetrain: The wheels and tires! Get yourself some light-ass wheels, as small as you can (15's around MSP/Millenia or smaller brakes.) so you don't have to waste your power trying to twist some huge ol' 18's.
As it stands, I have my car close(r) to stock than it was back then, as I had to pass CA emissions, and it kind of went back to being a daily driver, but even then, with all the weight reduction and rotating mass loss, it's still a hoot to drive, though I'm turning over maybe 140-150whp at this point, with the stock-style head and stock cams, with my old MP3 ECU. *cries* Anyway, if you want suggestions, I'll be happy to help you out. =) And I hope my post has already done that! Remember, at the end of the day, the rule is to have fun with it!
