Fuzzy dice. Definitely fuzzy dice. Hung below the level of the dash, for safety.
Boost rules!!!
Nitpick: Nitrous is the best bang for the buck, turbo’s are not more maintenance and less reliable than superchargers.
If you go with Rick’s suggestion, look at the sound insulation!!! Probably more than 100 LBS in a CV. The steel bumpers under the covers are lots more weight.
NEW VALVE SPRINGS even if you do not change the cam.
($)No catastrophic converters and a 160* thermostat.
($$)Exhaust, cold air/K&N, throttle body, Hypertech Power programer.
($$$)Intake manifold, headers.
($$$$)Heads and cam.
($$$$$)Hi compression pistons or boost. Since there are several versions of the 4.6, and some of’em are supercharged, you too can be Blown and Injected with ease.
($)Did I mention Nitrous? - good stuff - I, of course, don’t need it. B&I is All Throttle, No Bottle but it is a cheap easy way to add lots of power that you will feel.
Have Fun!
I agree with B&I, nitrous is a rocket in a bottle, just make sure the motor is up to stuff.
For $2000 it is pretty easy question:
Air in- a K&N Filter or equivalent
Air Out: Flowmaster mufflers or equivalent
(Whoever does this work may drop the catalytic converter for you also, just depends on how green they are.
Perforemance Computer Chip
You should be able to do that for under $1000
Nitrous is cool, but it’s easy to overdo it and cause damage. I’m not going to argue that it’s pretty cost effective, but a) it’s a persistent cost; no matter how small, it adds up… and b) to me, it just smacks of cheating…power from a bottle? Something creepy about that.
I’m not going to say it’s not a cheap way to get lots of power. But it’s not the kind of always-on, dependable, and respectable way to get that power that most people want. You never want to have to say “I woulda had that guy, but my bottle was empty.”
And I’m not sure what turbos you’re dealing with that are as reliable as superchargers, but I’d like to know. A good-quality, properly-maintained turbo can be pretty reliable. But by their very design turbos are never going to be as reliable as superchargers of equal build quality with the same level of care.
They run at spectacularly high rpms. They generally require oil lubrication to keep themselves cool and free-spinning. They can, and usually do, run at higher boost levels. All this starts sounding like a recipe for mechanical failure, and is in direct contrast to what can be said about the (generally more conservative) supercharger.
Don’t get me wrong…I’ve had turbo’d cars before, and love them. I plan on adding a turbo to my project car soon, as a matter of fact. But I also know that they’re not as reliable as the s/c option, and that’s a always a big debate that people wrestle with when considering f/i. Superchargers are a “bolt it on and forget it” kind of mod…turbos require TLC, or bad things will happen. Sure, factory turbos don’t often have that problem because they’re well within tolerances. But aftermarket mods that people do aren’t designed to integrate so seamlessly with the existing engine.
But I am speaking in generalities. Perhaps you’ve had experience with a turbocharger or two that never caused a problem. But saying that turbos aren’t less reliable than supers is, well…less than correct.
My Buick Grand National went 250,000 miles and everything was still working fine. I have never known a SC to last that long.
Most production SC’ers need to have regular maintenance in the form of oil changes (not engine oil), they have larger moving parts and more seals and bearings to wear.
A turbo requries no service.
Oh yeah, forgot to add:
Bottles are for babies, real men get blown 
Lots of saying because lots of people feel the same way the audilover does about N2O. It’s true, but it still rocks. Hit the button and it feels like another gas petal got smashed to the floor.