2001 Zinc Yellow GT w/ T-45 5-spd
I'll also do mine in chronological order, as well.
K&N filter - One of the first "cheap" mods you should do to your car. For one, you'll never have to buy another filter again. Guaranteed for a million miles, all you have to do is clean it and re-oil it periodically. On top of never having to buy another filter again, it also adds horsepower by allowing your motor to breathe better.
Remove air silencer - This one is often debated. I removed mine a couple of months after installing the K&N filter. It "felt" like there was an improvement, as if air was getting sucked through a larger straw. However, after becoming a drag strip addict and getting consistent, for S&G's I put the silencer back on and I picked up half a tenth in the 1/4 mile and gained a 1/2 mile per hour trap speed. Removing the silencer is OVERRATED, in my opinion.
Steeda G-Trac Stage 1 - At the time I bought it, it included the Sport Springs, caster/
camber plates, strut tower brace, and adjustable rear sway bar. I was able to install all of these parts myself. Cutting the plastic under the cowl at the firewall to install the brace is a PITA. Also, it takes some balls to drill holes in your own car to install the brace. Changing the springs is easier than most would think. The rear sway isn't too difficult, but again requires drilling and you better make sure you get the holes drilled in the same place on both sides. You have to remove the struts to install the caster/
camber plates so you might as well order the struts and do those when you do the caster/
camber plates. Re-alignment is a MUST after installing the springs, struts, and caster/
camber plates. If you don't know what you're doing installing
suspension parts, I highly recommend having a professional do it. Springs alone, however, are fairly simple.
Steeda Tri-Ax Shifter for T-45 - Not difficult to install. Hardest part was breaking the seal and removing the old shifter. The shifter seemed really stiff at first after installing it. I still found I had a difficult time shifting into 3rd gear from time to time. It took a while before getting well broken in. It's been great ever since. Once you get used to the Tri-Ax, you can't go back.
Flowmaster Deltaflow 40 series mufflers - I had these installed along with some pre-made 2.5" exhaust pipes (custom cat-back) which came with factory-style 3" exhaust tips. The sound is great. Sounds like the 2-chamber 40 series mufflers, but toned down just one notch. Sound quality is just as good outside the car, drone's not quite as bad (although there IS drone) and it's a tad more quiet inside the car. I have a sound clip of just the Deltaflow 40's on my car with the 2.5" pipes
here
Ford Racing King Cobra clutch - Forced to buy a new clutch after breaking the other one at the track. Everyone recommended the King Cobra to me, so that's what I got. Ever since 3 weeks after I put it in, I had a problem with a squealing throw-out bearing. However, the clutch seemed to bite pretty hard and help all the power I was throwing at it. The only bad thing about it was that after 7 months of burnouts and drag racing on the clutch, it's now totally worn down. The clutch has not held up as long as I had hoped. I would highly recommend this clutch to anyone running N/A who wants a harder biting clutch that doesn't drag race at all or very little. If you drag race regularly, I'd say get something a little more heavy duty than the King Cobra because it won't last. It's just SLIGHTLY better than stock. Trublu01's also only lasted him about 8 months before being worn down to the metal, and he took the whole summer off, too. I got more passes on mine than he did.
Steeda Underdrive Pullies and Timing Adjuster - One of the best bang for your buck modifications you can do to a stock N/A GT is the timing adjuster. Having the underdrive pullies installed only enhances the benefit of the timing adjuster. I'd say if you're going to get a timing adjuster, get the pullies at the same time (it's easier and cheaper to have them both installed at the same time anyway). After running consistent 13.7's and 13.8's in the 1/4 mile with the T/A set at 15*, I decided to play with it a little. I dropped it to 14* and I was running 14.0 consistently. Put it up to 16* and ran back to back 13.79's. No other mod I've installed to date has given me more than two tenths than the timing adjuster and pullies. The only disadvantage to them is that you have to run premium fuel and with the timing set higher than 13* you may experience some bucking at mid-throttle cruising.
Steeda subframe connectors w/ cross braces - I got the tubular chrome-moly 4130 SFC's with the cross braces, and it did a great job stiffening up the body. Handling definitely improved, and I noticed less body twist going through corners. If you're going to get subframe connectors put on, get the cross braces done, too. The cross braces are inexpensive.
Steeda HD Upper and Aluminum Lower control arms - Get a professional to install these. At least the
upper control arms. Getting the old bushings out of the differential housing is a real PITA. You have to drill them out or use a torch to get them out. Drilling them out is not easy, either. Also, you have to be sure you grease up all of the bushings really well.
Lower control arms are a little easier, but I still recommend that if you don't know what you're doing, have a professional install them. Cornering is a lot better with the heavy duty uppers installed. There is a lot less side-to-side axle movement after installing the uppers. The lowers I've noticed helped a little with traction. It was more noticeable after I installed drag radials, though.
Steeda G-Trac Stage 2 and 3 - Obviously having the upper and
lower control arms and the subframe connectors already installed, I had stages 2 and 3 partially completed. I bought the Tokico Illumina adjustable shocks made for the Fox-body Mustangs from another source and took them to Steeda and bought the rest of the stage 2 and 3 kits. I also bought the offset rack bushings and X2 balljoints. In a nutshell, I got the tubular front sway bar, offset A-arm bushings, offset rack bushings, X2 balljoints, and Tokico Illuminas. I had Steeda install it all and do the alignment. I got the car back, and it was a different car. The steering grip I get is incredible, and the rear-end traction is awesome. All understeer seems to have been eliminated, and I only seem to have just a little oversteer. If you want a car that can really handle, you have to get all three stages!
MAC Offroad H pipe (economy) and PEP MIL eliminators - Performance and mean as hell sound for CHEAP. This piece was $109.00 plus $18 shipping, so $127 to my door. I did the install of this one myself, as well. If you do it yourself, make sure you have a LONG extension and a swivel to get to the header nuts. Spray them down with WD-40 first, too, and let it penetrate for about 15 minutes. Getting the new MAC H pipe was a little bit of a pain to get it all aligned and in place before bolting up, but wasn't too difficult. I had a slight leak at the H, so I clamped it shut. Once you put it all together though, taking it back off is a bit of a pain. Where they slide together at the H will get a little rusty and stick together making it difficult to get off when you can't twist the two pieces apart. MIL eliminators had to be soldered in. Wasn't too hard. Sounds great after getting it all together. Here's a sound clip. Click
here.
Nitto NT555R Drag Radials - For those that go to the track, these are a must. My 60' times went down from 2.0 to 1.9 and I cut about a tenth to a tenth and a half off of my quarter mile ETs. The only problem is that I put them on in August and here it is in November and they're almost totally bald now. They don't last long, especially when you burn them out. But the grip is amazing!
The rest of my mods are appearance mods and speak for themselves in my pictures
here.