New Here, Have A Few Questions

[Nelmsy]

Hi guys, I recently bought my fathers 1998 GT from him after he upgraded to a 2006. This will be my 3rd mustang but 1st that I plan to modify myself. The car is currently bone stock with 90k miles and in fantastic shape.
I spent the last couple of days on this forum trying to figure out what my first couple of mods should be.
The first is an easy choice. The stock intake manifold is leaking so I was planning to replace it with the PI intake manifold. Is this a direct bolt on? Or will i need other parts or modifications made to install? I ask because after researching i havent found a definitive answer. Also for those who have made this swap, is it realistic to do it myself?

I also was thinking of adding a CAI and tune. Do you guys think these are good mods to start with? And will I be able to tune the car myself with these mods? (Not 100% sure how tuners work)

Please let me know your thoughts and thanks in advance. All advice is appreciated.

 

[Neuron]

The 1996-98 manifolds have round ports to match the round ports in the heads.
The 1999-up intakes have better-flowing rectangular ports to match the PI cylinder heads. These later intakes will bolt-up to the older heads, but a gross misalignment of the ports will result.

 

[Brady's 2003GT]

Yeah a lot of people do the pi heads and the manifold at the same time for that reason^^. Yeah those are good first mods though as long as everything else is operating well with the car. You can tune the car by yourself using an external device. Don't bother with the bama flash tuner go for the sct x4. A lot of performance shops are able to tune using the sct device as with the bama flash tuner you're just going to get canned tunes that aren't vehicle specific.

 

[DSG_Mach]

Some mods I recommend

-4.10 or 3.73 rear end gears
- An o/r x or H pipe
-a catback of some kind thats 2.5in
-leave the stock air intake and just throw a K&N filter in it.
-full length subframe connectors from Maximum Motorsports
-lowering springs of some kind


That should be enough to get you started.

 

[Herb Butler]

Consider BBK. look them up online. I've got the CAI, Mass air unit, Pulley set, and fuel pressure regulator. Coupled with the magna flow exhaust my 97 GT runs very fine. Also pro-5 shifter unit. 3.73 gears

 

[Nelmsy]

Thanks for all the replies! The full PI swap is a little outside my budget right now so i may just replace my intake manifold with the oem (non PI) one. I just installed a short throw shifter from american muscle and plan to get a catback exhaust next. Ive always liked the sound mustangs make from flowmasters. However, my 99 Saleen with bassani exhaust sounded amazing. I am not a fan of interior drone while cruising at highway speeds. I love the sound Pypes exhaust gives but am afraid it may be too loud for everyday drivinI know everyone has different opinions on this but what are your suggestions for brand?

 

[Mattstang04]

If you don't like drone, if stay away from flowmasters. Those things are on all the time. You love it at first, then it gets old and you find yourself trying to find an rpm to stay in that's quieter. Only to find there isn't one. Dronemasters.

 

[Brady's 2003GT]

Haven't heard of much drone from flowmasters but I could be wrong. Something to consider is getting an slp catback. Whether it's a lm1 or lm2 or even something with different mufflers, slp catbacks are the ONLY catback designed to change out the mufflers without cutting or welding. Of course you can only swap it out for other slp products or that of which that have the same dementions. And that's pretty cool because if you don't like the sound of a certain one you can change it out for another. And all of they're mufflers sound great and vary in volume and tone so you can almost always find something you personally like. Also Consider a bbk varitune catback. I believe that these catbacks are fairly new in production but can be found at brothers performance. Check those out. You can switch them from a multi to a single chamber simply by opening a valve with a socket wrench in very little time. So that also gives you a variety of sound. And those bbk mufflers sound great as well.

 

[Brady's 2003GT]

Let me add to my last reply.^^^ What I mean about the flowmasters is the drone isn't really present in the 4.6L like what you're driving. The coyote motors do have a tad bit of drone when using flows. Another tip about the catback. If you'd like to spend the money go ahead and get some borla stingers! Those are fantastic! And they aren't obnoxiously loud! Still very loud but nowhere near obnoxious!