Beginner Mods...?

5

5.0stangette

New Member

Jun 28, 2004

84

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Charlotte, NC

Jul 6, 2004

#1

• Jul 6, 2004

• #1

Hey Guys! finally some cash coming my way so i'm wondering what you guys would suggest doing first. my budget is still limited but in much better shape than when i first got the car. i really need a new top so that takes precedence but i'd really like your suggestions on some cheap(or not cheap but WELL worth it) mods. i also need them to be KIND OF simple. i'm 17 and a girl and don't know a whole heck of a lot about working on cars and my boyfriend knows a lot but not about mustangs. SO suggestions on power supplying, cheap, and easy mods would be great lol. i don't think it exists but hey, worth a shot. thanks in advance

 

mystang94gt

New Member

Jun 14, 2004

951

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Bay Area, CA

Jul 6, 2004

#2

• Jul 6, 2004

• #2

Some of the cheaper mods are Cold Air intake, underdrive pullies, cat back exhaust system, h-pipe, headers. IMO those are the best places to start. Our cars are soooooooo choked off from the factory they need help breathing better so it's best to start with intake and exhaust. But if it's and automatic get the gears done!! That was by FAR my best mod so far. And start by bumping the timing up to 14 degrees. That is a free mod!!

 

5

5.0stangette

New Member

Jun 28, 2004

84

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Charlotte, NC

Jul 6, 2004

#3

• Jul 6, 2004

• #3

as far as exhaust goes i'm waiting till i can go catless. i currently live in GA where we have emissions but in my home town (Blowing Rock, NC) there are no emissions for people with friends, so i'm waiting on that. but the other things sound good. what gears would you recomend? 3.73, 4.10s, what? i'm pretty clueless as far as all this goes. i love my car but i don't know much at all, i'm trying to build up as much knowledge as i can before next year when i turbo the thing...i gotta know my stuff by then or my bank account and my car will be in bad shape

 

mystang94gt

New Member

Jun 14, 2004

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Bay Area, CA

Jul 6, 2004

#4

• Jul 6, 2004

• #4

Well personally I went with 3.73. Some people say 4.10's are the way to go with an automatic but I you will be pushing higher rpm's on the highway. I think 3.73 were a better choice for me because I am not ALL about the 1/4. I wanted my car to be drivable and crusable on the street. Also I've heard that the stock computer doesnt work well with 4.10's in an automatic. But I dont know the details about that. 3.73 are the most common and IMO probably the best all around gear ratio. Do it and you'll be happy you did.

 

8

85GTlover

New Member

Mar 20, 2004

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Jul 6, 2004

#5

• Jul 6, 2004

• #5

Get some subframes first.....underdrive pullies, a good shifter , 3.73 gears, electric fan, upgrade your alt, upper and lower control arms, the intake stuff......theres many more but there's a start.

 

W

wytstang

Mustang Master

Mar 14, 2004

4,988

4

78

Summerville,SC missing South Fl. weather :(

Jul 6, 2004

#6

• Jul 6, 2004

• #6

I would do the gears first that is one of the best mod to get that vert moving. Then open up the exhaust. Like mentioned advancing the timing to 14* if free but you must run 93 octane gas so the motor doesn't ping.

 

mystang94gt

New Member

Jun 14, 2004

951

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Bay Area, CA

Jul 6, 2004

#7

• Jul 6, 2004

• #7

Or 91 in CA since they dont let us have the 93

 

5

5.0stangette

New Member

Jun 28, 2004

84

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Charlotte, NC

Jul 6, 2004

#8

• Jul 6, 2004

• #8

how difficult is doing the gears and advancing the timing? and what are some prices and if anyone knows, gains in rwhp because so far this sounds like my best bet first off because like i said i'm leaving the exhaust alone because from what i've heard a cat back doesn't do MUCH good so i'm going to save some money there and just get flowmaster mufflers and exhaust tips and wait to do the whole set up till i can go without the burden of emissions inspections

*edit* not sure i can afford 93 octane at this point. 8 bucks an hour doesn't get you much LOL but i'll look into it, try to figure out a monthly budget, etc...

 

mystang94gt

New Member

Jun 14, 2004

951

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Bay Area, CA

Jul 6, 2004

#9

• Jul 6, 2004

• #9

Well if you get flowmasters your right the cat back wont do anything. There are a lot better exhaust company's out there who's catback systems ACTUALLY make power and I believe there is a even list of the differences in power gains in the FAQ section. But back to the point. Gears wont gain any hp but they WILL improve acceleration at all speeds. Your looking at about $700 installed give or take. They cost about $200 for the gears themselves, its the install that will cost you. The timing is easy if you have a timing light and I bet your boyfriend could help you out with it. I'd guess if you do a search on here there are probably tons of threads on it.

 

5

5.0stangette

New Member

Jun 28, 2004

84

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0

Charlotte, NC

Jul 6, 2004

#10

• Jul 6, 2004

• #10

so the gears is not something that can be done yourself. that's a serious consideration i don't think i can fork out 700 for mods just yet, i had an accident like 3 weeks after getting the car so if i spend that kind of money it should be to get the car fixed oh well...i just read a thread where someone said an offroad H-pipe added 20 rwhp and that's about what i was expecting to gain when i go catless so i'll look into some brands...he said 140 bucks and that sounds great to me for 20 hp. i'll save up for the gears, i haven't heard anything negative everyone says it's like night and day so that will definitely come soon.

 

mystang94gt

New Member

Jun 14, 2004

951

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0

Bay Area, CA

Jul 6, 2004

#11

• Jul 6, 2004

• #11

Well I wouldnt do them myself because I dont have experience with the rear end and I didnt want to practice on my car. LOL. But some guy just put up a thread about doing the whole thing himself so it's possible. But underdrive pullies are a good investment for around $100, so is the h-pipe and a CAI for about $150 each. Basically just take it step by step. The gears were my most expensive mod so far and the rest I did one at a time. I like to do it tht way so I can see the progress little by little. But just to warn you.......modding your mustang is like crack.......... once you get started you can never stop!!

 

JJ95GTID

Active Member

Sep 22, 2003

1,141

4

49

Phoenix, AZ

Jul 6, 2004

#12

• Jul 6, 2004

• #12

Gears should be around $200.00 for parts and another $200.00 for install. See if your BF knows someone who had done a few Ford 8.8" rearend gear swaps and save on the install cost. You can make you own cold air intake. Just do a search in this forum for that. I bought a CAI on ebay for <$50. But making your own would be even less expensive. To advance you timing you need a 1/2" wrench and a timing light. I found mine at 8*. Supposed to be at 10* stock. I was able to run up to 12* running 87octane. I run 14* now with 91octane. I get 1 mpg more running in the current setup. Under drive pulleys are well worth it. 7-15hp easy. Get some Mac pulleys on ebay for cheap. After that it starts to get into the $xxx.00 range for parts.

 

6

67stang390

New Member

May 29, 2003

379

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Seattle, WA(home) ASU(college)

Jul 6, 2004

#13

• Jul 6, 2004

• #13

Make your own cold air intake for about 30 bucks instead of paying $150 like mystang94gt said. Underdrive pulleys are good and cheap; ASP pulleys are nice looking and somewhere around $100. Gears can be had for $130 from www.gefracing.com and the average cost of install I think is somewhere around $300, so that's a total of $430 instead of $700. You can pick up a Summit H-pipe for $110 I believe from www.summitracing.com. TMOSS on these boards sells a ported lower intake for somewhere around $100 that's supposed to provide decent power gains until you have the 4 or $500 to spend on a Trick Flow or Edelbrock intake manifold.

 

Black95GTS

Active Member

Jan 8, 2004

1,644

3

38

Marlborough, MA

Jul 6, 2004

#14

• Jul 6, 2004

• #14

gettin all the parts for a CAI and then painting it so it doesn't look like azz isn't even worth it. for 15 more dollars you can have a nice aluminum setup that bolts right in in 30 minutes. ebay is full of these.
secondly before we start spouting off parts lists to you, what are your plans for the car? Do you want go fast parts, look good parts, handle good parts, etc? Are you gonna drag the car, auto x it, show it?

 

JJ95GTID

Active Member

Sep 22, 2003

1,141

4

49

Phoenix, AZ

Jul 7, 2004

#15

• Jul 7, 2004

• #15

Black95GTS has a good point. What are your plans for the car? This will help in the suggestions that we can give you.

 

1

1hot5.0

Founding Member

Sep 6, 2002

1,615

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Surprise, Arizona

Jul 7, 2004

#16

• Jul 7, 2004

• #16

I agree with the statements above. What are your plans for the car? If you don't mind running without cat's, an off road mid-pipe is definitly the way to go. Check in the classifieds and you can get them for around $70-$90; maybe even a little bit cheaper.

 

Venom351R

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Apr 27, 2002

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MAINE

Jul 7, 2004

#17

• Jul 7, 2004

• #17

whatever you do dont buy a CIA, its alot cheaper to make your own. Its prob the worst mod to get if your looking at making it faster for the $$$ you pay for it. Gears are nice but then you have to get them Installed and that can be almost a much as the gears unless you know somoene that can do them.

You can bump the timming b/c thats a free mod but you will have to run higher octane gas.

 

5

5.0stangette

New Member

Jun 28, 2004

84

0

0

Charlotte, NC

Jul 8, 2004

#18

• Jul 8, 2004

• #18

Black95GTS said:

gettin all the parts for a CAI and then painting it so it doesn't look like azz isn't even worth it. for 15 more dollars you can have a nice aluminum setup that bolts right in in 30 minutes. ebay is full of these.
secondly before we start spouting off parts lists to you, what are your plans for the car? Do you want go fast parts, look good parts, handle good parts, etc? Are you gonna drag the car, auto x it, show it?

Click to expand...

sorry the reply took so long, workin all the time to try and get money for this stuff lol. i don't care AT ALL about what the car looks like, my only appearance thing is buying a new top because mine is 10 yrs old and leaks, but that's it. i plan to turbo it when i graduate from high school next may but the car will be street driven daily until i get married in a few years and HE can take care of the payments on a new car lol. after that i plan to go all out and make it a track car since i wont need it for daily use. but as of now i'm really just trying to make it as quick as possible while still being practical for daily use.

*edit*and of course it would be a bonus if i could keep up with my boyfriends car but i don't think i can till i get the turbo. AND about the higher octane gas, recently prices went down so i decided to splurge for the 93(i usually use 87) and it's a whole new car! i can't go back now lol...who knew it made such a difference

 

Venom351R

Founding Member

Apr 27, 2002

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MAINE

Jul 8, 2004

#19

• Jul 8, 2004

• #19

5.0stangette said:

. AND about the higher octane gas, recently prices went down so i decided to splurge for the 93(i usually use 87) and it's a whole new car! i can't go back now lol...who knew it made such a difference

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Yeah it makes a big diffrence. For people who dont run 93 fill up w/ it next time and you will see the diffrence that it makes. Even with the higher gas prices it only cost a few bucks more to run the higher stuff.

 

W

wytstang

Mustang Master

Mar 14, 2004

4,988

4

78

Summerville,SC missing South Fl. weather :(

Jul 8, 2004

#20

• Jul 8, 2004

• #20

5.0stangette said:

AND about the higher octane gas, recently prices went down so i decided to splurge for the 93(i usually use 87) and it's a whole new car! i can't go back now lol...who knew it made such a difference

Click to expand...

But did you advance the timing? If not then WHY NOT it free HP.