best upgrades

ace940

Member
Oct 16, 2011
87
1
17
hi i just bought a 94 mustang gt today and need to replace the clutch. i was wondering what people who have done this to thease cars before has done. i am planning on going with a stage 2 because it is a daily driver and it wont stay stock. im on alimited budget and am also looking for a good short throw. thanks for any help.
 
rough idle question

and i also am wondering about my idle. like i said i just bought the car today and believe it has an aftermarket camshaft. but the car really shakes and i am wondering if thats normal for an aftermarket cam or if there is another underlying problem. not that the shaking is a bad thing it feels cool:)
 
welcome to the board!

the shaking could be very bad, especially if it is the harmonic balancer. an out of balance HB can do bad things to your engine. if it is the balancer, you should replace it ASAP. it is pretty easy to tell if it has gone bad.

as far as performance upgrades, 2 things are usually first: replacing the upper and lower intakes and the rear end gears.
 
I generally use SPEC clutches, but for stock or near stock cars I have never found a clutch that feels, drives and performs better than a King Cobra. Late Model Restoration supply sells an aftermarket King Cobra kit at a very reasonable price. That being said, I have had in my own car or had experience with almost every clutch maker there is for Mustangs, and nothing holds up like a SPEC clutch if you are making serious hp.

You wouldn't be the first person to come on here who claimed that they just bought a car with an aftermarket cam. If the car has stock heads on it, it's unlikely it has an aftermarket camshaft. The stock cam really is the best cam for the stock heads, and no one recommends changing it out. I think many people will claim that a car has a camshaft to explain shaking when it fact there is something wrong with the car. A vacuum leak will make a car act like it has a cam.

Kurt
 
check that balancer with your fingers ASAP.

shaking can also just be engine mounts as well or a plenum gasket leak.

I wouldnt go spec on my personal clutch. I really have never liked the feel of them


You can go wrong with the feel and launch capabilities of a king cobra or a good ole HD ford motorsport.
 
not that the shaking is a bad thing it feels cool:)

thats what she said :D sorry couldn't resist

not a big 94-95 guy however is it shaking at idle or when your driving it could be really bad motor mount, or a nut missing on the bottom of the motor mount not sure how bad the shaking is or when it happens

as for upgrades:
budget is huge dont try to challange the world just get somewhere you will be happy id throw some 3.73 gears in her , sub frame connectors, and then start looking at possiblities you got top end kits out there for about $2800 super chargers for $3k do junk yard build up (alphabet cam gt40(p) heads and intake) then of course you can just start with headers and exhaust and make it sound pretty or like a bad ass your choice but id set up a goal lets say a daily driver and have 320rwhp or what ever all up to you
 
Like mentioned check a few things first-balancer like mentioned could cause internal engine damage it the rubber is coming apart. If this isn't the issue, get a code reader and start tracking down other issues. Check for vacuum leaks, bad spark plug wire, do general maintenance like Distributor cap, plug, plug wires, fuel filter, etc.

After the car is running great then perform your mods. Best bang for the buck always a rear gear swap. Get 3:73' gears first.

I'd steer clear of SPEC clutches, I'm not a big fan. For a basically stock motor a King Kobra clutch can handle under 300HP and it's got a lighter pedal than the stock clutch.
 
well i think i should tell some more about the car now that ive had it for a few weeks. its bored .040 over. has x pipe. catback. cai. new disty. im planning on a spec stage 2. also some equal length shortys. im gonna do 3.73s. rebuild the diff with the ford racing carbon fiber clutch packs. also new coil and plugs. and maybe a few other things. and i think its a rough idle not a harmonic balencer almost like its missing but not really. and also some days it misses so horrible and backfires that the car will barely move. could that be the fuel pump or fpr? thanks and im also planning on using a hurst short throw.
 
My top 5 upgrades:

Heads
Cam
Intake
Subframe connectors
Rear lower control arms

Of course I have only done the control arms on that list.:nonono:, I have 2 different sets of subframe connectors sitting in my room. I keep upgrading to beefier ones before they go on the car, im about to order another set that will go on the car.

If your on a budget then:
rear lower control arms
lowering springs
tokico shocks
underdrive pulleys
 
I generally use SPEC clutches, but for stock or near stock cars I have never found a clutch that feels, drives and performs better than a King Cobra. Late Model Restoration supply sells an aftermarket King Cobra kit at a very reasonable price. That being said, I have had in my own car or had experience with almost every clutch maker there is for Mustangs, and nothing holds up like a SPEC clutch if you are making serious hp.

You wouldn't be the first person to come on here who claimed that they just bought a car with an aftermarket cam. If the car has stock heads on it, it's unlikely it has an aftermarket camshaft. The stock cam really is the best cam for the stock heads, and no one recommends changing it out. I think many people will claim that a car has a camshaft to explain shaking when it fact there is something wrong with the car. A vacuum leak will make a car act like it has a cam.

Kurt

I couldn't find a King Cobra clutch kit at LMR but I did find this: 1986-00 Mustang Ford Racing Heavy Duty Clutch Kit, 10.5" 10 Spline for 5.0L & 4.6L, M-7560-E302 at LRS - Same Day Shipping!

And it's a horrible deal since it doesn't come with an alignment tool, throwout bearing or pilot bearing. And I know from experience that the King Cobra isn't much better than a stock replacement.

On camshafts, of course some of us know that the stocker is best with stock heads, but a majority of people don't know this. So they think sticking a wild bumpstick into the motor is going to increase performance somehow....at least it'll sound better right? Point is, you see people putting radical cams in stock motors all the time.

On balancers...whenever I've had a bad balancer I could feel a vibration as I revved the motor, but at idle it didn't really shake at all. The vibration frequency is too fast to cause the motor to shake from side to side like a loping motor would.
 
hi i just bought a 94 mustang gt today and need to replace the clutch. i was wondering what people who have done this to thease cars before has done. i am planning on going with a stage 2 because it is a daily driver and it wont stay stock. im on alimited budget and am also looking for a good short throw. thanks for any help.

I usually use Centerforce clutches, but anyway, it's a good idea to replace your clutch quadrant, cable, and add a firewall adjuster when you replace the clutch. Otherwise, you can't adjust your brand new clutch.
 
Centerforce clutches are way overpriced stock replacement clutches. I found that out the hard way. I'll see if I can find that King Cobra clutch deal from LMR when I go home. If you are seriously interested, give them a call. I know they have it.

Kurt
 
Centerforce clutches are way overpriced stock replacement clutches. I found that out the hard way. I'll see if I can find that King Cobra clutch deal from LMR when I go home. If you are seriously interested, give them a call. I know they have it.

Kurt

I've been 1.39, 6.47 @ 108, 10.17 @ 132 on our suspension with a T5 on a Centerforce DF, and Bruce Hemminger has been quite a bit faster than that on a Centerforce. Not saying Centerforce is THE ONLY clutch, but they do work exceptionally well.
 
I loved my CF DF clutch. best feel of any clutch I have ever driven. King cobra, Spec 2, Mcloud, stock.

Smoothest possible release of all of them. It held up to HCI nitrous just fine.
 
I've been 1.39, 6.47 @ 108, 10.17 @ 132 on our suspension with a T5 on a Centerforce DF, and Bruce Hemminger has been quite a bit faster than that on a Centerforce. Not saying Centerforce is THE ONLY clutch, but they do work exceptionally well.

Sorry, they just piss me off. My clutch blew up on the second pass. Had to tow the car home. When I called Centerforce to complain, the tech guy told me that the DF was a stock replacement clutch, and was never designed to be used on a modified car, or for racing. I'm just passing on what they told me.

Kurt
 
Sorry, they just piss me off. My clutch blew up on the second pass. Had to tow the car home. When I called Centerforce to complain, the tech guy told me that the DF was a stock replacement clutch, and was never designed to be used on a modified car, or for racing. I'm just passing on what they told me.

Kurt

Kurt, if this was recent and you still have the clutch, let me know. I have an acquaintance on the inside at Centerforce. Not a good buddy, but I know him well enough to know that he won't allow a customer to be upset with their product. I'd expect him to take care of you. Send me a PM if you want me to hook you up with him.