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Cheap mods

  • Thread starter Thread starter maverick0011
  • Start date Start date Jun 27, 2005
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maverick0011

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Jun 26, 2005
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#1
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #1
I have a 2000 gt and it had headers, ported throttle body, flows, and cold air intake. I was wanting to know if there are any other cheap mods to give me some horsepower, im planning on getting pulleys within the next week. So please help me out, let me know about anything besides nos that can give me some hp.
 

96WhiteNight

New Member
May 11, 2004
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Carlisle, PA
Jun 27, 2005
#2
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #2
well i would get gears its not gona give you more hp but its gona make the car quick a set of 3.73's or 4.10's would work great you can get a steeda timing adjuster. An H or X pipe and a Intake plenum would all be good upgrades
 
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02 Mineral Gray

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Jun 27, 2005
#3
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #3
Gears...
 

timeless2

Vi Veri Veni Versum Vicus Vici
Admin Dude
Nov 29, 1999
1,366
202
154
the Shadow Gallery
Jun 27, 2005
#4
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #4
Not cheap, but you may wish to get a hold of a flash tuner such as the Predator or the Excalibrator. These units will help in diagnostics and modifying your car's computer to accept changes resulting from further mods.
 
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maverick0011

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#5
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #5
thanks whitenight, i forgot to put on there that i was looking for engine mods. I looked at a 3.73 gear and there cheap but ive heard their not to cheap to have put in. I already have an x pipe i forgot to put that also. What about the timing adjuster, and the intake plenum what will that do?
 
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'03GTinFLA

Member
May 29, 2004
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St. Petersburg, FL
Jun 27, 2005
#6
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #6
Here's a good article explaining some stang mods, not all engine stuff, but a good read.
http://www.bullittarchive.com/html/modules/articles/article.php?id=36
Also the timing adjuster lets you advance your timing and you get some hp out of that, problem is you have to run higher octance gas to prevent detonation, which is bad for your engine. So if you don't mind paying a little more for gas it's a good mod. I like the handheld tuners and they can advance your timing and change the speedo when you do the gears and do other stuff.
The plenum gets more air into your engine for more hp, about 8 hp or so. C&L, dragon, trickflow are good, Accufab is the best-also most expensive.
One last thing, did you really port your TB? I'm not sure that's a good idea, I could be wrong. Just wondering.
 

mrvax

Stay thirsty my friends
Founding Member
Nov 29, 1999
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SN Moderator: Orlando, Fl.
Jun 27, 2005
#7
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #7
Damn. When I saw "Cheap Mods", I thought you were talking about me. Carry on.
 

CanadaStang

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Sep 7, 2003
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Jun 27, 2005
#8
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #8
mrvax said:
Damn. When I saw "Cheap Mods", I thought you were talking about me. Carry on.
Click to expand...

ROFL!!
That was funny!!!
 

joshheat25

Member
Nov 8, 2004
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Delaware
Jun 27, 2005
#9
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #9
LoL good one! yea Get an Superchips Product Do Not Get a Diablo Predator!
 

mrvax

Stay thirsty my friends
Founding Member
Nov 29, 1999
5,225
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SN Moderator: Orlando, Fl.
Jun 27, 2005
#10
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #10
joshheat25 said:
LoL good one! yea Get an Superchips Product Do Not Get a Diablo Predator!
Click to expand...


I cannot more highly recommend an EEC adaptive tune/reflash. Cost wise it's great. Add another mod? No problem the reflash will adapt to it. See my sig above.
 
9

97gtblue

New Member
Apr 11, 2005
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pensacola,florida
Jun 27, 2005
#11
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #11
02 Mineral Gray said:
Gears...
Click to expand...

 

Dark Knight GT

I can't get it up......ok that didn't sound right.
May 26, 2003
3,653
2
56
Ozark, Missouri
Jun 27, 2005
#12
  • Jun 27, 2005
  • #12
maverick0011 said:
I have a 2000 gt and it had headers, ported throttle body, flows, and cold air intake. I was wanting to know if there are any other cheap mods to give me some horsepower, im planning on getting pulleys within the next week. So please help me out, let me know about anything besides nos that can give me some hp.
Click to expand...

A great deal of what "mods" you can chose is going to vary accordingly to your spending budget. I'll try to mention some simple mods that aren't too expensive( below 500 dollars).

Gears - Not a "power mod" but definately help out in acceleration and low end grunt. You can buy a set of gears for as low as 140 dollars if you do your shopping right. I'll include some links at the end of my post of places to check at for good deals of performance parts.

Under drive pullies - 199 dollars for the Steeda u/d pullies from www.mustangtuning.com I don't know if these can be obtained for cheaper or not. It seems price of pullies has went up since I purchased my set nearly 4 years ago. Mustang Tuning also carries the March performance u/d pullies for about 60 dollars cheaper than the Steeda pullies, however, the March pullies are "piggy-back design" and usually don't make quite as much power as the Steeda u/d pullies. There are other companies that makes them as well. BBK makes a set of u/d pullies and can be purchased for 149.99 from www.stangstore.com

Aftermarket Plenum - There are many choices here and thus, the price varies. The "best" in most peoples eyes is the Accufab piece, which runs about 220-240 dollars. The others are tend to be a bit cheaper. You can buy most of the other plenums for between 140-200 dollars. BBK, Grantelli, Trickflow, Dragon, and C&L all make aftermarket plenums as well. The Grantelli piece I believe is on sale for only 99 dollars at Jegs Automotive.

Porting and polishing the stock plenum - Free if you have the time and a dremel kit. This is a good alternative if you do not wish to buy an aftermarket plenum. I've been meaning to do a "how to" write up on this as I seem to be able to port and polish quite well. Just pick some rough dremel bits that are designed for buffing and grinding metal, port the inside of the plenum EVENLY, and then, use some different grits of sand paper or sand paper blocks to smooth it down. Start out with a coarse grit like a 40 or 50 grit, then a 100-120 grit, then a 150 gritt, then a 200 grit, and if you like a polished finish, use a 300-400 grit sanding sponge and clean up with some metal polish. This is very time consuming, but if you have the time and are willing to do it, its free hp.

Aftermarket mid-pipe - Since you already have headers and flowmasters, you need to get rid of that stock mid-pipe. At least, I'm assuming you still have the stock mid-pipe. Mid-pipes vary in pricing. Depends on if you get an off-road setup or one with hi-flow cats. A high flow catted mid-pipe will usually run between 350-450 dollars. An off-road setup will be cheaper, but won't pass on visual smog inspection. Typical cost for an off road pipe is 150-250 dollars. Again, depends on which company you go with an if you chose an x or h pipe.

Suspension - Although it does not increase power, suspension will increase ride handling and traction. Therefore, its as good as hp at the track. Some nice upper and lower control arms and sub-frame connectors would be a good place to start. Stick with the well known companies like Steeda, UPR, Holcomb Motorsports, Lakewood, Maximum motorsports, and Metco. Note, the last two are more expensive but if you can dig deep, I'de go with them as their reputations are second to none.

Sticky tires - Without traction, you might as well not be racing. You can buy a set of 2 drag radials for the rear for around 350 from most companies like Nitto, BFG, and Mickey Thompson. If you're looking to just race at the track, then get a spare set of 15 or 16in wheels for the rear and throw some drag slicks on them. Though it should be noted that the stickier the tire you run, the more stress it will put on the drive train and thus, the more likely you are to break an axle or rear diffential. You can avoid this by upgrading to a 31 splie rear-end setup, however, this will be a bit expensive.

Places I'de check for performance parts are the following:

www.stangstore.com
www.gefracing.com
www.mustangtuning.com
www.modulardepot.com
www.partsshopper.com
www.coolblueperformance.com
www.jegs.com

Another good guy to deal with and I highly recommend is Randy Stinchcomb. He's a member both here and at Modular Depot. If you join up over at Moudular Depot, you can get in touch with Randy in the Ford parts section of their forums. He tends to have great deals on parts.

EDIT: I had to fix a couple of those links.
 
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maverick0011

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Jun 28, 2005
#13
  • Jun 28, 2005
  • #13
I have an x pipe, and i just found out that i have an accufab plenum. Thanks for all your help guys. Will a throttle body spacer make much difference?
 
M

maverick0011

New Member
Jun 26, 2005
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Jun 28, 2005
#14
  • Jun 28, 2005
  • #14
Scratch that guys, i have an accufab throttle body, but i dont think i have the plenum, is it alright to mix and match, such as a granatelli plenum with the accufab throttle body?
 

Dark Knight GT

I can't get it up......ok that didn't sound right.
May 26, 2003
3,653
2
56
Ozark, Missouri
Jun 28, 2005
#15
  • Jun 28, 2005
  • #15
maverick0011 said:
Scratch that guys, i have an accufab throttle body, but i dont think i have the plenum, is it alright to mix and match, such as a granatelli plenum with the accufab throttle body?
Click to expand...
Yes, it will be ok to mix and match. Just realize that the Grantelli piece is not going to give quite the power that the Accufab plenum will, though it will be close. You can always try to polish the inside of the Grantelli piece if you have the time to help out air flow. I'm thinking about doing this myself. As for a throttle body spacer, forget it. Its been tried before and no one has had any positive results with it. Its a waste of money in my opinion.
 
M

maverick0011

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Jun 26, 2005
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Jun 28, 2005
#16
  • Jun 28, 2005
  • #16
thanks for all ur help guys
 

96WhiteNight

New Member
May 11, 2004
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Jun 29, 2005
#17
  • Jun 29, 2005
  • #17
I have a steeda timing adjuster and a trickflow intake plenum
 

edbo

New Member
Mar 31, 2005
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Valley, AL
Jun 29, 2005
#18
  • Jun 29, 2005
  • #18
Get the gears dude! Best bang for the buck mod = 4.10s
 

east_sidaz40

New Member
May 14, 2005
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0
Jun 29, 2005
#19
  • Jun 29, 2005
  • #19
I'm totaly with THAT. Get gears dude. I got mine 2 hrs ago. and i think my car went from fast to Super fast with just light mods along with gears. I got 3.73 though.
 

Chili

New Member
May 2, 2005
174
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0
Euless, TX
Jun 29, 2005
#20
  • Jun 29, 2005
  • #20
east_sidaz40 said:
I'm totaly with THAT. Get gears dude. I got mine 2 hrs ago. and i think my car went from fast to Super fast with just light mods along with gears. I got 3.73 though.
Click to expand...

More like slow to not quite as slow..

Seriously though, the gears help and installation shouldn't be too bad. Less than the cost of the gears themselves at least. Just make sure you go to someone that has done plenty of them. Even better, get referrals.
 
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