First mods?

[LXstang5.0]

just got my 90 lx and looking for some good first mods to do. any suggestions?

 

[HISSIN50]

Danny, welcome to the boards!

Here's a good place to start.

Good luck.

 

[bigcahoona]

Dig into that fender and get rid of the air silencer box. Set the timing. Should take a couple of hours and get ya maybe 10hp

 

[Flavadave4]

Gears, a short throw shifter if its manual, exhaust for the sound and have some fun and as always "this thread is worthless without pics"

 

[Chietala]

Gears, a short throw shifter if its manual, exhaust for the sound and have some fun and as always "this thread is worthless without pics"

Second that! Gears a must!!

(paint it 2 tone. Sell it for an LS1 lol jk.)

 

[bryce93lx]

Sub frame connectors the absolute end all be all of mustang upgrades, nothing and i mean nothing is as cheap and does more for your car, get the full leangth ones, from maxium motorsports

 

[bubba-dough]

Welcome!

Do the free things first. Timing, air silence and things of that sort. Then go to the $$. I would do gears after the free stuff. Then suspension. All the power in the world is no good without putting it to the ground. However, you basically need to map out what you want to do with the car. Is it a 5 spd or auto? And we always enjoy pics.

 

[jrichker]

HISSIN50's link is a topnotch suggestion. all ofthe ideas on it are good stuff.

Here's how to do some of that on a budget - do the junkyard upgrade...

Gears - 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe rear axle - disc brakes and 3.55 or 3.73 gears in one package for $125-$300. Add another $100-$200 or so to complete the brake upgrade.

94-95 Mustang GT MAF - $40-$100. It is 70 MM instead of the stock 55 MM on regular stangs built prior to 94. It uses a slip on duct on the side that goes to the throttle body and a 4 bolt flange on the other. You need a $25-$35 flange adapter to fit the stock slip on air ducting that goes to the air box. Wiring plugs right in with no changes. *1

95-97 Ford Explorer intake manifold & throttle body $150-$300. The intake manifold flows 220 CFM +, much better than stock. Throttle body is 65 MM, bigger than the 60 MM on stock stangs. I got a 96 with EGR passages that match the stock setup, so my smog gear works just like factory. You’ll need a 65 MM EGR spacer & new gaskets for $65-$90 so you have a place to mount the EGR & throttle linkage.

3G alternator from 94-95 Mustangs or other Ford. $20-$120. A must have to make the electrical system work like it should. You’ll need a 4 gauge power wire and a 125-135 amp fuse to go with it about $15- $30.

Lincoln MK VIII electric fan -$40-$160. Free up some HP by not having to drive the stock fan. The 3G alternator upgrade is a must have prerequisite before you do the MK VIII fan. You won’t have enough electrical power if you don’t do the 3G upgrade.

Aluminum driveshaft: (courtesy of shawn13) It needs to be from a 92-93-94 Aerostar AWD and you will need the u-joint, part #353 from NAPA. It should bolt right up after the u-joint swap.

*1.) metal flange adapter
http://www.kustomz.com/cat3.html

Buy the TR70 for $44.95.

 

[superspec]

HISSIN50's link is a topnotch suggestion. all ofthe ideas on it are good stuff.

Here's how to do some of that on a budget - do the junkyard upgrade...

Gears - 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe rear axle - disc brakes and 3.55 or 3.73 gears in one package for $125-$300. Add another $100-$200 or so to complete the brake upgrade.

94-95 Mustang GT MAF - $40-$100. It is 70 MM instead of the stock 55 MM on regular stangs built prior to 94. It uses a slip on duct on the side that goes to the throttle body and a 4 bolt flange on the other. You need a $25-$35 flange adapter to fit the stock slip on air ducting that goes to the air box. Wiring plugs right in with no changes. *1

95-97 Ford Explorer intake manifold & throttle body $150-$300. The intake manifold flows 220 CFM +, much better than stock. Throttle body is 65 MM, bigger than the 60 MM on stock stangs. I got a 96 with EGR passages that match the stock setup, so my smog gear works just like factory. You’ll need a 65 MM EGR spacer & new gaskets for $65-$90 so you have a place to mount the EGR & throttle linkage.

3G alternator from 94-95 Mustangs or other Ford. $20-$120. A must have to make the electrical system work like it should. You’ll need a 4 gauge power wire and a 125-135 amp fuse to go with it about $15- $30.

Lincoln MK VIII electric fan -$40-$160. Free up some HP by not having to drive the stock fan. The 3G alternator upgrade is a must have prerequisite before you do the MK VIII fan. You won’t have enough electrical power if you don’t do the 3G upgrade.

Aluminum driveshaft: (courtesy of shawn13) It needs to be from a 92-93-94 Aerostar AWD and you will need the u-joint, part #353 from NAPA. It should bolt right up after the u-joint swap.

*1.) metal flange adapter
http://www.kustomz.com/cat3.html

Buy the TR70 for $44.95.

thank you sir. if anybody has anything to sell let me know.

 

[Maryland Stang]

I'm one who believes that a stock or darn near stock 5.0 has plenty of power if you can get it to the ground. A nice set of aftermarket upper and lower control arms are an absolute must along with a set of sticky tires.

 

[04sleeper]

JT's link and Joe's post are both excellent info.

I agree with subframe connectors on being the first mod.

Funny thing is when I bought my Termy the very first thing I put on was MM full length SF's and everyone was like "You don't have a pulley yet?" Lol...


For a Fox, the way I would do things is make sure your car is in good working condition first. These cars are going on 15+ years and the first thing to tackle would be to fix the things that you may not gain performance from but make the car run properly.

I have seen too many of these cars with tons of performance mods including aluminum heads, cam, intakes, etc.... with a battery cable that is split and green corrosion coming out of it.