How to make the mustang 2000 faster?

[aaronsp71]

You should get some a cold air intake , cut you mufflers off, and use a blow torch to melt your rear springs.


Seriously though if you find a wrecked Mark VIII at a junk yard you can pull the entire drive train and swap it in. I've never seen one that has 250,000 miles on it. Well they have digital odometers so that's not entirely true. Anyways my point is you can spend probably less than 1000 if you do the work yourself.

 

[mhsamsim]

okay well i drove the car today and it ran pretty good, it looks really clean and since it hasnt had any problems so far i dont even think the engine is that messed up, the owner really took care of it and drove it good, never missed any service, this is why I want to invest in the car, because 250000 may be a lot but this car is well taken care of.

So im looking into getting cool air intake, the exhaust manifold needs to be changed cause there is something wrong with it, everything else is in good condition according to the shop it was taken to (the breaks, wheels etc.). im gonna take the mufflers off, put some new exhaust and a tune up ?

 

[Winters98GT]

okay well i drove the car today and it ran pretty good, it looks really clean and since it hasnt had any problems so far i dont even think the engine is that messed up, the owner really took care of it and drove it good, never missed any service, this is why I want to invest in the car, because 250000 may be a lot but this car is well taken care of.

So im looking into getting cool air intake, the exhaust manifold needs to be changed cause there is something wrong with it, everything else is in good condition according to the shop it was taken to (the breaks, wheels etc.). im gonna take the mufflers off, put some new exhaust and a tune up ?

Every penny you spend on that thing is a waste of money, IMO. It's a "cold" air intake, not "cool" air intake, the exhaust manifolds might have a leak in it, but just sell the car. doesn't matter if you get 1-3k for it, just get out from underneath it before investing in it and pocket the rest.

 

[007]

Are you seriously going to start spending money modding an 11 year old V6 with 250k miles!?

 

[aFTeRLiFe]

I'm like everyone else, I wouldn't waste money on a high miles car. Especially a v6, better off saving up and keeping your money and find a v8 or something better. That's my opinion...

 

[wheelyman19]

ok seriously guys your giving this kid way too hard of a time. some of you will take a completely good gt and drop all new suspension in it drop the motor build it up all that **** on a car that you atleast had to spend 7000-10000 for and he got pretty much the same car (minus the miles and v6 part) but for free!!!!! If this kid plans on keeping the car for a long ass time why not do wat the rest of you have as far as pretty much all new suspension. i do completly agree with wasting money on makin a v6 faster. but you can easily find a donor car for his 3-4 grand range and do the swap himself and have a nice gt for prob half the price the rest of us pay. ya the odometer will say 250000. but im sure the donor car will have half that and the supsension will be all new. so if i were this kid i would definetly make this a project car. so on that note good luck! and dont waste any money on the motor or switching to a manual. just find a donor with a manual

 

[txredgt]

ok seriously guys your giving this kid way too hard of a time. some of you will take a completely good gt and drop all new suspension in it drop the motor build it up all that **** on a car that you atleast had to spend 7000-10000 for and he got pretty much the same car (minus the miles and v6 part) but for free!!!!! If this kid plans on keeping the car for a long ass time why not do wat the rest of you have as far as pretty much all new suspension. i do completly agree with wasting money on makin a v6 faster. but you can easily find a donor car for his 3-4 grand range and do the swap himself and have a nice gt for prob half the price the rest of us pay. ya the odometer will say 250000. but im sure the donor car will have half that and the supsension will be all new. so if i were this kid i would definetly make this a project car. so on that note good luck! and dont waste any money on the motor or switching to a manual. just find a donor with a manual

Problem though is it can't be a project car he needs it as a DD so swapping this in for someone who was going to take the car for a tuneup to a shop isn't happening in a weekend. Shops are going to charge and arm and a leg for a drivetrain swap and it will probably be there for close to a week. I would still stick with sell it and get a V-8, no mod you do can can make up for the 2 cylinder mod without $$.

 

[southside2402]

Well it's up to you man... Ultimately just remember the car still has 250K on it and it's going to be a ton of work.

 

[BurningRubber]

Here's my suggestion:

Don't try to make this car fast. Not at all, not in ANY respect to the manner. 250,000 miles and performance DO NOT GO TOGETHER unless you're BEGGING to start breaking parts. The transmission would probably be the first to go, and if it hasn't already done it 3-4x, the head gaskets will probably pop. I guess they got better in the 1999 cars, but 3.8's are notorious for blowing head gaskets.

If you are sure you want to put money into it (it really is not a good investment of money), I would focus all of it on suspension, brakes, and appearance.

You can buy a good set of springs to lower the car and stiffen it up. I believe you can use a set of GT shocks/struts (aftemarket) to replace the likely WELL worn shocks/struts on there. That alone will make it feel like a new car.

Moving on, I'm sure the rear control arms (upper and lower) are probably well worn, and replacing these would likely tighten the rear of the car up enormously.

The ball joints, tie rods, and steering rack bushings are probably well past their prime as well.

The brakes are the same as the 99-04 GT brakes, so a simple set of new rotors and pads (if needed) will help. You can get a decent set of good looking slotted rotors (or cross drilled) for a good deal, and throw a set of better pads on there to help it stop quicker.

A simple set of wheels/tires will make a big difference as well. Any take-off GT wheel from that body style will make it look tons better than the V6 wheels. You can also find used sets of aftermarket wheels with tires for a pretty fair price these days.

That's just what I'd do. You'd literally have to be insane to try to make that car fast. I wouldn't consider a stock 99-04 GT fast, but you'd be spending several thousand dollars just to hit that level of performance. If the car had MUCH lower miles, I'd say go for it, but you're asking for major failure at that mileage.

 

[mhsamsim]

So its been 3 weeks since ive got the car, i forgot to mention that most changes i do i only have to pay for the part since my gf's dad knows a lot about cars and he has been helping me change things, he also can swap an engine.. however im not going to swap the engine probably, at least not for now.
so far i changed spark plugs n wires, put in a k&n CAI, new tires, new brake pads/ resurface rotors, change the broken exhaust manifold....
looking into changing springs and arms... any other suggestions as far as what replacements would make the car faster or feel newer?

 

[Deleted member 38176]

So its been 3 weeks since ive got the car, i forgot to mention that most changes i do i only have to pay for the part since my gf's dad knows a lot about cars and he has been helping me change things, he also can swap an engine.. however im not going to swap the engine probably, at least not for now.
so far i changed spark plugs n wires, put in a k&n CAI, new tires, new brake pads/ resurface rotors, change the broken exhaust manifold....
looking into changing springs and arms... any other suggestions as far as what replacements would make the car faster or feel newer?

*sigh*

 

[ChillPhatCat]

I used to have a 3.8L '97 Camaro RS (~170 RWHp stock), and after headers, full exhaust, weight removal, weight transfer mods etc and a big lopey cam, it pulled 210 RWHp on the dyno. However, this still made the Camaro just a mid 14 second car. Total cost in mods was about $2500. Not sure on the parts available for a 3.8L Mustang, but I'm sure it's not totally destitute.

In Contrast, with gears alone, a $700 mod on my near stock 2000 GT, it's easily a high 13 second car. And... at the moment my car might fetch $6k, what I paid for the Camaro back 8 years ago with about the same miles on the odo.

 

[txredgt]

*sigh*

All you can do is tell someone our experiences and they still usually don't take it.. I had an 01 V6 and I thought I was going to mod the hell out of it. I only got blowmasters on it and I quickly figured it was a dead end. I put a nicer stereo in it to make it mine and wheels and tires and called it a day. You can only make the car look better and a stereo, those are the best V-6 mods. You can take the stereo out of the car before you sell it and take the body parts off too if you keep the stock stuff.

 

[joshjwc9]

Okay I'm going to outline what I would do with a V6 chassis and $4k.

Sell stock motor, trans, and rear end for approximately $400=$4.4k to play with.

Buy UPR's 5.0 K member for 96-04 GT's. $3.7k to play with.

Buy used 5.0 motor out of a 96-01 Explorer. $400.=$3.3k to play with.

Buy used T5 trans/DS/crossmember out of 94/95 GT, $400.=$2.9k to play with

Buy used 99-04 GT rear end, caliper to caliper=$500. $2.4k left

New Rear Control Arms UCA's and LCA's, $400=$2k left.

SFC's, $150. $1850 left.

Cobra front brake kit and new rotors all the way around, $600=$1250 left.

Used 17 inch wheels/tires, $650=$600 left.

So you have approximately $600 left for miscellaneous things, plus whatever labor costs you do not need performed. Maybe a used x pipe and catback, although they are dirt cheap to make your own catback using some $40 Jones mufflers.

Just an idea...

 

[Deleted member 38176]

All you can do is tell someone our experiences and they still usually don't take it.. I had an 01 V6 and I thought I was going to mod the hell out of it. I only got blowmasters on it and I quickly figured it was a dead end. I put a nicer stereo in it to make it mine and wheels and tires and called it a day. You can only make the car look better and a stereo, those are the best V-6 mods. You can take the stereo out of the car before you sell it and take the body parts off too if you keep the stock stuff.

Exactly. I too started off with a 6'er and quickly learned that any money thrown at it for performance would be a total waste. You live and you learn

 

['13_ImpactBlue_GT]

Exactly. I too started off with a 6'er and quickly learned that any money thrown at it for performance would be a total waste. You live and you learn

But some people dont live and learn......take for example Honda Civic HX's (or the equivalent) with NOS stickers everywhere and a exhaust tip so big even Godzilla could fit his pecker in

 

[darkmajesty06]

I had a 97 v6, back in high school. Mdj, I though I was bad, had flows, calico, x pipe... that's about it.. 5 speed. I could hold my own with rice.. until a 00 chevy truck blew my doors off.. it was 2wd and had alot done... but come on.. a freaking truck? Lol... that was the last v6. "Muscle" car I owned. Now I have a 97 gt.. and im pretty sure my v6 would have stayedf on my rear quarter panel. But at least I can do a p.I swap for a lot cheaper than you can do a v8 swap...