Modding My Mustang...

[xxsictasticxx]

Well since this is my first post, I just bought my first Mustang and its a 98 GT, 100% Stocked I want to Customize it but am having trouble deciding on either a twin turbo, single turbo,supercharger or nitrous, I figure the cheapest is nitrous, but i want to have that constant hp... the twin turbo might be dangerous to the engine because it has about 10 years old with 100,000+ miles on it.. If you guys could help on this subject and how i would go about getting my stang ready for the transformation it would be awesome.. I'm also debating on what intake system i should get a Kn cai, or a Cl cai...

 

[COramprat]

Take some time to read some of the stickys at the top of this forum 1st. You may find some answers there.

The short of it is a car with that many miles may or may not handle the boost. In any case you would want to research before you jump into it. The cheapest way to go would be to find a used supercharger and install it yourself. A tune would be a must and you would have a pretty stout ride. Again search the threads and read up on whatever your are interested in then come back with some specifics.

 

[007]

Yeah you have a lot of reading to do. Theres a ton of good info here. Make good use of the search function.

A turbo setup would cost more than your car, and dont waste money on a CAI if your planning on buying boost soon (because youll probably replace it with the new kit). You wont get the best out of a blower with those crappy heads.

IMO The first mods you should do to that car are 3.73 gears (4.10 if its an auto) a headswap for the new trick flow heads and cams, and a tune to go with them. That would make in incredible improvement to the performance and then youd be ready for a blower later if you choose to do so.

 

[COramprat]

I don't know why you guys keep bad mouthing the heads on these cars. It has already been proven that the intake manifold was the culprit as far as low HP.

 

[mustang50v8]

here is the secret.....


dont touch the car. leave it the way it is. once you start modding.....it never stops. it consumes your life, and no amount of power is ever enough. "i only need 250rwhp" turns into 300 then 400, then the terminator guys are not satisfied with 600........it NEVER ENDS!!!!

 

[95Blitz]

here is the secret.....


dont touch the car. leave it the way it is. once you start modding.....it never stops. it consumes your life, and no amount of power is ever enough. "i only need 250rwhp" turns into 300 then 400, then the terminator guys are not satisfied with 600........it NEVER ENDS!!!!

HEHEHE love it i'm pushing 500 to the ground in a Gen 1 Lightning and I only want 50 more..

 

[darkside03gt]

I don't know why you guys keep bad mouthing the heads on these cars. It has already been proven that the intake manifold was the culprit as far as low HP.

I think you need to do a little re-search. You can port npi heads to flow just as good as ported PI heads but there is a reason that PI swaps are popular with 96-98 stangs. If it was simply a intake manifold issue nobody would ever put PI heads on a NPI car period.

 

[cobra2798]

I don't know why you guys keep bad mouthing the heads on these cars. It has already been proven that the intake manifold was the culprit as far as low HP.

Can you please provide proof of this. I have the PI swap minus the heads because I dont think its worth the work for the small gain. I just want to see something in writing that states the intake is the main problem and that the NPI heads flow as good as PI heads.


Anyway to the OP, I say the hell with all that power adder stuff on a 100k+ motor. keep it cheap and get yourself a PI intake($100 or less), the basic bolt ons, gears, and a set of longtubes. It will be a different car and will be a ton of fun to drive.

BTW....5spd or auto?

 

[007]

NPI heads flow as good as PI heads.

Just look at the flow numbers to start, or visually compare the heads themselves! Why do you think Ford moved to the "performance improved" head if it isnt better and didnt play a role in the big performance boost in 99?

Clearly its better than the NPI head. No tuner uses those old things. Everyone goes with PIs or ported PIs (and now trick flows twisted wedge). I recommended the trick flows because they are dramatically better than the NPI heads. It would make a world of difference to an NPI car.

 

[bhuff30]

The NPI heads flow is comparable to the PI... and head flow is a fairly small part of the whole combination. The intake and cams really drag down the NPI engine. The PI heads would be a nice addition, but the added compression would be worth more than the additional flow.
Personally, I don't think it is a big deal to modify a high mile 4.6 if it has been well maintained. My 97 has 161k miles. I've beaten it hard on the track and even worse in daily driving, but with consisten oil changes and maintance, it doesn't use oil and is still strong.
Anyway, to the OPs question, a good start would be PI heads/cams/intake. Then, decide which if any power adder. Turbos will be very expensive because no one makes a resonably priced kit (unless you can fab everything yourself for cheap). A blower is fun any time, and nitrous will take care of business when you need it to.

 

[xxsictasticxx]

yeah

its a Automatic.. i've been searching around this forum like you guys said and Well I've kinda changed my mind on the constant Hp with the turbos and such... right now I have a kn cai, the intake manifold orderd.. i've decided against supercharging it and turbo.. partly because of price at the moment.. So i'm just going to go with nitrous for the time being.. but before that I am getting it tuned this weekend..

 

[jomull55]

its a Automatic.. i've been searching around this forum like you guys said and Well I've kinda changed my mind on the constant Hp with the turbos and such... right now I have a kn cai, the intake manifold orderd.. i've decided against supercharging it and turbo.. partly because of price at the moment.. So i'm just going to go with nitrous for the time being.. but before that I am getting it tuned this weekend..

why not wait untill the nitrous is on to get it tuned?

 

[slayr281]

why not wait untill the nitrous is on to get it tuned?

Yeah, I agree. Not to be mean, but while there are some people with deep pockets, tuners charge a couple hundred bucks (if not more) for their time, and if it were my money, I'd have a whole bunch of mods for them to tune at once.

 

[007]

why not wait untill the nitrous is on to get it tuned?

Yeah that makes no sense. Youve got nothing installed that needs a tune. INstall all your mods and then tune.

Whos tuning it? What type of chip / programmer?

 

[rconaway]

Talk to Livernois or one of the experts on the heads before you start. For example, my 2000GT with blower easily hit 350 with a vortech and stock everything else. The 96-98 would barely clear 300 with the same setup. Ported from Livernois, my car has hit 643 rwhp with the same blower. I haven't heard of any 96-98 coming even close to that and we are still working on the tune.

 

[xxsictasticxx]

indeed

well, what I meant is that I am going to get everything checked out.. everything seems fine on the car no rust, been kept in great condition but still I want to make sure i'm getting optimal preformance out of the engine before I add anything.. which I did and everything is fine just needed a oil change.. But I am going to get it tuned after the nitrous and such is installed... Now I did take a look at the 4.10 gears and i've read and heard so-so things about it.. such as a quicker get up and go as I like to put it.. but minor loss of power.. so I'm still not settled on if I want to get it..

 

[SaleenGT2001]

gears will not make or take away power. there is no way for them to do that. they simply change how quickly you can run through a gear