Modification Survey Thread

01 Bullit #0864 - Black

Steeda Grill Elimination Kit - $49.95 - www.steeda.com
This looks great on the car. Gives the car a more aggressive look. Installation was very easy, and only took about 30 minutes. My only complaint is that you have to double sided tape the trim piece to the bumper cover. So far it looks good though. The instructions were a breeze to follow and had pictures, making it that much easier.

Do they make something like this for the Focus?

Alright Guys heres my Mods and what I think about them

MAC LTs: EXELLENT mod I havnt made it to the dyno yet but i know I gained atleast 13-15 rwhp......By far the best bang for the buck mod on my car....payed under $300 for them......everyone should have them....

FMS 3.73s: One of the best mods you could make I LOVE them, dont Fear the GEAR.....go with 4.10s.....Im gonna go with 4.10s when i get a new posi......

Spec Stage 1: Exellent clutch hits hard....no problems.... go with the Spec Stage 2 It has a Kevlar disc......

Adjustable Clutch Cable: Highly recommended for someone with an after market clutch, or a high mile stocker......

Hurst Short Throw Shifter: Its ok.......its got weak springs......Ive got a Pro 5.0 on the way......

BBK CAI: Worst mod you could make to your car 0 gains, but im sure it helps later on. it was my first mod....

Steeda Pullies: I felt a SOTP diffrence with these, it wasnt like AWESOME....but it all adds up

Magnaflow O/R X and Flowmasters with Dumps: Exhaust is all in opinion theres so many different kinds.....

SubFrame Connectors: good Mod... should be the first.... stiffins everything up considerably....

Free Mods!!!:
I Ported and Polished the Upper Intake, put dumps on the mufflers, and relocated the Battery and I went from 13.54 to 13.15 good stuff.....just a Few tips.....

Im headed to the track tomorrow im gonna post my 12 second times.......

Dave

Hey folks,
Here is a list of Mods and my opinions of them that I've done to my '99 GT with 106,000 miles onit:

MAC Cold Air Induction- Install was a breeze and it felt liek it picked up a bit in the upper RPM ranges and not "gasping" for air.

Steeda Tri-Ax - The Stock shifter was like holdin and shifting with a wet noodle. Now I don't miss 3rd anymore

Flowmaster ForceII catback - woke the car up immensely and gave it a more aggresive sound...

FRPP "C" Springs - What should have come with these cars from the factory, nuff said.......

Steeda LCAs- After seeing the stock LCA and how bad the front rubber bushing was " mangled" makes me glad I put them on. And the handling is SOOO much better now

FRPP UCAs - Done this with the Steeda LCA swap for insurance and peace of mind. Car hooks up and rides much bvetter now.

Trick Flow Upper Plenum & FRPP 70mm TB- Best gain for the money without forkin over a buttload of money for a bullitt intake. Car pulls HARD from 3k to the redline.

Steeda Subframe connectors - Stiffens the chassis greatly and makes the car more predictable in the corners without any surprises.

Kevin aka "Booger"

1999 Ford Mustang GT

1996 Cobra Convertible

Vortech V-1 s-trim supercharger
Um, well, 425 RWHP... can't be bad. Had about 400HP before I went to the offorad H. The engine has survived pretty well also. I take it to the track pretty regularly, but don't drive the car much overall (average about 3500 miles/yr)

Cobra grill emblem
mmm looks like it should...

Flowmaster 3-chamber mufflers
With the stock H-pipe, pretty quiet even if I really got on it. With the BBK offroad H-pipe, pretty quiet at idle, a nice tone upon normal acceleration, and pretty mean sound when I accelerate hard.

Ford Cobra "R" wheels (17 x 9), with Firestone Firehawk SZ50 tires (255/45 Front and 285/40 Rear)
The wheels look good on this body style. The tires hook ok, but not nearly enough for my combination. I haven't had to change the tires yet, but will probably get some sort of drag radials next.

FRPP 3.73 gears
Pretty much the perfect gear with the supercharger. With this, the car revvs up quick, but I am able to keep up with the shifting.

BBK off-road H-pipe (with MIL eliminators from www.mileliminators.com)
Really woke the exhaust sound up. I love it now. I also gained about 25 or 30 HP from it. The MILs get rid of the SES light.

BBK progressive lowering springs (lowered about 2")
A little too low for my taste. If I drove the car every day, it would be unacceptable. This is primarily because these springs are made for a hardtop, and I have a convertible. It's ok though for the car that's only an occasional cruiser.

B&M Ripper shifter
Nice and positive shifts. Not too notchy or loud.

High-speed fan switch mod
Helped with the cooling problems inherent in the '96 cobras, also important because I have a non-intercooled supercharger.

Custom Autologic chip burn by Paul's Automotive Engineering in Cincinnati
Important with the supercharger, because my A/F ratio and timing were way screwed up with the stock Vortech chip.

Stainless Steel bumper letters
Look Kewl

Global West full-length sub-frame connectors
These REALLY stiffened up my car. I literally had water running in from above the front windows whenever I went over a bump before I got these. Now, it is MUCH stiffer. Great mod.

Taylor 10.5mm Spark Plug Wires w/ separators
I don't think I NEED 10.5MM plug wires, but they certainly do their job. I needed new wires anyway, and big thick ones have a certain mystique about them.

Shortened Antenna mod
Great (and very cheap) mod, makes the car look good, especially a lowered car.

Zaino
SHINE! looks awesome on any color (even my white cobra)...

IST Hydraulic Hood lifts
With all the time I spend with the hood up (working on it and showing it) these are a great mod. Certainly not a "must have" though.

Painted calipers
Nice looking and cheap mod. Just be careful of the overspray.

Tri-ax shifter - First mod.. Huge improvement over stock (A MUST HAVE)
BBK LT/BBK catted X/Magnapack cat-back - Got huge gains over stock (graph in sig)
Sequential tail light - I love this mod
4.10 gears/ Alum driveshaft - Holy cow! Best bang for the buck right here
T&J Performance EEC reflash - Arriving today.. will update this post very soon

Additional mods

C&L 80mm Mass Air Meter with K&N -Nice Mod, decent feel. Bought from a friend for $150. Had to lose the 90 degree bend in the MAC CAI, but oh well. I picked up 8 hp from this mod on the dyno.

Accufab Plenum -Nice looking, easy to install mod. Felt a nice increase in power from it. My whole intake tract is done, and when I step on the gas the car has a nice intake sound (I didn't really want to say sucking ).

JBA Cat-Forward Silver Ceramic coated Headers -Great sound. Not really sure about the gains, but it deepened the sound of the car a little.

Magnaflow Catalytic X-pipe -This was a great mod. Very pleased with the sound and feel of the car now. When I step on the gas, the car screams.

I got the plenum, headers, and X-pipe installed within a week of each other so I'm not sure how each piece helped out or how much power I got. After 3000 rpm the car REALLY wakes up and pushes me into the seat.

Added UPR El-Glo gauges.

They look great, but it is rather hard to set the needles back correctly......

-Will

These mods are in the order of installation!
FORD MOTOR SPORTS SHORTIE HEADERS:
I had these installed while my motor was being replaced. They look identical to the factory manifolds and I didnt notice any power gains. Little or no sound difference is noticed either. Im sure they are better than the factory setup, however if you go to the trouble of headers on the 4.6 I would advise getting Long tubes!

K&N PERFORMANCE AIR FILTER:
My factory ait filter was badly worn out and dirty. When the K&N was installed and the air snorkle was removed I did notice some gains after 5 thousand RPM's. Obviously this was an easy installation.

BBK 70MM THROTTLE BODY:
I noticed some gains after 5 thousand RPM's with the TB mod. Easy installation, takes around 20min.

BBK COLD AIR:
This added to the BBK TB made for a pretty good gain throughout the powerband! I was impressed with this mod. Car does seem to run a little colder as well. Easy installation here as well, takes around 20 min.

(My advice:
Get a BBK Cold Air, BBK TB and a Upper Intake Plenum of some sorts at the same time...I imagine this will produce a HUGE gain!)

BBK CROSSOVER X PIPE FLOWMASTER MUFFLERS WI/ BBK MIL'S:
I had this installed by an exhaust shop...I attempted installation at first. My advice is to imediately go to an exhaust shop and save your time, this is a difficult installation... Huge gains felt here! All three of these together and the installation were expensive but well worth the money! IF YOU DONT LIKE a loud raspy sound...you will not like the BBK mid pipe...very very raspy! Some love it, some hate it..no in between.

MAC WHITE FACE GAUGES:
The gauge install is very difficult..you will find it hard to match every thing up correctly. MAKE SURE..you mark where your needles were before pulling them off! Worth the money and the install however....very nice, I get a lot of compliments.

QUESTION:ABOUT JET CHIP
I am in the process of buying a Jet Performance Chip..anyone notice any good gains? I am running door to door with a buddies Lt1 car, and I'm baiscly wanting jus somethin little to pull on him! Will this do the trick? Also- (ignorant question) How does this thing install..ive heard stories that they are difficult to install...cant see how tho...

< dont cha luv this thing?? lol

Where in the He11 do you guys get the money for all these mods? LOL!

Your mods

So the MAF helps on the Automatics? Sometimes what works for the stick cars do not work well for our rigs. I do not have the 4.10s yet but have a J Mod shift kit www.tccoa.com. All Auto cars need this. It is about the same bang or change as your gears for your car for about the 10th of the cost. I am sure it would be a huge compliment to your gears. How is your freeway MPG. I drive mine 50 a day. This summer they Talking 2.00+ a gallon of gas.

BurlyStang said:

FRPP 4.10's I like them just fine. Great freeway gear for an automatic. It's easy to shift gears with the throttle (OD <-> 3 <-> 2).

The mods in my sig are a good combo for someone wanting to spend $2000.00 parts + labor. There are no guarantees on your timeslip, but it will definately make your Stang more fun to drive.

I need a suspension now, and front brake/disk upgrade. I will post again after I've had a year or so on them. This thread has gone forever, cool.

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MM Subframe - > made car stiffer, take corner easier now, less bounce as well

EEC reflashed by T&J -- > still need to go to dyno..

Conv99GT said:

does is work and if so what are the gains

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What exactly is a "sprialmax" ?

ok 00GT 5spd, 26k miles

K&N- no gains

removed silencer- no gains, sounds cooler

cut snorkel open- no gains

magnaflow mufflers- welded in, car felt slower all the way around, unsure whether I like the sound

ported plenum- felt decent gains, especiallly 3500-4500, basically same as accufab imho

70mm tb- no gains, got it practically free(together w/prochamber, mils, $100)

prochamber- from 98 so o2's were in little different spot, installed it at work in about 30min, definately nice gains, moved powerband up a touch though, one of best to mods so far

ported maf- ditched screen cut post out(must open backside of sample tube), car really picked up from this mod, as much as prochamber, also very noticably extended rpm band 5500-5800, same as c&l imho,prolly best mod or prochamber, 3rd place-> plenum, only mods that picked up power(ported maf, prochamber, ported plenum)

bullit wheels- I just love em, went out and bought em

tints- usual bitches about top 6", took it back and MADE them do it

moved spoiler back 2"- great and subtle mod

01up hood scoop- I just didn't like the stock hood, love the look of the fake scoop, haha

mach 1 chin spoiler- body colored, loved it at first, not sure anymore but I drilled like 17 holes so it will stay, might paint it black again, dunno

programmed seat belt chime off- best mod yet, I wear my seatbelt 75% of the time, just annoying when driving across parking lots etc.

Wouldn't this be better if everyone would have posted in the reviews section instead. Then if I am looking for a certain mod, I would not have to read through this extremly long thread. Just a thought.

slow87GT said:

programmed seat belt chime off- best mod yet, I wear my seatbelt 75% of the time, just annoying when driving across parking lots etc.

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How did you program the chime off? I hate that little mother&**#@!

03 Mustang GT

Good thread as of now I have an X-pipe exhaust w/cats from SLP. Bad decision the exhaust from SLP works great and sounds great but was a bitch to install due to the cats would not fit properly and the oxygen sensors threads were warped. Other than that a few adjustments and the exhaust sounds great with the set of flowmasters I have. I also LOVE the steeda T3650 shorty shifter and the best mod yet is the 4:10 gears I had installed. Also the 85mm MAF improved some horses and should work great with future mods like a plenum and so forth. I now need drag radials BAD as well as drag springs.

cslick said:

How did you program the chime off? I hate that little mother&**#@!

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Key On Engine Off, Drivers window down, unbuckle and buckle drivers seat belt 3 times, cycle parking lights on and off, unbuckle/buckle 3 times again

somehow programs seatbelt nazi on and off

works on other fords too I've found

slow87GT said:

Key On Engine Off, Drivers window down, unbuckle and buckle drivers seat belt 3 times, cycle parking lights on and off, unbuckle/buckle 3 times again

somehow programs seatbelt nazi on and off

works on other fords too I've found

Click to expand...

Dude, where the hell did you find that routine at? Are you serious???? That rocks if it works.

slow87GT said:

Key On Engine Off, Drivers window down, unbuckle and buckle drivers seat belt 3 times, cycle parking lights on and off, unbuckle/buckle 3 times again

somehow programs seatbelt nazi on and off

works on other fords too I've found

Click to expand...

Serious???