Need advise quickly!

So are you saying you have $350 to spend after gears and headswap?

If so, I say put it towards exhaust, if you can get by emissions.

Don't waste money on a CAI; just get a K&N drop in filter and take off the air silencer. Same gains.

Only other options in that price range is underdrive pulleys or throttle body/plenum, either of which will get you about the same amount of hp (10ish). Don't spend money on expensive TBs either; I got a Stack Racing 75 mm TB from AM for $110 shipped, and it works flawlessly.

Edit: Oh, and is the car auto or 5-speed?

mrmhrm9598 said:

What about ignition upgrades or a tuner? Would you recommend going that route?

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If you are putting new gears in then a tuner is needed.. unless the shop you have install the gears does tunes as well. however a tuner is great to have IMO.!

mrmhrm9598 said:

Do you pick up any hp with a tuner also what happens if I don't use a tuner after I install the gears?

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your spedometer will be off, anywhere from 10 to 20 mph. i put 3:73's in and was off 15mph. there are gains to be seen with a tune. and you can get different set-ups. 87 octane, up to 93, and keep the factory settings in it. can have it updated from the company you purchased it from as well when you add more bolt ons.

SCT SF3/X3 Power Flash Mustang Custom Tuner w/ 3 Free Custom Tunes - 3rd Generation SCT XCalibrator - FREE SHIPPING!

check this out, it will help on what a tuner does!!

mrmhrm9598 said:

What do you think about the package that I found from UPR?

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that seems like a good package deal.. to bad you can't get all that plus the tuner! then you'd be rockin a bit better.!

mrmhrm9598 said:

I am actually looking on the web to see if I can find a used tuner. that way I can get them both.

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good luck, used ones still run a premium. i have seen them for bout $200. check ebay and amazon.

mrmhrm9598 said:

If you could only get one first would you get the tuner or the package that I found. I will be able to get the other next week.

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the tuner! just to make sure the car is set up and ready to run with the new gears! and then once you get those new bolt ons. have a new tune sent to you to upload!

A tuner is not "needed" and you cannot change the gear ratios on the 96-98 cars with a tuner; you can only do that with a speed calibration gear, or something like that; can't remember the exact name. Edit: found it here: http://www.americanmuscle.com/speed-calibrator-94-04.html. A mail order tune (which is what you'll get if you get a programmer from AM, which I would recommend because they do free tunes for life from Bama Custom tuning, which is a great deal) will probably net you 15ish horsepower and allow you to raise the rev limiter, which is necessary to rev the motor to its fullest potential with the PI stuff. Also, I'd be weary of a used tuner considering that you have a relatively decent amount of modifications to tune for. In other words, the tune that comes on a programmer for most cars will not best suit your car and the mods you have done on it. Unless you find a tuner that was used on a car very similar to yours with similar mods, I would get a new one. Once again, the AM SCT tuners are very tempting, considering that you would tell them all of your modifications, and then they (Bama Custom Tuning) would build a tune specifically for your car. The only thing better than this would be a dyno tune, of which you'd have to have the programmer anyway.

Do you have an offroad mid-pipe? I understand about not wanting/being able to do headers on account of cost and time, but an offroad mid-pipe is relatively cheap ($150ish brand new), very easy to install (3 hours with basic tools and never doing it before), and will net you a solid 15 hp and a nice sound.

That's not a bad deal for that package, although I don't know just how much hp you'll get from it. I can tell you that you won't get 28 hp like they advertise; maybe 15 at absolute best, and that's doubtful. But it will give you a better throttle response and room to improve other things in the future. I'm not real terribly sure about that plenum either; that doesn't mean it is bad or anything, just that I've never heard of it. Maybe some other members will chime in with some insight on this package deal.

If you are going to get both a tuner and this other stuff at some point anyway, I'd get the other stuff first. It's easier to install that other stuff while you are working on and have the motor torn apart than it is to reassemble the top end of the motor with the stock stuff, only to have to take it back off to put on this new stuff. The programmer would only take 5 minutes tops to put the tune on. Simply because of time and hassle saved, I say get the other stuff first.

Oh yea, you asked for a throttle body preference. Because I am unsure of that particular upper intake plenum, I would consider this Stack Racing Polished 75mm Throttle Body (96-04 GT) at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping! and this C&L Upper Intake Plenum (96-04 GT) at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping!. Or, with just this BBK 78mm Mustang Throttle Intake (96-04 GT) at AmericanMuscle.com - Free Shipping!. Both are about the same price ($270). But, if someone else here can chime in on that plenum in that package deal, it may be perfectly fine to use and you could save some money.

What tuner? Definitely SCT, especially if you buy new from AM.

Also, if you purchase from AM, be sure to PM the Stangnet sponsor (can't remember the name, is something like AMEmily or something like that, you can find it in the American Muscle sub-forum on here) and ask her for the forum discount code. IIRC, it's like 6 or 7%, which is quite a bit if you order some of that stuff from them.