Need some opinions?

birdman941 · Sep 17, 2008

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scupking · Sep 17, 2008

birdman941 said:
How does the budget look in the end?

Around 5k

birdman941 · Sep 17, 2008

..................

CobraRed_96_GT · Sep 17, 2008

birdman941 said:
What is a good running 2V motor like yours selling for nowadays?
With the LT's, etc.

I don't think he's buying a 5.4 4V, lol.

birdman941 · Sep 17, 2008

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scupking · Sep 17, 2008

birdman941 said:
What is a good running 2V motor like yours selling for nowadays?
With the LT's, etc.

I don't know how much it would go for. Since I bought the car my goal has been 400 rwhp. It's just how I get there has change some. It's one mod at a time kind of thing but as I said I think I will be able to put 5k into her come next summer. I do want the HPS hardballer intake, LT, and full length sub frames. I will also be doing the J-mod to my transmission. After that I don't know if I should get cams or go start for a blower. I don't think I will be able to do all this for under 5k so I have to pick what would be best.

BurningRubber · Sep 17, 2008

CobraRed_96_GT said:
Cheers

birdman941 · Sep 18, 2008

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scupking · Sep 18, 2008

birdman941 said:
Building the chassis and trans to hold the power is a smart move.
This saves parts breakage down the road.
2 other areas should be considered.
One is the cooling system.
A Cobra/Mach 1 radiator will help get rid of the heat,
and with stable temps the power you wind up with will be reliable.
It takes more cooling capacity to cool 400 HP than it does 260.
I see you already have a trans cooler, which was a smart move.

The other area is the brakes.
What good is a fast car if you cannot stop it?
Trees make for poor brakes.

It will take a lot of airflow to make 400 RWHP,
especially with an automatic if you choose to stay auto.
It is possible but difficult and expensive to do with 2V heads.
It's too bad FRPP no longer offers the NA Cobra engine/trans combination,
as it was quite a bargain and very complete. (I did one on a 2000 GT)
Not 400HP, but cool nonetheless.

Ported heads and cams are a requirement for what you want.
You will have to research and choose wisely,
and although the internet is a good source of information,
call the cam companies and get their input before deciding.
400 HP is a lot to ask of 281 CID, but possible.
A blower will work, but what is the actual overall cost? (rhetorical)
Go to car shows and ask SC Mustang owners about their experience.
Naturally, they will tell you the good stuff.
Ask them what part sucks, and learn from their experience.
If they say none of it sucks, they are lying to you.
No blower install goes without a hitch, and some maintenance is a PITA.

Yeah the only way to make 400rwhp out of the 2v is via blower. If I don't do a blower then stage one cams would probably be the best bet for me seeing as they do not lose any low end tourqe and do not require new valve springs. With the cams, LTs, Intake and dynotune she should be 280-290rwhp (330-342 crank). That would not be to shaby for an auto 2V. Then in another year or 2 I could go F/I.

bhuff30 · Sep 18, 2008

If your going to spend 5k on the car, definately go with a blower. You can add a blower to your otherwise bone stock car under 5k and it will be a heck of a lot more fun than any bolt ons or clutch petal would give you.

I find the argument above for auto vs manual interesting. Yes, banging gears is definately fun and that can't be argued. Especially for a daily driven sports car/muscle car. Most of the time, a well manual will be slightly faster than an automatic.

However, when you start playing with big power, manuals are a pain in the ass! They shock load the tires, making it more difficult to hook. If you do have traction, then it is a certainty that you'll break something eventually... either axles, rear gears, the driveshaft or something, just because of shock load. An automatic is easier on driveline parts and has consistency that can't be matched with a manual.

Personally, I love the manual in my V8 and I love the automatic on my 4cyl street/strip toy.

birdman941 · Sep 18, 2008

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3ponyshow · Sep 19, 2008

bhuff30 said:
Personally, I love the manual in my V8 and I love the automatic on my 4cyl street/strip toy.

This is funny because I'm just the opposite. I have my auto for consistency and my 4 cyl DD is a manual.

Ayway, To your post. I agree there's alot of great pov's here. I'll throw in a few random thoughts.

Bottom line, you have to decide your priorities. If it's financial, your Return on Invenstment from a practical pov (which is ironic in a Mustang modding thread) is to keep your car, hands down. All the money you could be putting into your car would be going into the other car payment.

If it's power, I've never seen an NA 281 hit 400 rwhp (but I won't argue it can be done with someone who's clearly more experienced than me) so a blower is your best bet. This is NOT all inclusive and you will not only have additional costs, you will have to remove some of the mods you already own. Also, I wouldn't even consider running a blower without the sub frame connectors on first and a tune.

Curious as to why you're set on 400 hp. If you get a blower, you pretty much have to spend a big chunk at one time and you'll still need additional mods to get you there. My '02 auto with the blower alone netted me 325 rwhp and 335 rwtq. If you stay NA, you can build at a slower pace, but I still can't see ever hitting 400 rwhp. If it's ET's you want, plenty of guys hit 12's with NA 250+ cars. They put as much effort into weight transfer and weight reduction as they do power.

Manual v Auto is Just a matter of preference. Both have positives and negatives. My auto has a higher parasitic value and weighs more. It's also more consistent and I've won more than one race from the other guy missing a gear. Still, IMO, a manual is alot more fun. As for cost, I don't have alot of experience with this, but I do have a friend that hated his auto and because he did his own work, was able to do the entire swap for nothing because he got more for his auto tranny than the cost of the parts.

Bottom line. Very few people are fortunate enough to NOT have a car payment. You are one better because you already have a great car that's owned outright AND modded.

Notchbck93 · Sep 25, 2008

Hellion turbo is your friend.

"Our most popular kit, the 99-04 Mustang GT kit , has taken the aftermarket by storm. Want 430 reliable
rear wheel horse power from you street car? Then simply install one of our kits on your 99-04 Mustang GT
and reap the benefits of power and reliability. Drive your car daily? No problem, this kit, on a stock '99 GT,
averaged 26mpg when we drove it from Albuquerque, New Mexico to St. Louis, MO. in 2005. The car also
never ran hot, and we had the A/C blasting the whole way. This is the best performance option for your
99-04 Mustang GT. A complete list of parts and upgrades, along with the associated pricing is listed below. "

Hellion Power Systems - 99-04 Mustang GT

This kit is more expensive because of the whole tubular front end.

My buddy had the KB 1.7 on his 02 GT and I love the right-now boost of the roots, it was a big help to the auto. He sold that car for a Termi.

Buy a KB, get 9 psi and rock and roll man.

CENTENNIALSTANG · Sep 25, 2008

Save the money dude.....

birdman941 · Sep 25, 2008

Agreed.

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