New to StangNet

[Trinic]

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After owning a 4 cylinder 98 civic for a year and a half as my first car, within the past week ive upgraded to a 99 yellow mustang with black leather interior n all and im in love.
She rides so nice, with only 63000 miles, i have every documentation of every oil change at precisely every 3k miles from its single owner since 99.
Yea my civic was loaded with underbody lighting kit, little tvs, ps2 n all but it cant touch my head-turning Mustang coupe.

It came equipped with dual exhaust, a cdplayer head-unit, and 4 brand new Bridgestone tires. The day after i purchase it i had my sound system installed.
Its only flaws are needing new front breaks n rotors and the passenger door handle being very loose, working but broken from the inside of the door panel. My quoted prices for parts and labor are;
*$111 - New special ordered yellow handle
*$225 - Front breakpads and rotors

So im doing that this upcoming week before i leave to college the following week.
I just wanted to fill u guys in on my new stang.

A couple minor things on my ToDo List are:
*New tints
*I also read a few things about Sub-Frame Connectors for a better ride

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanx and Hello

 

[Ernad]

Welcome

And don't forget the turbonator

 

[OxMox]

Thank God one less ricer on the road. Welcome to Stangnet and good job with the car. You should be able to get all that stuff fixed up right away. I'm assuming it's a V6? About the subframes, i'd say do it. I have a set of Kenny Brown and I like them, after I put them on I noticed alot less body sloshing. So i'd say go for it. After that you might want to go with a few other things. I'll just list them in what order they should be done in, with some links for you since you're bound to ask at some point.

1) T-lok (spins both tires)
2) Rear-end gears (3.73 or 4.10)
3) Catback exhaust (you said you already have this... find out what kind)
4) Under drive pulleys (Crankshaft pulley & waterpump pulley)
5) Short throw shifter (if 5spd)
6) K&N drop in with removed "snorkel" or "silencer" (cheaper than a CAI and about as effective)
7) Subframe connectors
8) Shocks/struts (ford hocks/struts go after 60k)
9) Lowering springs with spring isolators, bumpsteer & offset rack bushings
10) ECU chip or programmer

Go and check out the thread in the "V6 Tech" part of the forums titled "All your V6 technical Q's answerd". should help with somethings, after that just have fun and stuff. Again welcome to Stangnet and good choice with the car.


www.v6mustangstuff.com
www.gefracing.com
www.rpmoutlet.com
www.steeda.com
www.rpm-mustangs.com
www.supersixmotorsports.com

 

[Trinic]

Awesome post "worked v6" and thanks for the suggestions, money's kinda steep right now after spending most of it on the car and leaving to college now with no job in mind for the first couple semesters but i should have all ur suggestions at some point.

o and "98StangRidah" serious about the Turbonator?

Ive been to the site, kinda seems like a joke but then again its been spoken about in some magazines. Does it really work and if so is it worth it?

 

[OxMox]

^ No, he's not serious. DON'T DO IT! Thanks for the compliment about the post, just take your time with it and eventually one day you turn your key and notice that it's not the little economy coupe that it used to be, but now it's fire breathing, rice stomping, tire smokin, chassis twistin, V6.


Don't buy the turbonator or any other related products!

Stangridah, oneday some noobie is going to take you seriously.

 

[Trinic]

heh cool thanks because i had told my dad about it and he wasnt buying it but myself being a auto noob and a noob to mustangs as well, i woulda saved and spent the money

 

[Trinic]

if u dont mind me asking, what are the advantages to the items u suggested for my todo list?

 

[OxMox]

1)Traction Lock (T-Lok):
By being able to switch power between the rear wheels, a t-lock helps your car to maintain its stability around corners and will give you better traction overall by spining both tires rather than just the right rear.

2)Rear End Gears:
Changing the time the wheels turn per drive shaft rotation, different gear ratios will allow for much quick acceleration, but it may hurt your top speed and gas mileage.

3)Cat-Back Exhaust System:
A bigger exhaust system will give your exhaust a quicker chance to escape your engine, resulting in more airflow and more power.

4)Underdrive Pulleys:
Components like air conditioning can take a lot of power away from your engine. Underdrive pulleys are a simple way to route some of that lost power back to the engine to give you more power at the wheels by adding smaller diamater pulleys.

5)Short Throw Shifter:
The quicker you can shift, hopefully the quicker you can accelerate. A short throw shifter shortens the distance you have to move the shifter to change gears, speeding up your shifts.

6)K&N Drop in Air Filter:
An easy way to get more air into your engine is to simply replace the air filter. A high-flow reusable filter is good for a couple horsepower, and since it lasts forever and is about as good as a CAI (Cold Air Intake), saves you money.

7)Subframe Connectors:
Subframe connectors provide another way to strengthen up your chasis, by stoping the side to side "sloshing" feeling you have when you take a corner, and to stop body-twist under hard acceleration.

8)Shocks/Struts:
The factory ones on a ford only last till about 60-65k miles and then you need to replace them. Koni makes some good quality ones, they'll also help a little with traction and cornering.

9)Lowering Springs:
The stock mustang sits like a 4x4. Dropping your car an inch or two will greatly help the overall look and will help you stick through corners and give you better traction as well.

10)ECU:
In stock form, the main computer control system (the ECU), is tuned more for fuel economy rather than performance. By getting a re-tuned ECU or hand held programmer, you can have many paramaters adjusted in your engine to get much better performance.

 

[Trinic]

ok awesome, im not currently looking for speed but mainly for better fuel economy, mind u im leaving to college without a job for a little bit with limited funds and alot of driving.

i also want a better ride so by the looks of the list i should get the;
*T-Loks
*Underdrive pulleys
*K&N Drop in Air Filter
*Subframe connectors
*Shocks/struts
*Lowering springs

Awesome list, this should become a sticky cuz thats some valuable info for newbs, any more suggestions and help is appreciated.
Thanks "worked v6"

 

[OxMox]

Thanks. Good luck with college, I just got done with my first year. The things you listed will work for you greatly in this situation, unfortunately you can't really get better fuel economy than what your car has already. Giving it the air filter will help you the most in that situation. Going with all those six things will leave you with a decent smile on your face, you'll have a car that looks good, handles good, and is fairly quick. You'll see the biggest difference in accelleration and speed from the t-lok and pulleys, once you drive it with out them and then go and just fly up and down the closest highway with them installed you'll be surprised, I know, I know, you're not looking for speed right now but they do add some fun to the driving experience. As far as other things go that you might be interested in right now would be a Strut tower brace, urathane bushings, spring isolators, and off-set rack bushings. The bushings and isolators are fairly cheap from here www.gefracing.com and the strut tower you can get from steeda for like 100$ - 150$ depending on what kind you get. After that everything else will have you paying a little bit more at the pump next time you fill up but not by too much.


UUMMMM.... You could also do some body work, such as a GT rear bumper, GT side scoops, etc. That's up to what you think will look the best. Let me know if you need anything/have questions about anything else. Also try the search button on the top of the page and see what comes up for what.

 

[Scott_95GT]

ok awesome, im not currently looking for speed but mainly for better fuel economy, mind u im leaving to college without a job for a little bit with limited funds and alot of driving.

i also want a better ride so by the looks of the list i should get the;
*T-Loks
*Underdrive pulleys
*K&N Drop in Air Filter
*Subframe connectors
*Shocks/struts
*Lowering springs

Awesome list, this should become a sticky cuz thats some valuable info for newbs, any more suggestions and help is appreciated.
Thanks "worked v6"

Sounds like a nice car. Gotta like that black leather.
For small improvement in gas milage, underdrives, dual exhaust and the K&N w/out the silencer is a good move, and you already have duals. Check to make sure they are true front to back. A lot of cheap ass people, or people who don't care, run single exhaust with an extra pipe for looks on V6's. Gay.

Also, a t-lok is nice (1-wheel burnouts = ) but it's not really neccessary on a daily-driver v6 automatic as far as performance is concerned. If you had a higher gear ratio, with a 5 spd, and more torque, then a t-lok becomes neccessary. Untill then, it's not really gonna help you.

Also, springs are a great mod, but you mentioned you are concerned with how it rides. If this is true, I would look into some ford c springs, or similar (lowers the car about '3/4). They will lower your car a bit, improve handeling, and will retain a lot of ride quality. Other springs such as eibach's, bbk, ect. are great, but they may be a bit rough for you if your concerned with ride quality.

If your car's ass-end is not too jumpy over bumps in the road (Most stangs are to a certain point, it just souldn't be real bad), and your car feels good overall suspension wise, you probably don't need shocks and structs. Souldn't be an issue untill 90-100k miles IMO. Never has for me on any of my stangs.

Welcome. Glad to hear you rice-rocket days are over lol. Congrats on you new car, and feel free to ask any question because we were all newbie's once.

 

[OxMox]

^ good, atleast he hears it from someone other than me (always good to have two opinions on certain things). About the shock/strut issue, on my first car (97GT) it had 45k miles on it when I got it and when I sold it, it had 67k miles on it. I had to replace the shocks/struts on it cause they were shotty. And to back that, one of my friends used to work at a ford dealership right around the corner from me, and he said that the shocks and struts go at around 60k-70k miles, closer to 60k-65k miles. But, whatever. Eitherway just have fun and go with whatever you feel nescesary.

 

[Sage427]

hey Trinic,

i'm sure you'll like your stang better overall! i dunno if this will help much, but one of the BEST gas solutions that can be done to it, is YOU! I can tell certain ways that I drive mine determines how much gas I put in it at a weekly rate! and I know you'll want to try to "size it up" against other categorized vehicles for the first few weeks your getting used to it, and thats what ate up my usage!

 

[Ernad]

worked v6 for moderator of V6 forums

 

[Trinic]

thanks alot of all the help and suggestions as well as compliments on/for the stang...this has been one of the more helpful forums ive posted in.
i agree with 98StangRidah..."worked v6" for moderator of v6 forums!
My first step in all of these upgrades for my mustang is a job and time =/ but whose isnt.
Ty

 

[Integraholic]

I did my brakes and rotors myself and spent 60 bucks. You should do the same. And hell, if you lived in Indianapolis, I'd do it for you for 100 bucks.

 

[OxMox]

worked v6 for moderator of V6 forums

I AGREE!!!

 

[AndyG47]

Thank God one less ricer on the road. Welcome to Stangnet and good job with the car.

Isn't that the truth. I hate ricers so much-all sound and no go. Welcome and good choice.

yeah t-lok w/ gears definiently one of the best
gets rid of the " one tire fryer" or "one wheel peel" common on the v6
I hate not having either of them.

P.S. Please fix your picture so we can see it.

 

[AndyG47]

No offense, but the best ricer I ever ate was a white Civic with black(no wheel covers) rims, giant fart can, big mother tach on dash, all windows tinted, big boom system, g/f in front hanging a cigarette out window, body kit unpainted (not even primed) with a red front fender to even everything out.