Some general stuff... And about 800 to spend.

DrK MrK iV · Jan 31, 2004

I got an 04 mustang a few weeks ago. I absolutly love the car, and everytime I drive it-I love it even more. Anyways... I have been researching and posting some here, but I think I am ready to actually start doing some boltons. I am new to the 4.6, but not new to cars in terms of me doing bolt ons, and such. First off, some really general and really stupid questions.
1. What rpm range do you normally cruise in? I will be doing 4th, and the engine does seem a bit loud, so I'll put it in 5th, and then my rpm's are at about 1.2k. I would assume thats ok, as long as I don't floor it.
2. 87 oct really good for my car? Should I go with better? Manual says 87... But in my past experiences, the manuals can be wrong. I just want to make sure here.

With those unintelligent questions set aside... I have about 800 bones...Maybe more... to spend. Now the basic bolts ons for any car normally seem to be the classic intake and exhaust. So... how about:

Denscharger (the 3.8 boys used to rave about this) The gains seem to be pretty good.
70mm tb from accufab
plenum... I don't know if I want a dragon or accufab.
The tb and plenum are a big maybe.
Pullies? 6-8 hp gains are what normal people get, correct?
4.10s probably. I would get that saftey loop, al. driveshaft, and speedo corrector. Lots of money, so probably piece this one together.
The big one I am worried about is exhaust.
The american thunder catback. Its cheap and sounds decent. How are the gains with this with a stock H pipe and headers? I haven't seen any posts to deal with the gains.

Thanks for your help!

Also... Eibach lowering springs... How long would stock shocks and struts last? Any good s/s for the street? Mild racing, milding cornering (city driving). Thanks alot!

Roush21 · Jan 31, 2004

DrK MrK iV said:
I got an 04 mustang a few weeks ago. I absolutly love the car, and everytime I drive it-I love it even more. Anyways... I have been researching and posting some here, but I think I am ready to actually start doing some boltons. I am new to the 4.6, but not new to cars in terms of me doing bolt ons, and such. First off, some really general and really stupid questions.
1. What rpm range do you normally cruise in? I will be doing 4th, and the engine does seem a bit loud, so I'll put it in 5th, and then my rpm's are at about 1.2k. I would assume thats ok, as long as I don't floor it.
2. 87 oct really good for my car? Should I go with better? Manual says 87... But in my past experiences, the manuals can be wrong. I just want to make sure here.

With those unintelligent questions set aside... I have about 800 bones...Maybe more... to spend. Now the basic bolts ons for any car normally seem to be the classic intake and exhaust. So... how about:

Denscharger (the 3.8 boys used to rave about this) The gains seem to be pretty good.
70mm tb from accufab
plenum... I don't know if I want a dragon or accufab.
The tb and plenum are a big maybe.
Pullies? 6-8 hp gains are what normal people get, correct?
4.10s probably. I would get that saftey loop, al. driveshaft, and speedo corrector. Lots of money, so probably piece this one together.
The big one I am worried about is exhaust.
The american thunder catback. Its cheap and sounds decent. How are the gains with this with a stock H pipe and headers? I haven't seen any posts to deal with the gains.

Thanks for your help!

Also... Eibach lowering springs... How long would stock shocks and struts last? Any good s/s for the street? Mild racing, milding cornering (city driving). Thanks alot!

Two answer your first question about the 4th to 5th thing the 5th gear in the mustang is really just for highway driving and usually only use it if your going to actually stay in 5th gear for a little while (gas saver) it sounds like you want some gears but maybe not right away due to your $800. 4.10s are very agressive gears and not good on gas really....3.55-3.73 are pretty decent and with the gt in my opinion i would get the 3.73's probably take like 2 tenths off your quarter mile time and your car will be very fast thru the gears. Question # 2 in a stock gt 87 octane is ok but once you start adding power just dont even look at the 87 pump when you pull into to the gas station go straight for the 91-94 octane (not sure where you like but in PA you can get 93 and 94 at sunoco. If i had $800 to spend I would first do the flowmaster american thunder catback and get an aftermarket h or x pipe without cats if possible....emissions are coming around and again not sure where you live but PA doesnt have emissions yet. With the money you have left I would probably get the pullies and then if you wanted to go a tad farther and had a little dough left over i would get a mass air and the 3.73's and save the intake for when more money came around. Hope this well helpful.

DrK MrK iV · Jan 31, 2004

Thanks for the info. Anyone want to add on to them?

Beau · Jan 31, 2004

lower the car...drop it at least 1.5 inches. add a shifter..then if you have cash leftover maybe a throttle body and plenum..then start saving up for gears

Redfire03GT · Jan 31, 2004

What are you after?

Do you want mods that'll make your car faster? Louder? With 800 bucks, there's not a "whole" lot that you can do but, you can utilize it effectively. You could get some 4.10's, get them installed, get the speed cal, call it a day and save the remaining cash for something else later on.

If you don't want to do gears, you can take care of your intake set up all the way down to the plenum. For somewhere around 700 bucks, you could get a complete C&L/BBK set up, like I have. C&L 85mm MAF, C&L True Flow Pipe, BBK 75mm TB, C&L Plenum. That'll take care of the intake side of it. Or, if you'd prefer exhaust, there's plenty of exhaust options depending on what you want. You could get an entire cat back and "maybe" have enough to get a mid pipe of your choice. Exhaust stuff is mostly chosen by your own personal taste to sound. Some folks don't give a damn how it sounds, as long as it performs.

Then there's suspension. This is also dependant upon what you want. You could get some H&R springs (which ever you want) w/ some nice shocks and struts for some decent corner carving, or you could get a simple and less expensive drag set up, ie: Lakewood 90/10, Lakewood 50/50, Fox Body 4 cyl. springs in the front, Fox Body V8 springs in the rear. Most of this can be had for under 800 bucks, considering that you install it all yourself or know someone who can.

I hope that helps. And I hope I made some kinda sense

ChrisXoxide · Jan 31, 2004

People always want the accufab stuff for plenum TB, but everyone kind of agrees the price is too high. Accufab regulates the advertised prices online, so noone is allowed to sell them for less profit. PM me though, I can help.

Underdrive pulleys are probably a little less gain than the plenum/tb, but less money.

4.10s are a huge difference. Gears (139~), master bearing kit (~85), install (~150-250).

You really don't need the Driveshaft or Driveshaft loop...

DrK MrK iV · Jan 31, 2004

My goals are a faster car that is a daily driver. So far that rules out a blower/turbo/nitrous... I have been looking at some stuff as far as lowering goes... I would need springs (obviously), CC plates, and shocks/struts. Trying to keep this where is doesn't kill my wallet, I have looked at the Mach 1 shocks/struts. can be found: http://www.fordpartsnetwork.com/03Cobra.htm
Are those pretty much the same as any other aftermarket shocks/struts? Well, I know they aren't adjustable and all, but would that make the ride pretty much not suck? I appriciate it.

BlackBadGT · Jan 31, 2004

Well, if you want to bolt on som epower, you might look into under drive pullies, Timig advance, intake plenium, and a larger throttle body. If you have any cash left over an O/R pipe will do nicely. These are all very simple bolt-ons that you can do at home yourself.

Makalani_96GT · Jan 31, 2004

I went with a shifter for my car first and I will be going cat-back next. I have a small budget right now and for me the biggest thing was that crappy shifter and now I have to fix that meow I have from the stock muffler system. I always put 91 or better in my car the mileage difference is crazy just don't get on the loud pedal and you will see. And if you don't buy a cold air right off the bat get a K&N.

BlkDragon · Jan 31, 2004

I say cat back or catted x (400, SLP or Magnaflow) and springs (200) w/ the eiback pro-kit, steeda's, or ford c springs you won't need new shocks/struts. If you do the installations yourself, then w/ the extra 2 bills pick up a mach chin spoiler and a grill delete. If you take your car to a shop, labor will run you about 2 bills.

DrK MrK iV · Feb 1, 2004

Alright. Last night I decided to go out to an empty street and see what pushing it in first gear felt like. No traction. So... I have decided to work on suspension. I plan on getting:
Mach 1 shocks/struts
H/R lowering springs

Will I need CC plates? This is a daily driver, and I hear the ride is actually pretty good. Comments on this settup? Where is the best place to get H/R lowering springs. I don't want a slammed look, but 1.5 inches would be nice.

DrK MrK iV · Feb 1, 2004

Also, where would be some good places to get H/R springs? Sorry for pushing this, but I would really like to order this soon (before the superbowl).

Some general stuff... And about 800 to spend.

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