Bought a 96 GT today, had some questions.

[Choke_A_Cola]

First of all I'm glad to be a stang owner..again haha. Anyways picked up a 96 GT 4.6l today, body is in really nice condition, interior could use a little work here and there, but overrall very nice. It did have a few mods done already, CAI, headers to full flowmaster exhaust, and something I've never seen but I dont know alot so..not surprising, anyways the throttle body on the car is definitely not stock, looks like a BBK, but instead of the BBK etched into it, it says Cobra, cant find anything on the net about a cobra throttle body, i thought the emblem was maybe something maybe the previous owner had just put on, but it definitely came this way, ill try to get a pic later unless someone knows what this is.

Anyways those seem to be the only mods, what do you guys recommend I do next? Sorta on a budget now with buying the car, but I was thinking maybe underdrive pulleys, short throw shifter...not sure where to get next, i know things like heads in the future, just out of my budget for now, any ideas would be appreciated, thanks guys.

 

[trinity_gt]

I would start saving for a PI swap: heads, cams and intake. If the car already has the "simple" bolt-ons like exhaust and intake there's not much point in doing much other than saving for the H/C/I swap. UDPs aren't worth it.

You might consider a set of gears if the car still has the stock gearset in the rear.

Then there's maintenance items: How's the suspension? Bushings, ball-joints etc... The brakes? The tires? Cooling system? The car is 15 years old now so it might be worth putting some money into making sure it's safe and reliable too...

 

[Choke_A_Cola]

Good point, tires look brand new. Plan on taking the car into a local ma and pa shop for a tune up here soon, they do good work for pretty cheap. Also, and this may sound dumb how do I tell if the rear gearset has been modified? Will there be a tag on the housing?

 

[AZmustang98]

Well if it has been modified with different gears then the tag wont reflect what gears are in the car...only what it came with.

 

[trinity_gt]

Good point, tires look brand new. Plan on taking the car into a local ma and pa shop for a tune up here soon, they do good work for pretty cheap. Also, and this may sound dumb how do I tell if the rear gearset has been modified? Will there be a tag on the housing?

If you can tell us at what RPM does the engine sit on the highway at 60MPH in top gear (5-speed or auto?) we can probably derive it.

You could also jack the car up and, with the trans in neutral, count the number of revs the driveshaft makes for each rev of the rear wheels.

 

[Choke_A_Cola]

If you can tell us at what RPM does the engine sit on the highway at 60MPH in top gear (5-speed or auto?) we can probably derive it.

You could also jack the car up and, with the trans in neutral, count the number of revs the driveshaft makes for each rev of the rear wheels.

It sits at about 1,500-2,000 RPMs I believe. Maybe a little less. Oh, its a 5-speed.

 

[trinity_gt]

1500-2000 is too large a range to be able to judge accurately though I can assure you the car doesn't have 4.10s if it's below 2000.

 

[99Blownstang]

sounds like 308 or 327