Necessary Mods To Achieve 400hp?

[a91what]

I have to agree. I have one of those cars that WILL put you in check/ spin the tires at 60mph.... do the brakes first hawk pads stainless braided lines with new calipers and slotted rotors will make the car much easier to stop. Subframe connectors will make the car handle better, couple that with some tubular control arms and lowering springs the car will feel and drive like a dream.

all it takes is a budget gt40 top end [heads intake] from an explorer [junkyard build] some 3.73 gears and a t5 to make the car feel like a rocket-ship. torque is what makes a car fun to drive, HP sells cars TQ wins races.

 

[Farrell5.0]

Believe it or not, I had more fun with gears and minor bolt ons than I do now with much much more power.

I gotta say, I agree. When the car was relatively stock, I drove the hell out of it. I out 20k miles on it the first year I owned it because I loved driving it so much. Over the last several years, the more power it makes, the less I tend to drive it. Here it is, making over 3x as much power as stock and I drive it MAYBE once or twice a month. Sad, really.

 

[2000xp8]

I also find that the faster the car is the slower I drive.
It could be because with such rapid acceleration it becomes dangerous much quicker, or it could be because i'm getting old. Maybe a combo of both.

 

[a91what]

I'll be perfectly honest if the road is even remotely wet I'm scared of the gas pedal.

 

[Martman]

Coming from someone who just got back into a fox body after 18 years and driving new vehicles during that time. Give yourself some time to drive it in its current form to understand what everyone is saying above. It really is amazing at how easy these cars can hand your ass to you. So drive it like you stole it now and then add power. Mine looks like has a rear main leak, whining t-5, and horrible steering and I like it that way right now while I "enjoy" it. It will have its glory some day and when it comes to rain, well I treat it like driving on ice. I want 400 HP as well but know that kind of HP in these cars takes a lot of time, money, and quality parts to be enjoyable on a daily basis.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

It's amazing how many people talk about how much they miss their 5.0 when it was stock + bolt ons because now their car has a gazillion HP but I don't see anyone actually scaling their car backwards to become a more enjoyable driver. I know it would be a financial loss but so is building something you don't enjoy driving anymore to the point that you seldom drive it.

My car is a very smooth drive and I have a stock engine with bolt ons and timing bumped and it's a lot of fun to drive and it's reliable. I'm a little hesitant but I think a 302 with a basic HCI (your typical 300rwhp) would be ideal for a "driver" type 5.0.

 

[2000xp8]

It's amazing how many people talk about how much they miss their 5.0 when it was stock + bolt ons because now their car has a gazillion HP but I don't see anyone actually scaling their car backwards to become a more enjoyable driver. I know it would be a financial loss but so is building something you don't enjoy driving anymore to the point that you seldom drive it.

My car is a very smooth drive and I have a stock engine with bolt ons and timing bumped and it's a lot of fun to drive and it's reliable. I'm a little hesitant but I think a 302 with a basic HCI (your typical 300rwhp) would be ideal for a "driver" type 5.0.

That's the insanity of the whole situation. You know it's quick, sometimes too quick, so you come up with a plan to scale it back and while browsing online somehow you land up adding another 50hp.
Not sure it's explainable. I'm not big on drugs, but I guess it's kinda like being a hp crackhead.

 

[MustangIIMatt]

It's amazing how many people talk about how much they miss their 5.0 when it was stock + bolt ons because now their car has a gazillion HP but I don't see anyone actually scaling their car backwards to become a more enjoyable driver. I know it would be a financial loss but so is building something you don't enjoy driving anymore to the point that you seldom drive it..

You get trapped in the "status symbol" of it, the bragging rights at shows and cruise-ins, etc.

That said, I've actually got a 5.0 from a '93 T-bird with GT40P heads and an E303 cam that I'm sorely tempted to drop in my car to bring the fun and driveability back to where I want it without giving up a whole lot.

 

[89gtsleeper]

At least the OP is doing one very important thing the right way... Buying a stock 5.0 and building it himself. It forces him to learn about the car and it keeps him from having to troubleshoot other people's mechanical/electrical mistakes. Some guys out there just do not know how to do even basic mods the right way. They take a lot of shortcuts. Then you pay for it later. I bought my first mustang when I was 16. Bone stock 89 GT with 160k on the clock. Beautiful car. Drove the hell out of it for a year. Never broke anything. Decided I wanted to go faster but knew very little about cars. Sold mine and bought a supercharged 89 GT with all the bolt one for 1,500 more than I sold my previous car for.

Killed the clutch in two days. Fixed that with a friend's guidance. Killed the T5 a week later. Upgraded to a tko, which then needed a new, new clutch. drove it for maybe a month, then constantly had problems for another year. Never had it running right, spent tons of money, and couldn't find the gremlins in the car. Gave up on the gremlins and bought a new motor. When I tore the old one down, found the face of a piston was completely blown off. Inexperienced, I had no idea. Then quit my high paying job. Had no money. Got the car together barely, but not tuned with the new motor. Limped it around the block one time. Then parted it out for pennies on the dollar.

Building my new one out the right way ten years later. Feel much better this time around.

 

[Farrell5.0]

I still really enjoy it when I drive mine, it's just not convenient or practical in most situations, especially because the fiancé doesn't like riding in it because it gives her a headache....

 

[redneck15431]

Glad to hear that you are interested in a Foxbody instead of some import like someone else had posted. I bought my Foxbody when I was 18, fixed it up and got it on the road just around my 19th birthday. Ten years later I must say I am much wiser and respect the car a lot more now than I did when I first had it. Doing modifications is a lot of fun; I drove mine around that entire summer in stock form and started ripping it apart the following winter and have been hooked since. With that being said, my advice is to get a feel for the car and enjoy it before tearing into it. You will be surprised to find out that these cars feel pretty quick even stock, especially if you haven't had any experience driving something like that before. The first modifications I would do are getting torque boxes reinforced and full length subframe connectors welded on. That will protect the unibody structure of the car when beating on it. I didn't do mine until about 3 years after I bought it and modded it and wished I would have done it way sooner. Welcome and Enjoy!