Practical upgrades for 02 GT?

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98blackmagic said:
So follow the directions and make sure you do it right, like I said everybody here has them and I have never seen anyone with trouble from them. Everybody has their own opinions, and it seems a handful of you guys don't like them, this just come as a little surprise to me because I was under the impression most every stang had pulleys, its cheap hp

most underdrive pulley failures is improper install

the sad truth is unless you know you have a quality guy like a good speed shop do the work or you do your own work, then your car most likely is hacked.

as a tech i can say 90 percent of dealer and private shop techs cut major corners, don't torque bolts or read directions. i have seen horrible hackery like using a impact gun to tighten down TTY head bolts. in fact i am the only tech i know that torques the heads down per manufacturer spec. the other night i was installing my new clutch and i had another tech come over and ask what i was doing with my torque wrench. and i told him i was torquing down the pressure plate and you have to do it in sequence with the correct torque. he laughed at me and shook his head and was like "thats a waste of time. i just use my impact gun"

i bet if he installed a clutch in your car it would chatter. and you would be on here posting about how crappy that clutch is and nobody should buy it.

my advice is learn to fix cars. or find a guy you know and trust even if he charges more. personally i would rather junk my car than pay another guy to hack it.
 
jtsblkstang said:
I have an 02 gt obviously. Im wanting to mod it and upgrade some things on it, but i dont want to over do it. What i mean is i dont want to spend so much money that i would have been better off just buying a saleen or cobra. id like thoughts about what are good upgrades to do to keep with in those limits. right now im basically stock i have flowmaster weld ins and clear fog lights lol..

also would it be rice to put a saleen body kit on?

thanks
Shifter, gears, x/h pipe with matching catback, cold air/t-body/plenum. Then depending on how far u wanna go, heads, cams, headers and tune. Make it simple and just start off with a kb.:)
 
I agree with not putting on the pullies, Although u will gain the HP like the other guy said its not worth the trouble that can occur. i had a 2000 GT that i put pullies on and i did it like any other guy would..(Just bolted them on till they felt tight) well i dont know but in the end after install and just 42k miles on the odom it did something and that something wasnt good. i Shifted hard back into third and i heard a winding and then my car started missing. Ford said my pulley install was a big NO NO. If u do it, do it right like what was previously posted, follow the torque specs and instructions.
 
I did bolt ons the past couple years. If I could do it over again it would go like this.
KB 1.7 6# non-I/C ($3799 i think). Reason: about 350-360 RWHP. You will be well under the mark for worrying about internals and then you mod to get the power to the ground. Sub frames, LCA's, springs, bigger rear wheels :).
After that, you can add KB's big air kit, bigger TB and bump up to the intercooler and push 9-14 psi, or just go bolt on wiht the 6#non-I/C. The bolt ons will give a better hp/$ after the KB. If you go the I/C route, you could do internals, then heads and cams.
The sky is the limit when it comes to mods, actually it's your wallet. But start with a KB and you'll start with a fast, fun car that just gets faster.
 
the thing is, adding a blower and then bolts on etc puts me out of the cost vs. logic point. what i mean is, i might as well just save the 4-5k from the KB and bolt ons and just sell the GT and get a cobra or saleen. really i dont know why anyone spends all that money on a regular GT. when they could have just saved all the money and gotten a cobra or saleen? am i missing something?
 
If you want to get pullies go ahead, they are just as big a risk as doing any other mod. I have had pullies, installed myself, for about 70,000 miles on my 02, btw I have 80,000 miles right now. You could always get bad parts from a company and you could always install them wrong just like any other part. People say how pullies could really damge an engine, and like most parts they could. Just think if you installed a spark plug wrong (cross threaded or something like that, or didn't install your oil filter correctly (it leaked). At anytime, your car could be damged by simple maintenance and could certainly be damaged by mods, even simple ones. Just think how bad it would be if you installed new brakes (pads/rotors) and you didn't install them correctly, that could be really bad for you and the car.

Just do your homework before installing anything on your car and make sure you follow step by step instructions. Before I install anything on my car, I always try and get different sets of instructions: one from the manufacturor and some from fellow stangers (stangnet and other forums have been a lifesaver). :SNSign:

Enjoy modding your car and good luck.:D
 
As just about everyone else has said...do gears, exhaust, and shifter. Those mods will give you a completely different feel and sound to your car. If you want to do anything for looks....first do suspension because it will make the car look and handle better, and if you want to set your car apart get some rims or something. I don't know too many people that think their body kits were worth it...but I don't know too many guys w/ kits either.