Starting all over again..

[SilverBullet00]

Now that I have the new car (which is mostly stock), some money, and some experience its time to start modding. The car came with an SLP catback and K&n filter; I added mach 1 grill delete, chin spoiler, and FRPP C springs already. I just ordered an MGW shifter w/ their new boot, but what do I do now? I have about 1800 dollars left in my mod fund and I am thinking about going with the kooks custom headers and matching x pipe. My other ride had the BBK LT setup which had some clearance issues, so I was thinking about stepping up to the best you can get. I know its probably going to sound like crap thanks to the SLP catback (im guessing its the loudmouth).

My main question for you guys is, if you had to start all over again w/ a limited budget, what would you do and what would you do differently??

Here are my future plans:

Kooks headers / x pipe
install flowmaster 40's
Trickflow intake (when it comes out)
accufab 75mm t/b
JLT ram air intake
VT stg 1 cams
tockico 5 way shocks/struts

Thoughts???

 

[GT02MG]

One thing I would get before long tubes is a nice set of FRPP 4:10s and beef the rear up with new parts...I would also get the X-pipe it unlocks some nice power that you will notice...long tubes should be close to the end of the mod list IMO.

 

[WashburnGT]

personally...Im very happy with my SLP LM2's. Unless its a sound pref you dont really NEED to get new mufflers. You might consider the SLP xpipe. That way if you dont want to drop the $$ for LTs at teh same time you can do it later. my .02

 

[droid#83853]

Me...??? You really want to know?
NO NITROUS. I blew up my first GT on the fourth pass with a wet shot.
More gear....the 3.90's weren't enough.... need 4.10's, and if that is too much, than go with 3.73.
No Eibach Sportlines, I bottomed out on stray pieces of gravel. The C springs are about as low as I would go.
No headers. They didn't do a damn thing but hassle me with gasket changes, and dropping k-member to install. On the dyno they weren't worth it. They gave me nothing. H-pipe and mufflers helped more than the headers. If you got some big cams or boost, maybe do headers. Even then I still probably wouldn't. I'd get the stock manifolds extrude honed.
No cheapo chrome CAI. They look dumb now, and I made 8 more hp WITH the stock airbox and paper filter! I p/p'd my own upper intake, and switched my 65mm with a 70mm from late model Ford van. That helped with throttle response.(I have a feeling you guys are gonna go strip the junkyards looking for these now)
Defintiely buy another tuner. XCal or Diablo.
Good tires. Don't cheap out like I did last time. The tires are the only link to the road. I had some Riken Raptors, and my car was dangerous to drive. The stock Goodyears were better than those Raptors.

My last Stang is gone, I bought another one. Now three years later, I have money to do it right this time.

 

[GT02MG]

Well dont rule out nitrous completely its the best bang for the buck period...and if tuned / used correctly nothing will be blowing up anytime soon....plenty of guys have been going for a while on the juice...but just to be extra safe keep it around a 100 shot.

 

[SilverBullet00]

good good, keep them coming!

 

[droid#83853]

I went with a 125 wet shot. Wet is the only way to go. Maybe it is me, but I tried a 150 dry shot, and it was not impressive. I couldn't feel it. The car was faster, but just didn't feel like it. The 125 wet shot was like kick-you-in-the-ass fast. You knew when it was squirting. I would get the that NOSzle setup. I sprayed thruogh the t/b, and the fuel puddled up in the intake. I reccomend after each pass to drive the car around and wait 30 minutes before making another pass. Compucar told me to do this. I didn't. I ran pass after pass. Then KA-BOOM! My cousin was at the wheel; I got a cold feeling when I heard the explosion and saw the flames shoot from the hood, and I thoght I saw some flames come from underside as well.

 

[HoustonGT]

Gears
Lt's
shocks/struts
plenum/tb

 

[san~man]

Me...??? You really want to know?
NO NITROUS. I blew up my first GT on the fourth pass with a wet shot.
More gear....the 3.90's weren't enough.... need 4.10's, and if that is too much, than go with 3.73.
No Eibach Sportlines, I bottomed out on stray pieces of gravel. The C springs are about as low as I would go.
No headers. They didn't do a damn thing but hassle me with gasket changes, and dropping k-member to install. On the dyno they weren't worth it. They gave me nothing. H-pipe and mufflers helped more than the headers. If you got some big cams or boost, maybe do headers. Even then I still probably wouldn't. I'd get the stock manifolds extrude honed.
No cheapo chrome CAI. They look dumb now, and I made 8 more hp WITH the stock airbox and paper filter! I p/p'd my own upper intake, and switched my 65mm with a 70mm from late model Ford van. That helped with throttle response.(I have a feeling you guys are gonna go strip the junkyards looking for these now)
Defintiely buy another tuner. XCal or Diablo.
Good tires. Don't cheap out like I did last time. The tires are the only link to the road. I had some Riken Raptors, and my car was dangerous to drive. The stock Goodyears were better than those Raptors.

My last Stang is gone, I bought another one. Now three years later, I have money to do it right this time.

I fail to see how you gained nothing with longtubes. They're one of the few proven power makers.

 

[urban96]

traction mods, then the speed parts

 

[hotmustang331]

I fail to see how you gained nothing with longtubes. They're one of the few proven power makers.

+1 I felt a HUGE gain from LTs...MUCH MUCH better. But then again, droid couldnt feel the difference between a 150 shot and a 125 shot . SOme peoples butts are number than others haha.


Personally silverbullitt, I say STOP the modding for now and start saving until you can buy a supercharger. Yes cammed GTs are fast....but not compared to these new cars from detroit, and thats a big reason why I went FI. It would just cost WAY too much to get the 2V to compete N/A. Theres no way I would ever get 450RWHP out of it, like I should now.
Get the blower and throw some more cams in it....even the same VT stg 1 cams will work well with a blower. They actually only have 5*s of total valve overlap, and thats pretty darn good. WAY less than any of Comps N/A lineup. (AKA the ones that supposedly work with blowers).

VT stg 2 N/A cams however have like 16*s if im not mistaken....not good because it will allow alot fo boost to go straight out of the exhaust. N/A only cams there.

My 02 . I think you will thank me...but dont get me wrong, I do not regret any modification I have done. But doing it all over again would suck...I think I would go straight for FI and add other things later. Atleast I would have a fast car right off the bat .

 

[san~man]

+1 I felt a HUGE gain from LTs...MUCH MUCH better. But then again, droid couldnt feel the difference between a 150 shot and a 125 shot . SOme peoples butts are number than others haha.

Ya, but he said on the dyno, not SOTP. That in itself is strange.

 

[jasonh_86]

I have some flowmasters (2-chamber, 40 series) i'm going to get rid of.. if you might want them

 

[thomas91169]

if it were me, id build the rear

4.10's
eaton posi (31spline)
31 spline axles

then move on to some better tires and/or a wheel/tire combo using good tires, especially some fat ones in the rear, and be able to launch the **** out of the car come track season.

then later on, do some suspension mods, bilsteins, subframes, panhard bar, LCA's, etc. make the car feel alot stiffer and more stable.

 

[droid#83853]

I dyno'd my car all the time. We had one at work. When we had no work, we worked on our own stuff. I aligned my car twice in day due to boredom. This was three years ago, and I don't have the dyno sheets in front of me. Recalled from memory though....by the numbers, my '03 GT with 'modified' pro-chamber (shortened rather), two chamber flows, and stock manifolds made peak 229 rwhp. After adding Mac L/T's the numbers jumped to around 238 +/-. The hp curve was a bit peaky, and the torque curve got a little steeper too. I am sure it gained some torque higher up, and lost a bit low down. I'll have to dig up the sheets. After adding other bolt-ons, the final dyno I did was 251 rwhp. All the torque numbers are hazy in my memory. Looking at all my 1/4 mile times, the best with everything (exhaust, tune, etc.) but no gears got me 13.9 every time. All stock from factory was 14.1-14.2. The gears are the number one mod. I busted into low 13's with 3.90's and D/R's. With the dry shot I never ran all that good. The wet shot turned it into a 12.7 machine. I had trouble keeping it straight. It needed suspension work. I was going to try 4.10's and some control arms, but my nitrous incident ended the cars useful life. It received a transplant from a '99 GT, and was sold.

I was pointing out that for pain and suffering of installing L/T's, and the fact that is near impossible to drop the trans afterword, it wasn't worth it to me. My butt dyno is not as sensitive. I think there was something wrong with the dry shot setup. Like the fact I wasn't adding enough fuel. That is why the wet shot felt better. All my mods were pieced together. I never paid more than $200 for anything. Nowadays I can afford to do the ***** right. Not scavenging other shops for springs, mufflers, headers, and other parts.

 

[Pennywise2]

I have to agree it sucks starting over but,you can make
your current mustang even better than your last one.
If I had to do it all over again I would have went right
for a Procharger P1SC instead of doing bolton after bolton
and wasting my money.If you have to start saving for a supercharger
like a Procharger P1SC or a Kennebell DO IT NOW.

 

[droid#83853]

That is the smartest thing to do. Just buy a s/c and call it done. My 'new' GT is all stock, and all I plan is some Ford C springs, good tires, and some gears. Nothing else. I might get a tuner just because I need to change speedo, and it nevers hurts to have one around anyway. I am too old for rock hard ride and all that noise. I should have bought a Lincoln Town Car.

 

[SilverBullet00]

well this car is a daily driver.. so I dont want crazy power...

What I would love to do is pick up a used KB 1.7 and have a 4 way chip. That way I can have a detuned tune for the street and a bad ass tune for play!

What kind of mileage would I get with a mild FI setup?

 

[SilverBullet00]

also, when do you need a built short block? Is it safe to run a supercharged setup with one?

 

[AmBo]

Mine is my Daily Driver. 350rwhp. 13-15mpg city and 17-19mpg highway. Shortblock should be solid till 400rwhp.

Don't waste your time going N/A. Save for boost. You can thank us later for this marvelous advice.