New To The Mod Game? Here's A List Of Building Blocks

[Mike]

I think it would be good to create a thread of bolt-on mods that would serve to the best benefit of Mustang owners who are new to performance modifying. I would like everybody to comment on the mods to their vehicle. Based on your experience what would you recommend and what would you stay away from.

The bolt-on building blocks

Aftermarket air filter (K&N the most common)
Aftermarket exhaust (chambered or straight through design)
Aftermarket X or H pipe
Gears
Pulleys
Timing Adjuster
Intake spacer
Aftermarket upper plenum
Lowering Springs
Aftermarket shocks & struts
Cast/Camber plates
Subframe Connectors
Aftermarket Shifter
Aluminum Draveshaft
Aftermarket swaybars

[rambozotheclown]

I think it would be good to create a thread of bolt-on mods that would serve to the best benefit of Mustang owners who are new to performance modifying. I would like everybody to comment on the mods to their vehicle. Based on your experience what would you recommend and what would you stay away from.

The bolt-on building blocks

Aftermarket air filter (K&N the most common)
Aftermarket exhaust (chambered or straight through design)
Gears
Pulleys
Timing Adjuster
Intake spacer
Aftermarket upper plenum
Lowering Springs
Aftermarket shocks & struts
Cast/Camber plates
Subframe Connectors
Aftermarket Shifter
Aluminum Draveshaft
Aftermarket swaybars

werd, thats a good list.. i didnt notice computer flash/retune though

i have all of the above, except for gears and driveshaft. i also have brake upgrade. i love every piece!

lots of ppl go for power first, but i prefer to build the chassis first so you know it will handle the motor, rather than have more motor than the car can handle. not to mention that all the power in the world amounts to **** if you cant put it to the asphalt. plus, i like carving corners! but even if you have the awesomest suspension setup, it handles like a wet turd if you dont have a good wheel/tire combo to hold the car down. wider and lighter is better!

i had an intake spacer, but when i dyno'ed it, it actually lost some power. a good CAI and plenum should do the job of the spacer, anyways.

[311-420]

its definitely good to have the suspension first, but....

you cant beat a good h/c/i setup with gears

[hosstang]

its definitely good to have the suspension first, but....

you cant beat a good h/c/i setup with gears
shouldn't that be h/cs/i (cams) teehee

[Graves]

I'd scrub the MAC cai for a JLT.

[TwistedGT]

Def. love my JLT!!!!! Dont forget N2O!!! I wasnt going to go that route but a friend told me quote " Nitrous is a beautiful drug " well I must agree because the juice is loose!!!!!!!! Any kind of mods I would suggest keeping a good tune in the car. What you pay for and do right now will save you a ton of money in the end!!!!!!!!

[Graves]

Love my JLT too, but I think I need a plenum/tb to get max usage.

[TwistedGT]

I have the accufab setup with 75mm TB and love it, it replaced the bbk i was running!

[Graves]

I'd love the Accufab setup.. pricey as nuts tho.

[SAvoltage]

gears and tune = teh win

[TwistedGT]

Yeah Accufab is a little pricey........I can get them for 399.00 and thats about the best I can do (75mm TB) . and yes gears and a tune are one of the first things I did right after the JLT CAI.........

[Graves]

Where is your "source" ? I think next I want an h or x pipe.. I can't make up my mind on what I want.

[TwistedGT]

If you get serious about the accufab let me know and i will hook you up!!! My opinion on the x and h pipe is this........x pipe = more power and better flow and the h pipe = old school!!!!!!!!!

[scottg]

Another simple one would be an intake spacer for the Mach 3/8 inch available from pauls high performance. one hour install and 7 to 10 hp about the same for torque. Kit comes complete for under $ 100.00 and no tune is required for install. this should be one of the first for budget minded mods along with suspension.

[98GTSTANG]

Another simple one would be an intake spacer for the Mach 3/8 inch available from pauls high performance. one hour install and 7 to 10 hp about the same for torque. Kit comes complete for under $ 100.00 and no tune is required for install. this should be one of the first for budget minded mods along with suspension.

I noticed you mentioned mach, can this be used for a GT as well?

[Bulldog Stang]

Here is my list of Mods:

K&N Air Filter
C&L Mass Air Flow Meter
C&L True Flow Intake Pipe
BBK Throttle Body
1� Throttle Body Spacer
C&L Intake Plenum
5/8" Intake Spacer
BBK Power Pulleys
UPR A/C Eliminator / Short Belt Kit
Fidanza Aluminum Flywheel
King Cobra Heavy Duty 10 1/2" Clutch
Steeda Tri-Ax Short Throw Shifter
Steeda Firewall Adjuster
Steeda Clutch Quadrant
T-Handle Shifter Knob
BBK Long Tube Headers
BBK Long Tube Header Off Road Mid-Pipe
Magnaflow Performance Exhaust
Ford Racing Aluminum Drive Shaft
Ford Racing Drive Shaft Loop
Ford Racing .410 Gears
Mac Performance Upper & Lower Control Arms
Kenny Brown Sub-Frame Connectors
Diablo Sport Predator Tuner
Custom Dyno Tuned by Strickly Performance (Houston, Texas)
Weld Racing Pro-Star Rims 15"x4" Front Runners / 15x10" Rear
Mickey Thompson ET Street Slicks 10 1/2" (Drag Race Only)
Weld Racing Pro-Star Rims 15"x8" (Drag Race Only)

13.09 @ 103.97 At Houston Raceway Park - Fun Ford Weekend (2nd Place - Sunday - Street Ford)

[MyPonyRocks]

Aftermarket air filter (K&N the most common)- When its dirty and I clean it I notice a boost in power :mick:
Aftermarket exhaust (chambered or straight through design) With Flows there was a Tq increase, lost it when I swapped for the SLPs, but worth the loss for the sound.
Aftermarket X or H pipe-SotP gains with my ProChamber and a great sound
Gears-3.73s I didn't really notice the difference much, then I realised I was hitting the rev limiter when I wasn't paying attention for the first few weeks. Good mod, though as usual 4.10s if you're staying NA
Pulleys-Notcied slight gains not in my pants, but I could go up some hills a bit further before shifting so they did something
Timing Adjuster-NA
Intake spacer-Accufab doesn't like people using thier spacer with my setup
Aftermarket upper plenum-Accufab, didn't notice much BUT with the Throttle Body (75mm) Definate smoothness in the throttle response
Lowering Springs-NA
Aftermarket shocks & struts-NA
Cast/Camber plates-NA
Subframe Connectors-NA
Aftermarket Shifter-UPR BluThunder, shorter shifts are nice :)
Aluminum Draveshaft-No vibrations with the gear swap
Aftermarket swaybars-NA
Headers-BBK Shorties, I felt them throughout the power band, and they mellowed out the SLP to perfection.

[Ordie]

Id put a shifter up more toward the top..


Power won't do any good if you keep missing gears(3rd)

[njbudman81]

i agree with the shifter being important. as for that list of mods i can say i have most of em. havent made up my mind on gears yet. but for a lil info cai, xpipe and cat back equaled 30rwhp for me. and made it sound great

[stangpilot]

My god if you want one go get a shelby dont spend alot of moneyfor small horsepower i have cold air exhaust and bk throttle body 330 hp thats all you need like I said if your going to spend alot of money go get a shelby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

[njbudman81]

shifter should be higher on that list. also adjustable clutch cable and drag radials

[95BEASTstang]

Good info.Im still not sure what to get ,3:73 or 4:10's .Everything else is just a matter of money.

[TT_GT]

if u do alot of drivein then go with a 3:73 if its not a daily driver then go with the 4:10

[MyPonyRocks]

The bolt-on building blocks

Aftermarket air filter (K&N the most common) - decent mod, but there are better things.

Aftermarket exhaust (chambered or straight through design) - I love my SLP, but it cost me Torque switching from weld in flows

Aftermarket X or H pipe - My catted pro-chamber definately netted some Tq

Gears - I have 3.73's, I was going to S/C... now I'm not so sure and wish I'd had 4.10s his whole time

Pulleys - Steeda FTMFW!, definate SotP gains

Timing Adjuster - worthless, use a Predator or SCT

Intake spacer - debatable, but IMO worthless

Aftermarket upper plenum - Accufab with a 75mm Throttle Body, definate SotP gains

Lowering Springs - I have adjustables up front, nice, but not so much for the 1/4 mile

Aftermarket shocks & struts - Definate handling and ride improvements

Cast/Camber plates - I have the UPRs and they are great, I have much more aggressive turning and handling now

Subframe Connectors - I still need to install, I have UPRs but most say go with Maximum Motorsports (don't forget to remove interior carpet before welding for long periods of time

Aftermarket Shifter - I've had the UPR BluThunder (it was great, nice feedback), and currently the MGW (super smooth, but not enough feedback... awesome for DD, not so much for the track on the 3650 any way)

Aluminum Draveshaft - FRPP, didn't notice much on my butt, but it's still a decent mod according to most)

Aftermarket swaybars - Don't have



I'll add a Tuner to the list, get one Diablo or SCT, check around for your most reliable local tuner, get what they use.


Also I'll add Headers, I got BBK Tuned Lengths, minimal gains, but it made my exhaust combo perfect to my ears. (Remember Shorties, LT's will quiet the exhaust a tad)

Also you may want to add a Clutch to the list, I'll be upgrading mine for the second time here shortly, I also upgraded the flywheel (don't go aluminum unless you are road racing or have over 500 rwhp)

[Jimmerz]

with the price of fuel and my mildl tune im glad i only went two steps up to the 3.73's although i was eyeballing a set of 3.90s when i was shopping for them a few years ago i went with the little umpfh oposed to the (holy crap i think i broke my neck)

[sinman1228]

im new to the mustang mod. I baught my first mustang about a year ago, it didnt take me llong before i got a diablo predator and wow wow wow. im looking for more ideas and you guys have alot of good ones. im looking to change throttle body and plenum. what size and type do yall suggest.

04 GT bbk cold air intake, diablo predator, and thats about it

[annamaria828]

so far i havent done much. I replaced the exhaust on my v6 myself tho. I got Mac exhaust and it was a perfect fit it was a direct bolt on and it wasn't too expensive either. it sounds pretty nice and was easy to put in but im not sure if I would recommend it because now when u look under the car its as if there are 2 Y pipes connected to each other, so I think it would be more worth it to get something starting from the headers down, because now i need to buy new headers and probably an x pipe or whatever will fit.

[slo-GT]

im new to the mustang mod. I baught my first mustang about a year ago, it didnt take me llong before i got a diablo predator and wow wow wow. im looking for more ideas and you guys have alot of good ones. im looking to change throttle body and plenum. what size and type do yall suggest.

04 GT bbk cold air intake, diablo predator, and thats about it

I liked my C&L Plenum with BBK 75mm TB. But Accufab seems to be the undisputed best as far as TB and Plenum goes. (The only problem I saw was the ultra high price compared to the rest) As far as bang for the buck....GEARS...GEARS....GEARS ...GEARS. Longtubes when you have money as well. Gears, Longtubes will open your car up pretty good.

[Turbo96]

I liked my C&L Plenum with BBK 75mm TB. But Accufab seems to be the undisputed best as far as TB and Plenum goes. (The only problem I saw was the ultra high price compared to the rest) As far as bang for the buck....GEARS...GEARS....GEARS ...GEARS.

gears dont benefit a non pi though. there is no power above 5000rpms so stock gears are actually better than aftermarket. us non pi owners are the only ones plagued by no top end. all you others are lucky :lol:

[slo-GT]

Non PI heads drop off at 5K?...damn. It was a huge change for me going from a PI 4.6 to a 5.0. I'm still getting use to the different powerband on the two.

[Turbo96]

Non PI heads drop off at 5K?...damn. It was a huge change for me going from a PI 4.6 to a 5.0. I'm still getting use to the different powerband on the two.

:lol: ya. non pi sucks. i am hoping to get some ported pi heads, mild cams, a port matched trickflow intake, and dual 65mm cobra throttle body. that should wake the car up and put it in the high 200s at the wheels.