I’ve been away from being able to consider cars as a hobby for about 18 years. I’ve been driving “sensible” cars – with the occasional 4X4 mixed in for good measure – since leaving college, getting married, having kids, and developing a career. Now I’ve bought myself a toy – a 2003 GT convertible.
I looked at the Cobra and the Mach 1, but the “blank canvas” of the GT really appealed to me much more. My wife cringed, but figured that the 17-year-old kid in me was part of the package when we tied the knot.
ANYWAY, now that I’m ready to dive in I would really appreciate advice on where to start with respect to mods. Nothing cosmetic. Bolt-on HP and torque. Stock look to all but the educated observer. There may be forced induction down the line, but probably not for a year or so – let the rings seat.
So, where is a good place to start? Who are the players in aftermarket? I live in LA, so recommendations on local shops would be appreciated as well.
· Cams
· Headers
· Intake (I understand there is a Cobra intake that fits, ala the 2001 Bullitt?)
· Throttle Body
· Cold Air Induction
· Pulleys
Gears should be the first mod. Best way to get into the powerband, and no one would be able to tell that you have them. Pullies and timing adjuster, and a mid-pipe (though that would be noticible). A good P&P of the stock heads would be pretty good too.
I agree. Gears and timing adjuster would be great. Upper and lower control arms to go along with some sticky tires would really make you hook and work wonders for your ET. Dont forget subframe connectors...get them no matter what you do. Full length welded in connectors with crossbracing is what you want to go for...if you dont want to shop your local muffler shop for someone to custom fab them I would say Kenny Brown or Maximum Motorsport. The Bullit intake will give minimal gains at this point, so dont worry about it till you are seriously modding your car. CAI is a maybe, I would recomend FIPK or Densecharger for those two, though only expect about 5HP gain from either at this point, since your car is not really demanding that much more airflow. Stock headers are fine for now....but if I were gonna do any I would say longtubes..if your gonna spend the money do it once, get some kind of coated long tube. A quality offroad H or X or a catted H or X depending on where your from is a good investment, along with a catback setup...Magnaflow, Bassani, Flowmaster...all good stuff. Is the car a manual or automatic? If it is a manual you will want to go to a short throw shifter...I have a B&M Ripper, but Steeda, Pro 5.0, and UPR make great ones also. If it is an auto you will want to get a Transgo shift kit or something like that. Also stay away from chips right now...you will be wasting your money at this point, as the gains are just not good enough to justify the expenditure. Underdrive pulleys are fairly inexpensive and offer some small HP gains. A good K&N filter and pulling the air box silencer might be another alternative to a CAI right now...something to think about. Your car will respond most to a CAI, chip, TB, and mass air when you go forced induction. If you have the money you can certainly get all these things now and will notice a good difference if you put them all on at once...the only one I would say for sure to stay away from was the chip. Think about your warranty also....there are some horror stories out there. Since yours is still with the factory I would be real cautious. Good luck.
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'97 GT with 80mm C&L MAF, C<rue-Flow CAI, MAC 70mm TB, Superchip, 180 thermo, B&M Ripper, King Cobra Clutch, FRPP aluminum quad/adj cable, MAC O/R H pipe, MIL's, Flows, Granatelli Solid control arms, FRPP 4.10's, FRPP aluminum driveshaft, Fidanza aluminum flywheel, FRPP 9mm wires, TMD aluminum U/D pulleys, Steeda full length SFC's (welded in), and 17" polished aluminum Cobra wheels with Nitto 555 Extremes, Kenwood/Alpine sound. Waiting for install: PI intake.
Thanks for the responses - I'm leaning towards 4.10's. I see 4.33's out there as well without any additional special mods. Humor me - with the computer taking over the car as compared to the '67 Chevy I last worked on - will these mods require recalibrating the speedometer?
Also, I'm already resigning myself to a 2 cam migration path - one for pre-forced induction and one for forced induction. This used to be reality. Are there any solutions out there that would give me a nice hot strip/street cam without forced induction that will also be satisfactory for, say a Paxton down the road?
4.10s, 4.30s if you want.. I only know 1 person here who has 4.30s but he runs 12s with minor bolt ons.. 4.10s, CAI, pulleys, timing adjuster, sub frames, lower control arms, timing adjuster, and then go from there.
Originally posted by milw96cobra 4.10 Gears
80mm Mass Air Meter from C&L
Bassani X Pipe
Dynomax UltraFlo Catback Exhaust
Bullitt Intake
that should get you started
True that would be a start...do you have around 2 grand for parts and labor? If so go for it. But control arms and drag radials will cost around 500 bucks, you can install the control arms with a buddy, and they will make a hell of lot more performance improvement than the Bullitt Intake and MAF could even come close to. Plus they give their benefit stand alone, where as the intake and MAF dont make much difference until you start making big HP...ie. forced induction. Not saying the Bullitt and MAF arent great additions...but they aint gonna make much difference for the thousand dollars or more you are going to spend...and that doesnt include any labor costs you might incur if you choose to have a professional install done.
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'97 GT with 80mm C&L MAF, C<rue-Flow CAI, MAC 70mm TB, Superchip, 180 thermo, B&M Ripper, King Cobra Clutch, FRPP aluminum quad/adj cable, MAC O/R H pipe, MIL's, Flows, Granatelli Solid control arms, FRPP 4.10's, FRPP aluminum driveshaft, Fidanza aluminum flywheel, FRPP 9mm wires, TMD aluminum U/D pulleys, Steeda full length SFC's (welded in), and 17" polished aluminum Cobra wheels with Nitto 555 Extremes, Kenwood/Alpine sound. Waiting for install: PI intake.
I neglected to say that I had racecraft tri-ladder subframe connectors and a modified (and "functional") light bar attached by the dealer before taking delivery.
The light bar is modified in that they used a longer steel core. In addition to bolting to the doorframe, it extends through to the (now attached) subframes and is welded to the subframe. I expected the ride to suffer a bit, but I honestly do not feel any degradation in comfort. Handling has improved - the lateral reinforcement makes it feel downright "coupe-like"! (grin)
I'm leaning towards 4.33's and maybe upgrading the axles to start - possibly throwing in the upper control arms. Alternately, the dealer said they'd cut me a deal on the Saleen 'TO THE EXTREME' package, less the connectors I've already installed.
Originally posted by milw96cobra Cams have an almost negligable effect on modular motors... unless your blowing it, or spraying a heavy shot of nitrous....
Update: Going with a Bassini x-pipe & cats, Ford Racing headers, not sure which mufflers yet - rest of exhaust is custom. CAI, Cobra TB - still up in the air over RR 4.6 2V manifold or Bullitt. Still up in the air over 3.73 or 4.10 in the back...
They are trying to talk me into a Diablo chip - using one program for the above mods, and another to get me past smog checks. My gut says "no"...
Back in the saddle... 
