Ah, well, if you look at my profile you'll probably see i'm only 18. I've been a fan of mustangs since I was about 6. I finally got one. It's a 98 v6 auto. Not the greatest car, but its a mustang and better than most 18 year old's cars. The issue is the car is bone stock -- 145 hp It gets me to work, but I want more. Two things bug me -- I'm not a wrench type guy, and I don't know where to start. I do have my stepdad's basic red-neck garage, a good friend (40+ y/o) that works at advance auto, my cousins somewhat intelligence, and a computer and I know how to use google... :P Most places say to start with under drive pulley kit, cold air intake, and exhaust. I want to go with a true dual exhaust, probably a 2.5", but the hole deal with headers/manifolds and cats and **** confuse me, so maybe someone can break it down to my level. Also, what to do with underdrive pulley kit? The only thing I care about is heat in my car. I could give a crap less about air conditioning (can pull A/C core for weight..) My goals are to make it a quick, daily driver. I need street/cornering performance as well as 0->60 performance. I would like to convert it to a manual, but i won't be paying for that -- to much involved. A friend said to upgrade the tranny with a shift kit so I can drive it like a manual (1st 2nd 3rd drive). Also, would like to put 3.73's in the rear and maybe a trac-loc (friend said maybe it wasn't needed). Tell me what your opinions are and my options are.
Ah, well, if you look at my profile you'll probably see i'm only 18. I've been a fan of mustangs since I was about 6. I finally got one. It's a 98 v6 auto. Not the greatest car, but its a mustang and better than most 18 year old's cars. The issue is the car is bone stock -- 145 hp It gets me to work, but I want more. Two things bug me -- I'm not a wrench type guy, and I don't know where to start. I do have my stepdad's basic red-neck garage, a good friend (40+ y/o) that works at advance auto, my cousins somewhat intelligence, and a computer and I know how to use google... :P Most places say to start with under drive pulley kit, cold air intake, and exhaust. I want to go with a true dual exhaust, probably a 2.5", but the hole deal with headers/manifolds and cats and **** confuse me, so maybe someone can break it down to my level. Also, what to do with underdrive pulley kit? The only thing I care about is heat in my car. I could give a crap less about air conditioning (can pull A/C core for weight..) My goals are to make it a quick, daily driver. I need street/cornering performance as well as 0->60 performance. I would like to convert it to a manual, but i won't be paying for that -- to much involved. A friend said to upgrade the tranny with a shift kit so I can drive it like a manual (1st 2nd 3rd drive). Also, would like to put 3.73's in the rear and maybe a trac-loc (friend said maybe it wasn't needed). Tell me what your opinions are and my options are.
you have 150 hp.
As far as bang for the buck, swapping the heads and intake from a 99+ 3.8L/4.2L will net you 50 hp. Heck, that car has the newer k-member, so you could just swap in a complete engine. They're cheap.
As far as ease, supercharging it is a bolt in affair and you'll end up with more rwhp than a 99+ GT. but it's going to depend on your budget.
The 3 things you need BEFORE going in are goal, budget, and plan.
2nd thing to remember is to do the small stuff first before doing engine work. shore up the chassis, put a sway bar on the rear, and pick up a traction-lok. You may also want to swap the gears to a 99+ 3.27 gear at a minimum.
Whether or not you go with a power adder will determine whether or not you want to step up the gears beyond that.
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You'd be better off keeping your AC and swapping the k-member for weight savings instead. You can get away with no AC on the old cars with the wind wings and foot vents, but you'll die with all that glass and no AC with no vents.
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Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,his upper rooms by injustice,making his countrymen work for nothing...Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?Did not your father have food and drink?He did what was right and just,so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy,and so all went well...But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain,on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion. Jer 22:13, 15-17
It will have a supercharger eventually. I have $1,000 right now (sitting in my bank account waiting to be spent) and will have roughly 4-500 a month to add onto. I know the chassis needs support before doing work. I was thinking of getting a 302 block from a friend, but he said it would be too much hassle and in about a week i wouldn't be able to close the doors ;P But if goin that route it would require a lot of money to build the engine and build the car. I definately want a 3.73 with posi trac for my S/C. I would go 4.10's but I don't think the 4.10's would give me reasonable highway driving. The only thing about swapping is I don't know many cars around here that have those parts, so I would have to shop online. Most people say the 98 cam is milder than the 99 cam. A lot of people also say go to split-port instead of single. Where can I get the sway bars and sub-frame connectors and other stuff that I'm gonna need? Should I get a CAI and UDP kit or wait till after swap?
Welcome to the forum Jerryb...... A couple things to remember. If you're going to go with a supercharger, you should not do underdrive pulleys. the $1000.00 will get you dual exhaust, cold air intake, t-lock, and stud girdle. If you know anyone with experience to help you, it could save you some cash for a sway bar and SFC's. You should go with the gearing KS suggested if going with a SC. You would only need to change to dual exhaust for now because the headers won't make much of a difference until the engine is broken down, ported and polished, and supercharged. When the engine is breathing alot more is when it will really make a difference......
Okay, well, like I said... Im not really a wrench guy. Yes, I can turn the wrenches, but someones gotta tell me what to do lol. I dont really know what a stud girdle is/does. Are there any specific brands? Will the dual exhaust mount to the manifolds? And to the headers when upgraded? Links to items and guides are appreciated!
That is a handling kit and it would help. A GT rear sway bar would be cheaper, and the car wouldn't need an alignment. A stud girdle goes on the rear end and shores up your end caps from flexing which can blow your rear. It is easy to do, all you need is a set of ramps, some tools, friction modifier, synthetic fluid, and an hour of your time.(depending on how many guys stand around and watch drinking beer) TAPerformance.com makes a really good one. The instructions are available on their site as well. CAI can be inexpensive too. They can be anywhere from 70.00 up to ?. Americanmuscle.com has one for $70.00. Great customer service, and you get the package within a couple days free shipping. I really suggest them if you need stuff, they have always treated me well.
I just did a write up somewhere in the threads just yesterday I think. Take a look at it. It will explain the different types you can use. They're all pretty simple if you have a saw/torch.
It will have a supercharger eventually. I have $1,000 right now (sitting in my bank account waiting to be spent) and will have roughly 4-500 a month to add onto. I know the chassis needs support before doing work. I was thinking of getting a 302 block from a friend, but he said it would be too much hassle and in about a week i wouldn't be able to close the doors ;P But if goin that route it would require a lot of money to build the engine and build the car. I definately want a 3.73 with posi trac for my S/C. I would go 4.10's but I don't think the 4.10's would give me reasonable highway driving. The only thing about swapping is I don't know many cars around here that have those parts, so I would have to shop online. Most people say the 98 cam is milder than the 99 cam. A lot of people also say go to split-port instead of single. Where can I get the sway bars and sub-frame connectors and other stuff that I'm gonna need? Should I get a CAI and UDP kit or wait till after swap?
You can pick up a complete low mileage engine and a GT rear sway bar at a local salvage yard.
Should cost you around 450 for both. around $400 for the engine and the rear sway bar generally goes for 37 dollars.
You'd need to swap the K-member for a 302, and the electronic work will run you at least $2000.
Subframe connectors: I like Kenny Brown's, Evolution Morotsports or Steeda's are probably a close #2 for street apps.
you can go with Steeda, Hans Racecraft, Maximum Motorsports, & Griggs, but the installation on those pieces are a nightmare and are built with more track than road in mind.
Start with the connectors, then pick up a strut tower brace, then the lower chassis brace, for your foundation, and then start picking up more components as your budget allows.
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Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,his upper rooms by injustice,making his countrymen work for nothing...Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?Did not your father have food and drink?He did what was right and just,so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy,and so all went well...But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain,on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion. Jer 22:13, 15-17
Okay, before tearing into any of this I must mention a few things. The mustang was involved in a minor fender bender (by me) and my bumper is slightly cracked, and broke the cornering light cover (no bulbs broke), and scratches on my hood. When I did it, it also moved my hood over toward the passenger side. After doing it, I noticed a the passenger door was hanging on the fender when opened causing a cracking noise. Me and my stepdad loosened the hood & hood mount bolts and got the hood back in the groove, but its not perfect. We also did some banging on the clips inside the door that hold the quarter panel on in order to get the door to stop catching. He came to the assumption that the hood was probably buckled a little bit which is why it wont return to a perfectly straight position. My question is do you think there was any frame twist or anything that I might run into while trying to get this car stiffened up for performance?
The next thing is my tranny -- The car still has a warranty on it (not much). My tranny sometimes makes hard shifts, most notably downshifts. Example -- My stepdad lives off of a main road. We were testing the feel of the car out after my accident and I wanted to show him the hard shifts and it wouldn't do it for me on purpose. We were coming back to his house about 70 mph and realized the turn was there so i hit the breaks pretty hard and (they work great!) slowed down and got an EXTREMELY hard downshift, he even felt it in the passenger seat. It feels like a 3rd to 2nd downshift to me, so maybe its something in those gears? Don't notice it bad in the other gears. Sometimes, it has hard upshifts too when im tacking it out (same gears). I can run first gear to redline and it shifts smooth as butter to 2nd but 3rd seems a little rough. The tranny also shifts (in my opinion) really early. I can be going up a slight slope near my house in 3rd at about 15-1700 rpms and it will shift to 4th and the rpms will drop to about 1,000-1,100 and the car will vibrate like a manual does when you run it in 5th gear at 35 mph... Should I take it to the garage and have them warranty repair it? I was thinking of going with a DIY shift kit & shifter, so I can drive the car more like a manual and more control over my shifts. I was looking at the B&M parts on a site and they make shift kits and nice shifters, and was wondering your opinion.
Other than that, I found a nice guide on another post How to build a V6 cheap. - 3.8 Mustang Message Board about starting with an underdrive pulley. I was thinking about following this guys guide, because a Supercharger probably isnt going to be for atleast a year. This post actually says he thinks a K&N Filter in the stock airbox does just as much as a CAI. I read somewhere that this could be true because the stock airbox is plastic, and plastic doesn't heat up like the metal would. Any opinions on that?
I wan't to go with a true dual exhaust kit with xpipe, do you know of any good full kits that have everything included I could get? Preferably one that doesnt require much welding. My stepdad can weld, but hes not an expert at it.
Okay, before tearing into any of this I must mention a few things. The mustang was involved in a minor fender bender (by me) and my bumper is slightly cracked, and broke the cornering light cover (no bulbs broke), and scratches on my hood. When I did it, it also moved my hood over toward the passenger side. After doing it, I noticed a the passenger door was hanging on the fender when opened causing a cracking noise. Me and my stepdad loosened the hood & hood mount bolts and got the hood back in the groove, but its not perfect. We also did some banging on the clips inside the door that hold the quarter panel on in order to get the door to stop catching. He came to the assumption that the hood was probably buckled a little bit which is why it wont return to a perfectly straight position. My question is do you think there was any frame twist or anything that I might run into while trying to get this car stiffened up for performance?
The next thing is my tranny -- The car still has a warranty on it (not much). My tranny sometimes makes hard shifts, most notably downshifts. Example -- My stepdad lives off of a main road. We were testing the feel of the car out after my accident and I wanted to show him the hard shifts and it wouldn't do it for me on purpose. We were coming back to his house about 70 mph and realized the turn was there so i hit the breaks pretty hard and (they work great!) slowed down and got an EXTREMELY hard downshift, he even felt it in the passenger seat. It feels like a 3rd to 2nd downshift to me, so maybe its something in those gears? Don't notice it bad in the other gears. Sometimes, it has hard upshifts too when im tacking it out (same gears). I can run first gear to redline and it shifts smooth as butter to 2nd but 3rd seems a little rough. The tranny also shifts (in my opinion) really early. I can be going up a slight slope near my house in 3rd at about 15-1700 rpms and it will shift to 4th and the rpms will drop to about 1,000-1,100 and the car will vibrate like a manual does when you run it in 5th gear at 35 mph... Should I take it to the garage and have them warranty repair it? I was thinking of going with a DIY shift kit & shifter, so I can drive the car more like a manual and more control over my shifts. I was looking at the B&M parts on a site and they make shift kits and nice shifters, and was wondering your opinion.
Other than that, I found a nice guide on another post How to build a V6 cheap. - 3.8 Mustang Message Board about starting with an underdrive pulley. I was thinking about following this guys guide, because a Supercharger probably isnt going to be for atleast a year. This post actually says he thinks a K&N Filter in the stock airbox does just as much as a CAI. I read somewhere that this could be true because the stock airbox is plastic, and plastic doesn't heat up like the metal would. Any opinions on that?
I wan't to go with a true dual exhaust kit with xpipe, do you know of any good full kits that have everything included I could get? Preferably one that doesnt require much welding. My stepdad can weld, but hes not an expert at it.
1) damage would have to be substantial to affect the unibody -how fast were you going?
2) I don't rememebr when the tranny became an electronic one. PM GT-EATER.
3) If you go with a SC, you will have to reinstall the pullies, and the CAI would be useless. You can stick with the OEM stuf for a year, and save teh money for your SC unit, or porting.
4) How many miles are on the tranny? you're not manually shifting it are you?!?
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Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,his upper rooms by injustice,making his countrymen work for nothing...Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?Did not your father have food and drink?He did what was right and just,so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy,and so all went well...But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain,on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion. Jer 22:13, 15-17
1) I was not going very fast at all, maybe 10 mph when contact was made (slid in rain)
2) As far as I know, the tranny is eletronic overdrive.
3) Okay, I'll buy a K&N Air filter then?
4) I have no idea. I bought the car a few months ago, had 93k miles on the odometer.
No, I'm not manually shifting it. I heard that doing so is bad on the tranny.
1) I was not going very fast at all, maybe 10 mph when contact was made (slid in rain)
2) As far as I know, the tranny is eletronic overdrive.
3) Okay, I'll buy a K&N Air filter then?
4) I have no idea. I bought the car a few months ago, had 93k miles on the odometer.
No, I'm not manually shifting it. I heard that doing so is bad on the tranny.
It's probably just the sheetmetal that needs to be straighted and doors aligned. The unibody should be fine.
with 93000 miles, it's more likely to be the u-joints. but you should have had the tranny fluid replaced a couple of times at this point. Go ahead and change your fluid, and if you can, use synthetic.
Re: tranny mods, you're better off going with a "jerry mod" and electronic tuning.
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Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,his upper rooms by injustice,making his countrymen work for nothing...Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?Did not your father have food and drink?He did what was right and just,so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy,and so all went well...But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain,on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion. Jer 22:13, 15-17
Like i said, It had 93,000 on it when I bought it. It has about 96 now. The tranny fluid level was right deadline full when I checked it about a week ago. They say random/unexpected shifts would usually be defined from a fluid problem. The fluid does smell a tiny bit burnt. My stepdad had said when I signed that I should price a tranny fluid (filter??) and tranny fluid and plan on changing that ASAP. My buddy rick that works at advance auto said it would be a good idea to change tranny fluid (in my old car, had 115k miles) but do not have it hooked to a machine and sucked out because it would suck the seals out since its higher milage. I heard slick 50 has some nice line of products to bring seals back to life, any input on that? I was considering buying an xcal2 and reprogramming it for 93 octane (thats what i run). I was also considering doing a basic tuneup, oil change, plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter... the basic stuff. I was looking at the demon coil packs and livewires. Any opinions on that? Any reccomendations on oil? I was going to pick up some castrol GTX (maybe high milage?).
Like i said, It had 93,000 on it when I bought it. It has about 96 now. The tranny fluid level was right deadline full when I checked it about a week ago. They say random/unexpected shifts would usually be defined from a fluid problem. The fluid does smell a tiny bit burnt. My stepdad had said when I signed that I should price a tranny fluid (filter??) and tranny fluid and plan on changing that ASAP. My buddy rick that works at advance auto said it would be a good idea to change tranny fluid (in my old car, had 115k miles) but do not have it hooked to a machine and sucked out because it would suck the seals out since its higher milage. I heard slick 50 has some nice line of products to bring seals back to life, any input on that? I was considering buying an xcal2 and reprogramming it for 93 octane (thats what i run). I was also considering doing a basic tuneup, oil change, plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter... the basic stuff. I was looking at the demon coil packs and livewires. Any opinions on that? Any reccomendations on oil? I was going to pick up some castrol GTX (maybe high milage?).
the new trannys are different. just have it serviced.
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Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,his upper rooms by injustice,making his countrymen work for nothing...Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?Did not your father have food and drink?He did what was right and just,so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy,and so all went well...But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain,on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion. Jer 22:13, 15-17
serviced as in what? The tranny, or the entire car?
The tranny, but you're really at a point on the car when everything needs to be checked out, and the tune-up needs to be done.
plugs, wires, just about every fluid needs to be replaced, and the chassis needs to be lubed.
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Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,his upper rooms by injustice,making his countrymen work for nothing...Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar?Did not your father have food and drink?He did what was right and just,so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy,and so all went well...But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain,on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion. Jer 22:13, 15-17
New with a 98 v6 auto - want to mod it!! 
It gets me to work, but I want more. Two things bug me -- I'm not a wrench type guy, and I don't know where to start. I do have my stepdad's basic red-neck garage, a good friend (40+ y/o) that works at advance auto, my cousins somewhat intelligence, and a computer and I know how to use google... :P Most places say to start with under drive pulley kit, cold air intake, and exhaust. I want to go with a true dual exhaust, probably a 2.5", but the hole deal with headers/manifolds and cats and **** confuse me, so maybe someone can break it down to my level. Also, what to do with underdrive pulley kit? The only thing I care about is heat in my car. I could give a crap less about air conditioning (can pull A/C core for weight..) My goals are to make it a quick, daily driver. I need street/cornering performance as well as 0->60 performance. I would like to convert it to a manual, but i won't be paying for that -- to much involved. A friend said to upgrade the tranny with a shift kit so I can drive it like a manual (1st 2nd 3rd drive). Also, would like to put 3.73's in the rear and maybe a trac-loc (friend said maybe it wasn't needed). Tell me what your opinions are and my options are.
