Hey guys, I currently own a 2005 sentra ser spec v, but am ready to move to the muscle car world! I dont really know anything about the best way to modify these cars, I am currently looking at a 94-96 style, black with intake and exhaust already on it.
Thoughts or advice on engine/general modifications.

I would shoot for a 96-98 same body style, little bit better money/hp ratio.

I wouldnt look for one with intake. that can be bought for cheap. if you can find one with a FULL exhaust that would be best, exhaust is expensive and free's up a nice amount of ponies.

if you could find one with a complete or partial PI swap thats even better.

the 96-98 have a few "performance lacking" things that ford overlooked or didnt care about when trying to get the new motor out.

basically the only/best mods you can do to this car before hitting major power mods, bottles and blowers.


pi intake
pi cams(any nice aggressive cams)
pi heads( optional, raises compression and only nets like 5-10HP)
nice complete exhaust(gets rid of factor 6 cat midpipe)
tuner with tune( stock tune is a performance SUCKER)
gears(stock gears are 2.73 or 3.27) some nice 3.73/4.10's go a long way.

once you do that, thats about the most power your going to gain from this model year stang, and should only cost about 2K to do all that, on top of the base gt you buy.


I'm not an expert on pushrods, but the 94-95 are pushrods and I know nothing about them, all i know is they dont make anywhere near as much power money wise.


hopefully this helped.

Pushrods will be easier/cheaper to work on. Search the forum for 5.0 vs 4.6 threads and you'll get no shortage of opinions sprinkled lightly with facts if you look hard. Whatever you do, you're better off looking for a low mileage. Also, for a couple extra grand (what kids69gt quoted in parts), you could almost buy a cobra!

idk...possibly, you could do what i did (listed above) for right about 3K and make about 260HP, vs 5(for a bad condition cobra) up to 9K for a nice one. and judging by the years he is looking at he doesnt have the cash to blow on a cobra

We all know the cash will be spent...albeit up front or trickling away by the promise of bolt-on hp as the years go by depends on the personality of the buyer. Just layin all the options out there

oh i'm not trying to say your wrong, don't get me wrong.

it just kinda seemed like judging by the dates he is looking at money may be an issue. It was for me and thats why i settled for a 96 instead of a 99-04 like i originally wanted.

Dont buy it. Save your money. Enjoy live.

I would certainly go with the 5.0 ... I would also start with chassis and suspension, gears, and just make the car as healthy as possible all around. Only them I'd spend money on power adders.
Suspension and gears changes the car from a sleeper to a tiger. Even if not fully grown yet, still a tiger! Try to not compromise quality for a few $$ even if it takes time to complete the process. It is better to pay a little more and get the right parts and labor for it.. I rather pay for MM and put it on in the best shop possible (and there are that many good shops that really knows what they doing. Depends where you are.
When I did that, I was long term and short term happy, when my budget did not allow and I was tempted I was disappointed or it broke, the installation was wrong and so on, I ended up paying more money; buying a weak part first and spending $50 less on the part but then I ended up buying the weak and than having to buy the better and pay for it again.

wow so much information!! It all helps, and definatly narrows my search down a lot!! Now about how many miles would yall consider "low or decent"?? i found one with 115000, another with 125k, and the other two im not sure about just yet. Opinions?

115K and 128K is a difference but not big.. Check the frame rails, Engine tranny rearend... What ever is better condition.
Dont get blinded by a few chrome/shiny parts

That is a great point about the Shiny parts.

Sometimes though, it all boils down to how it feels when you are behind the wheel.

That and only that! True, true. Its just that to me, it takes time to learn all the little misbehavior of my lady Do you know what I mean..? There is a tweak here and a rattle there and it could be a lose bolt or it could be a lose piston.. lol.
Well, you know what I mean..

OP, what's your budget?

Personally I would shoot for a 99-04 car, as it is a much better starting point in terms of performance. If it's going to be a daily driver, try to find something with less than, or at least not too much over 100K. The engines in these things will last forever if taken care of, but the rest of the car it's bolted into will eventually fall apart. So the less miles the better.

pushrods are much easier to work on and cheaper to mod

not saying pushrods are better than modular engines ( i have both, and both have their pros and cons) but go with what is best for you. if you are technically savvy in any way shape or form, 5.0's are SUPER easy to work on.

have you thought about a 99-04 mustang GT? they are a lot faster than the non pi 4.6L's, and they have the newer modular technology as opposed to the 5.0's