First Project. History and Goals on my 00 GT
01-09-2017, 03:17 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: California
Posts: 12
First Project. History and Goals on my 00 GT
Its a read so if you wanna skip the small talk, jump to the last paragraph.
Well First off I'll start with the history of my pony, which we'll call Blue until she earns herself a permanent name. She's an Atlantic Blue '00 GT with about 165k on the motor. And let me also mention, my previous, which was my first and only car until now, and still my daily driver is a '98 ford ranger, just an old 4-banger creeping up on 300 with 270k miles. Needless to say, I enjoy and appreciate the V8. The previous owner did one thing very wrong, and one thing very right. When i first got her back in July she had horrible 20" rims with fatty tires on it, keeping me from having any real range of motion. 2 months of saving, and $1200 later I was able to fix his mistake and change them out at discount tire for some nice 17" bullit replicas. Loved the new look, and the ride is day and night. Smoother by a mile and can turn in less than one finally. To my surprise though, he kept all the records, and the car was babied for its whole life. Had my mechanic look at it before purchasing and the tires and a slightly leaking AC was all i had to worry about, but i was still able to talk him down to $3800 from his original asking price of 5k.
Next up I decided to throw in a CAI, specifically the JLT Performance Next Gen CAI from American Muscle. Now I read a couple places (including here) that the change wouldn't be worth it, and the stock intake was a CAI, but after the change I was giggling like a child every time I stepped on the pedal. So I'll never agree that it was a waste of money.
Next on the List is going to be my Exhaust. I plan on taking Blue to Ed Hanson in the next week or so to get a full catback Magnaflow system installed. From what my dad tells me (25+ year ford mechanic) I want a 2.5 inch, H-piped set up. I would like it to be a little louder but I don't want anything obnoxious and I'm more focused on performance gains.
Enough chit chat and history, on to my Goals!
First, I want to get her above 300 HP, so any tips or ideas on how to do that best, do share. I also don't want to take away from the life of the car, once my old ranger craps out this will most likely be my daily driver for a while so I can't do anything that will hurt its longevity too much. I want to get a tune but I'm not sure when exactly to do that. Part of me thinks I should do it as soon as i can post-exhaust installation, but I also feel like I should wait until I get a couple more of my intended mods in as well. I Also don't know whether to go with a shop tune or get my own bama tune from AM. So any help on when and how i should do that would be huge! Besides the tune, where should i go next? Short throw, throttle body, and a few other simple mods are swirling around in my brain, what do ya'll think?
Well First off I'll start with the history of my pony, which we'll call Blue until she earns herself a permanent name. She's an Atlantic Blue '00 GT with about 165k on the motor. And let me also mention, my previous, which was my first and only car until now, and still my daily driver is a '98 ford ranger, just an old 4-banger creeping up on 300 with 270k miles. Needless to say, I enjoy and appreciate the V8. The previous owner did one thing very wrong, and one thing very right. When i first got her back in July she had horrible 20" rims with fatty tires on it, keeping me from having any real range of motion. 2 months of saving, and $1200 later I was able to fix his mistake and change them out at discount tire for some nice 17" bullit replicas. Loved the new look, and the ride is day and night. Smoother by a mile and can turn in less than one finally. To my surprise though, he kept all the records, and the car was babied for its whole life. Had my mechanic look at it before purchasing and the tires and a slightly leaking AC was all i had to worry about, but i was still able to talk him down to $3800 from his original asking price of 5k.
Next up I decided to throw in a CAI, specifically the JLT Performance Next Gen CAI from American Muscle. Now I read a couple places (including here) that the change wouldn't be worth it, and the stock intake was a CAI, but after the change I was giggling like a child every time I stepped on the pedal. So I'll never agree that it was a waste of money.
Next on the List is going to be my Exhaust. I plan on taking Blue to Ed Hanson in the next week or so to get a full catback Magnaflow system installed. From what my dad tells me (25+ year ford mechanic) I want a 2.5 inch, H-piped set up. I would like it to be a little louder but I don't want anything obnoxious and I'm more focused on performance gains.
Enough chit chat and history, on to my Goals!
First, I want to get her above 300 HP, so any tips or ideas on how to do that best, do share. I also don't want to take away from the life of the car, once my old ranger craps out this will most likely be my daily driver for a while so I can't do anything that will hurt its longevity too much. I want to get a tune but I'm not sure when exactly to do that. Part of me thinks I should do it as soon as i can post-exhaust installation, but I also feel like I should wait until I get a couple more of my intended mods in as well. I Also don't know whether to go with a shop tune or get my own bama tune from AM. So any help on when and how i should do that would be huge! Besides the tune, where should i go next? Short throw, throttle body, and a few other simple mods are swirling around in my brain, what do ya'll think?
01-10-2017, 10:19 AM
#4
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: MI
Posts: 1,545
Any time you pay someone to do the work it will cost a lot.
Based on the year of car/miles on your engine if you do work to valves you might blow out your piston rings.
I think you should just enjoy the car, not put a lot of money into it and save up for a newer Coyote Mustang.
Welcome aboard the forum..
Based on the year of car/miles on your engine if you do work to valves you might blow out your piston rings.
I think you should just enjoy the car, not put a lot of money into it and save up for a newer Coyote Mustang.
Welcome aboard the forum..
01-10-2017, 10:41 AM
#5
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: California
Posts: 12
True, but hey I could get hit by a car crossing the street today, doesn't mean I won't go outside. 
I appreciate the input though, it did intrigue me enough to look up newer mustang prices and do the math (itd take me at least 3 years), but I think once I (and my wallet) is ready to drop that much on a car, I'll wait just a bit longer so I can get myself my first new car and ride the pony off the lot myself.
I appreciate the input though, it did intrigue me enough to look up newer mustang prices and do the math (itd take me at least 3 years), but I think once I (and my wallet) is ready to drop that much on a car, I'll wait just a bit longer so I can get myself my first new car and ride the pony off the lot myself.