stormshadowlover

so in July of 2010 my dad bought me my dream Car: A Ford Mustang. Now I'm all set to modify my baby, but I have a few questions:
first, I have a hood on order is a new hood, with built in RAM air and heat extracting: http://www.bmcextremecustoms.net/20fomugtrama1.html
my first question is do I need anything else to harness the RAM air intake? Second, I was wanting to change my gear ratio, but I'm planning on within the next 5 years dropping in a V8, so does anyone have suggestions on what ratio will up my tourque that can be also utilized with a v8?

any other mods that you think would be cool would be greatly appriciated too!
currently hace seq tail lights, touch screen stereo, and side blinker mirrors.

stormshadowlover

it's a 5 speed manual, forgot to add that!

Alec

Welcome and congrats on the car. Any pics?

You can put in pretty much any gear you want, just depends on how steep you want to go. Some people swear by 4.10s, others by 3.73s etc. I have 3.73s and find them to be a good compromise for street/highway driving. I'd recommend an 8.8 rear with the gear already installed if you're planning a V8 swap

Other than gears, the mod options are almost endless. Use the search feature since this topic has been thoroughly discussed.

kevinmalec

Congrats! If your looking for a good performance gain, research SCT Xcal3 tuner, custom tune and Cold air intake (CAI). They sell tuner/CAI combo's at American Muscle and Brenspeed and very reputable companies.
Happy modding!

MustangFirstCar

The ram air really won't help you much, unfortunatly. Gear ratios, I say get 4.10s. You will need an 8.8 rear end if you want to swap in a V8. Get it from Newtakeoff.com. You can get it with the 4.10s already installed, which is more cost effective and easier altogether. Look into Americanmuscle.com, they have mostly great stuff. One of the first things you should do is get a CAI w/tune from American Muscle. Dual exhaust is also a good one. Make sure it is a true dual system with an X or H pipe. There are many videos on youtube that will get you an idea of what sound you want.

Good luck!

Nuke

+1 on the ram air not doing much other than look bad azz. The #1 power adder is a CAI & tune (short of going FI) with the tune being about 75%-90% of the power adder.

Dropping a V8 into a 6 has some hurdles to overcome since the electronics are different and the V6's suspension will need work to handle the additional weight. If you're going to do gears early-on, then upgrade to the GT axle at the same time since you'll need to anyway if you drop the V8 in. IMO, you're better off trading up to the V8 in a year or 2 since the $$ you'd put into upgrading the six will probably cost more than the trade.

daredevil95

I attached a video. This guy did a lot of work to his 4.0 V6....it is very impressive and running 12.65 in the quater mile. He has a series of videos going over all his mods. It's fun video series to watch. Basically he went FI, 8.8 rear, exhaust, tune & other items.

MadStang40

I'll second that. I was considering saving for a v8 swap for all of 3 days before I thought it through and realized how much time, work, and money it would cost to swap in a 4.6L. Drive-train upgrades, suspension upgrades, the works. Not to mention that if you want to be safe you'll overhaul your brake system in order to bring that new found power to a stop.

Unless your heart is REALLY set on making that swap, I'd advise against it and trade her in 4 years and put a nice down payment on a 2013 5.0.

Until then, invest in a CAI, tuner, a limited slip diff and since you have a 5spd grab some 3.73's and some visual upgrades to minimize the itch to mod.

And more than anything else, whatever you do, have fun doing it!

daredevil95

If your mechanically skilled it's not a bad job to swap in a V8. You need a good running totaled/smashed GT. Everything from the V8 car will swap over to the V6 car. The engine harness, computer, engine , trans, suspension radiator....etc...etc...etc. Like I said, you have to have mechanical skill and the time and the desire, it's a straight forward job and it's not difficult to complete. I actually have a lot of fun on these type of projects. It's cool to pull something completely apart and turn it into something improved/cool!! When using a correct donor car, the project turns out great....as if it came from the factory....not one of those Frankenstein cars!! I've done these types of swaps in my pasts on older mustang's, camaro's and other car types. It will go smooth just as long as you have a whole donor car. I wouldn't attempt it without a donor car, it's a PITA to start splicing different wiring harnesses/computers. It could be done but, it's easier/quicker to use a donor car.

If you don't have the time/desire, and mechanical skill for the V8 conversion, you would be better off modifying your V6. You could make that car fly with the correct parts. Good Luck!

stormshadowlover

Forgot about suspension and all the other changes. Can't sell the car. He is too important for me. Besides, took me 8 months to find him. Got a great deal, 58000 miles on him. Premium with shaker 1000 with full leather for 9500. So what can I do to my V6 to stomp the competition?