moist

Well after wrecking my 96 eclpise, I went out and bought a 2003 GT. I am very happy with it and the difference between the GT and the eclipse is night and day. Since i had a crappy car before i never thought of doing anything to the engine but would like to do start doing stuff to my GT. Anyways I have 0 experience in this department and have no idea where to start. I want to get the max performance out of my car, without going to crazy. I think bolt on type items is where I will be starting.

Is there a specific order that I should go in? I read that I should start with my exhaust first but I have no experience with the brands out there, and again I really have no idea what I'm doing. I really do not care to much about the sound, I wan't the best bang for my buck in terms of performance gain. If the car sounds great but gets smoked by a civic whats the point? I do enjoy the sound dont get my wrong but I want to concentrate on performence.

I only have heard of 2 other things, cold air intake, and headers. Should these two mods come next?

If anyone could not only help me with what order I should go in, but also tell me about brands that would be great, because if you tell me to next get a cold air intake, I will have no idea which one to buy. I want to be able to add something every few months, since I don't have a ton of extra cash laying around. I was reading around the forums today and a lot of the other posts are a little too technical for me, I'm sorry I am totaly new at this, but am trying to learn as much as I can. If anyone knows of some good informational sites around the net could you please post that here too.

Sorry for being a noob, but I had to start somewhere, and you guys seem to know what your talkin about

Thanks in advance!

rtm

Welcome to the board. A lot will depend on what your willing to do concerning your warranty. This has been discussed before, but if you want to keep in good standing with your local dealership, I would ask them about what they consider warranty friendly. Even with laws in place to protect us, we are mostly still at their mercy.

If your not worried about it, the first two mods I would suggest are exhaust and gears.

First, it needs to sound like a "stang". Secondly, the gears will give you the best bang for your buck.

The exhaust choices vary per the personal preferences of members on this board.

You will hear a lot of opinions. Just take your time and research your purchases.

Congrat's on the car.


Todd

moist

Yes I would like to keep my warranty in tact, I probably should have mentioned that first. Since so many people use so many different exhaust systems does that mean they are all similar in terms of performance gain? Also with gears what would you suggest, I think there is a ratio involved? Sorry I am a total n00b when it comes to this stuff... I havent been able to make it to my local ford dealership because hurricane francis did a good job at shutting down everything around here. This car will also be city driven, I am not sure if that matters, so anything i do to it needs to not hinder that to much.

Thanks for the info, I'll start looking into that stuff right now!

rtm

Most people around here will suggest 4:10 gears if you never plan to supercharge your car. That is for a daily driver.

As far as exhaust, I think the performance gains realized between varying systems are negligible. Now as far as sound goes, try mustangexhaust.com to listen to some possible combinations that are availiable to you.




Todd

moist

Do you think I should order my stuff from that website? or are there other online sites that offer better service/are more reliable. What exactly will the 4:10 gears do to the car?

I was looking around and found this... http://www.magnaflow.com/02product/c...ks/mustang.htm I'm looking at the "4.6L V8, GT, Magnapack System,
4x4x14" Muffler, 2.5" Tubing, Rear Exit, 3.5" Tip"

If I were to purchase that would I need anything else for a exhaust system or would I be totaly set with that?

Again thanks for the replies.

04ShakinSteed

Moved per your request

roundman

Why don't you go to the local newstand and pick up a copy of Muscle Mustangs and Fast Ford magazine and start reading up on what's hot and what's not. I highly recommend you subscribe to it and read it cover to cover to learn all you can. you can also check them out at www.musclemustangfastfords.com they also have tons of advertisers who sell Mustang stuff.
there are tons of sites that sell Mustang parts, some of the more well know are www.summitracing.com, www.jegs.com, www.50resto.com, www.holcombmotorsports.com

moist

Thanks you very much 04ShakinSteed!

I have a copy of "5.0 mustangs and super fords" in front of me right now, and after hurricane francis with no power for 6 days there was nothing to do so i read every car magazine in barns & nobles, along with some other magazines that do not pertain to cars. Most of the articles in the magazines that I was reading seemed to be on pretty advanced topics, which require the entire engine being pulled out, and I need just the basics.

I can see the tons of advertisers and all the cool stuff I could buy but the only problem is, I dont know what any of the items are. I really couldn't find any noobie guide around the net which is why I came here, since it seemed like you guys knew what you were talkin about.

If anyone could check out the exhaust link that I posted and tell me what they thought that would be great. I am just looking for some beginner info to help me on my way to a faster car

roundman

That's not a bad system but I would advise you look around some more before you buy anything. check out BBK, Flowmaster, MAC as they all do exhaust sytems which are pretty comparable to that you found already. also even once you decide on what system you want, shop around the various supplier sites to see who has the best price on it too! you will be amazed at the difference in prices you can find out there for the same stuff depending on who is selling it. it's hard to beat the big mail order outfits like Summit and Jegs, but there are other Mustang specialty places that can give them a good run for the money on parts as they sell only Mustang stuff and can offer bigger dicsounts than even the big boys like Summit and Jegs. The exhaust system you are looking at is called a "cat back" system because it replaces everything behind the mid pipe section containing the cats. They are usually a simple bolt on for the average do it yourselfer as long as you can get the car high enough up off the ground to get the pipes over the rear axle.
BTW, the factory has to warranty the emissions control systems on your car for 50,000 miles and that includes the midpipe with the cats in it. My dealer even replaced mine when I had the car in for service when it had about 48,000 miles on it due to a factory directed replacement that I knew nothing about until they did it for me.
Just take you time and don't try to do everything at once! I know it's hard, but trust me, you will come out ahead if you do!

Stanley

I don't want to get into the what to buy part, but if you plan on doing the work yourself you might wat to get a Ford service manual to assist you. Don't try to work on your car blind it might lead to costly mistakes. If your not sure about how to do something ask someone. Either come here and ask or go to a manual of some type. I haven't seen anyone on here try to make anyone feel stupid when they ask questions. I think it would be a really good idea if you don't understand the basics on how an engine works to get a book and learn it. It might help you understand whats going on in there, and the more you understand the easier things will be.

Good luck