BBZracing

Hey...I can't tell u all enough how thankful I am of all of your oppinions!!!!!!!!!!

I am in the finance field and on nice days i hop in the stang, put the top down and smile the whole time going to meetings while in my suit....lol

My "work" car is an '04 Mercedes E 500 which I love...but now it is getting harder and harder for me to accept that the mercedes is far quicker all the way through the power range...granted it has 302 horses (stock) and its a tiptronic 7 speed with lots of adjustments you can make between suspension and trans (just by pressing some buttons from my driver seat...hehehe) to have it drive just the way I like it.

BUT I'M AN AMERICAN AND I LOVE AMERICAN MUSCLE!!!!!!!!!!

I want my Stang to be fast AND SLIGHTLY practical...AFTER ALL I DON'T WANT TO SCARE CLIENTS OFF....lol

Sooo....after all my blabbbing... I am leaning towards the 3.73's FOR NOW....but am not done collecting advice yet and researching more.

Now my father is telling me he would have done the cam first before everything 'cuz thats the way they did things back in the day (he was a test driver/mechanic for Pontiac back in the GTO days and his father was a mechanic for porshe way way back...) so now I may look into that too....

Talk to ya'll soon and thanks again!!

Mark

BBZracing

Ok....as per my original post...

I ordered and installed my BBk 75mm TB an BBk plenum. I can feel the engine breath better as well as the increase in power...so far I am happy in my quest to increase my low end....

Today I plan on ordering my rear...I am leaning towards 3.73's (4.10's I think will be too much considering I will probably never take it to the track) because I drive a lot of highway miles BUT have recently heard of 3.90's.

I know it is a matter of preference...but has anyone tried 3.90's?


Lastly...given my Flowmaster exhaust and all my other goodies (BBK CAI,TB, and Plenum) and soon to be new rear....what X-pipe should I go with? I am not going to do the headers just yet but would like to do the x-pipe....any ideas?

Hope to hear from ya'll.


Thanks....

Mark

sandcracker21

honestly, i would go with an H-pipe

it give you almost the same upgrade in power (maybe 2 rwhp less)

and it produces a MUCH better sound imo


as for wich company to order from, mac makes a good one that isnt too pricey.....


and im sure others will chime in with their choice of company

BicketyBam

I had 3.90's and though that they were a decent gear for my supercharged GT. They weren't installed properly so they whined like hell. I just took them out and put in 4.10's. If you leary of the 4.10's, then go 3.90's, but honestly, the 4.10's don't rev that much higher at highway speeds. Every Monday and Friday and drive my car 60 highways miles at 75+. I have no problems with the 4.10's.

If you plan on getting LONG TUBE headers in the forseeable future, don't get a midpipe now. You'll just have to get another one if you get l/t headers. I run BBK l/t's, a VRS catted midpipe and a Magnaflow (Magnapacks) catback system. H or X is a personal choice, but the sound of my car WOT is unreal. It sounds pretty damn good at idle and cruise as well. Just my 2 cents.

BBZracing

Thanks again for the input.

I ordered the 3.73s shortly after I made my last post cuz I wanted to go with gears made by Ford (they don't make 3.90s) and they should arrive by tomorrow. I also called my local shop and they can put them in as soon as I deliver the car and parts. I should be up and running before the weekend. I'll let you know the outcome.

As for the pipes...doesn't it come stock with some type of an H pipe? If so...should I just wait til I do my headers to do a new x/h as well as the headers? Any difference between short headers and long???

I know I'm a pain in the butt but atleast I am actually using all of your advice to DO what is BEST FOR ME.

The next thing I really need to do is get some pics up of my cars!

Be well!

Mark

BicketyBam

No problem, Mark. I came here in late April with a stock GT Vert that was my daily driver and $10,000 later I have a pretty quick car . I knew NOTHING about this stuff until I started visiting this board and a few others (I recommed Modular Powerhouse for supercharger related info).

You are correct about ford not making 3.90's. Mine were made my Motive and from what I hear non-Ford gears can be harder to install for a lesser experienced tech. Can't go wrong with Ford gears. I still think you should have gone with 4.10's, but 3.73's are still better than the stock 3.27's.

The car comes stock with a POS, restrictive H-pipe. You definitely want to change it at some point. There is a performance difference between long tube (better) and shorty headers. There is also a big difference in the install procedure. Shorties = easy do it yourself. Longtubes = major pain in the *** and costly to have done by a shop (I paid $500 for the install). Supercharged cars love longtubes, so that's why I went with those - and they sound cool as hell. If money is not really an object (you drive a Mercedes, right? ), I'd say go l/t with a shorty x pipe. Your call. Good luck and keep asking questions.

BBZracing

Ed...I may just have to pick your head a bit more considering our cars are the same other than a yr apart and color.

I am on course to make my car fun to drive for the whole family. My 8 yr old son and wife love to drive around with the top down and hear the rumble and wave to their friends around town...I have a feeling that I would have to have them both take neck strengthening workouts so they don't snap their necks if I HAD GONE WITH the 4.10s...LOL

WORST CASE SCENERIO...when I decide to do more (ie super charger etc.) I will just have to get another set of gears...lol

Where are u in NY? I noticed the plates. I live in Jersey but work in NY.

Have u done any suspension work or brakes etc?


I was the same as u...my mustang was sitting because I didn't have time to drive it that much until I joined this site...now I have a renewed interest and am now looking to totally revamp my car WHILE keeping it as stock looking as possible.

BTW...can we do anything with that cosmetic hood scoop??? Do u know anyone that has made it a working scoop?

Anyway..I've talked long enough.

Hope to hear from u soon

Mark

nanaki

who cares if you get a supercharger later. you'll still want 4.10s. trust me.

BBZracing

One of the deciding factors RIGHT NOW since I do take my Mustang to work on nice days is...TRAFFIC. Sometimes I sit in 2-3 hours of traffic to travel JUST 14 miles from NY...I could see myself blowing my brains out with 4.10's after letting off the clutch 20 times in a 1/4 mile...lol

If I was JUST racin around I would have done the 4.10s no doubt. I almost ordered the 3.90s 'til I heard that they can be a pain in the @ss to install.





But thanks for the input!!!!

Mark

nanaki

i live in northern virginia, so traffic isn't much better here. i still wouldn't mind 4.10s. people say they just start out in second with 4.10s and it's fine.