Zerski

Sup guys, here is my situation. I have a stock 1989 fox-body LX 5.0 and I have saved up about $1,000 for mods. However, I want the car to be a TOTAL sleeper. I'm keeping the exterior completely stock, and even the exhaust will be stock. (I know, I know, but I just don't want it loud at all and I've made my decision, so please don't suggest exhaust mods).

Here is what I've bought:

The K&N air intake for $120

Here is another part I've found:

Performance Products 65mm throttlebody for $80 new in the box from someone on a local site. Is this a good deal? What size is the stock throttlebody? How much HP would this gain me roughly?

Ok, I want to do some weight reduction as well. I've decided to get rid of the rear seat, the jack & spare, and the A/C. What else could I do to lighten the car up without going too extreme? (This is my daily driver).

What else should I buy that would yield me good power gains and drop my ET for $1,000 or so. I was thinking 4.10 gears, full -length (weld in) subframes, the throttlebody, underdrive pullies, an electric water pump and electric fan. Do you think a F or E or B cam would be worthwhile in the meantime before getting an H/C/I package later?

Would control arms help me much? I want to be able to get out of the hole GOOD, so I was wondering what I could do in order to cut some mean 60' times.

Down the road, I will be doing a H/C/I package as well as a 100 shot of spray. It will be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Any other ideas would be welcome. Sorry for all of the questions, but I am really lost as to what route to take at this point. I do appreciate all of the help and thanks in advance![/align]

FordMustangXBA

TB won't net you much by itself, a couple of HP maybe, I'd snap up that deal though, it's pretty good, though you might want to wait until after your H/C/I and go with a 70mm unit...Same with the intake. It all adds up though, same with stuff like pullies...they'll get you a couple HP. Use the stock alternator pulley though. Also, the 4.10s will give you the biggest drop in ET for the money. To answer your questions, yes, suspension makes a huge difference. You can't do **** if you're just sitting there spinning away. Start with upper and lower control arms, and some full length weld-in subframes (WITH seat braces...the floorpans in Foxes are weak). Also when you do your H/C/I, grab yourself a new MAF, all those small parts make a difference, like I said.

For 1,000 you can get u/l control arms, full length subframes, that TB, and gears + installation...A good start.

samseed101

For now, forget about the TB and the camshaft. Get 4.10s, get the UD pulleys, advance your timing 4 - 6 degrees, get the control arms (those will help in the future,) Get the subframes (for the future as well,) get a CAI or at least a K&N filter, and if you want, get the elecric fan. That will put you close to $1,000 and you will be able to feel the difference. It will also give you a good foundation for when you so decide to do the H/C/I and nitrous. When you do that, upgrade your MAF, TB, injectors, and fuel pump as well.

I know you don't want to do exhaust, but you really should at some point. You can still let it breathe while getting the stock sound.

cassidymustang

and some sticky tires!

Maxwelhse

+1

Stock 5.0 "headers" are the worse I have ever seen put on any production vehicle. They are BAD... I wouldn't want to tell ya X HP or Y ET drop from headers, but I can tell ya the stock ones SUCK.

aceofSpades

maintenence
suspension
then performance

mrbigshot

gears
drag radials
heads
electric fan

that will easily get you to the 12's.

do it in that order. thats what will get you the biggest gain.

the bolt ons you listed are worthless untill you remove the cork from the stock engine. the cork in modern metric 302's (5.0's) are the heads. no other mod can gain you 60-110 hp (not counting sc, turbo, n2o).

throttle body will get you 1-2 hp on a stock engine, headers dont see a gain untill the engine makes more power, electric water pumps are not strong enoughfor street cars.

the electric fan is a good for almost 12-15hp on a high power motor, stock engines gain 3-5hp

cassidymustang

and a good clutch to hold up against the gears, tires, and heads!

blackout

OMG I love MCO!

Please tell me they have brought it back, I bought that game the first day it came out and stopped the day they shut it down for that stupid ToonTown online game.

-Jeff

mrbigshot

mco forever.

ea will not bring mco back, nor will they sell it as its coding was based off the need for speed coding.

theres a free project in the works called motorworld online, gunna be kind of a mco ripoff. its still in its infancy so it will be a while