FinnishMafia89

Ok so basically I am broke. But I was thinking to myself, I have a birthday in November and then Christmas and then graduation... So there is some potential for me to snag some parts for my 89 5.0 LX. So here are a couple questions I need to know about. And yes I tried the search function but it wasn't working out so if these are repeated questions... deal with it and they should be easy to answer anyway. Ok so.... I have a pretty much stock mustang on my hands with the exception of a new exhaust because the stock one was rotted out, a cold are intake, and a bigger throttle body. So here are my Q's. Thanks for any comments, opinions, and information. Also I am banking on a kenny bell blower for graduation but sadly I don't think there is much chance for that.

Shorty headers- Good buy? how much horse power gain? which brand should I look at?

Cobra Intake Manifold- Good buy? how much horse power gain?

Subframe connectors- Which brands are good?

Heads- Which brands are good? horse power gain?

Gears- I have no clue what to look for but this is a daily driver for me and I do go on the interstate and stuff. So any info on these would be great

Lowering springs- worth asking for or just buy myself sometime? which brands? how low? (I have 16 inch rims idk if that helps)

Pro 5.0 short throw shifter- I am going to get one eventually but should this be a priority item?

pulleys- I have heard these are good? or only if I get a blower or something?

aluminum driveshaft- Good buy?

So it would also be helpful to me if along with any information or comments/ opinions you have if you could and a priority list you think would be good for me. OK thanks guys for anything you write it really helps me out a lot!

Thanks,

Mike

ewgoetz

Do you plan on doing the work yourself?
SHorty headers good buy over stock ones (If you are gonna have someone install them do them at teh same time as the heads and intake to cut the cost down)
Go to a junk yard and look for some GT40 heads and intake( I think the GT40 and cobra intake are about the same rating if im not mistaken)
Subframe connectors helps prevent the body from flexing on launches

Pullies are good but not realy for a daily driver in my opinion.(If you do get them make sure you save your old ones incase you dont like them or have issues with your charging/cooling system)

FinnishMafia89

my friend and I can install some things like the intake manifold and the short throw shifter. Maybe heads also but I'm not sure. Thats why I thought of asking for the actual parts for gifts and than installing what I can or cover installation cost. I think my parents would go for that. haha And yea I think the explorer intake might be the best thing because it is very similar to the cobra only its not as shiny ha. But yea I could always look for some deals like that

ewgoetz

You can always take a few days to polish it up if you want it shiny and nice before you take apart your intake and put that one on. I forget who, But someone on the form has a detailed procedure on how to polish stuff.

88_LX

gears are a good mod too but remember that if you go with a higher gear you rpms will be higher at the same speeds, our stokc gearing is really low so i would go to a 3.55 if you drive on the interstate a lot it will give you a good balance, it will improve your acceleration a lot and it you wont be redlining going down the highway

Hung Like a Stang

Shorty headers- Good buy? how much horse power gain? which brand should I look at?
Just my opinion, but if you're going to do headers, I'd go with long tubes, but shorties do help flow a bit, long tubes have a scavenging effect and help pull the exhaust out of the heads mildly increaing volumetric efficiency by creating an efficient outward flow of as much exhaust as possible to allow as much inward flow of a/f.

Cobra Intake Manifold- Good buy? how much horse power gain?
I agree, the exploer is a decent buy as compard to the cobra. But there's the typhoon intake which you can usually find for as cheap or cheaper which flows just as the edelbrock rpm.

Subframe connectors- Which brands are good?
they're just subframe connectors, some people just use thick angle iron. I don' know if brand is necessarily important as style would be. Meaning Bolt in or weld in. I don't know if I'd worry about those as much until I added more power mods. Just me.

Heads- Which brands are good? horse power gain?
This is a week long thread discussion in itself. I know you can find more info on this. GT40 and GT40p's ported are a great head for cheap. OOOORRR some DO0E 351 heads pre '73 would be some great heads for cheap as well. Then there's other iron heads like windsor jr's or sr's or aluminums like your tfs, edelbrock and the almight AFR's. Its going to be up to your ultimate goals and budget. But there's plenty of guys that get pretty good opwer out of worked over ford heads. I like the 351 heads.

Gears- I have no clue what to look for but this is a daily driver for me and I do go on the interstate and stuff. So any info on these would be great
a million threads on this. I think what they say is automatic get 4.10 5 speed get 3.73. But if you want to go turbo or something someday, I wouldn't go above 3.55, but 3.27's or better. I like my 3.55's but 3.73's are a good all aroudn gear. FMS gears, Moser gears eaton gears. You can find something reputable from almost anywhere. Most likely you will have to pay for the install and I think avg. price is around 500 bucks. Unless you get some of the tools and a book and do it yourself. Most people will tell you to stay away from it. I found it rather easy, just can be time consuming to get the right wear pattern. and making sure pinion depth is accurate, bearing pre-load is accurate and crush sleeve is okay.

Lowering springs- worth asking for or just buy myself sometime? which brands? how low? (I have 16 inch rims idk if that helps)
seriously?? That would probalby be the least of my worries. But you can use 4cyl mustang springs in the front, that helps a lot.

Pro 5.0 short throw shifter- I am going to get one eventually but should this be a priority item?
Totally up to you. They're fun.

pulleys- I have heard these are good? or only if I get a blower or something?
what ewgoetz said. I only used the crank pulley. One thing you might consider is going to an electric fan and/or instead of underdrives. It helps a lot with your engines parasitic draw.

aluminum driveshaft- Good buy?
wellllllll. F=MA force= mass x accc thus if there's less mass it requres less force to get equal acceleration. However, it seems like a negligible power loss throughout your entire drivetrain. I've never used one so someone else might have better input. Not worth it for right no IMO. Maybe something a little down the road.


how come you press the apostrophe once and it shows up 5 billion times???? sorry about that, didn't do it on purpose.

EDIT: it seemed like it got worse, so i fixed it. seriously wtf is up with the apostrophe thing?

FinnishMafia89

haha I notice that after I posted also Im not sure but thanks for the response very insightful. No clue gear install was that much. Maybe Ill ask for the install as a gift and buy the gears myself. Also a lot of people have been saying 3.73 so thats what I'll probably do. thanks again

FuzzyDiceRule

Shorty headers- Good buy? how much horse power gain? which brand should I look at?
Once again, Go big or go home, get Longtubes, unless your a ***** for smog

Cobra Intake Manifold- Good buy? how much horse power gain?
there are better manifolds out there, but this one should be fine

Subframe connectors- Which brands are good?
Maximum Motorsports make a good product, id recommend a weld in style with seat supports

Heads- Which brands are good? horse power gain?
You can Get GT40s which flow fairly well, but there are better brands such as AFR, which are more expensive, but will also net more power. Highly reccommended, swap heads, cam, and get a new intake at the SAME time, will net a considerable gain over stock (depending on setup, somewhere between 100-150 more horsepower) dont skimp on anything, dont just get heads and intake, or heads and cam, all suck stock, get new ones of each

Gears- I have no clue what to look for but this is a daily driver for me and I do go on the interstate and stuff. So any info on these would be great
Manual=3.73 Auto=4.10 I have 3.73's, and im at about 2500 doing 70-75

Lowering springs- worth asking for or just buy myself sometime? which brands? how low? (I have 16 inch rims idk if that helps)
Dont worry about it, unless your ABSOLUTELY worried about the extra 2 inches, get with new control arms and such, when/if you redo suspention

Pro 5.0 short throw shifter- I am going to get one eventually but should this be a priority item?
Stock sucks, good buy, i would reccomend MGW myself

pulleys- I have heard these are good? or only if I get a blower or something?
No REAL gains, 1 or 2 hp MAYBE, better gains would be seen with removal of AC compressor, Power steering, and Smog, but only if its not hot where you live/you have strong arms, or, like long tubes, your not a ***** for smog laws

aluminum driveshaft- Good buy?
more or less, less rotating weight=more RWHP

FinnishMafia89

yea.... well if you didn't catch it I said I was broke... So doing all the heads, cam, and intake at the same time is never ever going to happen. The plan was to get each component piece by piece and eventually it would be a nice complete setup. Just putting that out there. But thats for the advice all this is really helping a lot. I think I am going to try and get my parents to pay for gear installation as a birthday present and I will buy the gears themselves. Anyone know how much it usually costs to have the gears put in? I can't install them