I just purchased a 98 Vert with flowmasters already on it, the rest of the car is bone stock. What are some recommendations on the first few upgrades? Any good experiences with certain brands..or bad experience? This being my first real mustang, I want everything done right..so any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
Heath

 

go with a new midpipe and finish that off, some headers if you can put them on and if not go onto cold air intake, pullies, tuner. Then get gears shifter driveshaft and ill make a better list with brands later. Thats not the exact order but i dont have much time. Ill list for you tonight

 

def the gear, and exhaust, i would also go with a computerized nitrous kit, so i wont screw your engine up

 

Lower that beast!

 

I am going to ramble for a little while...

First I will start by saying that I have two 97 cobras that I have done some modding to (and used to have a 94 GT that I did some bolting on to as well), so I can give you a couple of ideas for some first mods from my personal experience.

If you are satisfied with the sound of your stang, I would leave the Flowmasters and the exhaust for now... I have/have had Flowmasters on all of my mustangs and I wouldn't do it different if I was to do it again. The exhaust system is something that you really won't get much out of doing mods to it. The stock system is free flowing enough. If you want it louder, you can get some high flow cats with an X-pipe... one of my stangs has that and it is about twice as loud as the other with just the Flowmaster cat-back. I think the mod is worth about 3 HP, so as I say, not much HP to be gained there and is not a very good first mod.

I did some lowering to both of the stangs. This is one great place to start as the stock stance is not only crappy looking, it also doesn't handle all that good... One of my stangs has Eibach Pro-kit springs that lower the car 1.5 inches while the other has Eibach Sportline springs that are good for 2 inches of drop. The Sportline looks great and handles just fine, but I do have to avoid all speed bumps and things like that because the mufflers and the rear sway bar sit so dang low to begin with. I once hit a manhole cover that was sticking up a couple of inches and I thought that my rear end was going to be left sitting there from the sound and the jolt of the rear sway bar getting hung up on it... The Pro-kit has the variable rate just like the stock, so if you go that route, you will not really notice a difference in ride quality... But, it really depends on your shocks and struts (and if you go with lowering springs, you will need to get new shocks and struts). On the Pro-kit Cobra, I have some Tokico 5-way adjustable jobbers set on 3... The car is stiff as heck, and all bumps in the road can be felt, but it handles like it's on rails... The only problem on that car is that the tires I have on there now suck. If you do a suspension upgrade, don't let the tires ruin it like I did. Good tires are more important then just about anything else in the suspension. The Sprortline, while being a single rate spring, paired up with some standard Tokico shocks and struts, still give a ride quality that resembles stock... yet it does handle a bunch better... You would have to make your own mind up on what direction you want to go with it. I just recommend that you get some new shocks/struts that were made to articulate in the new lower ride height. I am sure that there are better shocks and struts than the Tokicos, but they are good for the price... and with the years on your stang, it is ready for new ones anyway. Don't forget to get caster/camber plates, as when your front end gets lower to the ground, the angle of your wheels changes. The only way you can compensate for that is with the adjustment plates.

Next thing to do is to install a short-throw shifter on there... you may want to do this first because it can be done cheaper than the suspension (around 250 dollars). I am just putting it second, because it is not as important as the suspension mod. I put one on my brother's 97 cobra (yes, it runs in the family). I was a Pro 5.0 shifter. They have been making them for a long time and are really smooth and have one of the shortest throw. A bunch of guys on this site swear by the MGW as being the best... to that I can't argue as I haven't any experience with them. With this mod, you will get rid of that feeling that you are driving a school bus and you won't miss a shift. You can't imagine the difference it makes in your shifting... I don't know why Ford didn't put a shorter throw on there in the first place. It really is how a Mustang should feel. I now have a TKO that comes originally with a shorter throw and is good enough for me for now. My other stang is still waiting on the mod.

After these couple of things, you should be on to getting a lower gear for the rear of the car. If you are going to get into more HP, you shouldn't get too out of control with the gearing. I recommend getting some 3.55 or 3.73s. On one of my Cobras, I have a set of the 3.73s. The gears really get that car into the HP sooner. The difference from stock is as if the car was sleeping before the gear change... The reason I say not to go too far out on the gear limb is that if you are going to later install a supercharger, like the Kenne Bell (what I will get once I save enough money), you will not be able to keep the horses on sure footing, as well as the way that it will affect MPG and the longevity of your engine... If you are not going to do any further mods, I guess that you could do some 4.10s... just make sure to understand where your MPH/gear red-line will end up, so there are no surprises. With the stock 3.27 gears, these points are 44, 77, and 110 (looking at 1st,2nd, and 3rd respective)... with the 3.73s they are 40, 70, and 100 all give or take a couple of MPH... with the 4.10s you can do the math. My best guess is 37, 66, and 90. On a side note, I read about one Lamborghini running up to 60 in 1st gear… The bottom line with this mod is that no matter what gearing you go with, get it installed by a shop that you know has done this work and that you trust. There are a bunch of shops out there that say they can do the work, but all you end up with in the end is problems from the rear end. I would also suggest getting the gears from Ford Racing... they are made for your car and won't give you that annoying whining sound common with some aftermarket gears.

Now on to some of the most common, and in my opinion, the biggest wastes of money. I will not say that these are completely wastes, just that they don’t give much bang for the buck. If you put all of the following on your car, expect it to cost about 100 dollars per HP to the ground. First thing is getting an aluminum drive shaft. I got one about a few months ago and was really surprised that it didn’t really weight anything less then the stock. It is stronger though. The only part that weighed less is the yoke, but it is negligible. If you want to save some weight in your rotational mass I would suggest getting lighter wheels. The next is a cold air intake. Your stock unit is pulling air from the wheel well, where the air is cool. Especially avoid getting one that is exposed located in the engine bay… That is going to be a hot air intake… I would just get a K&N filter and call it good… I give an honorable mention to the under-drive pulley mod. You can get a few extra HP with the change (about 10), but may have issues with charging. On both my old 94 GT (installed myself) and my work-in-progress cobra (on there when I bought it), I had problems with the charging system because I wasn’t getting a full charge at idle… It is worth mentioning that I now have a new alternator with a new “stock� pulley and only on occasion show a little drop in the charging of the new Optima battery.

Good luck with her...