SloWRX

Ok, so I've always been attracted to turbo fours. It started with my 98 Eclipse GST and once I bought my 07 WRX, I was completely hooked. Sold the Eclipse for WRX mod money and was having a blast! Until the police decided that I may have been having too much fun... Two speeding tickets later, my insurance is $310 a month. Not wanting to sell the car for something more economical, I decided to garage it for a while. The hunt for a beater began!

Not wanting to settle for something that had absolutely no *****, like a Lumina or Civic, I stumbled upon a 98 Mustang. But not just any Mustang! It came complete with a V6 and an automatic transmission! How fun! Now, I wanted the V6 for lower insurance, but settled for the auto because it was a pretty clean car for $2500. Really, the most I know is that I have an open rear and about 150hp...

Can someone please point out a few threads to me regarding common issues with this car, and maybe a couple different mod paths with proven results. Is 200whp realistic with 2-3 grand? Thanks for your help!

SloWRX

A few helpful words? Anyone?

Shaunmac9128

The pre96's I think it was had a common head gasket problem but I believe they had it fixed by 98. With regular maintenance they will run for awhile, much more than people think. But something to consider is that the 99-04 mustangs come with 40 more hp stock thanks to a redesigned intake/head setup and a 3.27 gear ratio as opposed to a 2.73 in the 94-98 V6's. If you get the one your looking at, you can buy a heads/cam/intakes package through supersixmotorsports.com for a 99-04 V6 that will cost you like $2,500 and that will be the new redesigned intake/head combination so you will gain that 40hp and another big bump in hp/tq from the ported intakes and heads and cam. A properly setup 3.8 h/c/i can make over 200wrhp. The $2,500 is assuming you can do the work yourself and don't have to pay for install. If your serious about making some hp don't waste any money on bolt on's except maybe longtube exhaust and built rear/gears.

LilRoush

For a quick 200 rwhp, look into adding the Super Coupe M90 set up. Finding a whole set up is getting harder and harder, but it will put you there and add roots blower whine - which nobody can deny is one of the coolest sounds a car can make.

Shaunmac9128

Wow, the M90 completely slipped my mind. Scratch what I said, M90 is probably cheaper and has more potential.

SloWRX

Thanks guys! That's exactly the info I was looking for. Time to search those topics!

NeoTokyo

Crap for $3k you can get a low mile 99+ splitport and do the M112 conversion on it.

300rwhp is a very safe power level for stock internals.

After that start building a 4.2/4.3L stroker if you want more power.

NeoTokyo

Hmm, your an auto too so I suggest spending some money on a good transmission.

You can use any 94/95 5.0L transmission (earlier has a shorter input shaft so change that and your fine.)

So if you found a TKO that was intended for a 94/95 it will work fine and you can handle more power. You should also change that rear end out for an 8.8"

Between the TKO, new clutch, flywheel, aluminum (Carbon fiber is better but about 3x the price) and a rear end you will be in it at least for what you had just put the M112 kit together for.

You can go cheaper to get you by and just replace parts as the go if you dont want to hit it all at once.

TurtleSLow

personally i would probably get the split port conversion and put the m112 on it, and a posi rear end with 3.73s. idk how much the split port conversion would run you but the m112 is aorund 2800 with all supporting mods like fuel pump and injectors and should net you around 300 whp

Shaunmac9128

Your looking at way over 3k when all said and done for a splitport swap and M112 setup.