Whats a good first mod???
 

Alright, firsts things first, i'm a newbie. Second, my car isn't. It's a '98 GT with 136K miles on it. Its bone stock except for a custom hood. It is my everyday car that I take to work 12 miles there and back. I'm getting excited in the fact that its getting paid off in two months! :D

Whats a good first realistic mod that I could look into? I can't break the bank due to being a newly wed, so be easy on me.

FYI, I've been messing around on the internet looking at CAI's and TB's.
Any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Exhaust

spend a little time using the search function, there is a lot of info here to find.

best cheap mod is tossing in a used high flow air filter like a K&N and pulling the intake silencer off the stock airbox. It does the same thing a cold air intake does for very cheap.

After that an off road mid pipe is cheap and will make the car sound good too.

go with gears if you want a bump in acceleration...and the exhaust to sound better

2nd that. Gears seem to produce the most improvement with the least amount of money spent (except for nitrous.)

3rd that. gears are the shiznit depends on wat u wanna spend though not the cheapest or most expensive but worth bang for the buck.

I'll be one of the few and say start w/ what plants the power to the ground (and is also a weak point in our cars). Rear lower control arms from MM or Global West will make a world of difference and make your commute more pleasurable from the better handling and less whipping from the rear. Gears are great too, but if cash is tight, the steeper gearing isn't going to help your mileage (but will make the Mustang feel like one). Other mods to consider (that weren't mentioned yet) are: subframes connectors, torque arm/single upper link conversion and panhard bar, if manual, shifter and clutch quadrant and adjuster, coil-overs (better ride and handling), and a set of mild cams. I would recommend Crane 212s but as it turns out, they just went out of business. However, Comp and Crower offer mild cams suitable for a DD.

i wouldnt go the cams route if money is an issue. Plus to get the best of the cams you need a higher stall and gears would help too. BUT, i went with vt stage 2 n/a, with 3800 stall, and 4.10's....bad ass ride then.

I would agree with the subframe connectors, but I wouldn't say that rear lower control arms would be the best spent money for a first round of mods. I really didn't notice a big difference from my LCAs. I did notice a world of difference with the full length subframe connectors. But I think suspension mods take a little bit more mechanical knowledge and alot of research and planning, so I won't recommend alot of suspension parts for first mods, but once you get a few things out of the way, do exactly what Bassman recommended.

I think exhaust makes a car a lot more enjoyable to drive. Filter is easy and cheap to do, so do it. Gears are the best bang for the buck to increase acceleration.

Agreed on all points. Gears also make the car more enjoyable to drive.

Yes but we are talking about a DD here, so high duration cams wouldn't be a good choice. Something like Comp 262s and the old Crane 212s would be fine w/ a stock set-up and one would see a noticeable improvement w/ them, w/o killing any of their low end (something important for a DD). Yes, price is a bit high but $600 is still cheaper than most long tubes and only a couple hundred more than catted mid-pipes.

As for suspensions mods, the ones I listed are either easy to do or requires a shop. I though the RLCA arms were cake to do, just I disconnected the parking brakes the retard way.

i'm gonna shout out and say shifter (if your car is a manual). it gives the car a better feel while driving, and you lse that limp dick of a stock shifter.

if the car is an auto, i say get it gears. really improves the acceleration. 3.73s for a manual, 4.10s if its an auto. get a tuner too.

also, if you want to save money, modding a car is no way to do it.

Everything sounds good. Thanks for the replys. BTW, it is a manual. I did take that snorkel looking thing (silencer) out of the wheel well a couple years ago.

I like exhaust, but I don't want someting thats extremely loud, but more of a deep rumble. Are there any particluar brands I should be looking more at than others? Also, Cat back? H-pipe? X-pipe?

Thanks again!

an x- or h-pipe is the term for a mid-pipe, basically where your catalytic converters are. i'd look for a cat-back in your position. look on youtube for sound clips, and please know that no exhaust system will make your car faster or add any type or noticible horsepower. more experienced car modders know that an exhaust is a nice finish up mod, and not done for any type of gains. a FULL exhaust from the headers back will allow a better flow of exhaust gasses.

if you want something low and that rumbles, i recommend magnaflows. only exhaust i'll ever buy. when you are read for a full exhaust, i recommend Long tube headers and an h-pipe for the good muscle sound.

I would say and X-pipe. Its a GT right? because of that i would go with an X-pipe

Oh noes. Not the spam.

I have an O/R X-pipe and Magnaflows. Sounds incredible. If you want a DEEP rumble....headers and an O/R H-pipe would work with a good set of mufflers.

gears, underdrive pulley's, CAI, exhaust

or just a wet 75shot of sum spray :D

spray...

not for nothing guys, but the guy said a good first mod, lol.


also, something i neglected to say in regards to a shifter is that you can do the mod yourself. srsly, all it takes is the ability to turn a wrench. you need about two different sized sockets and wrenches to do it. the first time i swapped out my shifter it took me an hour or so.

^ Agreed it's really easy. Haha and kidding on the spray.

ya i know.... lol

Underdrive pulley's

I'm still looking for a professional in my area to swap the gears on my car, no luck so far.

gears.

So it sounds like gears are a popular choice. I was looking at the thread about throtle bodies and spacers, sounds like spacers are worthless, but i was seriously thinking about a throtle body. Am I restricted to either a 70mm or 75mm body for what my car is?

What car do you have? Also in general Throttle bodies are a worthless mod unless you have some sort of forced induction like a turbo or supercharger.

wat about spray?

It does not change a thing when your on the bottle. Really its only useful on highly modded n/a motors. Or motors with forced induction as you can force more air in.

ahh ok

you guys answered my question too except its not my first mod....my stock shifter sux balls, and i wanna change the tranny fluid so i might as well kill 2 birds wit one stone :) americanmuscle.com is a good site in case you are lookin for some stang parts.