[yoshizawa]

hey my name's josh. i'm a newbie 2 the forum & was lookin 4 some help. i bought a 97 gt about 6 months ago & i'm looking 2 upgrade it. right now its mostly stock with the exception of dual flowmaster exhaust. where should i start? i was thinking about doing small mods 1st like a cold-air, headers, throttle body, etc. what brands should i look into? should i upgrade the suspension/brakes 1st? any help will be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance!

[zigbigadoru]

auto or manual? headers are a big upgrade lol. i would look into doing a cobra brake upgrade. lowering springs, cold air intake, exhaust, and gears are where you should probably start.

[yoshizawa]

its a manual. t45

[Lefty]

Originally Posted by zigbigadoru auto or manual? headers are a big upgrade lol. i would look into doing a cobra brake upgrade. lowering springs, cold air intake, exhaust, and gears are where you should probably start.

+1

Check out this website:

Mustang Parts & Performance - American Muscle

[yoshizawa]

what brands should i look for as far as throttle bodies and cold-air intakes? i've noticed that bbk has some good prices. are they reliable?

[Drtbkercr5]

Dont forget the PI Swap

[yoshizawa]

whats a PI swap?

[330CubeGt]

Originally Posted by yoshizawa whats a PI swap?

PI Heads,Cams,Intake Manifold.
Best PI Swap Write-Up ! All you need to know - MustangForums.com

Read This To

Your 1996-1998 Mustang Bible & How-To Info Center

[yoshizawa]

how much will the swap cost me? is it something i can do in my driveway once i acquire the parts?

[ColdSteel]

do gears. that should always be your first mod.

[yoshizawa]

i've been looking at 4.10:1 and 4.30:1 gears. will these be good for street/strip performance or should i use smaller gears?

[ColdSteel]

4.10s with 5spd 4.30s with auto.

[Molitor]

yeah i was lookin at bbk headers too, they are prob the best price ive found, i was told Ceramic Coating is the way to go tho, so idk

[ColdSteel]

ceramic coating ftw.

but seriously, read those tech threads 330cube posted the link to. they are you bible.

are you reading them yet?

go read them.

PI Swap = (heads cams and intake off of 99-04 mustangs, can be done in the driveway but its a PITA)

as for CAI, go with JLT. by far the best imo. but you shouldn't even be thinking CAI yet, seriously its a waste of money until you get the big stuff out of the way. dont listen to what the item descriptions say about 10-15hp because you seriously wont feel a difference in throttle response.

also, welcome to the site.

[97S281]

Welcome to the forum Josh.

Most people start with a gear change, it provides the best out of the box bang for your buck. Jlt is the prefered CAI on this site as well as most others. Most guys will tell you that a Tb And Plenum upgrade are worthless but I used a 70mm tb with a ported plenum and 1" tb spacer along with a 1/2" plenum spacer and noticed a big difference in throttle response.

Exhaust is a great upgrade and long tubes are really the way to go for headers. Although they are more expensive, they provide a much greater return. Most guys run off road x or h pipes for mid pipes with a set of MIL eliminators to turn off your CEL. Your cat back is all about personal preference as to the sound you like. You can find clips of most systems on youtube.

A decent brake upgrade for a low cost can be found at your local junk yard in the form of 2 piston calipers from a 2001 or up gt. Just make sure you get the caliper brackets to go along with the calipers. You can use your existing rotors or go with a set of power stop slotted rotors. I would not recommend drilled as they tend to develop cracks between the holes. I have a set on my car now and plan on going back to a set of slotted non drilled when I do the brakes again. you can get a good set of hawk pads to compliment the caliper and rotor upgrade. It is a nice low cost upgrade if you want to save some money and still get better stopping power. A set of slotted rotors and performance pads are all I have on the back right now and they work great.

If you decide to buy parts from AmericamMuscle.com you should PM AMNick, he is a member here and can give you a discount code to use on the site.

Welcome again. We look forward to helping out and getting together.

[HBK_2007]

personally i would start with suspension upgrades. all the power in the world wont do any good if u cant get it to the ground

[yoshizawa]

Thanks 97S281 & HBK 2007. You both really helped me develope a good foundation 2 start my mods. now i can actually do somethin wit my spare time (once i get some cash lol)

[yoshizawa]

thanks coldsteel. i read 330cube's attatchments. they gave me a lot of insight on what to look for to complete the swap & what to purchase.

[HBK_2007]

PI swap is a good idea, but me personally, i want to see how trickflow specialties heads turn out and if they live up to the hype, ill be getting me a h/c/i combo from them when it come available

[Blown 97 GT]

I'd personally start with gears, then suspension. Get a good set of upper and lower adjustable control arms, lowering springs, subframe connectors, and a good set of adjustable shocks and struts. I think Tokico's are great from what i've read, heard, and experienced. A 600rwhp car might be awesome, but a 300-400rwhp car that hooks is even better. My 2 cents