CODY BEHNKE

If my loan goes through (it will) I am buying a 1997 Mustang GT for the hell of it. I want to mod one and see what it will do. It is a 4.6 5-Speed with 60,000 miles on it Black int./ext. with 17" wheels. As of now it is bone stock down to the mufflers and cats.
I just want to see how fast they can be with bolt ons.

Future mods:
H-Pipe or X-pipe w/ no cats
Flowmaster Cat-Back
K&N F.I.P.K.
Performance module

Nic what can I expect???? Seriously......


Please no flaming, I always said I hate Fords but I want to see what a mint un beaten 4.6 can do.

I will still have my GM stuff too.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Why do u want a 4.6 instead of a 5.0??

CODY BEHNKE

It is all I could find, Plus it's a mint 1 owner.

12sMustang

Ok, Cody. I have flamed you nearly every chance you have given me, but if you are interested in getting a mustang, I will be as straightforward and honest with you as possible.

There are no N/A 4.6 liter SOHC Mustang GTs in the 11s, period. At least, I have never heard of one. I know that for the most part you don't like mustangs, and I think you will like them even less if you do get this one. In all honesty, and I'm a Mustang fan (I've owned two fox bodies and my family has owned many of differing years), even I do not like the 96-98 GTs. They are slow, and difficult to mod. They sound nice, and look nice. IMHO, they have a nice interior, too. However, they are not performance mustangs. I honestly think that if your interested in bolton performance, and you like that bodystyle, you should look for a 94-95 mustang GT with around the same number of miles. I like the newer bodystyle mustangs, and would even buy one if I had no intention of modifying it because at least they start out at 260hp. The 4.6 DOHC motors that come in the Cobra of those years would be an even more interesting motor to mod than the 5.0 and more rare, IMO, but also more expensive in both initial cost and modding. I believe that with your performance oriented personality, you will be disappointed if you buy that car.

Now, if you are set on buying it, I will still try to give the info you requested. A bone stock 97 GT with a decent driver will do low 15s@ around 93mph. If I had to guess, I would say the average one I've seen out at the track ran a 15.1. I've seen some dip into the 14s, but this wasn't the norm. A full exhaust from headers back at best will net ~15hp. I'm not sure what FIPK is but I'm assuming that it is a non flat panel K&N air filter. Anyway, a good CAI will give at best 7 hp. About the performance module (chip), save your money, it won't do anything worth near its cost while the motor is stock. So optimistically speaking you could shave .2 seconds off and have a solid 14 second car.

That being said, i believe your money would be better spent on gears. Stock gears were 2.73s with the 3.27 option. Throw on a set of 3.73s or if you don't fear the gear, a set of 4.10s and you'll be well in the 14s for less money than all that other stuff.

I admire the willingness to come to the dark side, but if it is about performance, I don't think you will be happy with that mustang.

I hope all this stuff helps; none of it was meant as a flame. If there is anything I can help you do, or any info I can provide, let me know. FYI, www.corral.net has been invaluable to me in everything I've done from rebuilding the 8.8" rear end, to a full Heads/Cam/intake swap on my mustang, which I've got pics of if you're interested. Anyway, people there are very helpful and will give you straight answers to anything you're curious about.

Chris

CODY BEHNKE

Well I guess I'm not really buying it to have a 1/4 rocket just to have a Mustang really. I used to have a 1991 GT and really miss the awesome exhaust note . Will the 4.6 sound like that at all? My 1991 GT had Flowmasters and a off road h-pipe.

12sMustang

Definitely. I've never heard a V8 mustang that I didn't like the sound of. Get yourself dual chamber Flowmasters, an off-road X or H, and a pair of headers(if you can), and it will sound great. Though personally, I prefer the sound of a 5.0 (it is very distinct to my ear) it will still sound nice.

Do you notice how anyone who's ever raced a mustang always starts off with, "It was loud and sounded good so he had to have full exhaust" While it is a popular mod, mustangs have always sound badass from the factory, even the slow ones .

Chris

12sMustang

Cody, if you prefer that sound and like the SN95 body-style, why not wait for a 94-95 GT?

Chris

Mustang5L5

The 97 4.6L can do a little better than low 15's witha 5-spd. A friend of mine has a 97GT Automatic and SHE ran a15.1 with it bone stock, so if you can drive you can get mid to high 14's.

Swap in some 3.73's or 4.10's and do an exhaust, pulleys and K&N kit and other little bolt ons you can get down into the 13's with traction and driving

Next comes the big stuff, 99+ heads, a SVO/Bullitt intake and maybe a blower and now you are talking serious power. BUT, you don't need to take it that far

The newer style is a little more refined. The brakes are better (with a little work you can upgrade to Cobra 13" front brakes easily) , the suspension is better, the interior and exterior look better and it sounds insane.

Nic

First of all, I want to say I really agree with Chris' sentiment about the performance of the pre '99 GT's. On the other hand, I'm extremely excited about your open mindedness Cody.

Chris was also correct in his evaluation of the mods you had listed.

- Remember that with the offroad x or H you'll need MIL (malfunction indicator light) eliminators. My recommendation is the X. They go in between the O2 sensor and the connectors that hook up to it. They're keep the CEL from going off due to the lack of cat. converters.

- The flowmaster catback will sound good and it's definitely the big thing on the market for Mustangs, but I'm more of a fan of the straight through style mufflers like Magnaflow, Borla, and Bassani myself. Combined with the X pipe, they give the 4.6 a real raspy sound that I really like. At the level of modifications you're talking about though, I don't think it'll really hurt you that much to run the chambered style mufflers. Make sure you get the 2 1/2" catback.

- As for the CAI, the Anderson Motorspor N/A Power Pipe is the best, but it's pretty expensive. The general consensus seems to be that the densecharger and WMS velocity tubes are the best for the money, but don't expect a huge increase with any of them.

- The chip really is a waste of your money.

If it were my 97 GT to mod, the first thing I would do is add 4.10's and a Steeda Tri-ax shifter.

Outside of a supercharger, I think the best mod you can do to the 96-98 GT's is to upgrade to the 99+ heads/intake. It can be done for less than $1400 and will put an otherwise stock 5 speed car into the 13's. This does, however, up the compression to 10.6:1 as compared to 10:1 on the 99 GT, so if you were to run a s/c down the road you might run into problems.

If you're interested in gaining some general knowledge on the mod motor before you begin modding it, read Ed Olin's tech articles on the Corral. Here's the first one:
http://www.corral.net/tech/documentary/t_modula.htm.

Lastly, like Chris said... The Corral is a valuable resource for anyone looking to mod their mod motor. Another group worth checking out are the guys at Super Stallions of the Net. They seem to know their modular engines pretty well.

Sean Hyland sells the 99+ heads/cam/intake package for $1350 along with a host other stuff. You can also view various dyno results of different combinations on his website, so I think it's worth checking out.

If I think of anything else, I'll chime back in later.

CODY BEHNKE

Well the Mustang idea is down the tubes, I have decided to put some more money into my S-10 SS for now. If and when I buy another Stang it will be a 5.0

matt87

dont forget to mention the civilized ride. my friend had a 98 gt vert and i was really surprised on how smooth it rode. good luck on your with your new car.

Nic

True...given the choice, I'd sacrifice 5/10ths off my ET for the refinement of the SN95 over the Fox body.