info on mods for 97 GT

[Red94Z]

Hi guys. It is true that I am not a fellow Mustang brother but I do have a friend who owns a 97 GT. I love both my F-Body and his GT and I am constantly looking for ways to make his car faster. I dont' know didly about his car and feel bad everytime I do work on my car because I have no advice for him. Sooo, I need some help here.
Here is the scenerio:
97 GT w/ 2 cat h-pipe, flowmaster 2 chambers, and a homemade ram air kit w/ K&N.
What is the next step here? We are looking at some Longtubes. I have headers on my car and they made a heck of a differnece but I know with the stangs it's longtubes or nothing.
We are also interested in some N2O but I have some questions before diving head first into Nitrous. Will we need some better injectors and ignition like I would with my Z28?
I also recommended that since he has an auto he should look into a higher stall converter.
What do you guys think we need to do first here? If any of you guys ever visit camaroZ28.com I am SNAKETR over there so feel free to write to me over there.
Thanks so much.

Jared

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T-Topped 1994 Z28
Not Stock

[97snakedriver]

Well, I think the first thing would be gears. The 4.6s Stangs make most of the power and torque up high, so the 3.27s are just too tall. The general consences seems to be 3.73s for GTs. As long as the cars in the shop for the gears, he might as well get some subframe connectors. That alone will make a big difference.

The next step is power. Nitrous is always the fairly cheap option. The GTs come with 19 lb injectors, which will need to be upgraded to something, depending on how big of a shot he wants to run. Without some work to the bottem end I would not go higher then a 100 to 150 dry shot. Hammer should be able to tell you a lot more about that. I think he'll need 30lb'ers, and a larger fuel pump.

As far as other mods, the basic principals are the same as for any car. The long tubes will work very well on a GT, but are hard to install and can have clearence problems depending on what he plans to do with his suspension.

Some other more common bolt ons are: throttle bodies, MAF, cold air kits, X and H pipes with higher flowing cats, an alum drive shaft, underdrive pullies. The next step up is ported heads, or the FRPP (Ford Racing Performance Parts) heads and intake.

The most common traction parts are: Upper and lower controls arms, bushings, shocks, struts, springs.

The most common superchargers are: Vortec S-Trim and the FRPP supercharger. There are also Paxton, Kenny Brown, and several others.

For handling, its too many to list. Tell your friend to look at Steeda (www.steeda.com), Saleen (www.saleen.com) and Shawn Hyland Motorsports (www.shm.com.) Each of these sites will provide more of an otherview of all this stuff, as well as prices and what not.

There's a whole heck of a lot you can do with these cars, more then I listed, you just got to know where to look.

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'97 Cobra, K&N, Flowmaster, subframes, 4.10 gears, Steeda Tri-Ax shifter, Steeda G-Trac 3, Cobra R wheels w/ Goodyear F1s

[Red94Z]

Thanks for the information. I can't believe that he would need to go to 30# injectors to run NOS. I would think that 24 SVO's would be pleanty. That is all it takes on my car. After riding In Eric's mustang I would be afraid to put new gears in the car. The thing already pulls pretty high RPM's while cruising.
I am putting 3.73 gears in my Z and with those I will be pulling 3k at 80. The 97 GT pulls around 2400 at 65 from what Eric tells me.
Thanks for the information

[T-Bone]

2400 AT 65?!?!?! ...He would have to be running 4.10's for it to be that high. Mine runs at 1900rpm at 70mph.Are you sure about that???

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'96 GT
5-speed,K&N air filter,Roush Cold Air kit,80mm MAF,Mac Cat-Back,Mac Pro Chamber H-Pipe

T-Bone's '96 GT

[Red94Z]

He has an automatic. I don't know what he runs to be exact but he tells me that his RPM's are pretty high. If I remember from riding with him he is running over 2k at 65. What is gas mileage like with 3.73's in an auto?

[97snakedriver]

I think you're right, my mistake.

My car has 24lb injectors. At 40 psi fuel pressure they are good to about 350 hp. I guess if he's running a 100 shot that would be enough.

[Red94Z]

Are the factory Ford injectors SVO? I know that my GM injectors have been know to lock up from time to time with forced induction or NOS. Is there another site I can go to that has any good info on Nitrous for the 4.6?
Thanks so much

[Hammer]

Gears should be the first mod on a 4.6.
Did he buy his car new? If not, he could already have after market gears if he's running high RPMs at highway speed. I would clear that up first. 3.73s are perfect on a GT, gives you a performance boost, while keeping the vehicle fully streetable.

Next is to get a good shifter...a Pro 5.0 or Steeda Tr-Ax...

Pulleys are good for a few inexpensive horses too....
After that you can go for a Bassini X-pipe, then some sub-frames...

As for nitrous, I'm far from an expert on the subject, but if he's using the vehicle for a daily driver, I would go with a small shot and make it as safe as possible from detonation.

I'm currently installing a ZEX N2O system...
It's really easy to install, easy on the engine (75 shot), and as safe from detonation as you're going to get.
It only switches on at WOT and self regulates itself to fuel flow....just watch that rev limiter...;-)

Hope this helps

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98 GT
Dyno-Max cat-back exhaust, 3.73 gears, Steeda shifter, Ford Motorsport Underdrive pullies, 87mm MAF and Roush cold air kit...

[97snakedriver]

SVO or Special Vehicles Operation, now called FRPP or Ford Racing Performance Parts, sells after market parts. I don't think there is any real difference between after market injectors and factory other then how much they inject. I've never heard of an injector freezing up in a Ford.

[Red94Z]

Thanks for all the information guys. I feel like I am being adopted here being a chevy driver and all. But our cause is the same. I want to make a Ford fast just like all of you.
Everyone keeps referring to the 3.73's.
However did anyone notice that I mentioned that his car is an automatic? 3.73's are ideal in my auto but what about a ford? AODE I believe is the tranny
Thanks again.

Jared

[Hammer]

Yep,
I noticed... an AODE.
3.73s are still good, and some owners also swear by getting away from the stock stall converter while they're at it...
It trashed my shifter idea though...
He already has a new H-pipe it seems, so I guess the x-pipe idea is shot too...

The pulleys would still be a safe bet though...

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98 GT
Dyno-Max cat-back exhaust, 3.73 gears, Steeda shifter, Ford Motorsport Underdrive pullies, 87mm MAF and Roush cold air kit...

[Red94Z]

Ok. Thanks for the help guys. I am going to get in touch with my Stang driving friend and let him know that 3.73's would be a good idea. I told him to look into a higher stall but he won't have money for DR's(drag radials) after all that and I would think that even with the 4.6 that would be a necessity to accompany 3.73's and a higher stall.
He wants NOS but I told him from my experiences don't add nitrous or forced induction unless you can afford a rebuild just to be on the safe side.
Thanks for the help again

[EXAM1999]

3.73s work fine for that automatic because it is technically an AODE-W or 4R70W with a 2.84 1st gear & 1.56 2nd. The AOD & AODEs had a 2.40 1st and 1.47 2nd so 4.10s were necessary to get it to move. A converter, shift kit, cooler & 3.73s will make that car fly off the line and not run that high on the highway because of the .70 O/D gear. The 5 speed has a .67 5th so there isn't that much difference. At 60 mph, my car shows about 2100 rpms and at 75 mph I see about 2600 rpms

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EXAM1999
99 Silver GT
4R70W, Borla Cat-Back, 10.5 ProTorque custom converter, cooler & Transgo Shift kit, Synthetics, Bassani X-Pipe, V2 S-trim, 3.73 gears, FMS 70 mm T/body, FMS Shorty headers, Wolfe Racecraft Adj. upper & lower control arms & ROH ZR6 wheels(17X9.5 & 17X8.5 w/Nitto Extremes)
Dyno 2/25/00
Best:
316 rwhp
332 rwtq
Dyno 3/26/00 After fuel mod, FMS headers & Pro Torque Converter.
338 rwhp
342 rwtq

[Red94Z]

Thanks
Just what we needed to know.