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ramblings
I think the weather does have a bit to do with fewer posts on this board. We had 55 degree temps last Thursday and 5 inches of snow on Saturday! Well, here's the scoop. My 96 GT is bone stock save for a K&N and Splitfires(no laughing they were free). The car is a daily driver so ultimately I foresee wanting to get HP into the 260 to 300 range. I don't have any plans for taking it to the strip so I think those numbers will keep me happy. I am purchasing some March pulleys and upgrading my K&N to a K&N filtercharger injection perf. kit. Assuming that my car is well tuned and has stock HP of 215 will the pulleys and K&N kit bump it up a couple numbers? I'm not naive and realize that bolt on ads are notorious for high HP gains - just wondering where I might stand with these first two mods HP wise and theoretic 1/4 time. Next round of mods planned are 3:73's, MAC or FLowmaster catback, and subs. Gotta start somewhere.
Car has 54,000 miles on the clock. Thanks for lettin' me ramble and sorry for the length of this post. Stangs are fun in the snow. Stefan ------------------ 66 Standard coupe 200 inline 6 - Pertronix ignition, K&N, Clifford Perf. 6 into 2 headers(not installed yet), Holley carb, three row radiator 96 GT Convertible K&N (more to come) Where'd my money go? |
Well,
The filter charger might give you one or two horses over your current induction setup. The pulley numbers I don't have, but there is a noticable difference in performance after you put them on.... To be honest, I would start with the 3.73s and a good shifter to make full use of the horses you already have. ------------------ 98 GT Dyno-Max cat-back exhaust, 3.73 gears, Steeda shifter, Ford Motorsport Underdrive pullies, 87mm MAF and Roush cold air kit... [This message has been edited by Hammer (edited 02-14-2000).] |
Hammer, thanks for the info. If I start with gears (I think 3:73's on a daily driver GT are the best choice -you agree?) what kind of total cost can I assume? I see many gear sets in the $180 to $200 range for parts. What kind of ballpark figures are involved with labor? The speedo has to be adjusted as well, right? What would parts and labor be on the speedo? Maybe there is something else I am missing. I am not exactly an accomplished mechanic so I will be having all the work done at local shops. Can you recommend a good brand of gears? I'll probably end up going with a Steeda shifter. Sorry for the length again but thanks for the help.
Stefan ------------------ 66 Standard coupe 200 inline 6 - Pertronix ignition, K&N, Clifford Perf. 6 into 2 headers(not installed yet), Holley carb, three row radiator 96 GT Convertible K&N (more to come) Where'd my money go? |
I put on a Bassani X pipe with cats and March pulleys and the dyno says 10.9 rwhp for the 2, so I'd say about 5 at the rear wheels
------------------ 96 GT: KB subs, March pulleys, Bassani X pipe, 3.73's, alum. drive shaft, 70mm TB, K&N, KB Carbon Kevlar BP, Steeda Tri-ax shifter, Flowmasters, MSD wires, H&R springs, Tokico Illuminas & MM C/C plates GW RLCA sitting in the garage waiting for a free weekend... Red96GT's home page |
3.73s are certainly (in my opinion) the best gear ratio for a near stock 4.6 GT.
Gears will set you back around 200 dollars, and the speedo gear is about 10 bucks. So with tax, the parts will set you back about 230 dollars. Labor is different in many parts of the country. It is really bad here in Dallas at about 65 dollars an hour. If rates are comparable where you live, expect to pay around 350 dollars for the whole job. I have never had a problem with Ford Motorsport gears, and I highly recommend them. As far as a shifter goes, you can't go wrong with either the Pro 5.0 or the Steeda Tri-Ax, but my signature tells which one I lean to...;-) Hope this helps... ------------------ 98 GT Dyno-Max cat-back exhaust, 3.73 gears, Steeda shifter, Ford Motorsport Underdrive pullies, 87mm MAF and Roush cold air kit... |
Thanks for the info everyone. I called the local Ford dealer here in town and the Ford Motorsport gears (3.73) are $199. They said the labor would be around $275. When I asked about the speedo recalibration he said it would be a couple more hours labor because they had to mess around with different toothed gears and test driving and all. The last part sounded fishy to me. I thought there were certain specifac drop in speedo gears for specifac rear gear changes. Regardless the labor sounded reasonable to me for the gears anyway. I guess I'll just save a bit and make this my first mod.
Thanks again. Stefan ------------------ 66 Standard coupe 200 inline 6 - Pertronix ignition, K&N, Clifford Perf. 6 into 2 headers(not installed yet), Holley carb, three row radiator 96 GT Convertible K&N (more to come) Where'd my money go? |
Almost 500 dollars for gears!
Not only does that sound fishy, It's got hush puppies on the side. The speedo gear is a direct replacement, and if I had my motorsport catalogue with me, I could even give you the correct part number... There shouldn't need to be guesswork with that issue at all. Between that and quite a high labor price, I would shop around... Dallas Mustang quoted a friend of mine 350 dollars plus tax for the whole job. Just my opinion...;-) ------------------ 98 GT Dyno-Max cat-back exhaust, 3.73 gears, Steeda shifter, Ford Motorsport Underdrive pullies, 87mm MAF and Roush cold air kit... |
Hey Hammer, now I am a little confused. The $200 for FMS gears sounds reasonable. I think we both agree on that. The tech at the dealer telling me to tack on a couple more hours for speedo recalibration sounds absurd. I agree with that. When you say $350 total job are you referring to parts as well or just the labor or just labor? At my local $55/ hour rate, $275 breaks down to 5 hours. Is that what it takes to change gears or is it just a couple hour job? I don't mean to keep bugging you with this, I just want to know if I am understanding everything. Manhattan where I live is only 1 1/2 hours from Wichita where Rusty Eck Ford is. I see their ad quite a bit in the mags - maybe they can help me better than my local dealer. The person I talked to here in town was also telling me I had a 9 inch rear end which I know is not true in a stock 96.
I just want to make sure I educate myself and don't get screwed. Thanks again for the info. Stefan ------------------ 66 Standard coupe 200 inline 6 - Pertronix ignition, K&N, Clifford Perf. 6 into 2 headers(not installed yet), Holley carb, three row radiator 96 GT Convertible K&N (more to come) Where'd my money go? |
Oh my...
I would be staying away from there like the plaque. A decent tech should be able to handle the job within about 2 to 3 hours. (Depending on how busy they are at the time) The 350 I quoted was for the entire job minus tax, so you would have to tack that on also. But it is still quite a bit cheaper than what you were quoted. These guys are either unfamiliar with this type of stuff or its possible that they're trying to tack on some bucks under the "labor" department.... Either way, not a good situation. ;-) Personally, I would look elsewhere... ------------------ 98 GT Dyno-Max cat-back exhaust, 3.73 gears, Steeda shifter, Ford Motorsport Underdrive pullies, 87mm MAF and Roush cold air kit... [This message has been edited by Hammer (edited 02-17-2000).] |
You better believe I won't be spending money with them. I called Rusty Eck Ford in Wichita and they still quoted me ($188.50 for the gears which is decent) and $260-$300 for install. I think I will keep shopping around until I find a place that can install in 2-3 hours roughly. This info helps tremendously as I hate seeming naive on these matters. Surely some garage near me can meet my needs. This should end this thread, but trust me, I have like 10,000 more questions coming eventually.
Thank you much! Stefan ------------------ 66 Standard coupe 200 inline 6 - Pertronix ignition, K&N, Clifford Perf. 6 into 2 headers(not installed yet), Holley carb, three row radiator 96 GT Convertible K&N (more to come) Where'd my money go? |
Got it from the horses mouth...
I called Dallas Mustang and asked... They quoted me 420 for everything, (Parts, labor, tax) out the door... Be aware that labor is high here and that Dallas Mustang is known for being high... They also quoted me a work time of 2-2.5 hours. I would say that if you can get around 400, you'll get a decent deal.. And keep shooting out the questions... This is the place for them ;-) ------------------ 98 GT Dyno-Max cat-back exhaust, 3.73 gears, Steeda shifter, Ford Motorsport Underdrive pullies, 87mm MAF and Roush cold air kit... [This message has been edited by Hammer (edited 02-17-2000).] |
Hammer, thanks again. Trust me, the questions will keep coming.
Stefan ------------------ 66 Standard coupe 200 inline 6 - Pertronix ignition, K&N, Clifford Perf. 6 into 2 headers(not installed yet), Holley carb, three row radiator 96 GT Convertible K&N (more to come) Where'd my money go? |
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