free/inexpensive mods

[Dino]

What are some free or inexpensive mods that can be done to a 1996 4.6L stang? I've heard conflicting reports about removing the air intake silencer. Some say with the 4.6L you gain a couple hp, others say you lose a couple. Where's the TPS on these cars, or is there one? If there is one, should it be adjusted to .985 like on the 5.0 ? Can anyone else think of any other CHEAP things to do?

[Rebel79]

Dino,
Yes, take out the air silencer. You will gain a few hp. The 99's, however, will loose horsepower when the silencer is removed. Tune your engine, spark plug gaps, new wires, check the distributer. Maybe buy a timing adjusters so you can advance the timing.

Of course 92 octane and octane booster will help too.

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'94 Cobra
308ci, ported GT-40 heads, Ford cam .512" lift and 284° duration, 70mm TB, Custom 80mm MAF, JMS chip, Vortech S-trim 8#, MSD, TREX fuel pump, Accel coil, 3.55's, FMS 1 5/8 headers, BBK Offroad H-pipe, and 2-chamber flows.
1994 Mustang Cobra (UPDATED!)
Check out the pics of my Motor Buildup!

[Hammer]

Free/ Inexpensive Mods:
Remove Air Silencer
K&N Filter

You cannot manually adjust the timing on a 4.6 like you can a 5.0. (Unless you want to invest in a Steeda Timing Adjuster)

Best first mods for the 4.6 in my opinion are:
1. Gears (I'm currently running 3.73s and love them)
2. Pullies
AND
3. An after market short-throw shifter
(You never want to miss a gear while frying rice ;-)

Cat-Back exhaust is also good for a great sound, but you won't see much of a performance difference until you up the horsepower a bit more. If you continue into more serious mods and hit around 300 hp, consider headers and an H or X pipe with your cat-backs.

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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...

[MOD281]

HEY DINO-
leave the darn silencer on,this is such a
bullsh*t issue,it's not even funny.
get yourself the 3.73 gears,a good stainless cat/h-pipe(i've got an SHM cat h-pipe on my 98 and am real happy,gives it almost a
big block sound at low revs!)flowmasters or
whatever and you'll be a little happier!

[97snakedriver]

The "headers" on the modular engines are just weird. They are really pretty awful. Replacing them frees up a pretty good chunk of hp. I plan on them for my next mod. I agree apart the shifter. I love my Steeda. Gotta agrea with gears too. I have 4.10s but a GT isn't quite as rev happy as a Cobra, so 3.73s are probably best.

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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

My Ride

[97snakedriver]

Oh yeah! Subframe connecters!

[Dino]

Well right now I'm staying away from gears because I have to drive the car in the winter and gears will make it even harder to drive in the snow. I'm going to change the mufflers (I'm leaving the pipe because it looks fine and because I don't have the $$$ to change it). I'll probably get some pulleys in the spring. Maybe make one of those cold air inductions. Has anyone ported out there MAF meter? If so how did it turn out?

[95GTS]

Take off the air silencer and install a K&N air filter. It helped mine come down out of the rpm's faster, like when you sit there and rev the engine, for example. It'll breathe alot better. IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE (air silencer removal). Just speakin' from experience. The stock MAF is already 80 mm, plenty big enough, though you can cut out the post that's in the center of it. I believe that on www.mustangworld.com they have a tech article on how to exactly do it. You must be very careful, though. Get an off-road H-pipe at least. Your 6 cats are making a huge restriction on the exhaust flow. NAmotorsports has MAC off road H-pipes for around $109. I'm doing that and leaving the stock mufflers and tailpipes. I've heard them with that arrangement and it sounds awesome. Almost like Flowmaster just with out the real metallic sound. Real deep and throaty sounding. Then, like they said, eventually get the gears (3.73 for daily driver) and underdrive pullies. Those are pretty much the basics for the car. Do suspension mods too. You could also loose some weight (the car). Kind of strip it down a little. Mine's already like that and it does make a difference. I love it. Good luck.

PS: You can make your own ram air later on or now if you want (very easy to do). So don't throw away the silencer if you want a sealed ram air. You can make the ram air and leave the air silencer off. It works on mine.

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1996 Mustang GTS
All stock (not for long)
15.4 @ 94.4 mph (1/4 mi.)

[95GTS]

Take off the air silencer and install a K&N air filter. It helped mine come down out of the rpm's faster, like when you sit there and rev the engine, for example. It'll breathe alot better. IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE (air silencer removal). Just speakin' from experience. The stock MAF is already 80 mm, plenty big enough, though you can cut out the post that's in the center of it. I believe that on www.mustangworld.com they have a tech article on how to exactly do it. You must be very careful, though. Get an off-road H-pipe at least. Your 6 cats are making a huge restriction on the exhaust flow. NAmotorsports has MAC off road H-pipes for around $109. I'm doing that and leaving the stock mufflers and tailpipes. I've heard them with that arrangement and it sounds awesome. Almost like Flowmaster just with out the real metallic sound. Real deep and throaty sounding. Then, like they said, eventually get the gears (3.73 for daily driver) and underdrive pullies. Those are pretty much the basics for the car. Do suspension mods too. You could also loose some weight (the car). Kind of strip it down a little. Mine's already like that and it does make a difference. I love it. Good luck.

PS: You can make your own ram air later on or now if you want (very easy to do). So don't throw away the silencer if you want a sealed ram air. You can make the ram air and leave the air silencer off. It works on mine.

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1996 Mustang GTS
All stock (not for long)
15.4 @ 94.4 mph (1/4 mi.)

[Mustang92]

So what is the deal with removing the air silencer on a 99 or 00. Why is it different from a 96-98 to the 99-00?

I have mine removed on my 00 and ran a 14.4@96 but I haven't had a chance to go back and try run it with the silencer back on.

Also can you put an X-Pipe on a 00 without having the check engine light coming on?

Bill P
00' Bright Atlantic Blue
Stock 4 weeks old

[Mustang92]

So what is the deal with removing the air silencer on a 99 or 00. Why is it different from a 96-98 to the 99-00?

I have mine removed on my 00 and ran a 14.4@96 but I haven't had a chance to go back and try run it with the silencer back on.

Also can you put an X-Pipe on a 00 without having the check engine light coming on?

Bill P
00' Bright Atlantic Blue
Stock 4 weeks old

[Rebel79]

Mustang92,

According to either MM&FF or 5.0l Mustang, the dyno tests show that the 99GT's LOST rwhp when the air silencer was removed. This is because Ford's EEC is tuned properly. I suggest that you replace the filter box with a conical K&N.

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'94 Cobra
308ci, ported GT-40 heads, Crane 2031 cam .513"/.529" lift 276°/282° duration, 70mm TB, Custom 80mm MAF, JMS chip, Vortech S-trim 8#, MSD, TREX fuel pump, Accel coil, 3.55's, FMS 1 5/8 headers, BBK Offroad H-pipe, and 2-chamber flows.
1994 Mustang Cobra
Check out the pics of my Motor Buildup!

[95GTS]

Try to breathe through a straw. That is basically what the engine is trying to do with the air silencer attached. Though, like in a previous post, it looks like the 99-00 are set up better to be able to do this. At least get a K&N filter.

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1996 Mustang GTS
All stock (not for long)
15.4 @ 94.4 mph (1/4 mi.)

[95GTS]

Try to breathe through a straw. That is basically what the engine is trying to do with the air silencer attached. Though, like in a previous post, it looks like the 99-00 are set up better to be able to do this. At least get a K&N filter.

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1996 Mustang GTS
All stock (not for long)
15.4 @ 94.4 mph (1/4 mi.)

[Hammer]

K&N Filter...
Cheap, easy, more horses...
It doesn't get much better than that ;-)

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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...