97GT 1st mods ?s

[Rally]

First post!... Anyway, I have a '97GT Convertible, right now it is stock (well, I have the typical K&N). I have been doing a fair amount of research as to the first real mods that I want to do. To start out, my goals are 270-300hp. Eventually, mid 300s to 400hp would be the target, but first I wanted to do the heads/intake swap to improve the major drawback of this engine.

I saw the Parkway Ford deal for the '01 intake/heads etc. for $1212, and the MustangWorks deal for $1500. It appears that the only difference is the MustangWorks package has the intake and heads ported (and polished?). This addition seems worth the $300 difference in price. True? I was interested in putting in the Bullit intake, but in the March issue of 5.0 that was priced at $1500 by itself, no heads! Is this typical for the Bullit parts? Obviously, the +10hp gain over stock with the Bullit intake is appealing, and having already suffered a cracked intake manifold (yes, Ford fixed it for free.) the aluminum intake is more and more attractive, but the price difference seems extravagant. Any thoughts?

Would anything else be smart to have done along with the heads? Cam regrind? I heard this was also worth an additional 15hp for, like $300. Eventually, I will reach my secondary performance goals with some sort of forced induction, so would piston modifications be smart with the head job to lower the compression? Am I in error, or missing anything else?

Beyond this, I am planning on changing the stock exhaust. I don't know very much about this, h-pipes, catbacks, etc. etc. I figured I would learn this stuff as I go. In addition to the afore-mentioned forced induction solution, I will probably change the gears to wake up the 4.6. I don't want to make this post too obnoxious, so I will understand if everyone ignores these last things, The header/intake information is the most important.