The crossroads?

[0h n0 5.0]

hey guys, i've finally paid my dad back for his portion of my 94, an i've got about 1,200 to do some damage with. i would like to keep this thing streetable, advoid a major engine, drivetrain teardown or uselessbody kits for right now untill i graduate school an am workin full time.

shes nothin special, 116,000 on the stock 5.0,(save for the new GT heads) rebuilt AOD, an exhaust (car didn't have one when i got it). i want to keep it stock as possible, jus pick up some more torque an horses but avoid nitrous or power adders untill i decide whether to keep her for another couple of years or get a newer one (preferably a 94-98 cobra) in a few years.

i need tires, (runnin on baldies right now) an am looking at 17' inch cobra R's wheels also. but after that, i'm kinda stumped at the best route to go as i'm not sure whether to make this a project or jus enhance it with a few upgrades that might give me a higher return on a sale later on.

basically here's what i had planned:
gears(4:10 or 3:73), lower her, an maybe a sound upgrade, an if all that gets done i'm still hungary, goin with pullies, cold air an an MSD.
i'm at a crossroads, an i love my car, but the only power i can expect to gain from it reliaibly and quickly will eventually have to include a complete tear down an refortification of the engine, drivetrain and suspension if i went with a nitrous or any kind of power adder in order to increase the longevity of the car's life..but i'm not quite there yet, so i'm stumped at which road to go.

what do you think i should do?

thanx guys/gals

[jerrys84]

Gears!!!!


best performance gain for the $$$$....


I think the majority here would say 3:73's for a manual trans and 4:10's for the automatic......



if it's been taken care of 116,000 miles isn't alot, but i would say too many for engine upgrades without a rebuild..



and probly look at some decent tires that'll give ya traction.


my opinion

[explicitone]

I would start with gears ,shift kit,pullies, convert. and the cold air you dont need the msd at this point with thecar being stock I made the mistake and got one when I could have put the money some where else. and get some good tires like bfgs comp TAs or drag rads. that why you might have a chance to keep some of the power on the ground. and not up in smoke.....

[0h n0 5.0]

yea i was fortunate not to find a "frankenstang"(no offense to franknstang65). but i went through hell tryin to find one that wasn't played with an jus gave up on the hatch an notch foxes.(still want one, but maybe later) an found my hi-milaged bone stock 94 GT, it hadn't been played with as far as i could tell, except there was no exhaust an jus had flowmaster dumps on her(man, i miss that sound).

i've jus been replacin stuff thats wrong with her since January, untill school let out an I got back to work: heater hose, trans range switch (took FOREVER to diagnose that problem) cracked left head, busted window( a month go), I haven't bought anything I wanted for her yet, except a cd player an the exhaust which i got for my 21'st.

btw what kinda shift kit, i'm new to performance tranmissons an am jus curious about what the kit does?(pisses me off the AOD. I wanted a 5 spd but, hey.) is the AOd's capabilities for performance better than the T-45's?

[explicitone]

I had a 95GT with a AOD and I used the trans go kit. but I that B&m makes one perf. trans makes one I know there is more people that make them . the trans go kit replaced the the springs and valves and it added a press releave and if you want to tear the trans down it comes with new clutch bands. it helps the trans shift harder and more presise and lets you down shift at any time without the pause that you get from stock. it helped drop almost .2 off the times of that car and it only costed 99$ shipped and it took about 2 hours to install.(sorry for the spelling if there is any I suck at spelling)

[0h n0 5.0]

sounds cool,
i 'd like to have more control over my powerband, than the crappy EECIV,( (I think its out to get me)

i hear diferent things from people about gears, they say 3:73' are good for sticks, pretty much universally an that 3:55's are next for sticks. but they also said in 5.0 mustang this month that the 3:73's are good for autos. i'm inclined to agree if you've got a modded 5.0 engine. but not quite sure if its right for the stock 5.0. i'll probly do the 4:10's. I do know that I hate these 2:73's or whatever its came with. my 89 5.0 crown vic takes off faster than this.

[explicitone]

I would go with the 4.10s but with those your going to need so good tires and some more trac. aid in the form of good aftermarket control arms ect.....ect.... but I would start with the shift kit and gears and then move on from there... but thats just what I would do... cause I am kicking myself for not getting gears when I had the chance to do so. even though I have a hard time keeping trac. now ..