ok, ready for 1st mods!
 

I'm excited, armed with my newly acquired knowledge of the GT obtained through the observations and toils of all you Mustang fiends, I am ready to enter the foray of actual modifications. By this I mean actually buying stuff, not just talking about it!

This is my order:

1. Steeda tri-ax shifter (there's nothing quite like immediate gratification!)
2. 3.73 gears (I mostly do highway miles)
3. x or h pipe (with cats) and Magnaflow catback.
4. pullies/ timing adjuster
5. a brief period to lull my wife to sleep
6. '01 intake/heads
7. Repeat step #5
8. Springs with CC plates and shocks/struts

To begin: with the gears, what is the general consensus of the best way to fix the speedo? Chip or small gear thingy? I am a precision oriented guy, so the most accurate/sound way would be the best, but if it's the difference between an $8 piece of plastic, or a $100 chip, I might lean towards the inelegant solution.

Secondly, with the exhaust. I just assumed that I would have the x-pipe (or h-pipe, I'm still trying to decide) with cats put in, along with my catback and be done with it, and legal (here in CA). But I believe I have 6 catalytic converters on my '97 GT. How many cats would a catback and x-pipe setup have? If less than 6 (and I'm sure there will be, hence the performance gain), will this be a legal setup? I read that the techs won't cut off cats in the install since it is illegal. Since virtually everyone has done this gear mod, what is to be expected with the install where the catalytic converters are concerned?

Looking forward to the change in my GT!

Sounds like a plan. You should be fine for emissions with any aftermarket pipe with 2 cats. As far as the gears, you can just put a speedo gear in. I think it's like $50, compared to the $300 chip. If you put the catpipe in though, you're likely to have the Check Engine light go on and off. This is easily remedied by a chip, so you may want to just use that same chip to correct the speedo (if that's even possible, not sure on the manuals) and for a few extra HP. Again, good luck.

hmm. So even with the catpipe with the catalytic converters, and the catback system, the engine light will come on? I thought that as long as you didn't have an off-road h or x-pipe (no cats) you wouldn't have a problem. I must be assuming again! What set-up would ensure no engine light?

No guarantees here, but my Bassani X-pipe w/cats and MAC cat-back have never produced a check engine light....

Am I correct in my belief that when people talk about their Flowmasters or Magnaflows, or Borlas, they are describing their rear-most section of exhaust which contains their mufflers. This stection of exhaust is the "catback", right?

Yes indeed.

As far as the speedo gear goes, Is this item a part of the package when you buy new gearing? If not, how do you purchase it?

Nope. When you buy new gears all you get is the ring and pinion gear. Nothing else. You'll also need an installation kit for the gears. For the speedo gear go to www.dallasmustang.com. They can help you with that. And about the catpipe thing, as long as it has cats, your MIL (Check engine light) will function as normal.