Need Advice on a 95 GT

If you could do it yourself, heads would probably help you out a lot. You're close to the price, but not even remotely close if you have to factor in labor.

You could save your $1200 and wait until you have another $1200 to go with it and put a blower kit on it. Guaranteed thrills, but again, you'll have to do it yourself for this price.

The best bang-for-the-buck would definately be gears. You won't gain horsepower, but the car will pick up off the line better, and it'll be more fun to drive.

If I had $1200 to throw at a stock '95 GT... I'd probably do the gears and then a set of subframe connectors to stiffen the chassis up. More important that a little more power, this will make the car feel more solid and handle a little better. This increases the fun-to-drive factor. The gears will plant you in your seat better with the same amount of power available from the engine. You should be able to get both done for around $1200. I suggest Ford Racing gearsets and Global West subframe connectors... others are good as well.

Leave the exhaust for when you have a reason... like bigger heads. The complete exhaust swap you quoted might gain you 10-15hp on a good day, but that's power you'll barely feel. Exhaust gains are larger on a car with an opened up intake system (including heads) or a supercharger/turbocharger kit that requires more air leave the engine.

JS

I would agree with JS. If you have an automatic, a shift kit will also make a world of difference.

As an owner of a 95 Gt I'll say the best thing you can do is gears. You didn't say what tranny you have, but if its an AODE the second best thing would be a PI converter.

The big bottle neck on a the 95GTs is the intake. They make a Cobra intake for the 94/95 stangs that will open that up. Add a cat-back, x/h pipe and a

65/70mm throttle body and your set up pretty good.

As for the exhaust parts you'll save yourself a ton of bucks doing the installs yourself. The x/h pipes and cat back kits are not bad to install in the driveway. Headers are not bad, but can be a little more of a challenge for the first timer.

Do you have emission laws in Florida? If so long tubes and off road pipes are a big no-no.

MadDAWG

The biggest problem with the 95 is the tall differential gearing (2.73). This is good for gas mileage but horrible for performance. Stick in a set of 3.73 gears and you'll be grinning every time you drive it.

If you have an automatic, a shift kit is not expensive and a big improvement. For a LOT more money a higher stall torque converter (like the PI Stallion) will get you in the power band and keep you there.. definitely a very good thing.

95GT (3.73 gears)

with the traction lok it should be 3.08 gears

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3.08s were an option. My 95gt with an AODE had 2.73s. I was surpised it ran as good as it did, 15.4s in the upper 80 mph range

MadDAWG

Mine came with traction lok and it had the standard 2.73 gears.

3.08 was an option.

LJH

95GT

Mine had 3:27 gears that's why I went to 4:10's.

Thanks for all the advice. Decided to sink my money where it will count for right now. Ive got a pretty good idea on a set up , but would like opinions on it. I would like to go with a set of 3.73 rear end gears. A trick flow (track heat) intake. and a 70mm throttle body. and also change out the pullys. Would like to know if it sounds like a good set up. Would hate to spend a lot of money and not see any results.

thanks Alot

DO NOT install a track heat intake on stock heads. You will lose all your torque which is ALL that engine has. Please understand that your engine is optimized as it is. You cant change one part and expect to improve performance.. you must put together an entire combination that will work TOGETHER (heads, intake, cam, mass air, throttle body, etc). Anything less is a waste of money and you'll get lousy performance to boot.

I run a track heat intake on my engine BUT it is a 302 stroked to 331 ci and has AFR 185 heads, a custom cam, mass air, throttle body, etc. etc. (over $7,000 invested in this engine). EVEN on this combination the track heat is almost too much manifold for primarily a street car.. its doable but the street heat is much more driveable on this engine. Note: even the street heat is too much intake for your stock engine.

Get the gears. As for engine mods, education is the first and most important step. Don't just throw parts at the problem.. unless you have unlimited funds.

LJH

95GT

I can personally back Larry up on what a Track Heat will do to your stock

302. I put one on a basically stock 302 (had a bigger cam), and while it made power up high, it killed it off down low, and never did run right. The car ran much better when I put the stock intake back on.

Also, like Larry says, it will be best to do mods to the rest of the car that can benefit from them. Your engine is optimized as is. You can change one or two parts and maybe get a couple horsepower out of it, but you won't get much for what you spend. You'll be disappointed.

Gears are a plus. Chassis bracing gets you through the turns and bumps with a better feel. A 5-speed will benefit from a shifter, an auto benefits from a shift kit. When you finally do start going at the engine, you'll get much more out of a head swap. After that, then the rest of the parts will help more. An intake on a stock engine will give you a little, but will really add power when the heads flow better. Same with the exhaust. Big exhaust on stock engine is a couple horsepower, but when the exhaust is the weak link in the chain, the benefit is apparent.

JS

You have not told us what your goal is. Are you looking to pick up the power some without going broke or are you looking to build a Pro 5.0 car?

If you "just" looking to build a mild but fun to drive setup there is a lot that can be done with stock parts or maybe some used ones from someone that is moving up the ladder. For example both Stangnet.com and Corral.net have a nice classified ad setup. By using them for parts for my 351w I have saved over $1000 over buying new. For example I got a Scat crank, Eagle rods, and Weisco pistons for $800 from one seller, and I got a Fox Lake stage 3 ported GT40 lower for $400 (Fox Lake chages $600 just for the port work!). You can usally find GT40, Cobra, or Performer intakes for around $300-400 vs. the $500-600 new. Another option that is becoming vary popular is using the 5.0 Explorer intake. They are simular to the Cobra style intake, and you might even find one in a junkyard near you. The Typhon intake is a knock off of the Edelbrock performer from Profession Products and those can be had in the $300-$400 range brand new. You still need to have plan in mind and not just buy because its a good deal. Some parts that are real common on there are shorty heades, h/x pipes, intakes, bolt down roller rockers, and heads. You do have to smart as there is always the chance of getting scamed. Its usally a good idea to ask for pictures, and COD shipments to protect yourself. The nice part is unlike Ebay you don't get into bidding wars.

If I was doing a mild stang I'd do something along the lines of the SVO

290hp package less the heads. Buying thru the used part ads you should be able to come close to your 1200 dollar mark depending on how much the gear install runs you.

MadDAWG

at 24 Feb 2004, Bob K [ snipped-for-privacy@att.net] wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

[shameless plug start]

Seeying you appear to be in Tampa, I would suggest hooking up with Modern Mustangs on North America.

It's a club of late model Mustang owners in the Bay Area. Places like Ramsey's and also Need 4 Speed in Clearwater are club sponsors and will give members discounts. As do Brandon Ford and Ernie Haire. Both on new cars and parts. You'll more than make up for the $25 a year contribution that way. :-) And there's a wealth of knowledge around.

[shameless plug end]

really ? hmm, weird, I could have sworn it only said traction lok on the sticker, but the doorcodes said it has 3.08 gears. Can't check anymore since I sold the car and ave the new owner the sticker.

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