What's the 1st mod for a bone stock car?

[N A]

I had some fun from a 50+ mph roll on the street yesterday. We're doing 60-70 mph, I have no muffler, my windows down and I'm side by side with a 4.6L Grand Marquis. My exhaust will be going in on Friday. Baseline chassis dyno numbers on Saturday. I got a closet full of parts. What's the best first mod for a 5.0L panther?

[Grand Marquis GT]

The best mods for suspension are Poly endlinks, sway bar bushings, and a rear swaybar.

KYB GR-2 shocks are also good.

[N A]

Horsepower or drivetrain wise mods. Upper and lower intake and throttle body? Traction-lok and 3.55:1 gearset? 1 5/8" shorty headers? After my "race" yesterday, bigger brakes should be at the top of the list.

[nitroracer]

You'll find a good performance increase from better gears, but if you drive on the highway a lot your mileage will drop a few miles per gallon. The better gearing will get those 4000lbs accelerating much faster.

[gadget73]

All good suggestions. What are you planning for exhaust?

[N A]

I just talk to the exhaust shop and they didn't even start my pipes. :cuss: I wanted them to build a mandrel bent 2.25" H-pipe and tail pipes to go with my Flowmaster 40s and Marauder tips. If they can't finish by friday, I'll go with a stock H-pipe and tail pipes.

I PM'd someone the other day and he did the HO upper and TB conversion. He said the car felt alot stronger than stock, but I want to wait for my E7TE heads to be finished. Their getting the MHRA (Mustang Heads Up Racing Association) "Factory Street" treatment done to them.

[mrltd]

Use impala tails, at least the over the axle parts. Dynomax makes 2.25 and 2.5" mandrel bent ones.

definatley get 2.25 or larger. That is the biggest HP gain you can get w/o the HO conversion. Get good mufflers also. The stock replacements are garbage and have 1.5 inch or less internal diameter.

[N A]

I'm ditching that exhaust shop. What year Impala tail pipes, ('94-'96 SS)? I got the original Flowmaster 40s in the 2.25" size. Not the delta flow ones.

[Mercracer]

I He said the car felt alot stronger than stock, but I want to wait for my E7TE heads to be finished. Their getting the MHRA (Mustang Heads Up Racing Association) "Factory Street" treatment done to them.

Why would you put $2000 into a set of E7 heads unless you were going to use them in a Mustang racing Factory Street/Stock?

[Cogs]

Go with AFR 165s. They're like 1300 but they're worth the power. I'm getting some for my car, sometime.

[N A]

I don't know exactly what he's going to do to the E7s, but he quoted me a price of $550 for the work. He does most of the MHRA guys heads around here. I've asked around and no one has anything bad to say about him. I'll try to get more info on the heads, but most shops won't talk.

[mrltd]

Shit 550 would have gotten you a set of iron gt40's with money left over..

And yeah 94-96 Impy tails. They are 3 piece.. The over the axle stuff it the most important. I paid 36 bucks each for the 2.5" ones.

[N A]

$1300 is a little too much money for me to spend on a set of heads right now. A low mile, complete 5.0L HO motor for $1300 would be sweet.

[N A]

Shit 550 would have gotten you a set of iron gt40's with money left over..

And yeah 94-96 Impy tails. They are 3 piece.. The over the axle stuff it the most important. I paid 36 bucks each for the 2.5" ones.

At the time I was looking for a set of GT40s, all I could find was the GT40Ps. I was scared away from them because of the header thing and had a pair of E7s on the shelf...

Where did you get the tails for $36 each? Were they mandrel bent? Where can I find them by friday?

[Mercracer]

I don't know exactly what he's going to do to the E7s, but he quoted me a price of $550 for the work..

Unless he is a nice guy and doesn't charge labor for his work, he isn't doing much for $550 except for a basic rebuild. I have ~600 into my best set of P heads and that includes purchasing them and putting high lift springs and a set of tuliped head high flow stainless valves. That is with zero porting. You need a serious port job to get E7 heads to flow as well as P headers stock. P headers are cheap and readily available. You will pay the same or more for any quality set of headers for your E7 heads.