1994-2004 V-8 GT, GTS, Bullitt, Mach 1, and Cobra

Modification discussion

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Old 5/16/05, 08:39 PM
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Hello everyone. As some of you may know, I've recently acquired myself a Bullitt. I'm happy with it very much so.


Now, since I never really plan to sell my baby, I wish to make her a bit more bad ****. I've got a few things in mind, I'd like to get a few more opinions, and maybe advice.



First off, I'm probally gonna get a CAI kit of some sort. BBK's looks nice. Is there really any BIG difference between the different brands?

Also, I wish to get a handheld flash programmer. Can anyone with firsthand experience tell me the basic rundown of how there work? I've read a little. I've read something about putting pre-set tuning (chips?) in it for specific models of mustangs and such. Can anyone elaborate on this?

I'll definitly want a larger Mass Air Sensor.... I'm somewhat stumped on which brand/type to get. Any suggestions?

I've got a few questiosn about the Intake and throttle body for the Bullitt. I've read somewhere that it's got a Cobra Intake? Which year would this be? If I were to buy a different Throttle body, would I have to buy one for a Cobra? Or a GT/Bullitt?

Also, I've read that the Bullitt has a Twin 57mm Throttle body. Is that actually 2x 57mm? That seems a bit insane.

Any recommendations on a throttle body spacer?


Eventually I'll make my way to the exhaust. Now... I've heard and seen a few pictures where full-length headers reduce ground clearance on 99-04 GTs. is this true? if so, should I stick with Shorty headers?

Along the same lines, moving my way down to an X-pipe, any brand recommendations? Since Georgia isn't an emissions state, I believe I can get them without a cat. converter and have no problems. Anyone have any advice about this? I mean, I'm sure if I'm stopped for billowing black smoke out my exhaust I could get into trouble. :P

I think I'm going to keep the flowmaster Mufflers and stock tips. Also, if you've got a suggestion, I'm open.



Eventually I'm hoping to get a port-n-polish job. At the moment, I have absolutely no clue how expensive this will be. Can anyone give me a ballpark estimate on a 4.6L 2-valve SOHC V8?



Well, that's about it. Unless anyone can think of anything else to add on. I'm mainly looking for simple bolt-on stuff.
Old 5/17/05, 03:38 AM
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umm... you have two too many cylendars to be posting in this forum bud
Old 5/17/05, 11:39 AM
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as for a mid pipe id look into BBK x pipe my friend has 1 on his GT with magnaflows "magnapack" kit and it sounds rediculous, SLP also sounds really good for exhaust. headers, if you go long tube you'll have to buy a mid pipe to work with LTs but shortys should suit you fine , as for throttle body spacers they really arent all that worth it i personally would do a TB & plenum. theres no big differance in cold air intakes , some are fenderwell, some are straight shots with a heat shield i love my KN fipk kit but theres no big differances between cold air intakes they'll only add a few horses anyways, check out these links for a bunch of differant parts and prices
http://www.motorsport-depot.com/ , http://www.proficientperformance.com
Old 5/17/05, 12:44 PM
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Originally posted by forddude1416@May 17, 2005, 4:41 AM
umm... you have two too many cylendars to be posting in this forum bud
Fixed.
Old 5/17/05, 02:16 PM
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no, your car has a bullit intake, not a cobra intake. the bullit intake is very good, i woul djust keep it and get it ported.
Old 5/17/05, 02:23 PM
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I concur. The Bullit intake is a very sturdy and tough intake. A lot of people with regular GT's upgrade to this especially if using Dinitrogen Monoxide on their vehicle. It has less of a change of detonating. As for mods I agree with Dark02Pony. These are great mods to start off with.
Old 5/17/05, 02:25 PM
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"Dinitrogen Monoxide"

WTF is that? i am lost now
Old 5/17/05, 02:33 PM
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Originally posted by Fordracing200@May 17, 2005, 3:28 PM
"Dinitrogen Monoxide"

WTF is that? i am lost now
NOS maybe?
Old 5/17/05, 02:47 PM
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I think he means nitrous oxide.

btw I am working on a disected response to your post Jim, answering all your questions
Old 5/17/05, 03:03 PM
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Now for the disection and answers My answers/opinions will be in bold

Originally posted by Arak-Nafein@May 16, 2005, 9:42 PM
Hello everyone. As some of you may know, I've recently acquired myself a Bullitt. I'm happy with it very much so.
Now, since I never really plan to sell my baby, I wish to make her a bit more bad ****. I've got a few things in mind, I'd like to get a few more opinions, and maybe advice.

Congrats man, Bullitts are one of the finest 4.6L SOHC cars to come off the line and one of the best looking stangs period!


First off, I'm probally gonna get a CAI kit of some sort. BBK's looks nice. Is there really any BIG difference between the different brands?
Personally I dont dig the BBK and MAC CAI's as they are flashy, but they are a thin metal material that absorbs heat really well, also they stand out against your intake quite a bit. If you want a MAF to throttle body pipe, look at the C&L trueflow inlet pipe. It looks just like the cast aluminum your intake is made of and is a thicker metal that will not absorb heat as well. At that point you could retain your stock air box or get a MAF to fender from someone like http://www.jlttruecoldair.com (contact him to see if they have something that will work).

Also, I wish to get a handheld flash programmer. Can anyone with firsthand experience tell me the basic rundown of how there work? I've read a little. I've read something about putting pre-set tuning (chips?) in it for specific models of mustangs and such. Can anyone elaborate on this?
[b]This is a very opionated subject. I am a firm believer in a custom tune as it does wonders for the car. If you want a end to end product, look at the SCT (http://www.superchipscustom.com) hand tuner. It will allow you and your mods to grow and any SCT dealer can send you a tune file based on your mods if you get stuck trying to tune it yourself. Ive dealt with the SCT brand and one of the
tuners extensivly and I love it. So much user friendly than other tuners and groups that I have worked with. A friend of mine is a SCT dealer and has made significant gains on stock and modded GT's and cobra's. Check out his site at http://www.bamachips.com , his name on this forum is Doug904.[b]

I'll definitly want a larger Mass Air Sensor.... I'm somewhat stumped on which brand/type to get. Any suggestions?
Mass air meters tie directly in with your tune. Your stock MAF is completely fine untill about 375rwhp or so. Also Ford meters are so much more consistent and their transfer rates are already programmed into your computer so its no where near as hit or miss as it is with a aftermarket meter as they sometimes do not provide flow transfer rates and tuning that can be a nightmare.

I've got a few questiosn about the Intake and throttle body for the Bullitt. I've read somewhere that it's got a Cobra Intake? Which year would this be? If I were to buy a different Throttle body, would I have to buy one for a Cobra? Or a GT/Bullitt?

Also, I've read that the Bullitt has a Twin 57mm Throttle body. Is that actually 2x 57mm? That seems a bit insane.

Any recommendations on a throttle body spacer?
These three fall into the same answer. The bullitt intake is a one of a kind cast aluminum intake designed for the special edition GT known as the Bullitt. Regular GT intakes are made of a poly injected plastic with a metal upper plenum with a single round throttle body (65mm). The bullitt does share the same throttle body with 96-01 cobra's in the fact its a twin blade 57mm per side (yes 2x57) throttle body. THe only thing similar to a cobra is its location. It is posistioned to where it is pointing at an angle towards the front passenger side of the car, in the same location as 96-98 cobra intakes, therefore making the MAF to TB tubes basically the same. Also I think throttle linkage is the same between the bullitt and the cobra. Usually throttle bodies will be listed as Cobra/Bullitt or GT (non-Bullitt).

As far as a spacer, I dont believe I have seen one that is made to fit your intake, also adding more length to the intake track wouldnt net you any gains if I had to guess.


Eventually I'll make my way to the exhaust. Now... I've heard and seen a few pictures where full-length headers reduce ground clearance on 99-04 GTs. is this true? if so, should I stick with Shorty headers?
It is true that LT's (long tubes) do reduce ground clearence. But its not by much at all. With your stock ride height you should be completely fine with LT's. Its all your matter of preference on the LT vs Shorty decision. LT's cost more, but net more gains but are also more of a pain to install.

Along the same lines, moving my way down to an X-pipe, any brand recommendations? Since Georgia isn't an emissions state, I believe I can get them without a cat. converter and have no problems. Anyone have any advice about this? I mean, I'm sure if I'm stopped for billowing black smoke out my exhaust I could get into trouble. :P
Technically, it is illegal to tamper with any of the equipment on an emissions equiped vehicle. However, I doubt you will ever have a problem with running an Off-Road pipe. For an X-pipe, Dr. Gas X-pipes are probably the best there is. You can get them for Shorties or LT's, but you will have to purchase the pipe, then have an exhaust shop or performance shop put it together and weld it up since it comes in many pieces for the best fit. Magnaflow and Bassani are right behind it as far as performance and quality. Prices vary so search around for your best deal. http://www.partshopper.com and http://www.ninosport.com are sponsors of this site and give member discounts (see the parts specials forum).

I think I'm going to keep the flowmaster Mufflers and stock tips. Also, if you've got a suggestion, I'm open.
Flowmasters sound best with a o/r (off-road) H-pipe. They are deep, gurgle and mean. With an X-pipe, they are going to be loud and sound good, but will drone at hwy cruise speeds untill you are deaf. With an x-pipe, I highly recommend a straight through style muffler like the Magnaflow, Bassani, or Borla. If you want a fairly quiet, smooth toned exhaust note, the magnaflow is the way to go. Bassani is a step up from that as far as loudness along with the Magnaflow "Magnapack" kit. The Borla's are by far the loudest and sound great, but are defintely an attention getter.

Eventually I'm hoping to get a port-n-polish job. At the moment, I have absolutely no clue how expensive this will be. Can anyone give me a ballpark estimate on a 4.6L 2-valve SOHC V8?
PnP jobs on a 4.6L arent quite a cheap as they are on a 5.0. After tearing the head down and sending off and getting them back, expect to be paying in the $1,000 range for parts (new gaskets, head bolts etc) labor and shipping. At that point, I would go ahead and opt for new oversized valves and better springs and put a set of VT Stage II cams in for a very stout 2v motor. You are looking at probably over 300rwhp on that setup. For more info, check out http://www.vtengines.com

Well, that's about it. Unless anyone can think of anything else to add on. I'm mainly looking for simple bolt-on stuff.
Dont forget there are other aspects of the car. Suspension (your setup is fairly decent now as Bullitt's came with Tokico premium struts/shocks, stiffer sway bars, and slightly lower/stiffer springs). A good set of Subframe connectors are a must for any mustang as it stiffens the chassis ALOT and also helps transfer the power to the rear better as it doesnt allow the chassis flex. Also a good set of lower control arms help in all aspects. Two great suspension sites are http://www.griggs-racing.com and http://www.maximummotorsports.com
Old 5/17/05, 03:59 PM
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Thanks for all the great replys!


First off, I'd like to apologize for posting in the wrong forum. It was my intention to post in the V8 section, I must have misclicked.



Anywho, Scothew, you are a god among men! Thanks for all the rediciously helpful information! I will definitely take heed to everyones advice! Now that I've got a direction for my modification needs I can start searching out parts and such. Once again, many, many, many thanks for the help.


I'll let you guys know how my mods are coming along. With Pics!
Old 5/17/05, 04:01 PM
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Thanks man, I am not a god.. just spend to much time on the internet researching this hobby then have done my share of wrench turning
Old 5/18/05, 06:31 AM
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Originally posted by forddude1416@May 17, 2005, 4:36 PM
NOS maybe?

Yes its the completely technical term for Nitrous Oxide. Just wanted to have some fun.
Old 5/18/05, 01:08 PM
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Originally posted by 1999 Black 35th GT@May 18, 2005, 7:34 AM
Yes its the completely technical term for Nitrous Oxide. Just wanted to have some fun.
:nono: you scared the stupid folk like me!!!!




Old 5/18/05, 01:21 PM
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Originally posted by Fordracing200@May 17, 2005, 3:28 PM
"Dinitrogen Monoxide"
N²O, chemical term for Nitrous....the 2 should be subscripted.
Old 5/18/05, 01:33 PM
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Andy is the one who said it was, not me
Old 5/18/05, 05:45 PM
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Well, it's about that time. I shall be doing my first mod soon.

I'm thinking it's going to be a CAI kit. I see you mention the C&L trueflow inlet pipe. It looks great and I'm sure it works great as well. Now, I have to decide to go a straight shot, or a fender mount.


I know the straight shot has less turbulance, allows for a more accurate airflow reading and such. I'm curious as to the Pro's of a fender mount vs. the straight.





If I go with the straight:

I see C&L makes a whole package. Air Box, 80mm housing(I'm guessing that's the housing for the MAF Sensor?) and a conical K&N Air filter, along with the trueflow inlet pipe.
I've currently got a conical K&N Air filter... I'm curious if I should get the whole kit... Or just buy the inlet pipe, find myself an airbox, and keep my stock housing and current K&N Filter?

Does anyone sell just airboxes?

(Please excuse my ignorance, this is the first car I've had worth modifying, so I'm new to it. I'm still learning!)
Old 5/18/05, 06:47 PM
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IMO Flows sound best with an off-road prochamber. otherwise I completely agree with everything scott had to say.

BTW, you can get the c&l trueflow pipe polished from c&l for an extra $20 .. its worth it if you ask me The only other CAI I might consider is K&N's FIPK.
Old 5/18/05, 10:17 PM
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Here's a good mod... a pi intake off of a 99 gt. I'm willing to trade mine straight up for your pos bullit intake.. It would be good for about -10hp! Haha
Old 5/19/05, 12:36 AM
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I say get gears. No HP gain, but it sure helps down the track! IMO, it's the best "bang for the buck".


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