Hi all.

I didn't want to post any pictures until I finished with my initial round of "tweaks", so here is is. I ordered it on January 18th (the first day you could order), and picked it up on May 27th. That gave me lots of time to think about what I wanted to do. The car was ordered with NO options (base coupe, performance white, stone interior, 6-speed manual, 2.73 rear gear), as I prefer to spend my money on things I want, rather than on a bunch of factory options I don't want or care about. To each his own, I guess. I like my mods. to be subtle, and look as though the car came that way from the factory. I think I managed to achieve the look I wanted.




Here's what I did: Relocated the front plate bracket to below the front bumper; swapped the front grille for the "pony" version; swapped the black mirror caps for white ones; removed the fake gas cap and added the CDC trunk lid panel, painted the third "cyclops" brake light; added black "pony" floor mats inside; and swapped the stock wheels & tires for 20 x 8-1/2 and 20 x 10 Magnum wheels with Continental 245/40R20 front and extra-tall 295/40R20's out back. I didn't want to lower the car, and the tall tires fill the wheel wells nicely (and yes, I know the wheels and tires are heavy, and the extra-tall rear tire gives me an effective rear axle ratio of 2.57:1, but this is strictly a daily driver, and I love the look).

I also spent a couple of hours with a rattle can of black hi-temp (bar-b-que grill) Krylon painting all the white inside the wheel wells, the unpainted/uncoated suspension components, axle and rear end, and the backs of the mufflers to clean up the look.

I've gotten lots of compliments on the car, and even Mustang guys swear it's some kind of "special edition" car. (One guy even asked if it was the new Shelby! LOL) Anyway, I'm into it for just over $24K, and pretty happy with the result.

 

Looks great. Those wheels don't look so huge either because of the lip.

Roger

 

Looks very sharp.

 

+++ Keep up the "less is more"

 

Very nice! I wish I could have done that with my front plate but it was too late, the holes are already there.

The only other thing I'd think about are fog lights in the lower valence.

 

Very nice Rick. Love it!!

A few questions if you don't mind:

1. Where you got the mirror covers and how much?
2. I really like the idea of the front plate below the bumper, what bracket are you using?
3. When I get my car would you mind also painting everything underneath my car . I pay for your trouble.

I don't like white but you Mustang is so

 

A few questions if you don't mind:

1. Where you got the mirror covers and how much?
2. I really like the idea of the front plate below the bumper, what bracket are you using?
3. When I get my car would you mind also painting everything underneath my car . I pay for your trouble.

I don't like white but you Mustang is so [/QUOTE]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

1. The mirror covers came from Partscheap.com and cost $99.95
2. The front plate bracket is actually the stock one that came with the car. I flipped it upside down and attached it to the lower grille with a couple of zip-ties (one of mankind's greatest inventions). The bracket has a couple of depressions near what would now be the top. Just drill a pair of holes on each side in this area (so the plate will sit flush in the bracket), and run your zip-ties through the holes from behind. You'll need to remove the front radiator cover to access the back of the lower grill area (which attaches with those slick pop-out fasteners...easy to do). When you snug the zip-ties up (by the way, this operation would be MUCH easier with two people...one to hold the bracket in place, and one to run the zip-ties...I did it alone), the top of the bracket will form itself to the curvature of the front bumper, so gently bend the top of the plate to conform.
3. Now what better way to spend "quality bonding time" with your new Mustang than to remove the wheels and crawl around on your back painting a bunch of stuff and inhaling paint fumes??? I would NEVER think of depriving you of this experience! LOL


[QUOTE=Bert;5903941]Very nice! I wish I could have done that with my front plate but it was too late, the holes are already there.

Mine was already mounted too (after I had asked that it be left in the trunk!), so I also had to deal with the holes. What I did was pick up a pair of small nylon plugs (hardware section of your local Home Depot), made the drilled holes as smooth to the rest of the bumper as I could, painted the plugs with body color touch-up paint, and pushed them into place. They are slightly visible, but hardly noticable.

 

This is great.

How does it drive? I'm considering the V6. And where did you get the pony floormats? Also, is there any way to get the little pony that goes on the fender - I was thinking of getting the pony version but don't want to pay $3,000 more for that and leather, which I don't really need.

Also - how's the base stereo?

 

Looking good. Are you going to get tint?

 

Nice op very clean&mean I would recomend window tint and if you are against lowering it a lot how about one of those leveling kits that are like .75" in front&1.25" in back that would help make it more aggressive without effecting your handling to much Seeing your car makes me miss my PW 2010 a lot there is just something about a white mustang that does it for me and the black accents just really set your car off
edit cut your ant down it takes a few minutes and really helps to clean up the look and doesn't seem to effect reception noticably at least not on the two cars i've done it to, I would also black out your license plate area it really pops on the white with blackout panel below is my 2010 PW

 

I love the car, and yes, it drives great! It's pretty amazing how much performance these cars have. I'm old enough to have experienced the muscle car era, and this car does EVERYTHING better than just about any of them. Most magazine tests of these V6 cars have them running high 13's and low 14's in the quarter mile. Most of those classic Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles, etc. we used to bring to the drags on Wednesday nights back in the day would be lucky to run low 15's or high 14's on a good night with a good tail wind. Handling? No comparison. Braking? Are you kidding? These (and the new Camaros and Challengers for that matter) are excellent cars, and you won't be disappointed. Having said that, while I would say it's "quick", it's not "slam you back into your seat" and "bruise your retinas" fast. If you want that kind of performance, save your pennies and buy a GT.

I got the floor mats at American Muscle, but several vendors have them. They also have pony emblems.

Finally, I'm no audiophile, but the base stereo is absolutely excellent in my opinion.

 

That thing looks more like a Mach 1 than anything I've seen in the S197, awesome! You took a great approach, and I couldn't agree with it more

 

Looks good. Thanks for not adding 5 different stripes and stick on plastics to it! The wheels are a bit large. No potholes where you live?

All in all, job well done.

 

Where'd you get your black out piece for the 3rd. bk. light?

 

Probably the same place he got his fartcans from

 

Thanks! Great feedback.

I'm going to test drive a GT today, but a V6 seems like more my style, and your description helps a lot in making my choice. I definitely don't need "bruise your retinas" speed along with the higher cost of the car and insurance and the lower mileage.

I'll check out American Muscle for the floor mats, and wonder if they have the pony emblem as well. Nice to know I can get those without buying the $3,000 package. And good to hear your assessment of the base stereo. I'm no audiophile, either, but the stereo in my 2005 Toyota has been very disappointing.

 

Very nice OP tastefully done.. One thing I love about the V6s is that they have such a clean front end.. Your car just SCREAMS "TURBO ME!!!"

 

Looks great! love the mach style wheels...and no wingy.

ps: can relate to whole black painting under cars (have done with a few of my foxes)...but use a black iron rust paint/brush...but whens drys no brush lines,so looks great.

 

WTF is this about? At least those look like they fit the **** hole Ford made for them in the bumper cover.

 

Axact reason why I love the new V6s.. These cars deserve a following and their owners are finally getting a great v6 package.. I'll admit I wouldn't mind having one for some track day outings and DD duties. Have the GT for the weekend cruises and 1/4 mile day outings. I just keep hearig great things about the V6s handling.