Getportfolio

Yes, you can get the harder head material nylon retainers that are used for outside cladding. I imagine the soft head ones would bend or crack the paint when you peel them up. Note the smaller more rigid retainers.

shouldhavegottheGT

Here is my base Mustang. I've added a lot cosmetically. Performance has just been CAI and exhaust.

DRaider90

I bought one before I painted my rims black on my Raider, makes a world of difference. Thanks for the reminder though, I almost forgot I had it.


The Gotta Have It Green is the "Race Red" of green in my opinion, looks very sharp. I do plan on going with the Super Snake style stripes (kinda similar to the stock ones like you have) but I want to go all the way down the bumper with them.

The Boss 302 grille looks good, but every time I see one I picture twin turbos breathing through/behind the fog lamp deletes. Too bad they don't offer a twin turbo kit for the V6.

Silver on black always has a very sleek look, and with all you have done mods wise its makes your stang really stand out. I see you have 3.7L Cyclone badges I have been mulling over. They look good from a distance, any shots of them a little bit closer up/side view?

shouldhavegottheGT

I don't have any close ups right now. I'm out of town traveling for work. I can take some when i get back this weekend. I think it looks strange without any badge there. It needs something. I am not a fan of the 3.7 badge and any other badge would be a misrepresentation of my mustang. I was looking on eBay for ideas of badges and came across these. It was less than $15and included shipping. They are also laid on aluminum and not plastic or anything. Pretty high quality for the price.

DRaider90

Checked the mail when I got home and found this box. After working 12 hours I am not going to install these today, tomorrow will be installation day.



Seeing I custom ordered these, hopefully they will add a nice unique touch to the stang.

uncle phil

You should be able to have 3.31 gears installed and have dealer reprogram since that ratio is a factory option.

DRaider90

3.31s would be nice, but if I was going to go through the trouble of having gears installed I would definitely go with 3.73's. Only thing I don't like about 3.73's is the MPG loss.

The install of the latest mod will have to wait till next weekend, its been raining on and off all day here. So instead I washed the car to get all the crud from a week of driving off of it. While I am burning whats left of an hour wait for the tire shine coating to dry (keeping my fingers crossed for no rain for an hour) I figured I would compile a planned mod list (not finalized/complete by any means):

Performance/Functionality:

- Oil Separator
- Aftermarket Coil Packs
- 73mm Throttle Body
- Cold Air Intake
- One piece Aluminum Driveshaft
- Long Tube Headers
- Catted Shorty X-Pipe
- Axle Backs or Cat Backs (Undecided)
- Hood Strut Kit
- Tune

Aesthetics:

- Red Mirror Covers
- Venom/Super Snake Wide Stripe Kit
- Rocker Panel Stripes
- Quarter Window Louvers
- Rear Window Louver
- Ram Air A72KR Hood
- RTR Rear Wing
- Black Billet Aluminum Fuel Door
- Quarter Light Trim
- Third Brake Light Trim
- Roush Fog Light Kit
- Tri-bar Valve Stem Kit
- LED Replacement Lighting

jsimmons

I'd also put some money into your suspension and brakes. My car is MUCH less floaty and stops a LOT better as a result. Also, the valve stem kit won't completely cover the threads on rubber (OEM style) valve stems.

Mr. V

I totally agree. For me, suspension is the key weak spot in this car that has to be addressed. After that, everything is icing.

DRaider90

It handles/brakes pretty well for a muscle car in my opinion, but I agree it could use some refinement. Brakes/Suspension plans will get added to the list after I put a nice dent in what I have posted so far.

Looking forward to the mod install this Saturday, even though now I am going to have to deal with getting a new dryer that day also. The wonderful things I come home to after working 15 hours.

2011 Kona Blue

What kind of mpg you looking for. I'm getting 27 mpg highway traveling 70 mph with my 3:73 gears and my n/a mods

uncle phil

Only suggested 3.31s if he is interested in keeping warranty since any other ratio requires something other than factory tune.

DRaider90

It needs to be the best MPG I can get considering the Mustang is used as a daily driver. Its part of the practicality of the car I would like to keep. Some may say you can't have your cake and eat it too when trying to gain power/speed, but I am going to try.

I agree its a good compromise to get 3.31s if you want a better gear ratio and keep the warranty. It's just in my view if I am going to go through the trouble and $$$ of getting gears I might as well go all the way and get 3.73's. Just like I have a set of 4.88's to replace my stock 4.62's in my Raider right now, but I would rather try to find a set of 5.29's (extremely hard to find) and just get the lowest (highest numerically) gear ratio I can get and be done with it. Just how my logic works I guess.

jsimmons

If you want the best possible mileage, keep it stock, or only replace parts with the sole purpose of making the car lighter. Get super light 17-inch wheels, tubular front control arms, a lightened radiator support, aluminum drive shaft, aftermarket axle-backs, racing seats, and things like that.

A tune may also improve mileage without adding weight to the car.

If you change your gears, you may as well kiss your desire for "the best possible mileage" goodbye.

DRaider90

That is why I don't plan on changing gears in the Mustang. My Raider is a different story, its been retired from DD duty so I can put as low of gears (numerically higher) as I want in it. If we ever get another DD and the Mustang doesn't have to do as much DD duty then yeah 3.73's here I come. Until then 2.73's will be just fine for me.

Getportfolio

I like everything but the 17 inch wheels idea . 18 inch is the aesthetic minimum for these cars.

DRaider90

Mod number 1 has been completed:







I opted to put the text on the back side to try something different. It's kind of odd looking when I compare it to other Mustangs that have conventional rocker stripes with text up front. But I like it, its growing on me little by little. And I haven't seen another Mustang with "S197" on their rocker stripes, let alone with the text on the back. Let me know what you guys think of the custom rocker stripes.

roadrunner

Looks very very good. Did you install it yourself? And is it matte black or regular black?

jsimmons

I agree, but aesthetics were not a consideration. He wanted mileage, and that means skinnier tires, which kinda dictates the OEM 17-inch wheels (or something the same size, but lighter). The 17's are, plain and simplyt, lighter than any 18 that doesn't cost a billion dollars.

Getportfolio

Not stirring the pot but I swapped to 18s and did not notice any reduction in gas mileage. I kept the 17s as a dedicated winter set to compare to.

Respectfully, I think that mileage with 17 and 18 inch tires are hardly comparable. True the larger wheels are heavier and require more gas to move. However, they make a larger footprint to distribute power to the ground. Acceleration was easier with the beefy tires. I found myself spinning the cheap factory wheels and using the same (or more) amount of gas to try and lock the power down. Plus the factory wheels are hideous looking and look inappropriate with the cars wheelwells and stance.

I think the real key to gas mileage is in the foot in this case.