Originally last weekend I was going to do the install, but then it rained ruining that plan. During the week I met a '13 GT owner that does vinyl installs at a body shop as his 9-5 job. He offered to help out so I would have been stupid to say no. I know everyone says they are "Easy" to install, but I have to disagree. Let me put it this way, for the ones you get off e-bay custom made I disagree. There isn't much extra stripe there to play with, so I am glad he was there to help out . This is beyond the fact I have enough frustration getting air bubbles out of smaller vinyl stickers that I have put on the Raider let alone stripes that go down the side of a car (a brand new car at that). Or maybe its just me who knows.

They are the regular black, which is the look I am going for to match the rear deck lid's gloss black a little better. If I was replacing the rear deck lid panel with something like the CDC Mach 1 style then I would go with flat black. Again its just my personal taste but I don't think flat/matte black doesn't go well with gloss black on other areas of the vehicle.

I don't necessarily have to gain MPG, which would be great don't get me wrong but not a must (I do understand muscle cars aren't made for MPG). I just want to avoid going down in MPG if all possible because its a DD and gas is still by no means cheap.

So now its time to figure out what mod 2 will be. I do know after taking a $500 hit with the dryer going out its going to be low on the budget scale, but I am going to keep knocking off items on the list.

 

Thinking side window louvers or side window covers for the next mod as its getting closer. Only thing is I also plan on a rear window louver at some point, so I don't want to go louver crazy (hence the window covers option). So posting up to get some opinions.

Louvers or Covers?



or

 

I would still go with Louvers, and look at getting them in Black to match the rocker stripes.

 

The stock front suspension setup can't even reasonably handle the car's stock capability. Sure you can't see it, it's not pretty stuff, but I couldn't imagine doing anything significant that's power-related before the front end. Anybody at all who drives the car will notice this deficiency...unless perhaps they're driving in a straight line or in reverse...

But perhaps you're more interested in doing mods you can easily do yourself? I get that too, it's fun to tinker with cars (when things are going right). And the cosmetic stuff provides a certain amount of gratification and recognizability.

But drive your car at 30mph and move the steering wheel back and forth say 15 degrees from straight, not too quickly but like on a very curved road. A half-decent suspension setup won't do what your car does! Step on the brakes reasonably firmly at 30mph. A good setup won't do that either! It looks even dumber at night when your lights bounce up and down.

This is probably the only large shortcoming of these V6 factory setups, otherwise things seem quite balanced for the engine power and vehicle weight etc., and for the intended vehicle purpose. Admittedly the stock suspension is pretty comfortable on most roads, but comfort and performance are enemies in this price bracket.

 

This is the Reason I went with the Performance Package on mine Craig, although not track worthy for serious auto X, it is much better than the Base suspension and does fine with my Jaunts to the mountains.

 

I've been thinking about the covers quite a bit recently. Just spending money on to many other mods but covers would be the choice for me

 

Silver Horse Racing all the way.

 

Plans were for the next mod to be aesthetics related, but I got a Christmas present that changed that....







Pypes claims the cat back exhaust adds 5-10hp, which isn't much but hey I will take what I can get. How it sounds is the big thing, I will put a video together soon of the exhaust/start up etc.

 

After I saw pypes sold the mufflers separately I made my own version. I love the sound and the power is definitely there.

 

I like the louvers. I've been torn between the traditional 5 louvers style and newer 3 louvers style. That's gonna have to wait a bit as my Borla Stingers are due to be delivered today.

 

I didn't read the instructions with the Borlas when I installed them so these issues may already be covered:

1)Remove the two 15MM bolts holding the PHB bracket on the driver's side, this will give you the room needed to R&R the muffler on that side.

2)Adjustment of the single rear hanger on the muffler will be needed to get the tip to line up right in the bumper. You can bend it by hand. Otherwise the tips will not be centered/will not be tucked into the bumper.

I'm excited for you to get them installed. I've got about 800 miles on mine already and they sound better every day!

 

Picked up some more AMMO NYC products including the Creme Carnauba Paste Wax, and Skin Synthetic Sealant. Took almost 5 hours washing the mustang, claying it, and applying the Skin and then Creme one panel at a time. Here is how it turned out:





And then the true test, after driving a total of 100 miles including many miles of highway road construction zones (where you can hear crap hitting your car as you drive), and a rain/sleet storm:



Let me know what you guys think, was the "shine mod" worth the investment?

 

Looks great!

 

Thanks for the kind words. It may only be a V6 but I put a lot of time into keeping the Stang looking her best.

 

Some goodies showed up at my door earlier today, BBK Ceramic Long Tube Headers and Shorty High Flow Catted X-Pipe. They will be going on this Saturday, can't wait!

 

Installed the BBK Long Tube Headers and Shorty Catted High Flow X-Pipe yesterday, here are some shots from the install (had an entire pit crew helping, hehe):





(And yes I open carry where ever I go, even when working on the Mustang, lol)




(Two Red S197s, one Red SN95, one Neon, and one Challenger)


Sound comparison videos of going from just the Pypes Cat Back exhaust to full Long Tubes, Short X, and Cat Back will be up soon. To quote a friend of mine "It sounds nasty", lol. I tend to agree, this is me when ever I start/take off in the Mustang ->

 

nice bud, i always wanted one for my 13 too.. Can you feel any power gains? You still have the cat right? Congratulations..

 

Thank you sir. It has the high flow cats on the x pipe yes. You are supposed to gain 30-35hp with the long tubes and short catted x pipe approximately. I can feel a noticable increase in the top end and maybe a marginal one in the low end if any

 

Let me actually recant my earlier statement about there being no improvement in the low end. I don't know about other V6 owners, but with the Automatic, 2.73's, and no intake modifications there is a noticeable throttle response delay from when you hit the gas to when the car responds. I have noticed when you get "pushed back in the seat" it is now a much more surprising/forceful push as if the car has more "grunt" to it so to speak. Does that make sense? Maybe I crazy hehe but it has caught me off guard a couple times now since installing the long tubes and shorty catted x.

 

Are you tuned? If not, you really should be with LTs to truly see the big gains associated with LTs...