cheap mods

[langod]

I picked up a 60Kmile 1990 GT vert a couple of months ago.
it's a fun cruiser, but damn it's slow by today's standards. How do I make it a little quicker for cheap? Difficulty: it has the AOD automatic.

I got a set of 3.55s that I'll be having installed soon and they should help quite a bit. It doesn't need to be a racecar. I have a Terminator for that. And I can't throw thousands at it -- so no swapping out the AOD for a 5 speed. Just cheap mods to make it a little less embarrassing.
I can do basic tune-up skill stuff myself, but anything complex, or something that's a a more-than-a-couple-hours-in-the-driveway, I'll be paying someone to do. (No garage to work in...)

suggestions?

 

[Fox 5.0]

First thing I was gonna say was gears, but you got that out of the way. What about a shift kit? Remove the air silencer? With it being so low mile, I would keep the engine as stock as possible, and do some suspension mods so it 'feels' faster, lol.

 

[wheelhopper]

Stick with the basic bolt-ons. Most of which you can purchase second hand in the classifieds section.

CAI
Throttle body
MAF
Underdrive pulleys
Exhaust
Headers
Advance timing
Fresh tune up
Performance Distributors coil and ignition module
electric fan swap
3.73 gears would be better for the auto

 

[Fox 5.0]

I started off small with my Fox. I bought it BONE stock. First things I did were short shifter and gears (3.73's - Manual Trans). Then I removed my air silencer and put a K&N panel filter in the stock box (which I still use today on my 331 H/C/I). The next thing was a TFS Street Heat intake manifold, which when buying used can be found super cheap (just look around for used intake manifolds). That mod made a pretty big difference in the top end of the RPM range. Then bought some used Flowmasters and a Bassani O/R X-pipe (I might have done the exhaust before the intake manifold, can't remember now). Just those 'performance' mods woke the car up A LOT. Throughout that time I also did some minor suspension stuff. Obviously i've put a lot into the car since then but I would say thats a great place to start.

 

[vfast]

on an automatic stang you really need to upgrade the valve body and i would also grab an alum driveshift. if you need hipo parts let me know i have a ton in my garage some new some just like new.
induction the first thing is to dump that small ass 55mm maf. next is the exhaust which is very restrictive...adding and thing on the induction side without these is just a waste of time and cash
i take it has the 2.73 or 3.08 stock gear..the 3.73 would be better suited for that auto... i have a set of 3.55's in my automatic still lacks lowend grunt..now the .55's are great in my 5 spd car as it's makes good use of the 3.35 first gear.
dropping in a 180 stat helps alot and i only use the mr. gasket stat due to it's bigger ofice and it's balanced.
believe it or not putting the car on a diet is best like lighter wheels alum driveshaft, pullies etc...i would not like most and dump that a/c

 

[langod]

Excellent. Thanks for the tips, all.

The 3.55s went in today. (Had already bought them before I posted here.) A big difference from the stock 2.73s.
I think next I will do something intake oriented -- as it was on the lift I found it had a full MAC exhaust w/hi-flow cats and shorty headers -- so it's probably breathing out OK,
now just needs in....

 

[spike_africa]

No catback on it? I have a set of Mac Produmps for sale for 100bucks. Will drop weight, sound mean and flow great.

 

[vfast]

and they will send fumes into the cabin..not smart....oke:

Not catback on it? I have a set of Mac Produmps for sale for 100bucks. Will drop weight, sound mean and flow great.

 

[spike_africa]

and they will send fumes into the cabin..not smart....oke:

Not a big deal. These are angled out and back. I had little issue while at stop lights with the windows down. I ran this setup for 6 years.

 

[langod]

Thanks for the offer. I think I'm good with the MAC exhaust and headers. I gotta work on the intake side before I do any more on the exhaust side.

 

[wesessiah]

i know you said you didn't want to do the aod to t5 swap, but, most of the items for the swap can be found for cheap, and spacing them out over several months would be less than eating out a couple nights a week. i spent $800 to do the swap (including the transmission) and it's not a tough swap, nothing special involved, except a long extension for the top bolt for the bellhousing. the only hard part is the pain of dealing with the pedal assembly.

 

[vfast]

for me i run the exhaust out the back there is no noticable hp on mild builds.. for me i like to be silent but deadly...it's a priceless look on thier face when you put 10-12 cars on them and its quite..lol

 

[vfast]

remember there are tons of used parts for these so it will save you a bundle...if you need help just let me know

Thanks for the offer. I think I'm good with the MAC exhaust and headers. I gotta work on the intake side before I do any more on the exhaust side.

 

[wesessiah]

i don't know why i didn't think about this, but, my local pull apart type junkyards have gt40 heads for dirt cheap, you can get them and the intake manifold for around $100. so if you have any, you may want to check to see if yours are the same way and haven't caught on to them being a part that can be gouged for. you don't need an aftermarket cam and junk, but wouldn't be a bad idea to get pushrods. the swap is a lot simpler without doing the cam, and you still gain pretty good power.

 

[langod]

OP here -- thought I'd update the thread....
Over the summer I've given it a decent tuneup, advanced the timing (about 15°), added a CAI. It already had headers and full exhaust. I also put in 3.55 gears.
Yesterday at Dyno Day (Performance Dyno, Loudon NH) it put down 197rwhp/260tq. The previous owner had it dyno'd back in 2009 when it was still all stock. At that time it turned 167/231. So a gain of 30hp and 29 tq.
Overall, not a bad gain. I'll probably do a bigger MAF and throttle body over the winter. Maybe get it up to 230 hp or so. That should make it a nice, low key summer cruiser. (I don't want to go too far with it, as my 17yo daughter will probably be driving it 50% of the time too.)

 

[Fox 5.0]

My bone stock fox put down 189rwhp. I wouldn't waste time with a MAF until you do more (if you plan on it). If i'm not mistaken, the stock MAF is 55mm and should be sufficient for your power goals. Through my past research the intake system (MAF and TB) was fine with the stock manifold, but would need to be upgraded if you went with a performance manifold. Obviously if you can find good deals go for it, but I wouldn't spend a good amount of money upgrading the MAF and TB until you replace the manifold.