The headers, free flow cats, good catback will add a lot more than 5 hp. More like 30 hp and lots more torque. It will also increase your gas mileage by at least 2 mpg under normal driving.

Lots of people will say headers are a waist. They will say you need the backpressure to make torque. Yes, you don't want an open exhaust. But you do need a lot more flow than those stock exhaust manifolds can provide. I have installed them on several trucks and have always found lots of benefits from them (and I am not racing).

Of course everyone has an opinion.

But my 19 mpg around town with a supercrew, 5.4L, 3.55 Posi rear end - does not lie about the benefits of some of these mods.

 

Sorry Charlie, seeking a louder more competitive pickup "at the streetlights" are poor ideas. I'd suggest givin up trying to dump heaps of money into your old pickup truck & consider putting your money into something that has some chance of increasing in value, or at least holding value.

Street racing between stop lights looks like Road Rage or aggressive/offensive driving to many upright citizens, including police, who'll be only too happy to explain that it's dangerous & illegal. The proliferation of cell phones means that concerned citizens who witness your kind of "fun" can easily report your tag number & vehicle description to authorities w/shared access to such complaints. Be forewarned that there are plenty of dedicated buzz killers, who's idea of "fun" is making these anonymous complaints. Police particularly enjoy stopping 'hot rodders' & have a duty to act on complaints.

If you need to "throw out the rear once in a while" head to the boonies & find a dirt road. Racing in town between lights is risky antisocial behavior that can get expensive. I know how ridiculously easy it is to unintentionally exceed in town speed limits w/my stock 4.6 & presume you already flagrantly defy these laws w/some regularity. Feeding habits like that often ends badly.

 

First off buy a fox chassis car or something with a huge aftermarket of performance.

But if this truck is what you want to build, heck there are people that modify mini vans, then decide what you want it to be when you are done and stick to that plan. I would recomment fixing your tranny maybe replace it with something that can withstand the power of a centrifical blower? Throw you blower on and exhaust and get a GOOD tune done by a pro on a dyno. there are NOT a lot of people that have gone this route so quality info is not out there, you may be the one we get our horror stories from and our "what not to do's" when you try to spin anything more than 8 psi thru it. or it may handle 15-20 who knows??? but it would have been fun while it lasted and had a cool wow factor right!!

as long as you know your not going to get any money back out of it when your done, then by all means "how fast do you want to spend" people spend more on crazier hobbies!!

 

@Phil- The truck has 109,000 miles on it. I think it's a chipped tooth but i'm probably wrong. When you let it creep at idle, there is a loud "thunk" coming from the transmission. My cousin and I, at first thought it was a broken U-joint at first but we checked and they're fine. Believe me, if i could get a 300 hp 3000 lb car, i would.

@Club- hahaha i feel you, on nearly every aspect of your post. Believe me i do know that the cops here are total jerks.

@YoGeorge- i honestly do dream about even crazier things to this truck. a.k.a. (Twin Turbo 6.8 Powerstroke, 4x4 conversion, 6spd manual, lowered, nitrous) but i know damn well that wont happen

 

I'm with the guys that say don't dump your money into it, but that's strictly my point of view at this time in my life. I've dumped more money into vehicles that didn't deserve it than I'd care to admit (and my wife frequently reminds me of this fact). If you were starting with a 5.4, and you had a solid transmission with no problems, I'd say go for it. If you want to get a little more spunk out of it, go with the basic bolt on's and be done with it. A cold air kit, a cat back exhaust, shorty headers, and a programmer will make the truck a lot more fun, but you've really got too much body and not enough motor to do much more than that. If you must beef it up, there's no replacement for displacement........

Sometimes the reward isn't what you get when you reach your destination, but what you get out of the trip.

 

I agree with what the other guys as well that say don't invest money into what I assume is your first vehicle. I'm your age, 19, and there is stuff I put into my truck that I wish I hadn't now because of college.

Save the money for something more important.

Although it is nice for people to say that you have a nice truck, gives me a tingly feeling because I did the work myself.

 

I guess most of you guys are pretty spot on. I think I'll wait and save up my money for a Mustang GT of some sort. I think that will make a great car for college. Or possibly an Evo IX. I love those cars.

 

My brothers friend has an EVO, he said it was like an effing rocket car. Although I'm not one for foreign. If you are in for a new car, why not keep it American shall we. The new Taurus SHO's got some *****.

 

@papajoe I would love to go ***** out for the SHO but as it stands i dont have 40 large.... the Evo and STi seem to be good options but they are the ONLY and i repeat ONLY japanese cars id ever buy. And they are relatively cheap... The domestic for me looks to be a Mustang 5.0 Foxbody. i love those cars. i wouldnt be one to go GM or Mopar. Im a Ford guy and it will stay that way for life. My sleeper in the future will definitely be a SHO for sure. I would love an SVT Cobra. IMO they have the best sound of almost any mustang. put thats just me

 

Yeah I would love a SHO but as it looks, like the old SHO's they will stop producing them by the time I get my degree and good job hopefully. Until then my rig will do. Been good, haven't had to do anything to it in the past 2 months, then again I'm at school and it sits. At least you're not one of those kids who gets a v6 mustang poors some money into and think there **** doesn't stink my goodness that grinds my gears. I personally am not a fan of mustangs unless they are something special, i mean really special. I would like a car right now that I could treat like an R/C car seems like brother had so much fun driving there SRT-4 Neon, and GTO. I know I had fun riding in them anyway.

 

dude i feel you. there is a guy at my school with a 2003 V6 POS Mustang. He put Flows on it and it sounds like death. I hate it. But then again he thinks he rules because he spray painted his rims, hood, headlights, tailights, and grille. He sits in the school parking lot just revving. im waiting for my flows so i can tell him what a real motor sounds like. he even tried to sell me the 3.8L V6 flows for my 4.6 Yeah because that will work......
but anyways V6 mustangs with douche drivers **** me off as well.

 

We have a lot of Camaro's like that on campus. It's awful.

It's not right to do something just for bragging rights however.

 

man it chaps my hide..... do they really think that sounds GOOD!?

 

Here's my 2 cents. Don't call it a Mustang at all unless you have a proper V8. If you got enough money to add bolt ons for a V6 then in a year or two you will have enough to get a engine swap for a V8 and if you wait 3-4 years you can get a massive crate engine. If you are buying anything new or used with the idea of modding get the biggest motherf---ing engine available for said vehicle and go from there. Sorry but in cars there are two things that bother me most. Performance cars that can have a V8 or larger in them but the owner gets the V6 and in all honesty 5.4 Super Duties no offense to the owners but to me it seems like waste.

 

There is a purpose behind modified cars. weither it be drag racing, a solid street car, autocrossing, or an all out track car. You have to decide where you want to end up and stick to that plan! I have a fox chassis that is built for open track/road racing, a 460ci engine would defeat the purpose of my build. On the other hand an aluminum windsor based block 302-351 would be the best thing i could do for it in terms of keeping weight of the front wheels where it already has too much. If you are building a mustang keep in mind that they NEED subframe connectors AND torque box reinforcements! its an absolute must because even with the stock 302 and the crappy street tires they still twist and flex and any used car you find will show signs of stress and wear because of not having them. I also recommend an aftermarket shifter for those of you who choose the manual (the only kind of trans to me) find one with adjustable stops so that you are not bending shift forks and tearing up trannys when you get reckless with your shifting. been there done that!! For a budget minded person a fox chassis car really cant be beat, they are cheap to buy, cheap to build and are fairly light to start with compared to some of the newer mustangs and especially camaro's!!!