cheap mods

ok first things first im kinda dumb when it comes to these newer cars my experiance is with carbraters and simple stuff. i have a lot of what seems to be dumb questions im young and dumb.

ok i just got my car runnin right and am wanting to do some simple mods to piss my friend off who has a honda del sol and thinks its the greatest cause it would keep up with a my car actually it would beat it comin off the line but havnt tested since i fixed it. neway what are same cheap mods that are worth the money other than a k+n filter thats what screwed up my car in the first place. so any ideas would be great thanks

Forgive me for knowing what year and what engine you have.

oh oops i have a 94 LX with the 4.6 sorry bout that wasnt thinkin bout that see young and dumb

There isnt a hole lot of chep HP gains on a t bird. I dont know what you did to mess your car up with a K&N filter but that is a good start... i made my own system for about 50 bucks and the cone filter now sits behind where the passanger side fog light should go, but i have no fog lights so i guess you could say its like ram air. Definitly an exhaust system, the factory exhaust systems on the t birds are poorly designed. I put a flowmaster cat back system on and had a frend bend up a custom down pipe and that gave me a lot of power... the next thing i would tell you to do is go to a 373 rear end gear that will give you more of a difference in acceleration than just about anything you can do to the car.

First of all,welcome to the t-bird forum.

Secondly,there are a lot of mods for around $100 bucks. Let me list just a few.

KN filter. -- www.knfilters.com/
Shift Kit -- www.transgo.com/
Underdrive pulleys -- www.marchperf.com/

These are just a FEW mods available for the T-Bird. Just remember that the number one place to visit for t-bird info is www.Tccoa.com.There you will find many other mods and technical info,as well as a forum dedicated to Thunderbirds.

remove silencer, then get an APC Intimidator cone filter. (Cheap, and just as good). Get some march 1150 u/d pulleys, hack off the mufflers, and replace them with straight pipes, but i've heard some bad stories about transgo (and B&M) for the 4r70w shift kit. I'd reccomend a J-Mod. Cheaper, easier.

thanks guys the kn filter plugged my mass air sensor preventing it from working causing the car to be gutless. I am pretty shure it has a 3:73 gears in the rear end i read in the chiltons book the factory limited slip was a 7.10 or sumthin and mine has a 8.8 rear end thats limited slip my brother got in it and said it has 3:73 gears, it also has shift kits in it i guess shortly before i bought the trans went out and they replaced it with a whole new one and beefed it up so ill look at the things u recomended and go from there if u have anymore ideas im all ears thanks again

hey jworm420 u said u custom made your exhaust. where did u start from and how did u deal with the cats and sensors for them?

Unless the person who owned the car befor you put in 373 gears i beleave the stock gears are 323's. I know a guy that works at a muffaler shop and i had him custom bend a down pipe, he would not put it on for me though because i had him bend it with out cats, cats are more restriction and restriction is a problem with the birds. he made spots for me to put the o2 sensor's in it though. Ask around at some muffler shops and you might be able to get one custom bent, but if you have them do it with out cats you may not find anyone to do it. you can buy highflow cats though, just go to www.tocca.com, and you should be able to find them there.

Thanks for that camaro,I couldnt remember the name so I just went the next thing that popped in my head,transgo.

About hacking off the mufflers,ive heard that this causes you to lose a few pounds of low end torque.About how much do you lose anyway?

I have noticed no loss in torque!

all right thanks guys. Im not shure I want a whole lot of hp gains right now i am still getting use to the power of this car i went from a 4 cyl. tempo to this car, I broke my head rest in my car cause it snaps u back in the seat so hard when it kicks down, but i wanted to do the things that have been recomended on here.. I think im goin to put an exhaust on next, after I fix my brakes.
Do u think it would be wise to buy a flowmaster kit and put high flow cats on?
It has shift kits and a aftermarket rear end already.
What do u think about computer chips? any thoughts? always open for suggestions. thanks
I know it dont make any sense sayin i broke my head rest but want to try computer chips.

Computer chips are a waste of money, you'd be better off getting on a dyno and having someone reburn or "flash" your factory chip in your EEC module behind you passenger side kick panel.

Stock should have 3.27 gears. How many RPM's is your car at in OD at 70 mph? I can figure out your gear from that reading.

I have flowmasters and no cats on my bird and it sounds awesome, I have a 3.8L V6 SC and I bet the 5.0 would sound even better. I love the sound of the 5.0 engine.

Don't try to race an SC yet. I raced a 92 TBird 5.0 LX Sport w/ my stock automatic 90 SC and pulled him off the line and ran away from him. It was embarassing. He did slightly better than the 4.6L LX I raced. It was a 94. It was quick once it got moving but had NO low end power.

I have 3 SC's one 5-speed w/ mods, one mostly stock auto, and one I'm putting a 460/C6 in.

Computer chips are a waste of money, you'd be better off getting on a dyno and having someone reburn or "flash" your factory chip in your EEC module behind you passenger side kick panel.

Stock should have 3.27 gears. How many RPM's is your car at in OD at 70 mph? I can figure out your gear from that reading.

I have flowmasters and no cats on my bird and it sounds awesome, I have a 3.8L V6 SC and I bet the 5.0 would sound even better. I love the sound of the 5.0 engine.

Don't try to race an SC yet. I raced a 92 TBird 5.0 LX Sport w/ my stock automatic 90 SC and pulled him off the line and ran away from him. It was embarassing. He did slightly better than the 4.6L LX I raced. It was a 94. It was quick once it got moving but had NO low end power.

I have 3 SC's one 5-speed w/ mods, one mostly stock auto, and one I'm putting a 460/C6 in.

Good Lord, you make me sick... I just want the 6-speed Saleen tranny for my 4.6... *whines*

Here's my 92 5-speed.

http://members.tccoa.com/slong92/sc/cobras.jpg

Haven't had it to the track since it runs pig rich and I know if I lean it out I'll get more power. I think the 160 t-stat keeps the computer thinking its in warm up mode so it dumps too much fuel. I got new 02's last month, so I guess I'll change the t-stat back to a 195 till I get my computer custom flashed and dyno tuned.

Its got a K&N 9" cone filter, ZR Motorsport cold air intake, 10% overdrive blower pulley, 160 t-stat, catless down tube, flowmaster force II exhaust system, b&m ripper shifter w/ t-handle, eibach lowering springs, 17" cobra rims, 3.27:1 gears (stock was 2.73:1), brass synchros in rebuilt trans. I gotta get some underdrive pulleys for it, a raised blower top, bigger throttle body, headers, and a bigger intercooler. I am gonna put a 75 hp shot of nitrous on it next summer also.

ok my car has 3.73 gears we have checked that already and besides according to the chiltons book the 8.8 rear end was not limited slip which it is and it is stamped in big numbers 8.8 on my rear axle. and i have not had good luck in the past with k&n filters i personally dont like them but thats ur opinion and i respect that but i dont like them. and the 4.6L has o2 sensors after the cats to meter how they are workin and if u cut them out it will trip a code and light so have to have them i guess. I thought bout high flow ones anybody ever used them? and is it a pain to run true duals under the 94 LX or is it easier to run the smaller pipes offf the cats into a larger pipe like 3.5" the run it to the rear of the car and split back into the smaller 2.5" pipe then into mufflers and out the rear. what series of flowmaster sounds good but not to loud the one of the city cops is a major dickhead bout thatthanks in advance for your opinions

On a 94 you can run duals all the way back but the pipes have to almost touch each other till you get back past the gas tank, then they can angle off to each side. You'd be oke going to a 3" center and then Y off to 2.5" on the sides.

The pre-94 models w/ SC or V8 had a trac-lok from the factory. The 94+ had traction control and an open differential for the automatic cars. Only the 5-speed SC got the trac-lok in the newer style cars. If you have 3.73's then maybe someone put in a trac-lok unit from an older bird. Brake torque it and see if you leave dual stripes or one.

I know my trac-lok works good.

http://members.tccoa.com/slong92/sc/burnout1.jpg

And K&N filters are proven to work great if you don't oil the shit out of them and get it all over your MAF sensors wire.

Oh yeah, get high flow cats, and 2 40 series flowmasters and it'll sound sweet.

whoa Scott that ride is very slick, very smooth. Alot of people hate on the 4.6's but there not a bad car, i've found many many mods for that platform and i'm not complaining. Ya if i could i'd have my 4.6 & a SC cause who doesn't love a supercharged car? But i guarantee if i put a supercharger in this bad boy... bye bye haters.

yes his car leaves dual marks, very nice ones too. we have even had one wheel on gravel and one on pavement and both tired spun. oh yah i am a good friend of his.

edited for spelling

my car dosent have traction control but it does have trac-lok i am almost positive the guy that had the car before modded the rear end along with the transmission ill have to post a pic of the holes i dug with my car sumtime my trac-lok works nicely.