Ferocious' 1996 Vert Buildup

[Ferocious]

Purchased: May 21, 2011

1996 Ford Mustang Gt Convertible -

105,xxx miles//4wr70 transmission//bone stock//black interior & exterior

Index:

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]05/21/2011: Purchase

05/29/2011: First photoshoot

06/02/2011: Flowmaster exhaust tips

07/15/2011: Boss audio headunit

08/09/2011: Silver bumper inserts

10/15/2011: 03/04 cobra rims

10/16/2011: New 275/40/17 sumitumos

10/20/2011: Red calipers

11/02/2011: New serpentine belt

11/07/2011: Flowmaster Super 44's

11/21/2011: UPR off-road x-pipe

11/27/2011: Smoked reflectors

12/01/2011: Clear corners

12/05/2011: 6000K HID foglights

12/05/2011: Red LED maplights

12/06/2011: Cold air intake

12/08/2011: Red LED gauge cluster

12/09/2011: Painted strut tower brace

12/12/2011: 1000K HID headlights

12/27/2011: SVE lowering springs

01/01/2012: Lethal performance decal

01/01/2012: Front pony sprayed chrome

01/09/2012: Going wingless

01/10/2012: S281 spoiler installed[/TD]

[TD]01/18/2012: Red LED HVAC controls

01/19/2012: LED license plate lights

01/29/2012: Bosch spark plug wires

02/01/2012: NGK-V power spark plugs

02/09/2012: Dumped SLP LM1 resonators

02/09/2012: Removed tint off reflectors

02/19/2012: New battery terminals

02/20/2012: 1.25" rear spacers

02/21/2012: Painted intake couplets

02/22/2012: Mach 1 chin spoiler

02/26/2012: Red bumper inserts

03/01/2012: 3" carbon fiber antenna

03/02/2012: Black housing headlights

03/11/2012: Exhaust video

03/20/2012: Red LED shifter

03/29/2012: Wickedstangs banner

03/31/2012: 5/16" front spacers

04/15/2012: Window tint

05/08/2012: Received PI intake

05/24/2012: 3000K bi-xenon foglights

05/26/2012: 4.10 gears installed

05/29/2012: Chrome lug nuts

06/01/2012: Intake system cleanup

06/02/2012: Dyno pulls[/TD]

[TD]06/08/2012: 4.6 badges

06/09/2012: Picked up PI heads and components

06/12/2012: Windshield decals removed

06/17/2012: Quarter panel dented

06/30/2012: Quarter panel repaired

07/06/2012: Wheel wells undercoated

07/07/2012: Red 4-point harnesses

07/19/2012: PI cams received

07/20/2012: Kyb Gr-2 shocks

07/25/2012: Windsor valve covers

07/26/2012: Valve covers painted red

08/02/2012: Kyb excel-g struts

08/05/2012: Shocks & struts installed

08/06/2012: Dog bone & quad shocks removed

10/16/2012: Cross drilled & slotted rotors installed

10/16/2012: Ceramic brake pads installed

11/10/2012: Radiator leak

11/14/2012: New radiator installed

11/10/2012: PI intake installed

11/21/2012: B&M hammer shifter

11/21/2012: FRPP high performance spark plug wires

11/21/2012: Motorcraft spark plugs

12/10/2012: Front isos removed

12/20/2012: License plate frames[/TD]

[TD]12/26/2012: Tailpipes back on

12/26/2012: New exhaust tips

12/27/2012: Red lug nuts

12/28/2012: Harnesses installed

01/04/2013: Kumho Ecsta ASX's

01/05/2013: Red footwell LEDs

01/10/2013: Kumho Ecsta XS's

01/14/2013: New tires mounted

01/15/2013: New IAC module

01/20/2013: Red Corbeau A4's

01/26/2013: Fire extinguisher mounted

01/26/2013: Red dash clock

02/09/2013: New cai, tb, & plenum[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[TABLE=width: 0]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

Mods:

exterior:

- black housing headlights & corners

- smoked foglights

- chin spoiler

- saleen s281 spoiler

- red calipers & bumper inserts

- chrome 4.6 badges

- 3" carbon fiber antenna

- 5, 15, and 35% tint

- 18" long 3.5" exhaust tips

- red lug nuts

interior:

- red interior gauges

- red map lights

- red HVAC controls

- boss audio headunit

- b&m hammer shifter

- red corbeau a4's

- black corbeau 4pt harness

- red footwell LEDs

performance:

- mac cold air intake

- mac 75mm throttle body

- trick flow plenum

- upr off-road x-pipe

- slp lm1 resonators

- 4:10 gears

- PI intake

- spectra premium radiator

- frpp high performance spark plugs

suspension:

- sve lowering springs

- front isos removed

- kyb gr-2 shocks

- kyb excel-G struts

wheels:

- 17x9 03/04 polished cobra rims

- 1.25" rear spacers

- 5/16" front spacers

- kinetic cross drilled & slotted rotors

- powerstop ceramic brake pads

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[Ferocious]

May 21, 2011:

This is my very first car. I bought it at age 17 during my Junior year of high school.

The car is a 1996 Ford Mustang Gt Convertible. It has an automatic transmission and had about 105,xxx miles when I bought it.

I was actually in the market for a new edge v6, but stumbled upon this gem and there was no turning back.

Here are the very first pictures I snapped of the car, while it was still absolutely 100% bone stock.

October 15, 2011:

The very first big mod I did to the car was ordering some 17x9 03/04 cobra replicas in polished aluminum.

I also bought some new sumitumos (275/40/17) tires for the rear, as well as painted my calipers red.

November 7, 2011:

Next up was really getting the car to sound like it should.

With that in mind, I ordered some flowmaster super 44's (completely regret them later) as well as an o/r x-pipe.

The mid-pipe didn't fit correctly at first, so the exhaust shop welded part of my stock H to the new X where the passenger manifold is.

Hopefully when it comes time to pass smog, it won't be a bitch to remove.

December 1, 2011:

For the holidays I ordered some cheap clear corners off ebay because I was tired of the ugly orange reflector.

To compliment the new corners, I got some 6000K HID's in my foglights.

At this point, I also bought a new headunit from Walmart with aux, usb, and SD card ports.

Sound quality was untouched, and the headunit looks killer with the black/red theme i am aiming for.

[Brian]

Don't point them to that place!! Bring your build thread here!!

[Ferocious]

I dont want to copy 20 pages of progress like you & Brett did. Then it makes the 1st page never ending lol.

I'll make a sparknotes version tonight when i have time.

[Brian]

I dont want to copy 20 pages of progress like you & Brett did. Then it makes the 1st page never ending lol.

I'll make a sparknotes version tonight when i have time.

HAHA. Why not? This place is my home now. No point in directing our users to another forum.

[Duff Daddy]

How do you plan on 350hp out of a 2v....

[Ferocious]

December 8, 2011:

My latest project was finding a way to get my gauge cluster to illuminate red.

After researching for a few hours, I found out the only way to do this was to remove the film behind the cluster.

With that in mind, I went to work.

December 27, 2011:

Finally ordered some lowering springs. I got them on ebay for about $70.

I'm pretty certain that they are LMR's SVE springs. Once I got them installed, the car was about 2.07" lower.

January 9, 2011:

Finally received my saleen s281 spoiler. It came with a black gel coat so I didnt bother painting it.

I also picked it locally for about $70 from SpecialCarbonFiber (since everyone keeps asking about it).

Fitment and quality were amazing. I'm relieved that I didnt have to drill any more holes.

[Ferocious]

June 16, 2012:

While I was out for a cruise, my car was hit by a cyclist taking a sharp turn and not paying attention to the road whatsoever.

I was at a stoplight waiting to turn left when the guy came speeding down the hill, banked left, undershot the turn, and hit my car in the rear quarter panel.

At that point, I was more worried about the man being ok, that I didn't bother getting his info or anything.

June 25, 2012:

Dropped my car off at the body shop today. I should get her back on Wednesday or Thursday.

I was quoted about $500 even to fix the dent and re-spray the whole fender as well as blend it with the door.

This is going to be a long wait.

[V8POWA!]

I hope you stayed with the car....lol

[Drake]

V8powa I resent that comment lol

[V8POWA!]

lol I'm just joking...I have plenty of hispanic friends. One of my cousin's is half mexican too.

[Ferocious]

Rofl.

It's a family owned place. They gave me an amazing deal and they're really nice people.

The son (who wrote me up for the estimate) just sold his cobra 2 days ago. Him & his dad grew up on mustangs.

Not to mention this place has only positive reviews, so I know my car is in good hands.

[Ferocious]

June 30, 2012:

Yesterday I finally picked up the car from the body shop.

I'm overly satisfied with the work they did and how it came out. The panel looks brand new and the paint is a dead match.

They ended up keeping the car 2 days longer than expected but It all came out perfectly in the end.

I washed the car this morning because the body shop wasn't allowed to and the car looked like it went through a sandstorm.

Then I hit up the back canyons of south San Diego and had a nice little drive full of twisties and huge straightaways.

I'll go fill her up later today and go out for a nice cruise by the bay.

[V8POWA!]

looks great

[SVTurbo 98]

That's a really nice vert. I like the cobra wheels on it.

[Ferocious]

looks great

Thanks bro.

That's a really nice vert. I like the cobra wheels on it.

Thanks. I too like the cobra wheels on there :thumbsup:

[JoshHooten]

Turned out Great man.

[Ferocious]

July 18, 2012:

Just got my new shocks in today. Picked these up for $65 shipped to my door. They have about 10K miles on them which isn't too bad.

I'll be ordering the front ones brand new the first week of August and then it's off to the install.

I'll be lowering the car a tad during the shock/strut install as well.

[iRoush]

those are okay... they're like stock replacements struts/shocks. not really meant to handle a lowered car.

[Brian]

Not bad if you need a quick & cheap fix but I agree with Brett.

But we know you're under a tight budget so do what you can with what you have. I hope these help you out!

[iRoush]

Not bad if you need a quick & cheap fix but I agree with Brett.

But we know you're under a tight budget so do what you can with what you have. I hope these help you out!

correct. I give those shocks 10k before they're blown lol

[Ferocious]

At $65 for the pair I couldn't pass up the offer. They should make a pretty big difference since mine are pretty much shot at this point. 10k miles vs. 115k miles.

And since my lowering springs pretty much match the stock spring rate, ride quality shouldn't be too bad. It'll definitely be an improvement at this point.

Next year i'll hopefully get MM coils up front, so these will be temporary.

[Ferocious]

July 19, 2012:

Cams are here!

[iRoush]

make sure all the journals are free of scarring or scratches that you can catch with your fingernail. just stock PI?

[Ferocious]

make sure all the journals are free of scarring or scratches that you can catch with your fingernail. just stock PI?

Yup; ordered from mhs.

[iRoush]

Yup; ordered from mhs.

ah good chit. what else is left to buy?

[Ferocious]

ah good chit. what else is left to buy?

Gaskets, seals, studs, headswap kit, heater tube, other hardware, etc etc.

The other main thing I need is the new valve covers.

As far as the swap, hopefully were looking at around the holidays.

& I'm gonna need your help installing the new shock/struts next month if you're cool with that. :tennis:

[iRoush]

Gaskets, seals, studs, headswap kit, heater tube, other hardware, etc etc.

The other main thing I need is the new valve covers.

As far as the swap, hopefully were looking at around the holidays.

& I'm gonna need your help installing the new shock/struts next month if you're cool with that. :tennis:

ok cool. and for sure man, bring her over and we'll get er done.

[Tony]

96 gt triple black auto convertible! exact car as mine, lol!! think yours was a little nicer when u bought yours though, lol! we even bought them around the same time, lol!! crazy shit!

[Ferocious]

:banana:

[iRoush]

don't lay cams on a table without protection! that's like dragging your wanker through a hot pit of coal!

[Brian]

Congrats bro! Glad you finally got everything!!

[Ferocious]

don't lay cams on a table without protection! that's like dragging your wanker through a hot pit of coal!

Calm down there Brett. I'll take good care of them :friendly_wink:

Congrats bro! Glad you finally got everything!!

Almost everything. I just need the bit of swap parts necessary and i'll be good.

But it feels good seeing the whole top end coming together.

[Ferocious]

July 26, 2012:

Today I picked up some windsor valve covers from a guy I found on the corral. I got both for $50 which was a pretty sweet deal.

I'll be sanding them and hitting them with some paint in the next few weeks. I'll keep everyone updated on that.

On a side note, a couple days ago I ordered some new struts from CJPP since they were having a huge sale.

I'll hopefully have those installed during the begging of August.

[Ferocious]

August 3, 2012:

Received my struts for the front today. Putting these bad boys in on Sunday with the help of Brett.

[iRoush]

giggity.

[Ferocious]

August 05, 2012

Today I went over to Brett's and we got a couple things done on my car.

It was a pretty smooth day apart from 1 small nut that was a complete pita to remove on the passenger side.

We managed to:

• Install KYB Excel-G struts in the front

• Install KYB Gr-2 shocks in the back

• Remove the quad shocks

• Remove the dog bone

• Adjust my windshield wipers to my liking

[iRoush]

1 small nut for car. 1 giant nut for man :look: looks good dude!

[Ferocious]

August 07, 2012:

Picked up some racing harnesses from my friend yesterday for a steal.

He never got around to installing them on his gt and he's selling the car so he basically gave these away to me.

They're red 4 points with a quick release button.

Mock up:

[iRoush]

looks good because RACECAR