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I have a black, totally stock 1991 Lx V4 Auto transmission and I am looking to start working on it a little bit. I don't have a lot of money and would probably be more inclined to improve the looks of the car since I don't race. A cheap performance upgrade would be nice though.
I was thinking about maybe rims and a tint and a body kit but I don't have any idea to see how it would look with those
If anyone could make some suggestions for some less expensive upgrades for my mustang that would be awesome, or if you could post some pics of what you have done maybe I could get some ideas from that.
Edit: By the way, are there additional costs for painting/installing the body kit? I would probably need to paint the whole thing right? I doubt I could find paint made to look as old as mine lol
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Well... I gotta say a couple things. First is just a nitpick. It's an I4, not a V4. "I" means inline, since they're all in a row, and not in a V pattern.
Second.. Going that much bodykitting on a car while keeping the drivetrain a stock slow, weak 4banger auto is just BEGGING to be called a Poser or a Domestic Rice.
Bodykits are very expensive to do right, as you have to get the paint just right, and often have to paint the whole car as well so that it matches. Anything else just looks like crap.
If you were wanting some good, less expensive ways to improve the looks, probably your best bet would be a really nice wax/polish, lowering springs, and a nice set of rims, something like GT Ponies or Cobra R's. (Yes, that would actually be cheaper than getting a bodykit done right).
With an all black mustang, you would probably get the best look improvement from just polishing and freshing up the paint, and tinting the windows. Smoked headlights might help, if you like that look. And that won't cost much at all. Just a lot of elbow grease to get the paint looking nice again.
But for the love of all that is holy, don't go for a cheap bodykit.
Thanks for the input, after looking around more I found the body kit to be a bad idea after all. Probably going to go for some rims and tint, and are there any not expensive performance upgrades, some of my friends recommended a cold air intake, what do you think about that?
The only real way to get performance out of a 2.3 is to turbo it, or rather, swap in a turbo engine.
For a few more ponies, go to the boneyard and grab a 94-96 Ranger 2.3 "manifold". They came stock with headers, and it'll give you a bit more torque, and save a lot of weight. Doing a CAI won't help overly much, you're better off gutting your silencer and removing the snorkle. You'd also be better off getting a good muffler than a full cone filter intake.
But you're really not going to be getting much more than 110, 115 hp before you start to hit some really hard walls with the car, and have to spend lots of money.
On the other hand... If you find a 2.3 Turbo engine out of a Thunderbird, Cougar, SVO, or Merkur, grab the computer, the VAM, and the whole engine, and you're looking at usually 150 hp out of the box, with the simple, cheap potential to get to 200-250 with very, very little mods. It's a direct drop in on when you take the old block out. If you have an engine hoist, a few friends, and an open weekend, you can definately do that.
Do you have any pics of your car? A 4cyl T5 manual tranny would be something to look for when your auto goes out. They do on all of them(mine went and I had it rebuilt rather then look for a T5). Without spending a lot of money there really isn't much you can do to the n/a 4cyl other than what WyldeSoul stated.
Do you have any pics of your car? A 4cyl T5 manual tranny would be something to look for when your auto goes out. They do on all of them(mine went and I had it rebuilt rather then look for a T5). Without spending a lot of money there really isn't much you can do to the n/a 4cyl other than what WyldeSoul stated.
Well, my personal opinion, that one's not that bad. Looks just like a slightly tweaked stock GT bodykit, and it's urethane, rather than cheap fiberglass. However, you'd once more run into the issue of the high cost of doing it right, and even if it does look beautiful, you'd better not let anyone know what's under the hood or they'll call you a poser, but especially if it looks shoddy and the paint's mis-matched or faded or something.
Once more, my opinion is you'd be far better off getting the black paint to look beautiful, lowering it just a little, and getting some nice rims to compliment the look. To me, at least, rarely, rarely does a bodykit look good. I much prefer clean and shiny stock body, with some tasteful 5 spoke rims, and an inch or two drop.
I guess I just really like the LX bodystyle, even over the GT.
If the body pieces are broken then replace them or go with a body kit, but otherwise I would spend that money on cleaning the car up and replacing items that are worn out or broken(like suspension, seats, ect).
Personally I would fix any mechanical problems(or just start stashing money away for a 4cyl turbo motor), clean it up(as in deep clean the interior, engine bay, and paint), then go for suspension replacement/modification, and then on to interior restoration/modding.
I chuckled at "V4". I almost thought you had done a Volvo head swap (four valves per cylinder). Sorry, not trying to be mean.
I agree with 924banger. Make the car a good daily driver, and then start modding it. There's no point having a car that looks nice to you if it's annoying or unreliable to drive. It really doesn't take much to get these 2.3s up to spec with how they came, but typically they all have problems from the time you buy them (at least everyone on this forum seems to have car problems). How long have you had the car, and what has been done to it as far as repairs and maintenance since owning it?
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My 1991 lx V4
