I've got nothing to do today so I was just wondering if anyone knows any free mods for a 97 3.8. Been looking for something to do, and if its something to the car thats even better.. I havent really found anything, so i was checking here to see if anyone knows of or has done anything to theirs.

 

INTAKE...
Smooth out the filter box (get rid of the ridges and sand it down smooth)
Remove the resonator and pick up a cheap 5 dollar elbow at the hardware store

Weight reduction...

Pick up some colored bulbs and replace the cabin/map lights...like 5 bucks tops

 

i should've known if anyone would've had an answer, it would've been you. thanks adam..

 

anytime bill...

I did a ton of free-mods on my old camry coupe beater bc i was bored lol...I actually have a big 11 page site with free mods for a camry...some of them may apply to our cars...I'll find that and post a link

 

Well let me ask this. What do you want out of your car. Free mods, while cool to talk about, are generally limited on delivering actual results unless you go to the extremes, and or really know what you're doing, aka, engine porting/polishing work.

 

im just looking for simple things to do in my spare time that can help it run a little better.. whatever it may be. a friend of mine has an 04 Mustang GT, and the stock intake on it is basically a tube with a big round dome-ish shaped thing at the end. (Could be like yours). A guy was telling him that he could take off the end piece, the dome shaped part, and use the clamp to clamp a K&N filter straight to the hose, kind of like a CAI. We did it the other day and he said he actually noticed a difference. It didnt cost us anything, and we had it done within about 5 min. Just little things like that..nothing major.

 

Well my intake isn't like that "anymore". Yes, that little dome thing is called an air silencer and it's on all 87 and up Mustangs, and is on most Fords in general. If you have one that is something for you to consdier. You guys did it a little differently than I'd reccomend, but hey, it words. But yea, it's assentially a CAI without all the cost. I believe you'll be able to do something similar. If you hit me upwith a pic of your engine bay, and what the inside of your air box looks like I can guide you through the process if you like.

Mainly you'll need a screwdriver, a K&N filter, some silicone adhesive that can easily be broken or cut out (this is applied to the back side of the filter to keep it sealed to the airbox, and maybe a nice, and socket wrench.

 

I cant find a camera right now to take any pics of my intake, but this was handy..
This is the Mustangs intake, in case anyone was wondering.

I'll have to find a camera later to get a few pics of mine..


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Here is mine.

That way will work, but is not as efficient, or safe, as just removing the air silencer is. That method keeps the air filter in direct contact with all the hot air under the engine bay which, while flowing better than stock, isn't as good as a fender well or covered cai setup. You need to help him find a way to put a cover of some type around the side of the air intake, because right now all it's doing is sucking in hot air which is gonna slow his off the line accelleration up a bit. The best thing to do would be to put the air box back on, and simply unbolt the air silencer from the side of the air box. The remaining part of the front air box will act like a heat shield for the air filter. Then just drop the filter in, close it back up, and you're done. Yes, that would mean reinclosing the MAF so that one is up to you guys, but it will allow for better lower RPM performance.

Hope that discription didn't confuse you, my head isn't exactly screwed on straight right now.[&:]

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yeah, i was afraid of it taking hot air too, but he said he noticed a slight difference, so i figured alright for now..
We actually planned on putting the shield back on and just cutting it to allow for more air flow but still act as a heat shield.
We didnt want to cut his though, so we may end up getting one from an 03 that needs a heart transplant.