Originally posted by Officer Cartman:
A question for the Mustang gurus on here. I much prefer the styling of the 94-98 Mustangs (both inside and out), but want the power boost that came with the 99s. Can the 98s be brought up to the stock 99 hp ratings rather easy (someone said something about a head swap?), or would it just make sense to get a 99+ and be done with it?
You can do a 99 headswap for less than $1k. That includes the ?PI? (power improved) heads, intake (ports are different, gotta swap it), 99 spec cams, and miscellaneous hardware. I?ve got the list of parts at work, I think. This is good for anywhere between 240 and 260rwhp on an otherwise stock motor. The smaller combustion chambers of the PI heads combined with the 96-98 flat top pistons will give you ~10.3:1 compression, compared to 9:1 stock. This gives you "a couple" more horses than the 99+ GTs. For a couple bucks more, you can do an 01 headswap, which allows you to use the Bullitt intake, which is good for an additional 5-10 peak hp, but much better power ?under the curve?. People have been porting the PI heads and getting excellent flow numbers, and usually end up out-flowing the over priced FRPP 2-valve heads. The FRPP heads/intake swap is a rip compared to the PI swap, especially once you factor in the cost of the FRPP ECM that you need to use to compensate for the slower-burning heads.
I'm not sure if IRS is for me or not, but can it be retrofitted to a GT? I'm looking for a fast car that handles good, but the car won't be seeing any drag strips, just the occasional street race. Seems like enough Cobra owners are taking them out, so there's got to be one available cheap 
On the street the IRS will be fine. The swaps are bolt-in for SN95?s, like Brad mentioned. Complete suspension, brake lines, and exhaust is required for both cars. Add in some Griggs coil-overs and lower control arm bushings, a FRPP differential brace, and some poly diff bushings, and 99% of the infamous wheel-hop that is associated with those setups is gone.
