New Member who needs a lot of advice

[Turbotim45]

Hi, my name is Tim. I've had about 9 Mustangs throughout the years...and there has been no shortage of years...lol

My last was a 2006 GT which had several mods from the factory including cold air intake, Rouch shifter, Bullit wheels, and exhause mods.

However, I became a teacher (something I've always wanted to do) and took a "substantial" cut in pay...long story short, the 2006 got sold and I actually bought a PT Cruiser. After about 2 months of the PT, I knew I made a big mistake. So I started looking and found a 98 Cobra, yellow and all stock in great shape (71K miles) and was able to work a deal to buy it. I love it.

Now, this is my first Cobra and I have questions:

1. What is the best (for the money) shifter...don't really like the stock

2. The stock exhaust leaves a lot to be desired. However, the stock system is in good shape but the mufflers are starting to show some rust and wear. Can I just replace the mufflers? If so, do they need to be welded on? Will there be any increase in horsepower? I know that a new cat back system would be best but I would be looking at $380-$500 plus labor to install it.

3. How many of you guys are using headers? Are the long pipes better than the short pipes? Do you have to modify the stock pipe system when using headers?

4. What about the cold air intake? Do I go with one that uses a heat shield and keeps the air filter inside the engine compartment or go with one that goes through the fenderwell? Do you have to remove the tortion bar to use a cold air intake system? I've looked at lots of these on-line and it becomes difficult to determine which is better. Again, the price range on these seems to be $200 - $480.

5. Lastly, if it were your car, what changes would YOU make and in what order would you do them.

Any and ALL opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

[nckissfan]

welcome, Tim. We would love to see some pictures of the Cobra. photobucket is a great site to host pictures, so you can post up on here.

1. MGW is the best shifter on the market. www.mgwltd.com

2. The mufflers can be replaced, welded is what I think you have to do. You will not see any hp gains from mufflers, and very very little if any from a catback. A catback will be a little bigger in diameter from stock, which will allow the car to breathe better.

3. Long tube headers will require the mid-pipe to be replaced with a mid-pipe that is compatible to the headers.

4. for a 98 Cobra, I would recommend JLT cold air, in the fender is best. http://www.jlttruecoldair.com/ You can get them to paint the cold air to match your car, or add flames, pretty cool. JLT's net the best hp gains for cold air kits, well worth the money.

5. The order of mods really depends on your money. I would go with shifter, cai, catback, and gears(look into 4.10 gears) The gears will wake up the car a lot, let you get into the power faster, makes for great "seat of the pants hp" fun.

good luck!!

[cobrabitn]

My first mod would be a set of 4.10 gears then a shifter. :thumbsup: