'17 V6 Build - I bought a Mustang?!?!?!

Welp, a SCT X4 popped up on the local Facebook group for a deal so I should be getting that soon enough. Let's see how long I can hold off on tuning now that I have the tool in my possession.

And just curious, why 3.55 instead of 3.73 gears? Was it because the 3.55s were a factory option so you felt better with those going in?

Nagare said:

Welp, a SCT X4 popped up on the local Facebook group for a deal so I should be getting that soon enough. Let's see how long I can hold off on tuning now that I have the tool in my possession.

And just curious, why 3.55 instead of 3.73 gears? Was it because the 3.55s were a factory option so you felt better with those going in?

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Yes that's why I went with 3.55 and 18 inch GT wheels. I didn't know it at the time but it didn't require any programing changes to the BCM . Speedometer and odometer are reading correctly.

Nagare said:

Welp, a SCT X4 popped up on the local Facebook group for a deal so I should be getting that soon enough. Let's see how long I can hold off on tuning now that I have the tool in my possession.

And just curious, why 3.55 instead of 3.73 gears? Was it because the 3.55s were a factory option so you felt better with those going in?

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I went with 3.55 gears after doing a bunch of calculations based on tire size, how I drive the car, where the V6 makes power etc. If I had scored a great deal on a 3.73 differential, I might have gone that way - but 3.55's are the best of both worlds for me.

Wow dude awesome write up. 3.15s in our cars is a national travesty. I'm going to see if the tune gives me enough "umph" and then think about the gears. I know I'd love them but I just dropped $400 on the tune and that took me months to finally pull the trigger on.

I love the 18s. I have 20s and I regret it. It would handle much better on 18s. I love the look but performance wise 18s would be better. Maybe in the spring.

I give up. what is 20s and 18s?

D24112 said:

I give up. what is 20s and 18s?

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18in and 20 in wheels lol

Well turns out there is a local business who does ceramic coating. Sent him an email and he quoted me $130 - a Black Friday special. So I'll drop those off to get coated Friday.

Getting ready to order some G2 caliper paint for my GT upgrade calipers.

If he does ceramic coating is there a chance he does powder too? Maybe a bundle special to do your calipers at the same time.

ctandc72 did you try anything other than the 93PRX tune right away? I'd be curious to see how much better it felt going from nothing to 87PRX then to the 93PRX.

Nagare said:

If he does ceramic coating is there a chance he does powder too? Maybe a bundle special to do your calipers at the same time.

ctandc72 did you try anything other than the 93PRX tune right away? I'd be curious to see how much better it felt going from nothing to 87PRX then to the 93PRX.

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G2 caliper paint will be fine, if I don't base coat / clear coat it since I already have some paint / clear.

Went straight to 93 PRX tune.

Well I was looking at the G2 caliper paint. Part of the process is letting it cure 24 hours before using the vehicle. No thanks. Was looking to see how much a spare set of calipers would be, so I could paint / detail them off the car - since I have the GT Upgrade for the front sitting here as well.

Got lucky. Scored a complete GT rear brake setup up from Shelbyauctions on Ebay for $130 shipped. Low mile rotors, calipers and lines. Will clean / paint and throw on new pads. Will likely do the entire brake system at the same time.

Took a road trip this weekend in and through the mountains. I can't imagine how annoying it would have been with the factory 3.15 gears constantly going up and down through the mountains. The 3.55 gears are definitely worth the cash and effort.

Changed to the 91 PRX MPT Tune - instead of the 93 tune, since I wasn't sure of 93 octane availability. Actually pulled down an actual (miles driven / gallons pumped) 26 mpg on the way up. Lots of grades / climbing and averaging probably 70mph at least on the Interstate stretches.

Bad news, wasn't able to make it to the last test and tune at one of my local 1/4 mile tracks, but apparently the other local track has one 12/2 this coming - so weather permitting I'll be there.

Will definitely post up the results.

Found a local company who is going to ceramic coat my headers for a good price. I'm not worried about appearance, I'm concerned with reducing underhood temps. Painting headers, no matter what type of paint, does nothign to help reduce underhood temps.

Even with the cost of ceramic coating, I'm still in for less than the cost of the chrome BBK headers.

Hopefully they will done by Friday / Saturday - that way I can get some 1/4 runs in with the 3.55 gears / 93 MPT tune - then install the headers after and weather permitting, I can hit the last test and tune of the year the following Saturday and see if the headers give me anything.

Trap speed at the track is the best way to track power gains....at least the most consistent in my experience. Everything else, including dyno runs, are mainly just for comparison sake.

I had already planned on sourcing a GT upper grille so I can modify it for a Velossa Tech intake duct. At the same time I'm planning on trying out a modified intake tube - using a breather on the driver's side and a catch can on the passenger side.

I've researched porting the lower / upper intake manifolds and I'm torn at this point. I can get a brand new lower / upper for less than $160 shipped to my door. I've ported intakes / heads before, and personally most of the 3.7 port work I've seen is cleaning up the upper (fingers at the throttle body opening, smoothing mold flaws etc) and port matching the lower and upper.

It appears the lower 3.7 intake manifold is the same across the following vehicles:

2011-2014 Ford Pickup F150 Series - 3.7L, lower
2011-2017 Ford Mustang - 3.7L, lower
2014-2015 Ford Transit 250 - 3.7L, lower
2015-2018 Ford Pickup F150 Series - 3.5L, w/o turbo; lower
2014-2015 Ford Transit 150 - 3.7L, lower
2014-2015 Ford Transit 350 - 3.7L, lower

However it appears the plastic upper is unique to the 15-17 3.7 Mustang.

Sorry if I missed this, but did you add a GT TB yet? If not, I have the whole setup for sale. Check out the GT TB sticky in the V6 section.

ctandc72 said:

Hopefully they will done by Friday / Saturday - that way I can get some 1/4 runs in with the 3.55 gears / 93 MPT tune - then install the headers after and weather permitting, I can hit the last test and tune of the year the following Saturday and see if the headers give me anything.

I had already planned on sourcing a GT upper grille so I can modify it for a Velossa Tech intake duct. At the same time I'm planning on trying out a modified intake tube - using a breather on the driver's side and a catch can on the passenger side.

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Congrats on the car and the fury of mods. Lots of progress. Where in VA are you located?

What tracks are you finding still open? The only DC area one that mentions being open is Cecil which says weather permitting but last weekend it was 60s and they were closed. I ask because I'm also trying to squeeze in one last day before everything closes.

I have a new GT upper grille still in the box if you're interested. Also have a spare set of GT half shafts if you wanted to take a look at them.

soldier989 said:

Sorry if I missed this, but did you add a GT TB yet? If not, I have the whole setup for sale. Check out the GT TB sticky in the V6 section.

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I saw your post. Congrats on the GT purchase. I'm actually going a different way. I'm going to do a custom intake pipe, breather on driver side, catch can on passenger. As for throttle body, I'm likely going with a modified stock throttle body. Thanks though.