Well, I finally stooped down to the 4-banger level.

Full story:

I've always been a Mustang fiend. My first car was an '02 V6 Mustang. I made that V6 look really dam good but it had no balls, at all! When I got fed up with having no power, I bought a 2000 Mustang GT. I supercharged it and man, that thing had MAJOR balls!!!!! I pushed 392 RWHP and 403 RWTQ! It was my baby and I miss it. Well, my totals a month to pay for the GT were insane. It was costing me $550+ every month when all was said and done with car payment, insurance payment and gas. I got fed up with spending that much so I decided to sell it. It sold two weeks ago and I needed to find a beater car that I could commute to college in and have some fun with. SO, I bought a 2003 ZX3 on Sunday night. I got a killer deal on it from a reputable Ford dealership.

My only plans for this car are purely aesthetic, I will not be doing ANY engine mods. I have a list of cosmetic mods that I want and that's it.

Here's my two previous Mustang's (just so you guys know that I know how to cleanly mod car's):

V6
http://photos.e46fanatics.com/data/500/11842temec8.jpg
http://photos.e46fanatics.com/data/500/11842temec10.jpg
http://photos.e46fanatics.com/data/500/11842temec3.jpg

Blown V8
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2018/vine45upev2.jpg
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/2169/temec16dy.jpg
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/8817/warsh236lr.jpg
http://socalstangs.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1442&stc=1&d=114167681 4

Also, I realize that this probably should be in a different sub forum but I wanted to post here because I will be here mainly to inquire about mods. There are some very nicely modded Z's here. [thumb]

welcome to FF man.[welcome]

you better make this car look sick like those two...and you cant resist the modding bug with me around [giggle] hehehehe [wrenchin]

Welcome! I'm kinda of newbie here too! Just got a Focus and got ride of a Neon lol.

Those horse pics are awesome.

Welcome to us "stooped" people, lol. I stooped a long time ago and havent looked back. I used to be diehard Mustang as well as old Falcons and such. To me, these little cars were wanna-b's. I was totally wrong after i saw what my first Honda could do. Never cared to go back.

welcome to FF man.[welcome]

you better make this car look sick like those two...and you cant resist the modding bug with me around [giggle] hehehehe [wrenchin]
Oh don't worry, it will be looking clean very soon. I have $2100 laying around from the profit I made selling my GT a few weeks ago, PLUS I will be saving $300+ each month for driving this Focus. [cheers]

Welcome to us "stooped" people, lol. I stooped a long time ago and havent looked back. I used to be diehard Mustang as well as old Falcons and such. To me, these little cars were wanna-b's. I was totally wrong after i saw what my first Honda could do. Never cared to go back.
I think stooped was the wrong word to use here, I didn't mean it in a bad way. From day one I just always told myself that I'd never own a 4-banger (it's kind of hard going down to a measly 130hp from a blown V8, you know?)

I am by all means very happy with this little 4-banger though. The manual transmission is butter, shifting is cake, the clutch is so easy, it drives superb and it saves gas like a mofo.

I'm happy to be here and before you know it, I'll be a regular PW here! [unsure]

I'd have to say I like the looks of the V6 one better, but then again being an ugly person I know that it's what is on the inside that counts. (i.e V8 and FI)

I'd have to say I like the looks of the V6 one better, but then again being an ugly person I know that it's what is on the inside that counts. (i.e V8 and FI)
[histerical] That's hilarious! Trust me, I wish that the black Mustang was a GT so I could just slap the Vortech on it and be done, but that's not how it worked. When I bought the silver GT I didn't have enough money to be spending left and right on appereance mods so I decided that I was going to make it a clean sleeper-esque car. It worked because everytime an M3, riced out POS, Porsche Carrera, S4 etc. pulled up next to me on the freeway, they always got the spanking of their life when I was in my GT.

Oh how I miss her! [:(]

You can just slap a Procharger on the little four banger, lol. You would be suprised my friend.

greg all i can say is im super stoaked to see what you are gonna do with this whip. and your in irvine so i will hopefully get to see it unfold. and sucks bout the GT being gone...it was a pretty sick car



mMmM procharger! hehe mike...thanks dude. the parts should be there today. sorry to thread jack. back on topic.

No problem man, keep on him, he will want to make more power eventually. He will find that you can make more power and still get great mileage with these little cars.

<~~~~mustang fiend here too. Got an '88 5.0 Convt. got put on hold for my '04 SVTF. The 4s will treat you good. No supercharged 4.6, but it gets along.

No problem man, keep on him, he will want to make more power eventually. He will find that you can make more power and still get great mileage with these little cars.

i told him no one can resist modding with me around :) hehe

ill use my car for the example and hell see.

im not a mustang fan by any stretch of the imagination.....................but that silver car is badass

[welcome]

I'm starting to go in the opposite direction a little myself. I've realized that it will cost more than what I want to spend to get the kind of performance out of my ZX3 that I want. So I'm going to pretty much leave the focus as is, sell my Isuzu Trooper and then buy an old G2 Integra and build an LS VTEC motor. I'll be able to build a faster car for cheaper and keep my focus pretty reliable at the same time.

welcome to the site [welcome]
and hopefully see you at the next g2g... whenever that will be [:D]

heheh green turtle mod bug

[welcome]

I'm starting to go in the opposite direction a little myself. I've realized that it will cost more than what I want to spend to get the kind of performance out of my ZX3 that I want. So I'm going to pretty much leave the focus as is, sell my Isuzu Trooper and then buy an old G2 Integra and build an LS VTEC motor. I'll be able to build a faster car for cheaper and keep my focus pretty reliable at the same time.

ya that is prolly true. but i hate hondas with a passion. no offense mike. :)

its mostly the douche bags in high school that drove them and thought they were hot shit.


lee haha...its funny cuz i go in modding spurts. like 5-6-7 mods in one month. then nothing for 2 months. then a bunch then none. its not constant!

Yeah. I hate the fact that they get such a bad rep. from all the idiots out there. All of my car friends are into building hondas and they focus on leaving the exterior completely alone aside from getting it repainted if the old paint is bad or putting lower stiffer springs on, but they leave the body alone. Also as far as motors the big dog of the group has an LS VTEC making around 180hp that he built for under 2000. But just yesterday he sold the swap with just 1700 miles on it for 2500 and he's going to be building and stroking a B20 block and hoping to make around 250hp.

But enough thread high jacking. I wanna see what this guy does after the bug bites. It seems he's got some loose change lying around.

Hondas really arent cheaper to build, at least for me. But, they do respond to modding a tad bit better. One of the only drawbacks with any honda is the chassis. Theyre a bit flemsy compared to the Focus chassis.

ya that is prolly true. but i hate hondas with a passion. no offense mike. :)



He said Integra. Not Civic, Accord, or CR-X.

Welcome to FF. Your Mustangs look great, I like the silver one better. I always liked the look of the Mustangs with out the rear wing a lot better, especially the newer body style.

ya that is prolly true. but i hate hondas with a passion. no offense mike. :)

its mostly the douche bags in high school that drove them and thought they were hot shit.


lee haha...its funny cuz i go in modding spurts. like 5-6-7 mods in one month. then nothing for 2 months. then a bunch then none. its not constant!

yea derrick, that cabin filter mod will make any former mustang man an instant focus convert... jk, keep up the modding so you will (eventually) pull on the spi!

Hondas really arent cheaper to build, at least for me. But, they do respond to modding a tad bit better. One of the only drawbacks with any honda is the chassis. Theyre a bit flemsy compared to the Focus chassis.

True. If my ZX3 had a Duratec I probably wouldn't even consider getting a different car. But I believe that with the different setups I've seen, it appears to me that their motors are a lot more responsive to mods than the zetec. You just have to find the right combination of parts. The only aftermarket parts on his LS VTEC are the header/catback, intake tube w/ cone filter and some sort of little special change to the VTEC solenoid. Other than that he's used a combo of stock honda motor parts to raise compression and such. I won't have any problem pulling the motor out of it and have it down for a couple of months or if something broke, let it sit till I fix it. Where as I couldnt afford that with my daily driver in college. So I think down the line it ould be cheaper for me.

Also maybe the chassis isn't as stiff, but it's probably a lot lighter and I won't have a problem pulling some of the interior out.

yea derrick, that cabin filter mod will make any former mustang man an instant focus convert... jk, keep up the modding so you will (eventually) pull on the spi!

o please tell me you are joking. i pull hard on you now genius. get a real motor mr. single cam. [neener]

Single cam? NO bueno.

Welcome to FF. Nice looking mustangs. Before you know it you'll say "maybe I'll make it a little faster" next thing you know you'll be straping on a stage 2 turbo kit.

ok, that black Mustang my be the hottest one i've ever seen in that bodystyle.

Single cam? NO bueno.

well gregs (zealots) car isnt a single cam. ryans (tdfmissmatch) car is a slow SPI piece of shit. hehehe jk.

ya...gregs car are always sick as fak! [clap]

the bug will bite him quick enough...especially with what hes used to i imagine....then weve got em [deviltail]

damn nice lookin' stangs!!!

i dont think i could have given that up...

oh , and welcome :D

Quite a, BOLD statement. Haha, I had to.

ryans (tdfmissmatch) car is a slow SPI piece of shit. hehehe jk.

You have much to learn. I'd like to see you try and keep up with Tin_Maddog's turbo spi. He would school you. I know you were just joking, but still.....you guys dont give us spi'ers the respect we deserve.

I had an SPI, and I just traded it in. I couldn't stand it.

You have much to learn. I'd like to see you try and keep up with Tin_Maddog's turbo spi. He would school you. I know you were just joking, but still.....you guys dont give us spi'ers the respect we deserve.

well i wasnt joking. he has intake and exhaust and hes going up against a zetec with every bolt on (-race headers) and a 65 shot of nitrous. so there is no comparison. ill race tim maddog. remember i have a horsepower advantage stock and from what i read from the SPI forums the most HP someone has made is about 210ish (correct me if im wrong) as well as the gearing in the MTX75 is far better then that of the IB5. so gimme a break. i respect maddog for doing what hes done. but the rest of you need to show me something. one guy cant lead the charge....no offense but seriously [B)]