NGKTECH

Hi everyone

I've been on the search for a V here the last month or so and finally settled on one thats about 2 hours from me here in Mi. Its a 2005 stealth grey model with 44k miles and we settled on a price of $19,750 I'll be picking it up later next week but can't wait to get it home.

Anything I should look for or certain mods that should be done once first getting it home? Looking forward to learning and modifying. Thanks

Also, I'm the US technical support rep for NGK spark plugs so if anyone ha sany plug questions just let me know.

Regards,

Brandon

JD03Cobra

Do the CAGS or skip shift mod & aftermarket shifter immediately (i.e UUC or B&M). Then Exhaust and Long Tube headers if cash available. I love my headers.

Congrats by the way...I'm in Commerce Township, stone throw away.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

Yep, shifter, long tubes and CAI and dyno tune should make the car feel totally different. Dont waste money on a catback, swap out mufflers because the factory exhaust is 2.5" stainless anyways.

So for spark plugs, whats the truth, i have 100 shot on my car with mods in sig, i had TR6s in my SS and it ran great without a hiccup, i have them in my V and they run great, why is there such a huge debate over goin to a non projected plug on any kind of spray? I understand some of the reasoning but isnt the tr6 a proven good plug for smaller shots?

NGKTECH

For a small shot on a V8 (100 shot or less) a projected tip should be just fine and is what I usually recommend. If a guy is going to a 150 shot then I usually suggest the BR7EF just to be safe.

Its a misconception that a projected tip will not work with nitrous, the truth is that a projected tip has a longer ground electrode and so the ground will not dissipate heat as quickly as a non-projected plug (which has a shorter ground).

Changing heat ranges will change the temps of the center electrode and insulator but it doesnt change the ground electrode temp, the only way to change that is with a shorter or less projected tip.

So although a non-projected plug is going to be safer, i.e. faster heat dissipation and less chance of overheating/melting its not always needed on the smaller hits.

NGKTECH

Yep real close I live right at Pontiac Trail and South Commerce.

The car already has the skip shift delete so I'm good there, I might first do something with the mufflers or resonator just to improve the sound

yitsock

Cool, other Michigan owners. I just picked up my V a few months ago and haven't seen another on the street since I've owned mine. (I know there are quite a few around the Detroit area).

-Chris

Goats

Royal Oak-04 V

Taking the V up to the Leelanau peninsula this weekend for some wine drinking and hopefully some golf. There are some fun *** roads to drive up there.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

Thanks for the info I appreciate it....enjoy the V

1BADWS6@STENOD

iTrader: (6)

How did you end up finding it? I've been looking for a V and haven't found anything promising yet. I'm hoping to find one on a forum, that way i'll have a better idea on how the car was treated. Not looking to buy until October, but hoping to get an idea of what to look for early.

NGKTECH

Update: I just picked the car up yesterday and all is well.



Craigslist and Autotrader is what I was manily searching on. I like to use craiglook.com to search through Craigslist that way you can search all craigslist up to 250 miles from your zip code. Theres quite a few ones on there but they were mostly all far away from Mi.

JD03Cobra

You guys did the headers on my V back in March! Couldn't be happier. First class group of guys at Stenod! They build some sick as cars over there.

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Not from Michigan, but near by in Sarnia, Ontario (across the pond from Port Huron, MI). Congrats on the purchase. I wonder if you bought the one I took for a test drive a month or so ago ... the guy was in Clinton Township. It was "silver" though, which I don't think is the same as the "stealth grey" you mentioned. I wasn't big on the silver/tan colour combo, so I wound up passing on that one and driving 5 hours to around South Bend, IN to get the '06 that's sitting in my driveway now.
Anyway...congrats!!
And as for what you should mod first - if the CAGS is already eliminated then I would say do a muffler delete. I just did mine and it sounds good. Not crazy loud by any means, but it wakes it up a bit. I hear headers (LT's) leave you with a VERY raspy sound, so I am personally staying away from those.
I would say your short list should also include a decent shifter. (LOOK HERE).
Lastly, you might want to check your motor mounts. With the car parked/out of gear, check out the feel through the RPM range (slowly bring it up to 2,500 or 3,000 rpms) and see if you get any harsher-than-normal vibrating at any particular RPM's (mine's most noticeable at ~2,200 to 2,500). If so, it's likely you need to have a look at your motor mounts. I'm speaking from experience here, and I've read a lot about the factory mounts frequently crapping out early on these cars. It'll cause vibrations felt through the whole car as well as possible minor shifting issues (IE getting locked out, minor grinding, or getting out of gear taking a little more umph than normal). If you find MM's might be on your list of things to do, I can direct you to someone over at "the other" forums. I did my research and will soon be ordering mine from him.

That's basically my wish list right now. It seems like a lot of V owners have a lot of money to throw around, but unfortunately I'm not one of those guys. So I have to keep my wish list on a budget and wait til the line of credit is paid off before I go spending any "major" dough. OH, one last thing. I would recommend you don't get caught up spending all your cashola on bolt-on after bolt-on ... save up for a Maggie!! That's in my 10 year plan. LOL

rjwz28

I wanna jump on board SO BAD right now, it has been 2-3 years since I've had a V-8 under my foot and it is making me sick! I'm hoping to have a V in the driveway by next spring. A supercharger, huh? How much weight does that usually add, 100 pounds? And over the front wheels, too. I'd really prefer it if the car would weigh less after mods, not more. But a supercharger does tend to have a lot more return on your dollar than heads and cams. What to do???

NGKTECH

This car was in Harbor Beach, MI about an hour north of Port Huron right in the thumb of MI and has black interior, it's more of a darker slate blue color than silver or grey really.

I have been doing research and have heard a lot of guys and seen a video or two on youtube of V's with the muffler deleted which I really want to do I just want to know how it sounds at low revs under load like when cruising on the E-way or at a steady 40-50mph and you go to stab into it? Does it sound good?

I ask because I had a Mustang once that I deleted the mufflers on and while it sounded great at WOT it didnt sound very good at low revs or under partial load. Thnaks for the input, a shifter will be a welcome change as well.

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Brandon,
My previous car was a 97 Mustang which I had headers, catted x pipe, and flowmasters on ... the muffler delete on the V isn't anywhere near as loud as that. The 4.6 Ford and the 6.0 Chev have totally different sounds anyway though, so it's tough to compare anything besides sheer exhaust volume.

If your Mustang was like mine, the exhaust droned like MAD inside the car. The muffler delete on the V doesn't drone at all.

Idle on the V is a bit louder than it was with the mufflers, but it's barely noticeable. Goosin' the throttle is where you'll hear the difference. Because it's already such a free-flowing system, deleting the mufflers will give you some "popping" when the RPM's are settling down or you're downshifting...not sure if that's you're thing or not, but it's part of the package.

Highway cruising ... I would say you don't notice the muffler delete. There's a certain RPM range where it's a bit more noticeable (not a drone though) but it's far from "loud". Let's put it this way, my wife didn't notice anything different until I asked her if she thought the car sounded louder.

I had the delete done at a Mufflerman where I know most of the guys that work there (from being in there with the Mustang so much). I could tell the guy that did the work was REALLY into the car and really wanted to take it for a rip, so I figured that would be a chance for me to hear the new exhaust note from the outside and I told him to go ahead and take it for a little trip. He came back with a HUGE smile on his face and proceeded to knock $50 off my tab. With the stainless tubing, newly fab'd hangers, getting the tips lined up perfectly, and the time, it cost me $120 to have done. I thought that was fair, cause they did a stellar job ... took 'em about an hour to do.

den_99_GTX

iTrader: (12)

Congrats on the new Car. We should all meet up one day at Bakers in Milford for their car show one early afternoon, then you can hear the different exhaust combos. I would do a X-pipe and some sort of new mufflers w/ tips. It all depends if you want to wake up the dead or not.

Dennis.

NGKTECH

Thanks you for the reply. I had a 99 GT with the 4.6l as well and you are correct it did have an annoying drone at the low revs so I ended up welding in flowmasters and an x-pipe and it then sounded great.

In the next week or two I will definitely have the V in at my local exhaust shop getting the mufflers deleted.

NGKTECH

I have heard of that meet and would like to get out there to it. What's the name of the place its at again? Thanks

JD03Cobra

http://www.bakersofmilford.com/1/252/cruisin.asp

NGKTECH

Thanks JD03Cobra