Fred's 2005 Ford Mustang GT: Appearance Mods

By the time March 2007 rolled around, I had undertaken a project to modify my S197, come up with a wish list of bolt-on parts, and drafted a reasonable budget (a nice round $10K split 50/50 between appearance and performance mods). Ford's 2005 retro recreation of the '60s Mustang had created a lot of buzz. My goal was to subtly accentuate the classic lines of my mineral grey metallic 'Stang without crossing over the "pimp my ride" threshold. I wanted to bring back its swagger with an understated elegance, like a tailored grey suit with a red satin lining. After all, there's no need to shout when a whisper will do.

Designer Shoes (Wheels and Tires)
I had never seen how my car looked delivered from the factory with its 17-inch bright machine cast aluminum wheels ($195 option) and P235/55ZR-17 all-season tires on all fours. Before I ever laid eyes on it, the original Ford dealer had swapped them out for Italian designed 19-inch Zenetti polished chrome alloy wheels ($1,392 a set, since discontinued) shod in black with Hankook Ventus Sport K-104 Y-speed rated (186 mph, 300 km/h) max performance summer tires (245/35 front, 275/30 rear, $988 a set, $120 labor, since discontinued). Nothing quite completes an outfit like a pair of polished Italian dress shoes. The same holds true for a car.

It was love at first sight: new-school low profile meets old-school staggered muscle. The staggered tires gave my 'Stang an aggressive stance that enhanced its street cred. Not only that, the larger contact patch of the rear 275s helped put the V8's power on the pavement by improving the RWD grip under hard acceleration (i.e. burnouts). The downside of the staggered setup is that it generates more understeer than a square setup, and costs more because you're unable to rotate the tires to extend their tread life. Did I mention it looks cool?

Spoiling my 'Stang
I also liked the clean look of my Mustang GT's rear end with the pedestal spoiler delete option. Unfortunately, this stylistic preference held some potentially fatal repercussions. Because of its RWD layout and corresponding 54% front/46% rear weight distribution, the 2005 Mustang GT's tail tends to kick out (oversteer) in high-speed corners which could result in spinning out or rolling off the road. Since I planned to ship my car to Europe and legally drive its max speed (143 mph) on the autobahn, I decided to button down my 'Stang's high-speed stability to steer clear of any German guardrails (as notoriously happened to some early model Audi TTs without spoilers).

As the airstream rushes over the fastback's curved top surface, it begins to behave like an airplane wing to create lift at high speeds causing the rear tires to break lose. A properly designed rear wing "spoils" this airflow and decreases the aerodynamic lift on the rear axle. When taking corners or swapping lanes at extreme speed (100 mph+), the spoiler's downforce helps keep the rear tires in contact with the road surface, increasing resistance to lift-off oversteer and keeping the tail from going wayward. At normal speeds (<70 mph), the spoiler was merely cosmetic and thankfully did nothing to induce fun-robbing understeer.

Trying to maintain the clean lines of my 'Stang's rear end, I dismissed any super-sized wings and settled on the Shelby Performance Parts GT500 Rear Decklid Spoiler ($399 parts, $200 paint/labor). According to Ford it was designed to deliver significant downforce and not just for aesthetics. Nevertheless, it was easy on the eyes and its flush mount perfectly followed the smooth fastback lines of the S197. A triumph of design and function.

1960s Flashback (Mirrors, Louvers and Taillights)
Since the relatively big ticket items were out of the way, it was finally time for me to lose the oversized, black-plastic truck mirrors that straddled my otherwise handsome ride. Ugh! After all, my 'Stang was a pony car, not a draft horse pickup. The design house Agent 47 captured the classic 1960s aerodynamic Mustang look I was hoping for with its Retro Race Mirrors (then $376, now $220 - unpainted). Powered by the stock factory mirror motors, these mirrors use the stock mounting locations and connectors for a quick and hassle free installation, but they look sooo much better.

Also taking its styling cue from the Golden Age of Muscle Cars, 1/4 Window Louvers (then $200, now only $95 - painted) by Stage 3 Motorsports imbued my S197 with that 1965 Mustang "2+2" fastback look. Whereas the original 1965 louvers were designed to allow airflow through the cabin, Stage 3s feature an "open louver" design that permits light to enter into the back seats and lets the driver still see (albeit somewhat less) out the rear 1/4 window. Mounting with strong 3M double-sided tape was a cinch, and despite my doubts they've held fast ever since.

My final '60s tribute mod was installing Sequential LED Taillights ($230) from Mustang Project. Although Ford eventually decided to equip the 2010 Mustang and up with sequential turn signals, it had been missing from the factory installed Mustang lineup since the 1968-'70 Shelby Mustang. Since only a handful of other cars (1965-'71 Thunderbird, 1967-'73 Cougar, and '69 Imperial) were ever factory equipped with this feature, it just adds to the Mustang's nostalgic air of uniqueness.

Style Over Substance (Grille)
Up until then, I had only changed the cut of my S197 Mustang's exterior and had painted all the aftermarket accessories (spoiler, mirrors, louvers) the low-key mineral grey metallic my car wore from the factory. Apart from the mirrors, so far I had neglected the front of the car and it was deserving of something snazzy to brighten it up. The powder coated Aluminum Grille Overlay ($249) by Classic Design Concepts ("CDC") did the trick by disguising the black-plastic expanse of the OEM egg crate grille, yet keeping intact its signature feature, the silver emblem of the galloping Mustang pony.

The last exterior appearance mod was the least expensive and easiest of all to install. Dumping the 32-inch whip antenna tent-pole in favor of a shorty 8-inch Fixed Black Antenna ($20) took less than a minute. Yeah sure, my radio reception suffered as a result, but this long overdue alteration necessitated the choice of style over substance. To me it made all the difference.

Bling Baby (Leather and Aluminum)
Having finished with the exterior, I was ready to spruce up the Mustang GT's interior which was thankfully a premium version already liveried in crimson red leather ($175). The optional Interior Upgrade Package ($450) added an array of satin-aluminum-finish pieces including a well-executed instrument panel appliqué, door handles, air vents and door scuff plates. It also included a stylish leather-wrapped steering wheel with satin aluminum spokes, perfectly matched with a leather-wrapped shift knob for my manual six-speed. Both of these were a tactile pleasure to grasp and hang onto. Picking up where Ford's stylists left off, I installed a leather armrest console ($78) to keep things cozy. This was a great start to help camouflage the S197's otherwise depressingly hard, black-plastic interior.

Ascribing to the "there's no such thing as too much of a good thing" school of thought, I decided what the interior needed was more aluminum bling to distract from the remaining sprawl of stark black plastic. First off was swapping out the industrial-looking, black plastic "POWER OUTLET" insert that cheapened the look of the entire center stack. It cried out "for God's sake, splurge a couple of bucks and upgrade me!" I corrected this niggling design faux pas with a Billet Aluminum Power Point Plug ($30) tastefully engraved with "GT," a touch of class just like a monogrammed cufflink.

A nice addition to the center console was the gleaming chrome grooves of an Action Artistry Cup Holder Bezel ($57). Some Steeda Billet Speaker Covers ($170) engraved with the Ford logo did their part to spruce up the door panels. Next, a set of UPR Products Billet Pedal Protectors ($66) brightened matters underfoot by uniquely incorporating the stock rubber pedal covers into their design to improve grip and protect the rubber. However, the pièce de résistance were killer hollow point 9mm Billet Door Lock Pins ($14) by Steeda. So simple, yet deadly elegant.

Engine Dress Up
Although none but the chosen few would ever lay their eyes on it, I nevertheless decided to dress up where my Mustang's beating heart stirred. Holding up the lightweight aluminum hood, the gateway to the engine compartment, was the tried-and-true, black-wire prop rod. This part was probably left over from a 10-million-unit run Ford had mistakenly made for the 1964.5 model and that the accountants had seen fit to keep.  Despite claims of Mustang purists, nothing screams "cost-cutting" quite like this. It had to go, and I happily installed in its place a pair of pneumatic CDC Hood Struts ($99). Now I could gracefully show off my engine without ridicule from snarky bystanders.

As for the engine itself, I was glad that Ford chose to buck the recent trend of completely obscuring it under some bland, plastic engine cover.  Still, the 4.6-liter SOHC V8's complete lack of adornment was unbefitting its stature. Apparently, Ford anticipated my need when it created its Mustang V8 Engine Plenum Cover ($81) and offered it in later model years as part of a GT appearance package. While I was shopping for this I came across UPR Products Satin Finish Fuse Box Cover ($28). Why not?

Tail End
Well, I might as well finish off the entire makeover in the trunk, where only I might end up looking. Here things took an organizational/functional turn. After all, I needed a place for my "stuff." Measuring in at 12.3 cubic feet (minus a couple of cubes lost to the passenger-side trunk-mounted dual 10-inch subwoofers), the grey carpeted trunk was pretty adequate in size. Fitting a Cargo Net ($49) helped keep larger items from jostling about a less than full compartment, but still didn't provide any nooks to store smaller, loose items (e.g., tools, spare parts, maps, etc.). Enter the aptly named Detail Corral ($179) by CDC, whose three reasonably sized compartments were just what I needed to handle my knick-knacks. Mounted neatly beneath the rear deck, it also provided a factory looking finish to the otherwise exposed metal of the inner trunk lid.

Proud Papa
My do-it-yourself appearance mods came in well under my five grand budget ($3,314 parts + $200 paint + $120 labor = $3,634)  after setting aside the cost of the 19-inch Zenetti alloy wheels ($1,392 set) since they were previously accounted for in the original $5,300 markup of the dealer installed aftermarket package (that price gouging still hurts). Ouch! When combined with my previous performance mods ($5,985), the grand total of $9,619 came in just under my $10K project budget. Yippee!!!

Even better, my 'Stang got back its mojo, and once again continually receives praise from new admirers the world over. My favorite accolade is what several people since the makeover have separately confided in me, "yours is the nicest Mustang I've ever seen." Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so please don't expect me to be impartial. After all, despite the fact there's no resemblance, it's still my baby. -- Fred