New to the Mustang, I have a few Questions

[Renegade 800]

This is my first post here. I belong to many forums for Motorcycle’s and ATV’s and this one is really set up properly.

I have a few questions about my 2000 Mustang V6. I will fill you in on some background before I ask the questions.

In 2005 I bought a 1988 Jeep Wrangler from My father-in-law. It only had 39,000 miles on it. I only put on 3000 miles in 3 years. I mostly used it to tow my ATV trailer and I drove it to work a few times. In town it got around 10 miles to the gallon. My other vehicles are 2000 Ford F-150 with a 5.4L, around 11 mpg, a 2001 Chevy Tahoe with a 5.3L it gets around 12 mpg. I sold my Jeep to buy something with better gas mileage and still be fun to drive. The Mustang fit those criteria’s perfectly. I took it on a 1400 mile trip the first weekend I had it. Surprisingly I got 29 miles mpg. About 7 more then I was expecting. In town it is getting about 19 if I drive it conservable. It is now my daily driver until winter. We get about 10 to 15 feet of snow in the winter. It will be parked for 5 to 6 months out of the year. I have had it for a month and I have but on just about the same miles as I did on my jeep in 3 years.

Equipment
3.8L, Automatic. 68,000 miles.
Sport appearance package.
ABS and Traction Control, (are those standard or an option?)
Stock Radio/ Cassette. Optional CD player

My questions.

Both door lock actuators do not work. I had the same problem in my F-150. Where is the best place to buy those? I found some on EBay for $44. each.

Radio is OK but needs some better speakers. Are they 6x8”? I was also looking at a powered sub. Possibly a Bazooka 8”. Does anyone know of a good place to buy?

Headlights are faded. I tried a plastic polish but that didn’t help a lot. Any ideas?

The fake hood scoop and side scoops are faded. Has anyone painted theirs? If so how do you remove them?

Has any one replaced their door hinges with the Gull wing hinges? They look cool but to me they seem like they don’t open wide enough to get in and out. EBay link.

Like I said I love the gas mileage it is getting, but I think it needs a little more get up and go. It has the looks it just needs a little more power and sound to go with it and still keep the mileage up. The fist thing that came to mind is an underdrive pulley kit. I also was thinking about an exhaust setup and a CAI for a deeper sound. Does any one know of a good place to buy those? And what brand to get? RPM outlet is one of the sites I found that had decent prices.

[lowflyn]

First off, welcome to the site, sounds like you are semi-knowledgeable.

For my first point, do not ever, I mean ever, order anything from rpm outlet. They are notorious for ripping ppl off.

ABS and TC are both options, my 02 V6 had neither, didn't have cruise control either.

Since both door locks are not working, are you sure it's the actuators and not just a blown fuse or faulty wiring?

The speakers sizes are 5x7/6x8's, both will fit with no modification. As far as subs, that's up to you and what your budget is. I fit 2 12's in the trunk with plenty of room to spare...

On the headlights, you will either have to sit down with sanding paper (starting around 1000 grit and moving finer) and really work on wetsanding them down or just buy a new set of headlights. If you buy new, the smoked lights look great.

The hood scoop is bolted through the hood, remove the inner liner and take the bolts out and it comes off. The sidescoops are simply pressed on, you can pull these straight off with a little force and do whatever you need.

Do not buy the gullwing door hinges, these are notorious for rusting and having alignment issues. You will fight them from day 1.

You're getting about the right gas mileage for right now, if you are just wanting to make the car a little more enjoyable I'd recommend exhaust, cai (if you want), and a good tune. The tune will make the biggest seat in your pants improvement while also being able to bump up the mileage a little more. The exhaust will just be more enjoyable overall.

For more information on modifications I'll point you to this thread:
When modding a car from the start: (order of mods list for best results!!!)

It's a list of modifications put together by some of the forerunners in V6 performance and modification on these mustangs.

[Renegade 800]

Thanks for the info.

The driver’s side will lock, but will not unlock. It tries, you can hear it click and it moves a little. The passenger’s side will not lock or unlock. It does the same thing as the drivers side when trying to unlock it.

I was just curious about the door hinges. I really wasn’t planning on getting them.

My plan is to get the cai, exhaust then the underdrive pulley kit and be done for performance. No sense in investing a lot of money into it since I bought it for a daily commuter to save on gas. A $1000 for mods would buy a lot of gas.

I’m not all that familiar with the tuners. Are they the hand held computers that alter the cars computer?