New to me '98 Cobra Coupe

[MW03Cobra]

I picked up a 98 cobra last fall to use as a daily driver/auto-x/open track car.

It was BONE stock when I picked it up from the Lady that had it since new.


This post is a Combination of post that I made on our local SVTOA site so it may not flow well but you can get the idea.

Here are the details:

1998 White Cobra Coupe.
83,000 miles
1 owner / lady driven
Bone stock (nothing..big plus for me)
Saddle interior (will work on that)

I have added the new EVAP purge valve, and new PCV valve, will get the oil changed today. I also picked up a new fuel filter that I hope to get in tonight/tomorrow. Window tint, New Seats (Black cloth), New Carpet (Balck), and a rear seat delete (black) will be the 1st "mods" after I get all the fluids etc taken care of (plugs, wires and so on). Then maybe look at the exhaust, gears, CAI, and subframes at somepoint.

I will keep the mods to a Min but I will add a few things here and there. I want to use it as a daily driver and get it on open track coruses a couple of times a year.

I picked it up on Wensday and it had a CEL on. Scanned it for codes and came up with P1443 1st. That is a faulty EVAP purge valve issue. $25 bucks at NAPA and that took care of that. It was then able to pass emissions testing yesterday and got the title and tags switched over to my name.

I have always ...always liked the SN95 Cobras so I could not pass up a bone stock Cobra like this one.

This is the 1st car that I have owned that has had a roof (coupe) since a 1990 Bronco II that I bought in 1991..... dang near 17 years


I will update this thread with progress pictures as I get things done. 1st thing in a rush last night was to buff the yellow out of the headlights. 10-15 minutes later and they look 1,000 times better. They dont look new but dang near new and I can live with them now.

Remember the pics are of the car as I received it (not washed). I will be cleaning the fool out of it over the next few weeks












Notice dull headlights


Dull



Left done right still Dull


Left after one buffing... more came out teh 2nd time around but the camera died .



After some cleaning:

The pic you will see is after a weeks worth or driving in the rain so the Shine is not what it was but at least you will see that the wires are blue and that the motor is not grey.

The door handle on teh drivers side was about to fall off when used to open the door. It also rattled going down teh road a bit and was driving me nutz.

Pic of said handle:



Door pannel off:


Ahh found this in the bottom of the door:


After the nut was back on and both were tightened and the door pannel back on... works MUCH better:



Engine before:


Engine cleaned but not detailed (after 4 days of rain) will do more :up:




Outside before a wash and buff/wax:




After claybar Zymol cleaner wax, Adams swirl remover, Adams revive poish, and topped off with Adams butter wax: I need some Poorboys SSR 2 or 2.5 to get the tougher stuff out.





Some "glamor shots" :

Stuff added: Tinted windows, shortty anntenna, snake in grill, front License plate bracket removed (holes filled with plugs painted white).















MOD TIME!

Added was:

BBK Catted H pipe
Magnaflow Catback
H&R Race Sprngs (lowers @ an inch all the way around)
Bilstein Shocks and Struts
MM pinion snubber
MM Caster Camber Plates
MM Spring Isolators
Also fixed the broken parking break cable
Replaced STOCK Fuel FILTER 80,000 on the stocker
* Putting the MM Strut Tower Brace on tonight (it didnt show up in time last week).
Subframes and 4:30 gears are the next step. Trying to be redy for auto-x season '08 :cheers:


I will take better pics soon but there are a couple of qucik snaps. I had others but my pocket cam is messing up and i lost a few somehow :cry: :



Gotta turn your head right on this one :lol: Rotate :banghead:

Old Exhaust (pics of new exhaust were lost )



New Ride Height



Old Ride Height


The sound is just where I wanted it ...for daily driving it is not too loud but has a good sound to it IMO.

The ride is much better than stock and much better in the corners :up:
The ride height is not real low but again it is just right for daily driving and seems that I will not have any rub issues :up:


The MMSTB install:

[Dellcobra]

I would maybe not go so high on the gears. 4:30 would be great for drag racing, but not for daily driving or auto cross. I use 3:73 in my 96, which was a daily driver for almost 8 years. It is now a dedicated open track car and the 3:73 work great. What you may want to do is replace the Ford limited slip rear end, with a Torsen T2R. This will give you better hook up through turns and I am sure the original is worn out.

I would also replace the coil packs if they are factory. They wear out do to age and you will loose top end power.

The subframe connectors are a must. I am assuming you are going use the MM full lenght weld in?

Congrats on your find. A nice clean car and should be great.

Dell
96 Lazer Red Coupe, #48 (120,000 miles)

[golden_eye]

Nice car, plenty of good pics too!

[Sharppony]

Sweet Ride! I have 4.10s in my Cobra and love them. What did you use to clean the engine compartment?

[MW03Cobra]

Thanks Dell.

Yeah the MM FLSFC's will be the subframes I go with. I have them on the 03 so I will stick with them.

I had 4.10's in the 97 Cobra i had and felt that it needed a little more gear. I will try the 4.30 and see how they do.. if I find that it is too much gear I will go 4.10 or 3.90. I will do more auto-x than true open track so I would like a gear that I can ride the whole auto-x course in 2-3 gear and not do many shifts. This will not be a drag racing car for sure.

Thanks everyone.

I would maybe not go so high on the gears. 4:30 would be great for drag racing, but not for daily driving or auto cross. I use 3:73 in my 96, which was a daily driver for almost 8 years. It is now a dedicated open track car and the 3:73 work great. What you may want to do is replace the Ford limited slip rear end, with a Torsen T2R. This will give you better hook up through turns and I am sure the original is worn out.

I would also replace the coil packs if they are factory. They wear out do to age and you will loose top end power.

The subframe connectors are a must. I am assuming you are going use the MM full lenght weld in?

Congrats on your find. A nice clean car and should be great.

Dell
96 Lazer Red Coupe, #48 (120,000 miles)

[MW03Cobra]

Sweet Ride! I have 4.10s in my Cobra and love them. What did you use to clean the engine compartment?

Thanks

On the engine I used a light mist of automotive simple green every where. I then used a mist of water to get the green working & then I went over everything very lightly with a soft brush. Once that was done i used the mist from the hose again to clean everything off. Be sure to use a mist nozzle so you dont get everything too wet and mess something up.

[cobraken]

Great job on the clean up & fixes. Keep it up. If your pondering changing the gears: 3:55 for street & some road race tracks; 3:73 for street, road race, & drags; lower if you're serious about drag racing

[MW03Cobra]

The gear will be 4.10 a lest 4.30 .. I only drive 7 miles to work so that is not an issue. It wont be a drag car but the 4.10/4.30 gear will be fun for a auto-x/open track car:

Good thread here on the subject:

http://69.13.120.175/forums/showthre...highlight=4.30

I am going 4.30 more for the feel of driving around town. Also, I figure that on the auto-x courses i can leave it in 2nd gear and ride the course with only the 1-2 shift.

Again I had a 97 with a 4.10 and it was not enough gear IMO.

I never will be a serious open tracker until I have the time... I work too much to be serious about much sad to say.

[SVT CAMR]

Nice car! Just wanted to throw this out there before you get rid of or remove your interior. There were only 434 cars (98 SVT Cobra's) that came with white paint and saddle leather interior. If you had saddle cloth with white paint there were only 10 made for that year. Just wanted to throw this out there for you in case you care. Nice find BTW.

[badass98svt]

4.30s are the shiz.
I drive my Cobra daily in the summer, and do a lot of highway driving. I get 21 mpg on the highway.

The Cobra looks great.

Did you get the build date, build # and the 2 names on the motor?

[MW03Cobra]

One builder is RPM and the other I would ahve to look up. I will get a pic of the tag and post it ASAP.

[MW03Cobra]

Oh BTW black 97 door pannels, clear corners, and a CAI is on the way . I will keep the original Door pannels incase I need to take it back to stock one day. I will keep a black and tan theme but it will be more black than tan. LOL

[vger]

Great find and great job on the car.
With all the time you have put in this one when do you find the time to drive the 03?
If you don't spend some time with her, she will get jealous. (lol)

[PETSNKE]

Oh BTW black 97 door pannels, clear corners, and a CAI is on the way . I will keep the original Door pannels incase I need to take it back to stock one day. I will keep a black and tan theme but it will be more black than tan. LOL

Looks like you could use a FR500 steering wheel too.
http://www.stangsuspension.com/store...idproduct=1292

I've seen people re-use the tan air bag with it and it still looks nice, even better with the black door panels

[MW03Cobra]

Great find and great job on the car.
With all the time you have put in this one when do you find the time to drive the 03?
If you don't spend some time with her, she will get jealous. (lol)

LOL I hear ya... I did buy the 03 some Chrome Y2k R's and new tires. My bank account is the one not liking 3 cars to spend money on. I have a 99C5 vert too ... it is the one that never gets driven LOL. Its a nice ride but I rather drive my Cobras