98 to 03 Cobra...project

[KWClutch]

So here it goes. For those of you who don't know my name is Josh and I live in Denton, Tx. I became a realtor early last year and took off. I've always wanted a Cobra so I found a 98 Laser Red Cobra on Craigslist with 84k miles from the hometown I'm from (Georgetown, Tx). I flew down there to check it out and found out the owner was actually my old high school english teacher. I used to have a 00 Laser Red Gt and would always park by him. That was a cool experience so I pretty much had to buy it on the spot. He sold it to me for 6k cash in June of last year. I drove it back up here and it was sweet. He had kept it bone stock. I kept it that way till about August where I added 4.10 gears, MGW short shifter and JLT Cold Air. I ran a fastest 8.6 in the 1/8 with those mods. Never had any problems with the car untill....

A couple months ago I was driving out to meet a client and all of a sudden a small rattle starting coming from the motor. I freaked out and added some oil even though it wasn't horribly low. Seemed to help it a little. Drove it home and then ran some seafoam that night. The next morning it seemed to go away so I decieded to drive it again. On the highway there was a loud pop and the rattle came back. I killed the ignition and coasted it into a parking lot. Got it towed back to my house. Finally got the motor out 2 weeks ago to find out I spun rod bearings 1 and 5.......

So project 03 into 98 begins. I'll try to do a good write up with pics.




Footnotes:
Bought a cool car
Broke Car
Bringing in a new Engine

Price:
Complete Engine: 5k
Fuel tank with pumps and hat: $500
Transmission/crossmember/driveshaft: $1200
Paint: $35
Chrome Saleens: $500

 

[KWClutch]

Bought 03 Cobra motor with 1500 miles on heads/longblock/internals. 43k miles on supercharger and other parts. Had the "tick", just had the recall done and then wrecked it.
Mods:
2.76 Billetflow Upper and 100mm Idler
K&N Fire pak RAI
SCT 4bank ship with tune
Ported and Matched BBK twin blade TB
Dyno'd at 451hp/456 tq
Engine: 5k shipped

Pics of the Progress:
http://s373.photobucket.com/albums/oo179/KWClutch/

 

[KWClutch]

Painting the Eaton/Valve Covers

Using Duplicolor Black Metalic Paint and VHT High Temp Flat black for the Eaton. Using a "knock off" Laser Red/Redfire Duplicolor paint for the plug covers.

Paint: $35

 

[97desertCobra]

Interesting. I've been considering doing a 03 motor swap instead of rebuilding my short block.

 

[68_GT]

sweet man. Denton is my home town

Honestly I wouldn't drive a SN95 if I didn't have a terminator drivetrain.

black Eatons look sweet too ! I used a high temp Satin finish black. Good luck with finishing it up !!!!!!

 

[KazooGS-T]

Interesting. I've been considering doing a 03 motor swap instead of rebuilding my short block.

Or you could get an aluminator short/longblock.

Op, good luck! Post up some pictures by using the "Insert Image" function on the forum as you progress.

 

[uofipilot]

When you guys did this, did/are you using the 03/04 CPM and COP setup? I'm itching to do this, but I don't know what the engine wiring would be like. Did you switch to the 03/04 engine harness as well? I was thinking about buying a wrecked 03/04 and swapping literally the entire car into my 97.

 

[KWClutch]

Check out the photobucket link in the 2nd post. It should be public. I'll update that. I just finished painting the eaton gloss black because of the valve cover paint was too glossy for flat which is what I wanted to do but it's looking very good right now. I'm going to try to use the 03 ECM and it came with harness with the COP's. I'm just worried about the interior working with the 03 stuff. We'll see how that goes.

 

[uofipilot]

Sounds good. That's kind of what I was worried about too. I'm not savvy with electrical stuff, so that's why I was thinking of buying a complete wrecked 03 and transfer all of the electronics (cpm, all wiring, and all electronic devices) into mine. Definitely keep us updated, and keep posting pics!

 

[KWClutch]

Just finished with the valve covers and coil covers.

 

[KWClutch]

Eaton

 

[SoCalHarley]

Great swap.... we did one into my GT a couple of years ago and it was well worth it IMO. You did real well on the price of the motor and trans.
The suspension mods are next..... good luck!

 

[KWClutch]

I really need some help with the ECM questions. If anyone has experience with this please let me know. This is a late model 98 with the faster ecm. That seems to be the only thing I should have a big problem with. Will the interior stuff work if I just reflash the 98 to an 03. There is a SCT 4bank chip that looks like it will plug straight to my 98.

 

[Gallows]

Cool project:rockon:

 

[jumperjack]

When you guys did this, did/are you using the 03/04 CPM and COP setup? I'm itching to do this, but I don't know what the engine wiring would be like. Did you switch to the 03/04 engine harness as well? I was thinking about buying a wrecked 03/04 and swapping literally the entire car into my 97.

I kept my 96 EEC and the coil packs but am going to switch over to the COP. If I were just starting my project I would definitely go with the 03 and COP will give you a much cleaner engine bay.

 

[97desertCobra]

Or you could get an aluminator short/longblock.

Op, good luck! Post up some pictures by using the "Insert Image" function on the forum as you progress.

I've considered this option but it all comes down to price. I could get the 03 Cobra engine then sell my blower, my block, heads, cams, etc. And hope to get as close to even as possible. Then I would have to worry about the electrical, wiring, fuel, etc. So I'm trying to weigh costs. Will it be cheaper in the end to swap to an 03 Cobra motor and sell my parted out engine and blower, or rebuild my shortblock?

 

[KWClutch]

Jumper? Did you reflash your computer? Or just get a tune on your computer?

 

[Mustang Matt]

When you guys did this, did/are you using the 03/04 CPM and COP setup? I'm itching to do this, but I don't know what the engine wiring would be like. Did you switch to the 03/04 engine harness as well? I was thinking about buying a wrecked 03/04 and swapping literally the entire car into my 97.

I kept my 98 computer and converted to COP. Have your tuner change the dwell cycle to what a COP car would use. The wiring is a lot of wires but not too difficult. Unwrap the coil pack wires from the engine harness and start labeling things.

I ended up unwrapping the tape and putting wire loom on them and then taping the wire loom. I didn't grab any photos but it looked much better.

Here's the wiring which I got from tccoa.com:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgcxhnzw_12c5z2qfhp&hl=en

 

[jumperjack]

Jumper? Did you reflash your computer? Or just get a tune on your computer?

I am running the Anderson PMS tuner and software so there is no flashing, It is a piggyback system for our EEC. There is no flashing with the PMS you can tune and make changes with the car running. It is somewhat of a stand alone system.

 

[jumperjack]

I kept my 98 computer and converted to COP. Have your tuner change the dwell cycle to what a COP car would use. The wiring is a lot of wires but not too difficult. Unwrap the coil pack wires from the engine harness and start labeling things.

I ended up unwrapping the tape and putting wire loom on them and then taping the wire loom. I didn't grab any photos but it looked much better.

Here's the wiring which I got from tccoa.com:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgcxhnzw_12c5z2qfhp&hl=en

This on my agenda very soon. How is it working out for you?