Should I buy a high mileage cobra drivetrain swap?

saleenftw

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Ok so here's the deal. Relatively soon, this coming week, I'm going to look at a very high mileage cobra and drive it. The guy is offering everything for sale except for the body because he wants to put his drag set up into it. He bought the car from out west with 158k on it. Its a 2003 cobra that had no mods when he bought it, completely stock and he said an older lady owned the car for its entire life. Now it has 160k miles on it, he upgraded the fuel system to two ford GT pumps, put a 2.81 pulley on it and got it tuned with a diablosport. Other than that its still stock. He is selling everything from brake to brake, front to back on the car including all the wiring, pcm, supercharger to oil pan engine, t56, irs, tires, fuel system, kmember, etc etc. Basically everything minus the body shell and interior.

Short story I'm wondering if this is all worth it, if I could sell any parts off of it like the irs, short block, and trans. Would it be worth putting into a car? I mainly want it as a base to start with for a terminator build. 160k miles is through the roof for terminator mileage so thats the reason I'm asking for opinions and experiences with higher mileage cobras. His price was 6500 firm

Any input will be greatly appreciated!! :beer:
 

SVT_Troy

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How much? I wouldn't buy it unless it was cheap. It has high miles and doesn't matter if a "old lady" or anyone owned it if they didint take care of it. Now if you get it cheap and take everything apart and rebuild it yourself it may be a ok deal.
 

saleenftw

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Thanks guys, 6500 is a good price thats why I am even considering it and looking past the miles. I've been watching ebay and the prices seem like they stick around 8000 plus shipping. Plus I get to drive this one, unlike buying it over ebay where there are risks. My whole plan was if I could sell the irs and wheels then I could be ok. If I could sell the shortblock with the t56 then I could swap in a mmr short block and pick up a TKO 600. Unless you guys think its worth putting in a car at 160k with bolt ons and the upper pulley.
 

saleenftw

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bump

Anybody else dealt with a higher mileage cobra or have any ideas if the short block and transmission would sell?
 

black 10th vert

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It's definitely a fair price for everything you mention, but I would not install it without at least freshening up the longblock, and I would also send the blower to Posi, or Steig., and have them replace all of the bearings and seals, plus they might as well port it while it's apart. Throw a new clutch setup in, and you should be good to go after that. Selling off the parts you aren't going to use might actually pay for most of the rebuild for you.
 

sonicsaleen

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thats cheap???? i always have drivetrains with low to mid mileage complete swaps about 8500 with those miles heads will need to be refreshed, motor, transmission, blower, ect.... that is too much.
 

saleenftw

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How much? I wouldn't buy it unless it was cheap. It has high miles and doesn't matter if a "old lady" or anyone owned it if they didint take care of it. Now if you get it cheap and take everything apart and rebuild it yourself it may be a ok deal.

That's cheap for 6500

It's definitely a fair price for everything you mention, but I would not install it without at least freshening up the longblock, and I would also send the blower to Posi, or Steig., and have them replace all of the bearings and seals, plus they might as well port it while it's apart. Throw a new clutch setup in, and you should be good to go after that. Selling off the parts you aren't going to use might actually pay for most of the rebuild for you.

thats cheap???? i always have drivetrains with low to mid mileage complete swaps about 8500 with those miles heads will need to be refreshed, motor, transmission, blower, ect.... that is too much.
Sonic Saleen I talked to you earlier that day, and you said you couldnt do anything for me.


Well I bought it! Car drove as nice as my 50k mile 02 GT!! Very nice car, and an even nicer owner, what really sold me was the fact I could listen to the car in person, drive it, see everything I was getting and talk to the actual owner. I didnt like the risk involved with buying stuff over ebay, too many bad stories about cars that had water on the pistons or something going wrong. I even worked in that I could have the hood and liner with the deal, should be picking it up this saturday. I still want to enjoy my GT so I have about a year to plan on what should happen with the engine and whether or I should swap it in or rebuild it. In my opinion I think that engine was rebuilt at sometime, it didnt run like a 160k engine or drive like one. My 92k 01 cobra was a high mileage cobra and it drove like it. This car also had the blue stripe on the driver side head, and a motorcraft oil filter which is a good sign. He also replaced the plastic chain tensioners with metal ones when he bought the car. Only problem was a leak in the intercooler.

So overall I got the air filter to oil pan engine, complete t56 and driveshaft, irs, tires and rims, complete brake system, radiator, front suspension assembly, all wiring harnesses, ecu/instruments, guages, all hardware, fuel tank with twin ford gt pumps, all evap system, fuel lines, brake lines, ABS unit, and the hood and liner. All for 6500. Short story I bought a terminator minus the body and interior. :dancenana:
 

Silver2003Cobra

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should have found a V6 shell and sold to him, and walked away with the entire car.. it's the VIN number that you want if you want the Terminator..
 

03cobraracer

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should have found a V6 shell and sold to him, and walked away with the entire car.. it's the VIN number that you want if you want the Terminator..

yeah i agree on that one, why cut up a good cobra for a drag car like that. but you still got a good deal man, you should freshen up the motor/blower and maybe a simple rebuild on the trans and dump it all into your car. or find a cobra roller and bring it back to life and sell your gt. but no matter what you got a pretty good deal, thats alot of stuff for that price.
 

saleenftw

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Thanks guys, and believe me I wanted the car... He was just set that he wanted it for the body and interior. I even offered him a v6 I had lined up that I couldve gotten cheap but he wanted the rust free body and cobra seats. Which I dont blame him, it was a nice car even with the mileage because he got it out west. Vin doesnt really matter to me, a certificate sits on your desk while an engine you can enjoy. After all I own a Saleen clone... ;-)
 

2K1 SVT

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Thanks guys, and believe me I wanted the car... He was just set that he wanted it for the body and interior. I even offered him a v6 I had lined up that I couldve gotten cheap but he wanted the rust free body and cobra seats. Which I dont blame him, it was a nice car even with the mileage because he got it out west. Vin doesnt really matter to me, a certificate sits on your desk while an engine you can enjoy. After all I own a Saleen clone... ;-)

Soon to be Saleen cobra clone lol
 

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