1997 Cobra project

[akurma]

Hi everyone, im new to the SVT performance forums, but have been around the 99-04 section on modded mustangs for a while(i have a 99 GT with 212k miles soon to be procharged). This is a cross posted thread as i figured some of you guys might find this interesting. Anyways I recently picked up a cheap 1997 cobra that needs some loving. ... its got some issues lol but i don't plan on keeping the car i plan to fix it over the next few months, driving it for a bit and sell it come spring/summer time. sorry for the long first post, Anyways here is the rundown

the good

- 1997 Pacific Green Cobra
- Clean title
- Cheap
- 138,617 miles
- Seemingly rust free
- BBk intake, Jet MAF, BBK 65mm TB, BBK long tube headers, MSD plug wires, catted midpipe (cant remember if its a H or X), and flowmaster cat back (with some ugly tips)
- Found a steering wheel cover, motorcraft oil filter, 4qts motorcraft sythetic blend oil and two jugs of coolant in the trunk! (These could be warnings of possible issues i guess)

The bad

- Needs driver side head light (lens is cracked)
- Need to remove all the stickers lol
- Needs rear quarter fixed
- Needs clutch
- Needs steering column (will go more into that later on)
- Needs PA state inspection & Emission
- Find & fix exhaust leak
- Front and rear bumpers could use a respary
- Small hole in driver side seat
- Hood latch sticks horribly
- Hood is lose and zip tied on...
- Weak, yet new battery

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Haven't gotten around to getting started on this project much yet, but I was poking around it the other day trying to narrow down where the exhaust leak is coming from and well.. I found it alright. Not really sure what im going to do about this, the metal looks to brittle to try and weld a patch in along with it being in a bad spot for a patch, these are BBK long tubes i dont know it they were chrome or ceramic coated but either way the finish is looonnnggg gone. My father suggested finding a new collector for it and cutting the rotted section off and welding a new one in, then I'd have to weld a flange on. or worst case scenario which i really don't want to do.. new long tubes Anyway, the other thing I found odd about this car was there isn't a VIN sticker in the door jam, like at all? either the sticker fell off or someone removed it? there is a sticker up much higher that says something about some sort of Ford calibration? a google search brought up something about a PCM/ECM not sure though. Besides that I have put on a spare from my 1999 GT until i get a chance to plug the nail in the one rear tire, it one ghetto looking cobra at the moment

tinkered with the cobra today. I wanted to inspect the air filter to see if it needed a cleaning or replacement, because i have heard these BBK intakes can rust from the inside. It's a good thing i did check it out, filter was pretty much rusted and not worth cleaning. and the inside intake tube has some surface rust that ill clean off. Also discovered what looks to be the production date of the intake of 8/30/06 and the filter looks to be about that old. The best part of this was i discovered that one of the previous owners put one of those "tornado" fuel saver things inside the intake tube right behind the MAF

Decided to tackle the odometer/trip meter issues that plague these SN95 cars, I wasn't sure if it was or wasn't working because i havent driven it more then a few feet. So i figured id spend the $10 and buy the gear replacement kit off of amazon and just replace them. It was a good thing that i did because once i got the cluster out and flipped it around the gear drive was so brittle that that gears had just fallen off and the nubs on each side to hold it in place were broken off. It was pretty straightforward install, i followed the video from LMR and it took me a little less then an hour from start to finish. also figured id write on an inconspicuous spot when and at what mileage it was changed for the next owner who might not know if it was done. I did not replace the worm gear as that gear was perfectly fine, so if anyone needs just a worm gear message me. Now i just need to get it down to the shop, throw it on the lift and get to work on it!

 

[arayray]

Nice little project, I personally would look at getting new headers.

 

[akurma]

Nice little project, I personally would look at getting new headers.

I actually have a replacement collector, im going to try cut off the rotted section, cut the flange off and weld the flange onto the new collector to see if i can save myself some money, if not then yes i think ill have to get new long tubes

 

[akurma]

Finally got the cobra down to my families shop and on the lift! looked it over to see what it will need for inspection and just general maintenance, the car definitely needs some love. The car drove just fine on the 20 mile drive to the shop however it did throw a check engine light, i quickly scanned it with the SCT X4 and came up with three codes. also turns out the car has a BBK catted X pipe and a flowmaster catback I also think it has 3.55 gears as well

Codes;
P0171 - System too lean bank 1 (passenger side, sensor 1)
P1000 - readiness monitor not ready ( most likely from the dead battery)
P1260 - Theft detected (this relates to my steering column issue that i briefly mentioned earlier, more on that later)

Now its strange that it has a code for the passenger side being lean because that side of the long tube is nowhere near as rotted out as the driver side? (see below)

List of items that need to be replaced;

Front and rear rotors and pads (fronts are horribly warped)
passenger front ball joint (going to replace both)
Passenger front tire has a nail in it
Passenger side fog light bulb is missing...
Fix the holes in the long tubes, driver side is MUCH worse then the passenger side.
Replace Clutch - most likely ford racing clutch kit, im dreading this with long tubes
Oil & filter change
Coolant flush
top off fluids

Driver side exhaust leak

Passenger side exhaust leak

 

[96GT226410]

If you're doing a clutch the BBK LT's will have to come off anyway. You might as well just toss them, they look beat. What's up with the steering column?

 

[TooFast98Cobra]

Watch your eyes . I hate pulling headers that are in that condition.

 

[cbr repsol]

The headers look beat like a red headed step child.
Personally I would replace them.

Sent from my LG-H910 using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[cobralvr01]

I had the same kind of dent in the driver rear quarter panel as well. I just went through the trunk, took out the covering and poked a long wooden dowel rod about an inch thick with a round tip and start to pry it out. It popped out pretty clean.

 

[SID297]

You have your work cut out for you, but it could be a fun project.

 

[akurma]

Got some parts in the mail this week, going to try and work on the cobra this weekend, I'll update this when the parts get installed. My next post will explain whats going on with the steering column and explain that theft detected code lol

If you're doing a clutch the BBK LT's will have to come off anyway. You might as well just toss them, they look beat. What's up with the steering column?

Watch your eyes . I hate pulling headers that are in that condition.

The headers look beat like a red headed step child.
Personally I would replace them.

Looked over it some more this week, i think everyone is right. As much as i am going to hate doing it, im going to have to replace the long tubes. I might as well do this right for the next owner, after all this is a cobra, plus they were going to have to come off anyway when i go to replace the clutch. If anyone knows someone selling a used of long tubes set PM me.

You have your work cut out for you, but it could be a fun project.

I think i got a handful for my first dabble into the 4v world lol

 

[cbr repsol]

I understand wanting to fix it. But why put so much work into a car just to sell in a few months? Unless you picked it up for like 1k? There should be plenty of profit if you stay on a nice used part budget.

Sent from my LG-H910 using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[brucesvt]

Thank you for doing this car justice. Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using svtperformance.com

 

[akurma]

I understand wanting to fix it. But why put so much work into a car just to sell in a few months? Unless you picked it up for like 1k? There should be plenty of profit if you stay on a nice used part budget.

Your absolutely right, however I'm still way under budget for what i want to sell this car for. I personally enjoy bringing these beat down cars back to their former glory. Plus all the parts i ordered only came out to $175 granted i saved some money because i had a set of rear cobra rotors from when i was going to do a rear cobra brake swap on my 99 GT. I really didn't think i would have to purchase long tubes for this, so that cuts into my budget a bit but you live and learn. I am definitely on the hunt for a used set before i go spend $500+ on a new set.

Thank you for doing this car justice. Good luck

Check back frequently for updates!

 

[akurma]

Worked on the cobra today, installed the headlights which makes me appreciate just how easy it is to change headlights in New edge mustangs lol. I attempted to tackle the rear rotors and pads, which i shouldn't have because i had other things to do today but i figured ehh why not ive done them before how hard can it be. Before i talk about the brakes, i was able to get the ugly exhaust tips off, for some reason I thought they were welded on but it turns out they are actually just screwed in around the tip, took them off and cleaned them up a bit and they polished up nicely. Back to the brakes, the calipers came off fairly easy, when i went to put the new pads on is where i started running into issues. I am using Powerstop Z17 pads, with Powerstop drilled & Slottled rotors. The new pads came with anti-rattle shims, the pads there were on the car didn't have any. As you can see below i can't get the caliper to slide over the new pads, it's almost as if the new pads are to thick, so for shits and giggles i wanted to see if the caliper would fit with the old pads and to my surprise it didn't only the top caliper bolt would line up, the bottom was about a 1/4 inch off no matter what. I think the parking cable is messing it up some how but At this point i was pressed for time and had to leave so i didn't get a chance to pull the parking brake cable off and see if that helps. ill pick up working on it tomorrow.

 

[Weather Man]

Glad she found someone to give her some TLC. Good luck with the repairs!

 

[Deceptive]

I have a Spec Stage 1 Clutch for sale, BNIB.


Sent from Dr. Krieger's Lab

 

[akurma]

Finished up the rear rotors and pads today, Turns out Rockauto sent me the wrong pads, I assume they are for a GT/V6 because i was able to get the exact same Powerstop Z17 pads at my local parts store the part numbers are exactly the same EXCEPT at the end on the new pads is the letter "A" the pads rockauto sent didn't have "A" anyway once i took them out of the box i noticed the pads were half as thick as the one i was sent from rockauto. (Left pad is new pad, right pad is the rockauto pad.) install was straight forward from there except for the fact that i couldn't get the pads to be installed with the anti-rattle clips installed for whatever reason. While i waited for the pads to get delivered to the shop, I cleaned up the Flowmaster tips a bit better, just used window cleaner and super fine grade steel wool i am surprised how well they shined up, looks much better then the ugly tips that were on it before. Another interesting thing is when i replaced the headlights the driver side headlight, the one that was cracked still had the original factory bulb... from 1996! 21 years later, 138,800 miles and even the light being all smashed up it still works. i have also attached pictures of the interior, yes i know it needs a deep cleaning lol. The pictures show my issue with the steering column. The white box that is hanging is the ignition switch... The reason that is exposed and hanging is because there is a plastic rod in the center of the steering column that engages the ignition switch when you turn the key. In my cobra's case, that plastic rod broke therefore not engaging the ignition switch when the key is turned. In fact when i turn the key it just spins, i can even take the key out when the car is running. I can also start the car without a key HOWEVER it shuts off almost immediately this is why i had a theft detected code thrown. I tried uploading a video of how i start it but it doesnt want to upload, ill try and post it in a few days. Next weekend is front rotors and pads, along with ball joints. then the fun begins with installing the new clutch and long tubes

 

[akurma]

Glad she found someone to give her some TLC. Good luck with the repairs!

Thanks!!

I have a Spec Stage 1 Clutch for sale, BNIB.

Check your PM's

 

[NVRL8TE]

Nice to see someone is saving a Pacific Green.

 

[Tillerman77]

Nice project, especially a Pacific Green! Is that your MS3 in the first picture?