So, what do you do, when the wife gives the greenlight to get another Mustang for cruise nights in the summer? Do you buy the 99-04 GT in working order with 100k miles… Hell No, you buy the 96’ Cobra with 54k miles and a Procharger P-1SC kit that doesn’t drive due to a shredded belt and transmission issues. I can’t seem to resist the siren call of a good deal, or the potential to get an amazing car with some wrench time even if it’s a gamble.
Parts List: Procharger P-1SC kit with Stage 3 Intercooler and Big Red Blow Off Valve, Tubular K-member and front Control Arms, Aluminum Driveshaft, Coilovers, BBK Long Tube Headers and Mid-Pipe to dumped flowmaster exhaust, Stage 3 McLeod Clutch, AEM Boost and AFR gauges.
The previous owner advertised the car as running but not driving. I was advised the vehicle had shredded the serpentine belt, and that it had not been replaced yet because it required removal of the supercharger. I was also advised that the vehicle had a TKO600 that wouldn’t shift between gears, he initially told me about a year prior a transmission shop told him the synchros needed replaced, and most recently he advised to check the clutch cable as the shop said it was fine but he speculated it may be part of the issue.
So that’s where I started. Drove up to Milwaukee with my father-in-law and a U-Haul trailer and brought the car home. Being as it was winter, we started the car and drove it only short periods to load and unload, since the water pump was not spinning. The engine sounded healthy, no oil smoke out of the exhaust, no rod knock, no tick, nothing suspect.
Once home I started to go through the vehicle. The Procharger was very misaligned from the alternator pulley. I spent a week talking to a Procharger tech and playing around and feel that I got that issue sorted out. The Procharger and timing cover where very dirty, I had guesses that the front seal behind the pulley was damaged from the belt shredding. So, I marked a bottle with 6 oz. and then drained the P-1SC and found the oil level was less than half of what it should have been. This seemed to confirm that oil was probably leaking out while the pulley spun covering the timing cover and blower. I need to replace the seal (which I have) and then refill the supercharger with oil. I also have a new Gates belt.
Left was starting, and the next two show the alignment improving, still needs to be tightened up but it was close enough that I can tell it will be fine once its back together. I was holding the laser by hand which is why it's slightly off.
You can see the grime prior to the blower being cleaned up.
Oil Level less than half.
Hopefully with the seal replaced it stays this clean.
Big Red
Clean up picture.
Another clean up picture.
The thing that’s currently giving me pause is that the coolant expansion tank was empty. Once removed you can see coolant almost all the way up the hose that connect to the lower radiator hose. I also found that it was missing the upper radiator support brackets, and that the radiator is a 97+ with the 97+ fan assembly. I tried to check the OASIS to see if the cooling TSB was done, but I can’t tell. The fact that it’s missing the brackets makes me wonder if a previous owner attempted to upgrade and found the stock brackets didn’t fit, or if they were removed and forgotten about. I may try to pressure test the cooling system this weekend, and if it holds pressure, I’m going to assume that some coolant was lost and not replaced sufficiently during removal/installation of some part of the cooling system. I will refill the expansion tank, and then burp the system through the upper cross-over and hopefully be done with it. I really, really don’t want to deal with head gasket issues.
Once the cooling system is done, I will re-install the Procharger with the Gates belt. I also need to source the Filter that’s missing from the Anderson Ford Power Pipe that came with it, along with the silicone connectors to attach to the Procharger. That should be the end of the engine stuff for now, at some point I will install a catch can prior to summer use… but that’s it.
Now on the transmission. I noticed that it felt like the clutch was never completely disengaging. When loading it on the trailer, even with the brakes firmly pressed it was like the engine was trying to drive through it. Same when moving it into my garage. I talked to a couple guys in my local Mustang club, and they advised they didn’t think there was anything wrong with the transmission itself. They said to start with the clutch cable and the throw out bearing. The first test was putting the car in gear and then depressing the clutch to the floor to see if it would roll forwards or backwards. Each time the car would not move, confirming that the clutch was not releasing. Next step likely this weekend, will be to jack the front up and look at the clutch fork while the clutch is depressed to see if the cable is moving. If the clutch cable appears fine, then I will probably need to drop the transmission and replace the throw out bearing and potentially the input shaft sleeve if they have fused together.
I’ll try to update this as I order stuff, and would love tips and feedback from people more knowledgeable than myself. Finally if you want to follow along on Instagram the user name is: casper_the_cobra
Parts List: Procharger P-1SC kit with Stage 3 Intercooler and Big Red Blow Off Valve, Tubular K-member and front Control Arms, Aluminum Driveshaft, Coilovers, BBK Long Tube Headers and Mid-Pipe to dumped flowmaster exhaust, Stage 3 McLeod Clutch, AEM Boost and AFR gauges.
The previous owner advertised the car as running but not driving. I was advised the vehicle had shredded the serpentine belt, and that it had not been replaced yet because it required removal of the supercharger. I was also advised that the vehicle had a TKO600 that wouldn’t shift between gears, he initially told me about a year prior a transmission shop told him the synchros needed replaced, and most recently he advised to check the clutch cable as the shop said it was fine but he speculated it may be part of the issue.
So that’s where I started. Drove up to Milwaukee with my father-in-law and a U-Haul trailer and brought the car home. Being as it was winter, we started the car and drove it only short periods to load and unload, since the water pump was not spinning. The engine sounded healthy, no oil smoke out of the exhaust, no rod knock, no tick, nothing suspect.
Once home I started to go through the vehicle. The Procharger was very misaligned from the alternator pulley. I spent a week talking to a Procharger tech and playing around and feel that I got that issue sorted out. The Procharger and timing cover where very dirty, I had guesses that the front seal behind the pulley was damaged from the belt shredding. So, I marked a bottle with 6 oz. and then drained the P-1SC and found the oil level was less than half of what it should have been. This seemed to confirm that oil was probably leaking out while the pulley spun covering the timing cover and blower. I need to replace the seal (which I have) and then refill the supercharger with oil. I also have a new Gates belt.
Left was starting, and the next two show the alignment improving, still needs to be tightened up but it was close enough that I can tell it will be fine once its back together. I was holding the laser by hand which is why it's slightly off.
You can see the grime prior to the blower being cleaned up.
Oil Level less than half.
Hopefully with the seal replaced it stays this clean.
Big Red
Clean up picture.
Another clean up picture.
The thing that’s currently giving me pause is that the coolant expansion tank was empty. Once removed you can see coolant almost all the way up the hose that connect to the lower radiator hose. I also found that it was missing the upper radiator support brackets, and that the radiator is a 97+ with the 97+ fan assembly. I tried to check the OASIS to see if the cooling TSB was done, but I can’t tell. The fact that it’s missing the brackets makes me wonder if a previous owner attempted to upgrade and found the stock brackets didn’t fit, or if they were removed and forgotten about. I may try to pressure test the cooling system this weekend, and if it holds pressure, I’m going to assume that some coolant was lost and not replaced sufficiently during removal/installation of some part of the cooling system. I will refill the expansion tank, and then burp the system through the upper cross-over and hopefully be done with it. I really, really don’t want to deal with head gasket issues.
Once the cooling system is done, I will re-install the Procharger with the Gates belt. I also need to source the Filter that’s missing from the Anderson Ford Power Pipe that came with it, along with the silicone connectors to attach to the Procharger. That should be the end of the engine stuff for now, at some point I will install a catch can prior to summer use… but that’s it.
Now on the transmission. I noticed that it felt like the clutch was never completely disengaging. When loading it on the trailer, even with the brakes firmly pressed it was like the engine was trying to drive through it. Same when moving it into my garage. I talked to a couple guys in my local Mustang club, and they advised they didn’t think there was anything wrong with the transmission itself. They said to start with the clutch cable and the throw out bearing. The first test was putting the car in gear and then depressing the clutch to the floor to see if it would roll forwards or backwards. Each time the car would not move, confirming that the clutch was not releasing. Next step likely this weekend, will be to jack the front up and look at the clutch fork while the clutch is depressed to see if the cable is moving. If the clutch cable appears fine, then I will probably need to drop the transmission and replace the throw out bearing and potentially the input shaft sleeve if they have fused together.
I’ll try to update this as I order stuff, and would love tips and feedback from people more knowledgeable than myself. Finally if you want to follow along on Instagram the user name is: casper_the_cobra