98 Cobra Terminator Build

[2fastfords]

EDIT- Finally back from paint and headed back together!!! 12-26-14

Whats up guys,

So Ive always had a soft spot for the SN95 style and have always wanted to get a terminator setup going, but never found the right donor. Anyway I was cruising Ebay and found a clean 27k mile chrome yellow Cobra roller east of St. Louis, Im in eastern PA, so me and the girl made a weekend trip out and bought the car.

Then about a month or so ago I came across 97StangSVT's 03 Cobra part out thread which was pretty local so I got down there and checked it out. One owner, 12k mile stock cobra that got pretty torn up in a wreck. So we made a deal to buy the complete drive line in the shell still. I picked the car up last weekend and got it stripped down so that brings me to now.

Like others before, doing the complete swap, fuel system, harnesses, etc etc. Planning to do a ported blower, pulleys, exhaust and all the other bolt ons to hopefully get me around 500hp to the wheels. So enough talking, heres some pics to get this build started.

Here she is at the previous owners.

On the trailer, ready for her journey home.

Interior and front clip stripped off, ready for its new parts!

Heres the donor, getting ready to lift it off the trailer with a boom. It was a bit of a hard time getting it on the trailer and I cant thank 97StangSVT enough for the help getting it done.

Up in the air.

Out comes the heart of the swap and on the stand!

Here she is all stripped out and ready to be scrapped

Anyway thats where Im at for now. The shells getting picked up Saturday morning, them the 98 comes back and the swap begins.


Let me know you guys think! Im sure ill have some questions, so if youve done this swap, please chime in!

 

[Stang Lover]

I love these swaps! What are your plans?

 

[2fastfords]

Ported blower and all the bolts ons, hoping for around 500hp. I have another Set of staggered gun metal RKs for it and the saleen wing, probably some widow tint.. I picked up an IRS from an 03 and Im considering building that up to swap over too but not sure yet. Just looking to make a mean cruiser.

 

[1BD9D7]

Wow I wish that 98 would have stayed closer to home, perhaps at my house lol. Cool swap, lots of work but worth it.

 

[redrocket16]

I love driving mine. Every time I drive the car I enjoy the hell out of it.

Are you planning on swapping the wiring harness as well or keeping the 98 wiring? BTW, there is a person making a part that allows you to flip the IAC around so you don't have to cut the hood. Also, I had to space the K member down to clear the stock hood. I still have some hiccups such as the air bag's not wanting to talk to the 04 computer as well as needing to delete the ABS.

Goodluck brother!

 

[lastdeployment]

I'm winding down on my swap...
http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?989213-Terminator-Swap

There are plenty of people here that can answer questions as you go.

 

[2fastfords]

Yep I'm swapping everything over from the 03, all harnesses, fuel system, etc etc. I have the body and door harnesses swapped in already.

How do you guys like your IRS setup, I have one sitting around and I think I'd like to build it and swap that in too.

 

[Shake&Bake]

Yep I'm swapping everything over from the 03, all harnesses, fuel system, etc etc. I have the body and door harnesses swapped in already.

How do you guys like your IRS setup, I have one sitting around and I think I'd like to build it and swap that in too.

Cool build man, keep us posted on progress.

 

[2fastfords]

Alright well I got the 03 hauled away for scrap Saturday morning. Spent the rest of the day organizing and cleaning the garage and some of the parts up. Got the 98 back out of storage today and back in my garage and here's what I got done.

The 03 leaving

The 98 off the trailer and back in the garage

03 body harness and door harnesses in.

Old pedals removed and the 03s swapped in.

 

[PACIFICGREENSVT]

That 98 is clean! Your going to love it when its done.

 

[2fastfords]

Fuel Pump Module Installed

Old trunk latch and harness

New wiring and latch (still needs a little work)

A little wiring repair on the dash harness, previous owner did a real hack job installing an alarm system. Need to pick up an OEM Ford connector to finish the last wire.

Before

And after

 

[97StangSVT]

Best of luck with the swap! Looks like you are off to a good start!

 

[lastdeployment]

Looks good. Surprises will pop up along the way (at least mine has). Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[03SonicVert]

Fantastic!
This will be an awesome build.
Great job so far!

SV

 

[BlksvtCobra01]

Looks great nice build keep up the good work.

 

[CF03Cobra1226]

Sorry about the alarm install. It was "professionally" done back in 04 and never really worked right. Your 98 is going to be an awesome ride. Really glad that the heart of my old car has found a great new home. Looking forward to following the rest of your project. Good luck

 

[2fastfords]

Time for an update. I work out of state during the week so my build time is limited to the weekends so sadly its going a bit slower then I prefer.

Anyway after a good bit of research I couldnt find anything about using the 03/04 door latch/ lock actuators in their swaps so I was going to rewire my 98 setup. 99Cobra_vert set me up with a pair from his 03 partout for a good price so I figured Ill give them a try. So heres the two different latch assemblys, 03/04 on the left.

So the latch bolts right in but the locking rod for to the key is pretty different. 98 on the Top, 03 on the bottom.

So neither rod worked, one too long, the other too short. So when you use the key it wont lock or unlock the door. So after some measuring and trial and error, I modified the longer rod to this. Now its the right length and the key works perfectly.

Swapped out the drivers door lock to the 03 one since Ill be using the 03 column.

So heres the latch and rods all bolted in and wired up. Both doors are done now. Im trying to decide what I want to do with the passenger lock though since the 03/04s didnt have the passenger lock. I think Ill attempt to get it re-keyed to match the new column and drivers door.

Got a heat exchanger and power steering cooler since mine were mangled in the wreck. Took some time to get all the fins nice and neat again and cleaned them up.

Also fixed the ecu harness, which had a cut off head light lead then cleaned it all up to look like new.

Stripped the dash apart and seperated the frame and cover. Laid out the new dash harness to see how it fits, I need to notch out the area for where the fuse box mounts so it fits since its pretty different from the 98 style.

The area that needs notched out.

And the finished project, a tight fit but its in there.

So that was my sunday. Im brought the dash frame to my apartment with me, so Im going to buff some rust off quick and shoot it with a coat of primer to prevent more rust.

 

[xsellr8]

Great work! Sad to see such a low mileage terminator bite the dust, but you sure are making good use of it. That's better than letting it rot in a salvage yard. I like to see the SN95s start to come back too. Of course, I approve of yellow, might I add. You are lucky to get such a great low-mileage drive train. Keep up the good work. *Subscribing! :rockon:

 

[mustangmike02]

badass build. subscribed!

 

[2fastfords]

Brought the dash frame with me to my apartment last week.

Got the rust cleaned up a bit, then primed.

Then a coat of black, figured might as well paint it while it's separated from the cover.

Then getting the new harness swapped over.

Looks like it belongs there.