A few months ago, a good buddy of mine called me asking if I’d be willing to look at a friend of his terminator that was running bad. I told him to have the guy reach out to me and I’d see what I can do to help him. Hours later I receive a text message from said friend. He tells me that the car is breaking up and doesn’t have any power after he put the modifications on the car (oh boy.). He asks me if I can fix it for him. Unfortunately between work, a one year old, and some other things, time isn’t something that is abundance in my life, so I had to decline. I told him to bring the car by and I would glance at it and give him my opinion. Before getting off the phone with him, I jokingly ask if he wanted to sell the car. He declined, and said that he couldn’t since he’s owned the car for so long and it had sentimental value to him. Three weeks later, I get a text message from him again asking me if my offer is still on the table. I wasn’t really in the position to spend 20k dollars on a Cobra right now, but I ask him what number he has in his head. His reply nearly made me fall out of my chair… “Does 9k sound fair?” I tell him I want to look at the car the next day due to a prior commitment that night. We agree on a time and place for the following day. Following day rolls around and I get another message from him. “I’m taking the car to the dealership and trading it in.” Whoa whoa whoa!!!! I ask him to please allow me to look at the car before doing so. I meet him on our lunch break. Instantly I see the car has been neglected. Paint chips galore, clear coat peeling, curbed AFS’s, etc…. We go for a ride and the car runs like pure shit. It idles high and breaks up under acceleration. We get back to the parking lot and I asked him if he was firm on the price. We negotiated to $8250 and I became the proud owner of a higher mileage 2003 Cobra.
I get the car home, pulled her into the garage and popped the hood. Everybody knows you cannot work on a car in the garage without a beer, so I grabbed a beer and began to shake the car down to see what I can visually see wrong. No sooner than putting the shitty prop rod in the opening I see a vacuum line that was off of the intake. I hook it back up and didn’t see any major issues other than an engine bay that had never been cleaned. Idle is right back where it should be, but the car still breaks up under acceleration. He told me that somebody put plugs in the car so I decided to pick up a set of TR6’s just as insurance. The moment that I pull the coil covers off, I knew somebody took his money or he was lying to me one. Pulled the plugs out after cleaning out the valleys of all the dirt and crap and find seven original Motorcraft plugs and one Autolite.
Tossed in the new TR6’s and she ran like a champ when I took her up the road. When I pulled her back into the garage, I noticed the blower reservoir didn’t have coolant circulating, so I began to look into that common issue. I grabbed my trusty BFH and knock the shit out of the pump and jumped the relay. Good as new!
Like every other Mustang I’ve owned, the stance is one of the first things to be addressed. In went a set of H&R springs! Upon the installation of the springs, I noticed that the ball joints were completely destroyed which I expected with a higher mileage car. I picked up a set of Moog with the help of the 30% discount code when you buy parts online at Advance auto. Get the ball joints pressed in and begin the re-assembly and realized that like a jackass, I mushroomed the top thread of the tie rod end when removing it. Dumbass! So, back to Advance I go to pick up a set of Moog tie rod ends for both sides. Those super sweet caliper covers were quickly taken off of the car as well.
Second thing that I have to do is replace that shitty factory shifter. You guessed it, MGW baby! This blue handle has been with me since my first Mustang many years ago. When a good buddy of mine bought my Mach 1, I told him I’d leave the handle in the car, but wanted it back if he ever swapped shifters or sold the car. Two months later, he was killed in the car. 24 years old. He got married the Friday before he tragically lost his life, and never got to tell his family that he was going to be a father. They were going to replicate the baby announcement that my wife and I did, but never had the opportunity to do so. A buddy of mine took the car to the yard, so I begged him to get the handle out of the car now that it had even more sentimental value to me. The car was picked up before he was able to swap it out and I was devastated. I looked on every insurance auction that I could find in hopes that it would pop up so I could try and get that handle back. No luck. Weeks go past and I get a text message from my buddies’ wife asking me a few questions about the car. As nicely as I could, I asked her if she knew where the car went. She informed me that his parents bought the car back due to somebody telling them that they could salvage the drivetrain and re-create the car for them. I asked her if there was any chance possible that I could swap that handle out for a different one that I had. I told her the backstory and she told me she would ensure that I got it back before the car was moved again. Long story short, I took the handle and the FRPP leather knob that I put in the car and will have a custom plate made as a tribute.
(What the car looked like before I sold it)
(What was left of the car after the accident)
(Our baby announcement)
I love the look of the 18” AFS’s but, they weren’t perfect, so that as going to drive me nuts, so they had to go. To replace them, I picked up a set of 18” series 2’s from LMR in black. I ran these on my Mach and loved the look of them. A buddy of mine tagged me on a post on a post in one of the terminator groups for a set of 18” staggered SSR’s for a ridiculous price, so the series 2’s will be going to a buddy of mine once these SSR’s are refinished.
(The SSR's that were sitting outside of my garage for hours courtesy of the Fedex driver)
Currently the car is in Atlanta being wrapped by a terrific company called Atlanta Custom Wraps. Justin who owns the company is incredible and one of the most laid back dudes I have ever come into contact with. He met me at the shop after 9pm and talked to us for about 45 minutes. Highly recommend him to anybody in the southeast looking to wrap their cars. He’s got TONS of pictures of him and celebrities and famous athletes in the shop, so I thought that was pretty bad ass.
I knew the moment I pulled up and saw the lambo that my turd was in good hands. haha
Before taking it up to Atlanta, I installed the Mac Prochamber, Borla stingers, and a few new exhaust studs thanks to the last owner. Once the car is done being wrapped, I have a laundry list of parts that will go on the car to include a McLeod street series clutch, flywheel, ARP bolts, and a rear main seal since the one on the car is leaking like crazy, a new tinted front windshield, UPR catch can, full light package from Diode Dynamics, three bar MAP sensor to allow the gauge to read boost, wideband, and finish routing the wiring for my Ngauge that is currently temp installed into the Speed of Sound single pillar pod.
The best mod is sitting in the garage waiting patiently! A brand new 2.3 TVS!!!! I cannot wait to turn this car over to Justin Starkey and his team to see what numbers this high mileage terminator can put down. I picked up a set of 60lb injectors from a buddy of mine yesterday, so I will be sending them out to be overhauled and tested this week. I also need to replace the fuel pump socks and replaced the coils since Justin recommended I do so due to the age of the car to ensure the best results come dyno time.
Thank you for taking the time to read my restoration story so far! I will update as progress goes on!
I get the car home, pulled her into the garage and popped the hood. Everybody knows you cannot work on a car in the garage without a beer, so I grabbed a beer and began to shake the car down to see what I can visually see wrong. No sooner than putting the shitty prop rod in the opening I see a vacuum line that was off of the intake. I hook it back up and didn’t see any major issues other than an engine bay that had never been cleaned. Idle is right back where it should be, but the car still breaks up under acceleration. He told me that somebody put plugs in the car so I decided to pick up a set of TR6’s just as insurance. The moment that I pull the coil covers off, I knew somebody took his money or he was lying to me one. Pulled the plugs out after cleaning out the valleys of all the dirt and crap and find seven original Motorcraft plugs and one Autolite.
Tossed in the new TR6’s and she ran like a champ when I took her up the road. When I pulled her back into the garage, I noticed the blower reservoir didn’t have coolant circulating, so I began to look into that common issue. I grabbed my trusty BFH and knock the shit out of the pump and jumped the relay. Good as new!
Like every other Mustang I’ve owned, the stance is one of the first things to be addressed. In went a set of H&R springs! Upon the installation of the springs, I noticed that the ball joints were completely destroyed which I expected with a higher mileage car. I picked up a set of Moog with the help of the 30% discount code when you buy parts online at Advance auto. Get the ball joints pressed in and begin the re-assembly and realized that like a jackass, I mushroomed the top thread of the tie rod end when removing it. Dumbass! So, back to Advance I go to pick up a set of Moog tie rod ends for both sides. Those super sweet caliper covers were quickly taken off of the car as well.
Second thing that I have to do is replace that shitty factory shifter. You guessed it, MGW baby! This blue handle has been with me since my first Mustang many years ago. When a good buddy of mine bought my Mach 1, I told him I’d leave the handle in the car, but wanted it back if he ever swapped shifters or sold the car. Two months later, he was killed in the car. 24 years old. He got married the Friday before he tragically lost his life, and never got to tell his family that he was going to be a father. They were going to replicate the baby announcement that my wife and I did, but never had the opportunity to do so. A buddy of mine took the car to the yard, so I begged him to get the handle out of the car now that it had even more sentimental value to me. The car was picked up before he was able to swap it out and I was devastated. I looked on every insurance auction that I could find in hopes that it would pop up so I could try and get that handle back. No luck. Weeks go past and I get a text message from my buddies’ wife asking me a few questions about the car. As nicely as I could, I asked her if she knew where the car went. She informed me that his parents bought the car back due to somebody telling them that they could salvage the drivetrain and re-create the car for them. I asked her if there was any chance possible that I could swap that handle out for a different one that I had. I told her the backstory and she told me she would ensure that I got it back before the car was moved again. Long story short, I took the handle and the FRPP leather knob that I put in the car and will have a custom plate made as a tribute.
(What the car looked like before I sold it)
(What was left of the car after the accident)
(Our baby announcement)
I love the look of the 18” AFS’s but, they weren’t perfect, so that as going to drive me nuts, so they had to go. To replace them, I picked up a set of 18” series 2’s from LMR in black. I ran these on my Mach and loved the look of them. A buddy of mine tagged me on a post on a post in one of the terminator groups for a set of 18” staggered SSR’s for a ridiculous price, so the series 2’s will be going to a buddy of mine once these SSR’s are refinished.
(The SSR's that were sitting outside of my garage for hours courtesy of the Fedex driver)
Currently the car is in Atlanta being wrapped by a terrific company called Atlanta Custom Wraps. Justin who owns the company is incredible and one of the most laid back dudes I have ever come into contact with. He met me at the shop after 9pm and talked to us for about 45 minutes. Highly recommend him to anybody in the southeast looking to wrap their cars. He’s got TONS of pictures of him and celebrities and famous athletes in the shop, so I thought that was pretty bad ass.
I knew the moment I pulled up and saw the lambo that my turd was in good hands. haha
Before taking it up to Atlanta, I installed the Mac Prochamber, Borla stingers, and a few new exhaust studs thanks to the last owner. Once the car is done being wrapped, I have a laundry list of parts that will go on the car to include a McLeod street series clutch, flywheel, ARP bolts, and a rear main seal since the one on the car is leaking like crazy, a new tinted front windshield, UPR catch can, full light package from Diode Dynamics, three bar MAP sensor to allow the gauge to read boost, wideband, and finish routing the wiring for my Ngauge that is currently temp installed into the Speed of Sound single pillar pod.
The best mod is sitting in the garage waiting patiently! A brand new 2.3 TVS!!!! I cannot wait to turn this car over to Justin Starkey and his team to see what numbers this high mileage terminator can put down. I picked up a set of 60lb injectors from a buddy of mine yesterday, so I will be sending them out to be overhauled and tested this week. I also need to replace the fuel pump socks and replaced the coils since Justin recommended I do so due to the age of the car to ensure the best results come dyno time.
Thank you for taking the time to read my restoration story so far! I will update as progress goes on!
