64bit_Tuning Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 (edited) So many of you have seen me lurking around, answering the occasional tech question. The time has come for me to finally resume the reconstruction of my 1994 Cobra!Timeline:Dec. 2005, 1994 Cobra #1100 of 5009 made its way into my posession.After various bolt ons and fiddling with little crap, I got the car dyno'ed and made a fairly respectable 253rwhp/294tq. Stock engine, just easy parts. Best ET 14.02@101mphApr. 2007, I made a trip to New England Dragway for opening day... April 1st. Bad move! Blew a headgasket and limped the car home 130 miles with the temp gauge spiked (DILLIGAF?)Feb. 2008, My Fordstrokers.com 347 was completed and installed in the car.The car ran amazing, aside from having some pretty unique valve train issues... I drove the shit out of the car for the rest of the year until...Sep. 2008, Left for Army BCT/AITFast Forward... derp derp derpFeb. 2009, Finally home! Apr. 2009, Cobra was back on the road, unique valve train issues were kicking the shit out of the engine. I tore off the RHS 180cc heads I had and sent them back to Comp Cams. After almost 3 months of arguing with them, I was sent a NEW set of 200cc aluminum RHS heads which I promptly sold on Ebay. Edited April 7, 2013 by The Mk2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Sub'd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 What were the unique valve train issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 What were the unique valve train issues?+1 what kinda issues were you having? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted April 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Enter, AdderMk2 Shitbox V2.0Jul.-Aug. 2009, Bought a set of Canfield 192cc heads locally. Contacted Jay Allen at Camshaft innovations for a custom grind. Dropped damn near $3500 into the car with the h/c setup and Tremec 3550 transmission. The car was great! Had all kinds of new found power. I drove the car around until winter set in, then put her away for the winter.May 2010, I finally decided to ditch my small TFS Street Heat intake manifold and go to something a bit more "free flowing" :smokin:The new intake manifold brought on a new set of challenges. For example... The stock fuel rails weren't even CLOSE to fitting! I guess this means I need some aluminum rails and stainless braided lines!This resulted in...Moving on...Aug. 2010-Sep. 2011, Deployed to Kuwait with the 1/103FA BN, RIANG (woot woot party in the sandbox!!!)Sep. 2011, Drove the car for 2-3 months and was getting aggravated with some issues it was having. The car had a consistent misfire or skip between 1500-2200rpm and only at low loads (figures, cruising range). After tweaking the tune in the car... Pulling timing, adding timing, pulling fuel, adding fuel, changing injectors, changing EVERY ignition component... I finally said fuck it and ripped the engine out.Dec. 2011, Pulled the valve covers off my now removed engine to find that the Cyl #2 Intake valve was 0.30" shorter than the rest. Six out of the eight intake valves had signs of valve float and were basically destroyed. I will never buy used heads again! Neither I nor my machine shop caught it when the engine was assembled.Dec. 2011 - Mar. 2013, The car laid soul-less as I had completely lost interest in it. Nov. 2012, My girlfriend and I bought a house and the soul-less turd was relocated. (now I have my very own garage!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted April 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 (edited) Chapter 3A new way to define "shitbox"AdderMk2 V3.0!Mar. 2013, After living in my own home for five months now, I have seen just how much extra bullshit I have laying around in parts. Back in Chapter 2 I had bought a set of BNIB AFR 185cc pedestal mount heads. These would have fit the bill perfectly and gotten my sled running again, but something told me now to use them... With the blessing and request of my girlfriend, I started back along the path of reconstruction. There was only one caveat... I wasn't allowed to buy anything new, unless I sold enough old things to cover the expense! As the true knucklehead that I am, I accepted the challenge!AFR 185cc heads - SoldDowns Ford GT40 box - SoldTeam Z Lower control arms - SoldFMS 1.6 Roller rockers - Sold30# Ford red tops - Sold90mm Accufab TB - SoldTremec 3550 - SoldNow then, lets get down to business!I contacted the fine gentlemen at Big Dawg Transmissions in Tampa Fl. for a new slushbox. Thats right! I said slushbox! I broke down and disregarded my morals about putting an automatic transmission into a car that was never offered with such. As I am typing this, the hunk-o-junk is en-route to my work. I bought a performance built 4R70W with shift kit and 3500 stall.Other fun happenings of late include... Meeting Ed Curtis from FTI. Turns out he lives about 7 minutes down the road from me! I spent about four hours at his shop talking business and we hammered out a game plan. I am currently awaiting the completion of my AFR "195"cc Renegade heads. They will come complete with Ed's personal touches and custom spring kit. For the time being, I will continue to use the cam I got from Jay at CI. I would love to get another custom grind, but it needs to wait until after my secret project is finished.So lets get going with the current pics!Right now, obviously there is no engine in the car. This makes for a perfect time to finish swapping out my Black and Tan interior pieces for my all black interior. While I'm at it, the car is getting some much needed weight reduction. My goal is to get it down to a dry weight of 3000lbs MAX! Edited April 7, 2013 by The Mk2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted April 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Here are some progress pics from today.Pulled both seats and the steering column out yesterday. Today was the dash. Ever wonder what it looks like with no dash?Obviously the heater box is gone too... I still havent decided if it's going back in. But all that sound deadening material has GOT TO GO! Talk about dead weight.Tomorrow the carpet comes out, and I can begin the long process of scraping out the tar like sound material.The Mach 460 sound system is coming out. I see no good reason to have three amps in a racecar... Some slight wiring changes are in order. Now that the dash is out, I can run the wires for my wideband, shift light, QH and Trans controller completely unhindered. My power cables will also be getting dealt with. I've never truely been happy with where they are run, so now is my opportunity to get it right!Stay tuned for more progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted April 7, 2013 Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 Use the dry ice trick for the sound deadening. Don't gotta worry about scrapping too much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted April 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 What were the unique valve train issues?+1 what kinda issues were you having?Well, the RHS heads were basically giant pieces of crap. The coolant ports didnt line up with the intake manifold.The rocker stud mounts were never machined down properly...And the kicker... The stud holes were drilled off center. So I couldn't EVER get the rockers to line up properly. Comp Cams tried dropping some BS line about me needing offset rockers. So I told them to go blow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted April 8, 2013 Report Share Posted April 8, 2013 Wow you're right, those heads are garbage, there's no excuse for those rocker stud holes to be off center... just sloppy work. That coolant passage is definitely bad news...I guess if someone wanted to put a ton of work into the heads that issue could be fixed but it wouldn't be worth it IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted April 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2013 Wow you're right, those heads are garbage, there's no excuse for those rocker stud holes to be off center... just sloppy work. That coolant passage is definitely bad news...I guess if someone wanted to put a ton of work into the heads that issue could be fixed but it wouldn't be worth it IMO.Well those reasons are why they got sent back to Comp Cams. Those are iron 180's... I got them to upgrade me to Aluminum 200's, but then I sold them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 Updates? or Travis' car been taking up all your time =p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted April 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 Between work, drill, arguing with my girl, fixing my bike, spiking my laptop onto the livingroom floor, and looking for a new job... I just haven't had any time. I'll update this week, but it won't be much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnyxCobra Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 cant wait to see this progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted April 30, 2013 Report Share Posted April 30, 2013 Between work, drill, arguing with my girl, fixing my bike, spiking my laptop onto the livingroom floor, and looking for a new job... I just haven't had any time. I'll update this week, but it won't be much.Yikesss! Sounds like one of those things could be eliminated :suspect: can't wait for updates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Alright boys, It's been almost 5 solid months since my last update. Time for a continuation...On 3/30/13 I had met up with Ed Curtis (yes, in person... he's a weird dude. We get along great!) I had him order up a set of castings for me to drop onto my shitbox. From the date of order, cylinder heads take a MINIMUM of 8 weeks to ship. The first set of heads that came in were not up to standard, so we started over again. We'll circle back to this in a moment.Today, I finally had some time to play with the car. In the last 5 months, I have been collecting parts. I bought an LPW Performance deep aluminum trans pan from a member on another forum. it was NIB. Saved a few bucks off the store price. I was happy. Today it found its way onto my Big Dawg 4R70W. It's kinda hard to see, but its under there.While browsing the classified sections over on Corral, I came across a member who was selling some (again, BNIB parts) QA1 tubular control arms for a 94-95. Again, buying them at a pretty good discount, I was happy. I've had UPR coilovers on the car for a while and my QA1 k-member was actually the first mod I ever bought for the car. It just didn't get installed first. I got both installed today, very happy with the fitment and the overall weight reduction. Im hoping that these will also get rid of that dastardly clunk i had in the front end.Some of you know who [MENTION=90]Knuckles[/MENTION] is. For those of you who don't, all I can say is... I have never known anyone to go so far out of their way to make sure you actually got what you bought from them. I bought a VFN Fiberglass trunk lid from him a few months back. It was a very long process due to the cheapest way to ship it being, greyhound! I will also never have anyone ship something to me via greyhound ever again. Both Knuckles and myself spent a good MONTH trying to figure out where the hell my trunk lid was. I finally got a tip about where it might be. Finally got the package and shoved it into my Subie, then brought it home.Today I pulled the stock Cobra trunk lid off the car and weighed it. Being that I am very interested in weight reduction, this was crucial. The stock trunk lid weighed in today at 38lbs WITH the trunk lift supports. I was amazed at just how heavy it was! So, naturally I needed to know how heavy the VFN lid was. It wouldn't register on my scale, which told me right off the bat that it was under 10lbs. So I picked it up, hopped on the scale and did the math. 8lbs! Yep, thats right... 8lbs. I'll take 30lbs worth of weight reduction. Just adding it to the list. The fitment is very poor, but I can easily work with it to make it better. You need to remember, this isn't a show car.The battery switch will be moved elsewhere. It's going to be a flaming river push/pull. But that's not important right now.Now, lets circle back to those cylinder heads.I waited approximately 4 months for my heads to show up and be ready for pickup. I stopped by Ed's shop and we went over everything that was done to the heads. Needless to say, I was pleased with the product he provided me with. They are AFR 195cc Renegade heads with lightweight valves, light weight retainers and locks, and PAC performance springs. We sorta overbuilt the heads so they would handle a larger cam, if I should take that route at a later date. So lets get down to the part porn.In case you are wondering... This is what $2135 worth of cylinder head looks like!That's it for today's episode. More to follow, but probably not soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musturd Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 I like good news and hearing good things about fellow members and as far as I know you and knuckles are my most informational race car guys in the 2 sn95 guys on the forums I'm on both ur builds rule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Oh wow! Great update Keith, glad you got that trunk lid situation sorted out. Sounds like nothing but headaches. Those heads are freaking awesome looking! :smiley-face-drool-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttocs Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Anyone else not able to see the latest pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 :fap: what was the issue with the first set of heads? Glad to see it all got worked out, I know how frustrating missing parts can be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 I think you're only the second guy I've seen online that has gone with the VFN trunk lid (Truuble on sn95F was the other one). I think with a little finessing it could look pretty decent. The fit and finish of them is pretty bad, but most guys running them could care less about anything other than weight savings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schiffy Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 I think you're only the second guy I've seen online that has gone with the VFN trunk lid (Truuble on sn95F was the other one). I think with a little finessing it could look pretty decent. The fit and finish of them is pretty bad, but most guys running them could care less about anything other than weight savings.I remember Truuble... Wonder what happened to his car after he passed. That was a long time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Those heads are works of art...... sweet baby jesus. It's going to be a beast!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Those heads are works of art...... sweet baby jesus. It's going to be a beast!!!!if my car does anything slower than 11.9 on the first trip out, I'm slamming into a tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schiffy Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 if my car does anything slower than 11.9 on the first trip out, I'm slamming into a tree.Lmfao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musturd Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 if my car does anything slower than 11.9 on the first trip out, I'm slamming into a tree.I don't think you'll have any issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 if my car does anything slower than 11.9 on the first trip out, I'm slamming into a tree.Swap the heads out before you do that and send them to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Gimmie $2100 and you can have them now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Haha. You better post videos when it hits the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duff Daddy Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 17.2 miles from the track.... let me know when it gets time. I may bring my pig too ... see whos black shitspreader is slower... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 17.2 miles from the track.... let me know when it gets time. I may bring my pig too ... see whos black shitspreader is slower...Lmao! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnyxCobra Posted September 4, 2013 Report Share Posted September 4, 2013 Glad to see you're finally making some progress with her dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knuckles Posted September 6, 2013 Report Share Posted September 6, 2013 TYVM for the kind words. I like to think when I get parts from someone they will care about me getting them as much I care when I make a commitment to someone else to get them something. As far as that trunklid goes I did my best with my incredibly poor knowledge of anything body work to get it to fit as best I could. I wouldn't have sold it had I not thought the drag wing and actually putting a few pounds back into the back wasn't a good idea. Speaking of Tad(Trubble) he gave me as many tips as he could to get it to go on. He was local to me and an incredibly helpful person. I really wish I could keep on top of getting my car done I see that light finally so close man I can taste it, when you only need a drop in the bucket compared to the gallons of money I've thrown into my car it can be depressing yet hopeful as well. Only wish you the best with your car and I have no doubt you will reach the times you are looking for.Knuckles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted December 4, 2013 Report Share Posted December 4, 2013 *nudge nudge* :boink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted December 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2013 *nudge nudge* :boink:*sigh*... fine.I'm getting pretty good at not updating this thread, but the updates are starting to flow a bit more frequently. When we last left off, I had waited 5 months for my cylinder heads to arrive from FTI. I slowly began gathering up the remnants of parts that i would need to get the engine put back together. These incuded a set of Comp Cams Ultra Pro Magnum 7/16" stud mount roller rockers, and a set of Comp Cams short travel race lifters, a PRW SFI spec flexplate and a brand new block plate. All I had left to buy was a set of pushrods (do you see the foreshadowing?)...A good forum buddy of mine was going to be in the area and I was going to con him into doing some manual labor. I went out into the garage and started prepping the 347 for the new set of cylinder heads. The engine has been out of the car since Dec 2011, so it has collected some "stuff". While blowing the crud out of the cylinder bores, I came across something in cylinder #3. Then my heart hit the floor...Cyl. #3 had been gouged out. By what, I have no clue. All I know is the engine had great compression before I took it apart. I was baffled! I spoke to Ed, to get his input, went to a machine shop, and even asked the lead tech in my garage. Everyone had the same answer... "Time for a new block":Cry:Oct. 31stWhile scouring the classifieds on Corral.net, I came across a user selling a Ford Racing Sportsman block (B50). These blocks are super hard to find since Ford stopped making them almost 10 years ago. I was a little hesitant at first, buying a used block and all... but the pictures looked good. I made sure to note that as soon as the block arrived, it was going to a machine shop for a sonic check. $700 later and things are looking up for the broken 347. My plan was to get splayed caps, have them machined onto the block, and then rebuild from there.Nov. 6thThe Sportsman block arrived at my garage. I was super excited! I went running out to the FedEx truck to receive my 130lb box of awesome... Just to find a crumpled, mangled, pathetic looking excuse for a box. No bueno. I popped the box open in no time flat, and in true "Me" fashion, began to scrutinize every square millimeter of the block. And guess what I found... Wouldn't you know... Block was cracked! So I called the seller, notified him and suggested that he contact FedEx. I'm going to try to cut a painfully long store short here... FedEx picked up the block on a damage call tag.I filed a case with paypal, since the block was damaged, and not in my possessionFedEx inspected the block for damageFedEx tried to return the bock to me, which I refused. Instructed them to send it back to the seller.Block arrives at the address from which it was shipped and refused for delivery because "it wasn't ordered"!FedEx attempts to return ship the block to meI spent weeks arguing with paypal. Provide XYZ documents, take ABC picture, turn around five times, moo like a cow, hop on one leg... etc.Finally I find out that Paypal wont reimburse me until I send the block back to the sellers PAYPAL address... ok!Contact FedEx, Customer service rep gets the block re-routed AND sends me an e-mail confirmation with screenshots showing all the info I needed.Paypal refunded my money. Good Lord that was difficult.And with that... Chapter 3: A new way to define "shitbox" Has come to a close. The 347 is currently being parted out as a rotating assembly. My complete intake manifold setup is for sale, so is my billet distributor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted December 5, 2013 Report Share Posted December 5, 2013 :faint2: :jaw: That's insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted December 5, 2013 Report Share Posted December 5, 2013 Man that really blows! When I bought my Tremec, I was there when the Fedex guy showed up. He carried it hulk-style on his shoulder (because who needs a dolly for a 100+ pound package right?) and then dropped it down off his shoulder onto my garage floor HARD onto the end of the box... I immediately knew that wasn't going to bode well for the trans. After I peeled away not one but 4 boxes soaked in transmission fluid, I found that the end he dropped it on was the input shaft...of course. I contacted Fedex who were less than cooperative since I wasn't able to inspect it immediately upon delivery (show me a fedex guy who will wait a half hour while you try to unbox the most rigged packaging in the history of man). I ended up bartering the sale of my old Corbeaus with a local guy who does a lot of work on Tremecs, we settled on disassembling, inspecting and fixing anything necessary in the trans plus $100 on his end in return for my seats. Sure I could have just thrown it in the car, but I'd rather have peace of mind... he did say that there was some slight damage to a couple things inside, but the input shaft was not bent (must be one HELL of an input shaft!).I definitely feel for you though, am I reading it right that you're throwing the towel in all together? Or just that you are parting out the 347? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted December 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2013 I definitely feel for you though, am I reading it right that you're throwing the towel in all together? Or just that you are parting out the 347?Parting out all my 347 stuff, and dropping a stock engine in.No, not a coyote 5.0! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted December 5, 2013 Report Share Posted December 5, 2013 Parting out all my 347 stuff, and dropping a stock engine in.No, not a coyote 5.0!Hmm, stock for your car or stock for another mustang? Staying pushrod? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64bit_Tuning Posted December 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2013 Hmm, stock for your car or stock for another mustang? Staying pushrod?Only time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
