Spockbacca Posted June 3, 2016 Report Share Posted June 3, 2016 (edited) OK guys this is going to be a long and tedious tale of one hell of a transformation. I've been on here a while but I couldn't remember my username or password so I had to make a new profile, all is well though as this gives me a fresh start with a community I've spent more time with than I can care to recall. Back Story: I have owned 3 GTs in years past and my 94 5.0 convertible was my first car. Ever since the ripe young age of 16 I've always dreamt of having my own Cobra. 10 years later I have started my tale. From the pics this car doesn't look half bad, but believe me it's rough. The previous owners were very neglectful and did this car such an injustice. The paint is gone. There is absolutely no saving it. I'll post pic of this later. The interior was filthy, the exterior was grimy. A mess nonetheless. But after looking the car over and seeing the potential I made the guy an offer I was certain he would refuse. Surprisingly he countered a mere $300 more so i took it home. So I bought this car 3 weeks ago in NC. On my way to dads house (2.5 hours away) right after i bought the car, the clutch cable snapped and i was SOL. I made it to his house by rev matching, which was only made harder as I hadn't done this in years. But alas, it was parked safe awaiting new goodies. Here's the car when i bought it. I got online and ordered a new EXEDY Stage 2 Clutch, Steeda Clutch Cable, clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster. I also ordered a slew of other parts to get this Cobra into decent shape. Odometer gear, BBK off-road X pipe, MIL eliminators, and my beloved SLP LM1's. This is exhaust is freaking LOUD! I'm in love! Anyways, as I was installing all these parts i decided to paint my undercarriage to keep the surface rust at bay, once I rebuild the motor and do an IRS swap I'll redo my under carriage to my standards. As I am mildly OCD about my vehicles it will eventually get done the correct way or drive me insane. I only did a partial job because Of the planned IRS swap. Anyways I got the car ready for inspection, then BAM check engine light. figured it was the O2 sensors and sure enough it was, But I also go the P1443 code but I just changed the Purge Valve and that code went off. So after that I put the stock catted H-pipe back on to pass inspection and off it came again. FYI...LM1+cats=...LM1+no cats=... So It passed inspection and I brought the car back down to Savannah with me and it did pretty good. My neighbors hate me I'm sure. My wife and I name all our vehicles and this special lady of mine is no different so after thinking back on the names already given to previous cars and she "spoke" to me and now we call her Allie (short for Alice LOL) Nevertheless, me and the Mrs. gave her a bath and I got rid of the ghastly Saleen decals and shined up the wheels. She still needs a lot of work and she's far from perfect but here she is looking much better. The list of future mods are extensive and exhausting so I'll save you the trouble or reading it all and me typing it all but the biggest mods will include paint, interior, air ride, IRS, a T56 and some forced lovin'. Oh I did forget to mention that one of the previous owners installed a viper alarm system and whoever installed it did such a shotty job. It took my a few hours to trace wires, patch wires and wrap wires that the installer just tapped into like it was a POS Honda that a high schooler thought was "Ballin" So I found dash harness online that looks pretty good for a decent price. When i get it I'll pull the dash and clean up behind it and install the new harness. Hopefully that will fix my interior lighting problem. If not, at least I know the harness is good and safe. But while all that's apart hopefully I can get to the stuff that should be replaced while the dash is out. I'll post updates. When the stuff comes in. Anyways, this is one of my childhood dream cars so I have no plans to get rid of it. With that in mind, I don't mind dumping a stupids amount of money at this thing. All over a period of what I can afford and when of course. But let me know what you guys think and I'm open to suggestions on future mods, just let me know opinions! Edited June 28, 2016 by Spockbacca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Welp my starter crapped out on me and left me stranded at the gas station by my apartment. Got towed behind my wife's car and popped the clutch to get her started. She's parked now. My fault I guess, I should have replaced it while I had it off doing the transmission work on it last weekend. It was a re-manufactured starter. So I'll be getting the PA Performance starter from AM soon. Great reviews on it so hopefully it'll do good for me. Hopefully I can get that ordered this coming week and have it here by the weekend. Not that I can work on the car any as it's the wife's birthday this weekend so it'll have to be the week after before I can get her starting again. In other news the dash harness I was getting is a no go. Guy was super sketchy and his paypal was an account in Albania. So the hunt for another dash harness continues. Question, will a 98 Cobra dash harness work in the 96-97 models? I read somewhere that the is a big difference in a fuel connector somewhere but I wouldn't think that would matter on the dash harness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 So I got my starter today, installed in a little over two hours. Not bad considering I had to do this in a parking lot without my precious lift. I miss that thing. Anyways, headlight switch should be in Friday, hopefully that will take care of my lighting issue. This thing should have been rep[laced when i dropped the tranny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) Not Much, but a win for me nonetheless. Keyfob FTW!!!! I hated having to use the manual door locks to get into this thing. Edited June 10, 2016 by Spockbacca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2016 (edited) So I got some goodies today. Got my new headlight switch from AM hopefully this fixes the problem with my interior lights not working, if not that's OK, I needed to replace this switch anyways, my stock one is badly worn. My new goodie I'm most excited about is my new rear view mirror!!! I know, I'm lame but take a look at the mirror in the 2nd pic of the first post. That one is very shot. It'll be nice not to have to see that when I look in it. Also this is out of a crashed new edge convertible so the lighting is a bit different. I got the harness that was in the new edge as well but hopefully this will be a nice improvement that will will go unnoticed but most except those with that eagle eye! I'll post a before and after shot when I get it in. Just need to find the wiring schematic to make sure I can wire it up correctly! Edited June 10, 2016 by Spockbacca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2016 Okay, well the headlight switch didn't fix my issue so tomorrow I'm pulling my dash out and taking the dash harness off to fix all the botched wiring that the previous owners did when they installed that aftermarket alarm, as well as check all the wires for continuity and HOPEFULLY I'll find a break in a wire/wires somewhere and that will cure my lack of interior lights. While the dash is out I'm going to go ahead and sand and paint my dash frame because OCD and it annoys me to see it. So wish me luck and if this doesn't fix my problem I'm seriously at a loss. But I have have a good feeling I'll find something when I get in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 I didn't know there were any rearview mirrors that had lights on the bottom, that's pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Psychorugby Posted June 13, 2016 Moderators Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 1 hour ago, 95riosnake said: I didn't know there were any rearview mirrors that had lights on the bottom, that's pretty cool. Convertibles didn't have dome lights, so the lights are on the mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted June 13, 2016 Report Share Posted June 13, 2016 7 hours ago, Psychorugby said: Convertibles didn't have dome lights, so the lights are on the mirror. Yep mines got the lights on the rear view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2016 OK, well I pulled the dash tested what wires I knew and nothing. I don't know where power is being lost and at this point I don't give a damn. Ended up not sanding the frame and just throwing everything back in because it's southern Georgia and I'm tired of having swamp ass right now. While I was in there I noticed that I have a plug under my console that I'm not sure what it goes to. Anyone have any idea? Pardon the grossness that is under my carpet. Interior is getting overhauled this winter hopefully. Also, I haven't hooked power to my rear view mirror yet, waiting on a decently non-schwetty balls kind of day to test to see if the original harness even has power. Doubt it but we'll see. So today I decided that my headlights need some attention and I set off on getting rid of the haziness. Top is untouched bottom is after 400 grit 1500 Grit Clear coat Tint Not going to stick with these. Planning on some black DEPO projectors soon hopefully. Stock corner lights aren't even worth this trouble. I had some smoked amber corners in my old GT and now I can't find any so I guess I'll be making my own. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, my parking brake cable snapped. So that's on the already stupidly long list of things to fix. But i did score an original owner Owner's Manual with SVT sleeve cover. It's the little things that excite me obviously. Anyways that will be here next week. So Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2016 OK so I went outside while it was getting dark and just for shits and giggles I turned my lights on to see how they looked at night and I noticed my hvac lights working. So I'm all like WTF. Anyways, I get the bright idea to check the connection at the cluster while its dark so I can actually see. Sure as fire my instrument lights problem was a connection issue. I wiggled the wires and my lights lit up, so I put that bastard back together and now I have been illuminated! First time seeing interior lights on my car so I got excited and took her for a joy ride. Cluster lights FTW!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted June 22, 2016 Report Share Posted June 22, 2016 Haha having lights in your cluster is handy at night for sure...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 16 hours ago, 95riosnake said: Haha having lights in your cluster is handy at night for sure...lol Yeah It would have been handy. Thought it was just a bad fuse when I bought her but after pulling the dash and still no luck I thought I was SOL. But I'm glad to know the connection was loose. Anyways, I'm wanting to do the LED mod in my cluster and pretty much every other light in the car. I did the white LED mod in my last GT and it was nice. A bit on the purple side but just wasn't solid on how it looked. I'm thinking that since the backing of the cluster is blue, if I get blue LED's they will really be intense. I'm not sure though. Anyone every try blue LED's instead of the white ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 So I finally decided to install the rear view mirror and hook power up to it. Pretty straight forward, match wire to wire there is only three. Looks better, more rounded and no more of that brown stuff. Little Side by side, can't upload the other for some reason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted June 27, 2016 Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 that does look a lot better. never really took notice of the difference between the mirrors before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 Yeah Ryan, it's subtle and I'm sure most people never will notice but I like those kind of mods. Where people say it looks factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted June 28, 2016 Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 you need to get some plates to match the name of your thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2016 9 hours ago, Blackmage said: you need to get some plates to match the name of your thread Got some custom plates coming. NC takes "6 to 8 weeks" to get them done and delivered. They Should be done by August. I'll post up once I get it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Car looks 100% better just by removing the black saleen'ish decals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted June 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 8 hours ago, tony said: Car looks 100% better just by removing the black saleen'ish decals! Amen to that! That was literally first on my list of things to do until the clutch cable snapped on the way home lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 (edited) So I got these goodies in the mail today! 20 White 5-LED 194 Wedge types and 10 Blue 5-LED Wedge types. Going to take some before shots and after shot so I'll have to wait until tonight to install but the white ones are going in my rear view mirror (which i found out is a termi mirror), glove box, and I think these will fit my license plate lights. I'll pop those off and check when I'm out there. I might also install these in the turn signals and dummy lights but we'll see. The blue ones are going in my instrument cluster first. I know that these cluster have blue backing already but even with white LEDs it seems like it could be a lot bluer so I'm going to try these first and if I don't like them I'll swap them out. I know in my GTs the light actually looked more purple than blue so maybe the Cobra face-plates shine through better. I may even let you guys decide which looks better. White or blue LEDs. I know it's not fantastic or even "cool" to some of you but I did score a Mint Condition owners manual book with Cobra insert as well as the SVT book cover. I like originality to some degree and these touches really liven it up for me even though I'll never use it. The only thing left i really want to try and find is a set of well taken care of or even mint condition (depending on price) original cobra floor mats. Again, nothing spectacular or even cool to some, but to the guys who know these cars, they'll appreciate those touches like I do hopefully. Edited July 5, 2016 by Spockbacca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted July 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 OK guys these LEDs are awesome. Sorry for the low quality pics but it's swamp ass outside right now and I ain't trying to be out there longer than I have to. It's still light outside and these pics don't do any justice. Super blue. I love them. Didn't even try the white LEDs in the cluster. I may one day but I'm rocking this for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) 15 hours ago, Spockbacca said: I know it's not fantastic or even "cool" to some of you but I did score a Mint Condition owners manual book with Cobra insert as well as the SVT book cover. I like originality to some degree and these touches really liven it up for me even though I'll never use it. The only thing left i really want to try and find is a set of well taken care of or even mint condition (depending on price) original cobra floor mats. Again, nothing spectacular or even cool to some, but to the guys who know these cars, they'll appreciate those touches like I do hopefully. I've got my original owners manual and case as well. I've also got the original brochure and pamphlet. I always thought the Cobra and the GT's had the same floor mats. Hadn't paid much attention though. Edited July 6, 2016 by RedTwilight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted July 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2016 So I finally got around to my AC system. I think this one is toast. Also changed the cycle switch while I was at it! Fixed! Sort of. Got nice and cold but the next day not so much. I may have a leak elsewhere So next step is AC dye hopefully I'll find the leak. Meanwhile, NEW TAG!!! So Stoked. I'll get it on the car tomorrow. Trust me, it fits this car. If anyone else has this tag trust me I didn't get the idea from you, got it from my wife. Was going to go with GAS PLZ and I couldn't for the life of me remember where I may have seen it until I crawled @95riosnake treat for the unteenth time and was like DAMN. Clever and I wanted it but I couldn't do it knowing it wasn't my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted July 15, 2016 Report Share Posted July 15, 2016 definitely fits the theme of the thread though, loudmouth mistress. i like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted July 15, 2016 Report Share Posted July 15, 2016 Where at in NC are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted July 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2016 4 hours ago, Prokiller said: definitely fits the theme of the thread though, loudmouth mistress. i like it. Thanks Ryan! 2 hours ago, RedTwilight said: Where at in NC are you? My Folks live in King, about 20 minutes North of Winston. I currently reside in Savannah GA for work but I keep their address as my permanent. I'll be moving back to NC to Asheville in the Fall. Hopefully early October. Are you still in Trinity? I went there once back in 09 when I had my E38 to pick up a black interior to do a swap when I was at UNCG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted July 16, 2016 Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 9 hours ago, Spockbacca said: My Folks live in King, about 20 minutes North of Winston. I currently reside in Savannah GA for work but I keep their address as my permanent. I'll be moving back to NC to Asheville in the Fall. Hopefully early October. Are you still in Trinity? I went there once back in 09 when I had my E38 to pick up a black interior to do a swap when I was at UNCG. No My name is Trinity. I live in just outside Roxboro which is about an hour and a half from Winston and 30 mins south of VIR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted July 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2016 2 hours ago, RedTwilight said: No My name is Trinity. I live in just outside Roxboro which is about an hour and a half from Winston and 30 mins south of VIR. WOOOOOOOW that was a hell of an oversite LOL my bad for real!!! I looked over and saw Trinity and was like hey I've been there! I feel like an idiot now lol. Anyways, now that I have been corrected never been to Roxboro. Or VIR for that matter. Kind of sad really. Had a couple buddies who went for track days quite often, but I seemed to always be in between sports cars at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Don't sweat it duder! It's all good. At least you didn't ask isn't Trinity a girls' name. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bthotrod Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 I'm in NC and I'm a Cobra vert owner too! When I get mine somewhat fixed up maybe we can meet up at a car show/ meet/ cruise in sometime? Looking good man! Any recent additions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted October 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2016 (edited) On September 30, 2016 at 6:47 PM, bthotrod said: I'm in NC and I'm a Cobra vert owner too! When I get mine somewhat fixed up maybe we can meet up at a car show/ meet/ cruise in sometime? Looking good man! Any recent additions? Sounds good Brandon! I've been wanting to get back in the car scene with other actual people for a long time. It seems Im always too busy or I never have the means or time to go to shows or cruise in or things like that since back in high school. I've been wanting to go to Mustang week for the better part of a decade now WITH an actual Mustang that is mine. This is my fourth one now but like I said I always seemed to never have the time. But I have been stock piling parts for a nice update for a little bit now. So once I get all that installed I'll post on up. Should be in a few weeks. I would LOVE to go ahead and do it now but the car is currently at my fathers house while I'm in the process of moving to Asheville. Should be completely finished moving by next weekend so the weekend after I'm planning on installing all the crap I got for the car. Super stoked about it!!! Edited October 7, 2016 by Spockbacca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted November 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2016 (edited) Okay...so it's been a minute since I updated this thing last. Not entirely my fault. I just moved to Asheville about three weeks ago so its been hectic moving and getting things in order. So for the update. I stored some parts up to do all at once but I haven't yet completed them. I got a center console from an 03 Cobra and painted it BLAAACK to match the BLAAAACK in my car. Dont have any pix of the inside of the car yet. I'll go take some after I post this. This is right before I cleaned it. After Paint Got that and a double din from a new edge and a matching shifter bezel. The bezel also had a new boot pretty much on it. WAYYYY nicer that the hard cracked crap I had. Also got an e brake cable and handle mechanism from the junk yard but it came out of an automatic and I pulled it before taking it out of the car it was nice and stiff, as if it were never used before (probably wasn't). So I installed that and I have an e brake again! So nice. I didn't have but one speed on my HVAC which was high so I replaced my heater resistor. The old was was rusted so bad THEEEENNNN with my freaking luck I find a big oil leak under the car so I find out its coming from the oil cooler. DAMN...so after reluctantly wanting to fork over $400 for a new one I got the rebuild kit from Ken at SpeedConcepts.net that guy is awesome and so helpful. He called and walked me through it without me even asking just to make sure I understood because from what I've read these rebuilds are hit or miss and Ken's yet to have one of his fail. Part I got http://www.speedconcepts.net/product_info.php/products_id/967/osCsid/a5438843f06208dcbfe00907492f83eb The kit comes with directions and you need the core o rings added on the cobra and mach engines the same probably Putting her back together. All done NO Leaks so far. So I also had the dreaded brake rattle where my brakes would clank every time I hit a bump and its embarrassing to say the least not to mention annoying. I got the hardware kit from Autozone thinking that would cure but to no avail. So I ended up changing the pads and lubing the ever loving crap out of ever metal to metal contact are as well as bending the arms of the hardware out a bit to make the fit even more snug and NO MORE RATTLE! Thank God above, it was driving me nuts. I also got some tinted amber corners in near mint condition from @410sn95 haven't even put them on yet but I will when I go get pics of the interior. On top of that I bought some Amber LEDs to go in the corner lights but after comparing them to the stock filament bulbs, they're no bright and actually a little less orange than I hoped. Left is stock right is LED believe it or not. I like the stock better IMO. Idk the LEDs might look better in the smoked amber housings but we'll see. So as of right now that's what I've got. I had to fix things before I could justify any more mods just yet so fingers crossed nothing else breaks for a little bit. Oh and I had this clip my wife took when I was moving the car from Savannah to my dad's house before we moved. Keep in mind all her windows are up and I never went over 3000 rpm, I cruise right at 2700 Edited November 1, 2016 by Spockbacca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted November 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2016 (edited) Newer interior (minus radio) New cluster bezel minus defrost button I'll hook the fog lights up as well as the defrost when I get my materials (wire, techflex,etc.) to do so without having to go back and redo it later. Took the lighter socket out, I don't smoke nor do I need it for charging anything because I got this bad boy. Perfect fit! I'm thinking about hydrodipping all three bezels in carbon fiber, I dont feel like shelling out $500 for parts I already have. Maybe one day but not today lol. I was thinking either carbon fiber or a black wood like this. What do y'all think? I know it's a bit "fancier" than what our cars usually boast on about but I dig the look. Bring some class to the badass. Tinted corners Before I know she needs a bath, paint is crap so I'm not worried. After I'm actually not going to run them until the exterior is about finished, it took me a long time to source these. Luckily @410sn95 had them so I snatched them up. I have some clears that I'll cover and try to match the smoked amber look. i love the smoked amber, I had it on my last SN95 so when I couldn't find them anymore I was bummed. So these along with Export tails and mirrors that I'll get one day will be the last things to go on this car due to rarity and how hard they are to come by without being ripped off. Next upgrade will be depo headlights. These suck and aren't aimed right, nor can I because the clips on the back are about to snap from old age. So until then.... Edited November 1, 2016 by Spockbacca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 that is a healthy update for sure. i really like that usb charger station thing. great idea for the outdated cigarette lighter outlet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockbacca Posted November 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 Thanks Ryan! I was a little worried about the USB charger because it has an LED and the power source to that outlet is constant so the light stays on at all times as well as the ports but I left it sitting for about two weeks and it started right up. No dead battery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
410sn95 Posted November 2, 2016 Report Share Posted November 2, 2016 Glad the ambers could go to good use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 7, 2016 Report Share Posted November 7, 2016 I really tried hard to find those amber corners but they were nowhere to be found lol. Good look tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted November 8, 2016 Report Share Posted November 8, 2016 On 11/1/2016 at 3:05 PM, Spockbacca said: O Previously a BMW owner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted November 9, 2016 Report Share Posted November 9, 2016 21 hours ago, Blackmage said: Previously a BMW owner? i didn't get this at first then started really laughing because it's too true. nobody freakin uses turn signals anymore and it drives me insane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
