The Thompson's 98 Cobra Vert Build

[bthotrod]

SORRY FOR LONG INTRODUCTION. New to this forum, decided I'd give a little background before getting into my first thread here. I have grown up in a Ford family, and have been through many cars growing up.. over the past two years my father passed down his first car that he never sold - a '69 mustang fastback that has been through upwards of 7 motors and who knows how many colors - and I completely restored it. Metalwork, bodywork, built the engine, etc. (He had let it sit outside for over 10 years.) My family owns a family-run garage here in NC and in general we are dedicated Ford people. My father was a bodyman for about 11 years and mechanic for about 35. Okay, enough about non-SN95s. Any questions about them I will post under a different topic.

 

Alright, quick overview of the SN95s me and my father have owned. (We share cars, and share burnouts. Great family huh?) 97 V6 stick, black, did small mods to and then sold because it was a V6 and we had other projects (sounded good though, no cats and full dual exhaust.) 98 GT auto, again black, small amount of customization (nothing worth listing.) Kept it for a while, but was disappointing because let's face it - stock 4.6 GTs with an auto are slow. Then, just recently, we ran across a craigslist ad: A '98 Cobra Vert for $1500, had been sitting for about a year and supposedly just needed a clutch. We get there, and the entire front subframe is dropped from this car with no tools and the hardware is all in a 5 gallon drum. The paint had been ran all over the place because, as they man said, his 85 year old uncle painted it right before he passed and he just wanted to get rid of the car.  The guy felt bad that we drove 2 hours only to not be able to load it on our trailer and said he'd knock $300 off and we can use that money to get a rollback to get it home. He didn't know who he was talking two. Me and my father worked for about 4 hours with two pairs of vise grips, a rusty floor jack the guy found in his backyard, and random bolts we found that fit the holes. Dragged it onto the trailer and brought it home for $1,200. (The guy was impressed.)

 

Mechanically:

Later in ownership we find out that the old man had jacked the motor up on the oilpan when changing the clutch, as it already had a new one in it, and had already run the motor low on oil and caused all the timing chain guides to wear prematurely. Fixed the oil pan as soon as we got it before even cranking it the first time but without tearing down the front half of the motor. Drove it for about 2 months until I heard metal-on-metal VERY LOUD clashing. Sounded like a knocking piston, turned out to be something far more repairable. (Plastic wore off the top guide, currently replacing all guides, chains, and tensioners.)

 

Looks/ Mods:

- Alright, so, it obviously needs repainting. (Was black from the factory, the older man painted it yellow. Undecided on what color we are going to paint it now.)

- Needs a new top.

- Interior is surprisingly pristine except back seat is rotted from leaking top. (Anybody have a tan backseat bottom they are willing to give up for cheap?)

- It sounds amazing, as it has a Magnaflow exhaust with H pipe and factory catalyst converters that were somehow mysteriously hollowed out in our ownership, DEFINITELY not something we would do to make it sound better. *coughs* 

- It came with the 5 spoke chrome rims with an R in the middle. Not personally a fan, but also not a fan of their current replacement. Rims/tires will definitely be coming after paint. 

- IMO Sn95s almost always have to have a wing. Already got the saleen style one for it, will be adding on when painted.

- Will get lowered. Considering just cutting springs for now. If so, how much do I cut?

 

Will be posting updates as things are done and will be listening to every opinion and piece of advice y'all have to give. 

1. What color? Me and my Dad are thinking grabber blue so that it can match the '69 mustang I restored. Still undecided though.

2. What should be some "necessary" mods that are fairly cheap? I've heard things about short-throw shifters with stops are a must since it didn't have stops from the factory that can result in breaking a shifting fork. (This happend on the T-5 that's in my Dad's 1956 Ford with a 351W).

[bthotrod]

I'm having upload failed for some of my pictures (the more up to date ones in the build.) Any ideas why? It's a jpg. and definitely isn't exceeding max total size. 

[bthotrod]

Fixed the upload problem. Here's the spoiler, the motor tear-down, and the interior all cleaned up. Will be putting a double din radio in it one day, but that's the least of my worries rn. Will post back up here after the motor is all back together. 

[GTTRacing91PGT]

Nice find. I always liked the yellow Cobra verts

[Tabres]

Good God, did this guy have this thing sitting in a dust bowl?

 

Nice price on it.  Looking forward to seeing how you clean it up and build it!

[Spockbacca]

Looks good. Can't wait to see where it goes!

[95riosnake]

I think considering the price you paid for it, you really couldn't go wrong with this car. Glad to see you're saving it. I dig the Grabber Blue option, I've only seen a couple SN's that color and neither were cobras, or a vert.

 

Not sure how many coils to cut from the stock springs, but that car definitely needs an altitude adjustment, haha. I forgot how high these cars sat in stock form.

[Prokiller]

i have a tan leather rear seat if you want it.  it's not in the best shape, but i can grab some pictures of it if your interested.

 

grabber blue does look good on SNs.  American muscle's SN car is painted grabber blue, should have plenty of pictures on their site of it to give you an idea.  the shifter is a good idea to get and really makes driving more fun.  i prefer a pro5.0 personally, but a MGW or steeda tri-ax are all good.  comes down to preference really.  keep an eye out over on the corral classifieds, they usually have springs for cheap if you don't want to get into cutting.

[bthotrod]

Thanks for everyone's interest! Might have to take ya up on that offer for the rear seat Prokiller, I'll contact you later (probably after the car is painted.)

 

Current update: All chains, guides, and tensioners are on except for one that should be getting delivered from the parts store tomorrow. After that then everything gets put back together and hopefully I'll be able to crank it with no more noise.  Very happy with how much it tightened up everything and also very shocked by how wore out they already were for such "low" mileage. Before everything gets put back together, I'm thinking about painting a lot of the parts with VHTs or Rustoleums high-temp aluminium colored paint to brighten everything up.

 

P.S. I did a really quick photoshop of it painted grabber blue and this thing lowered some and man does it look good compared to a yellow monster truck. The black of a new convertible top would be such great contrast. If anyone wants anything photoshopped, I'll gladly do something for anyone on the forum as long as it isn't too wild.

[Spockbacca]

Not too shabby

[Prokiller]

only thing, now that i see it on the car, is that black top will match of course, but not sure how the tan interior looks against the grabber.  

[bthotrod]

1 hour ago, Prokiller said:

only thing, now that i see it on the car, is that black top will match of course, but not sure how the tan interior looks against the grabber.  

Agreed - black die is most likely in store for the interior later down the road. 

[bthotrod]

While everything is apart I thought a few cans of paint were worth using.. the metallic on the blue looks so good. Sadly, the SVT tag isn't looking the best in the world Might get a new one (if possible) way down the road. 

20160929_165600.mp4

[Spockbacca]

Great transformation! Can't wait to see how good these look on the motor! Not sure about the engine badge, t would literally surprise me if you could get replicas anywhere. 

[bthotrod]

There should be an award for 4V owners who changed their valve covers without touching the motor mounts.. anyway here's it 80% back together. Another day's work and it'll be ready for first start-up. Is it just me or is this thing BEAUTIFUL compared to how boring and ugly it looked before?? (check the original engine bay posts)

 

P.S. Check out the oil filler cap. Found it off an old scrap Honda at my family's garage and for some reason it almost matched perfectly and fit nicely #win

[Prokiller]

it is always amazing what a little bit of paint, cleaner and elbow grease will do

[Tabres]

Looks really, really nice!  Great work!

[bthotrod]

Cranked her up.. and... it ticks. Sounds a lot like a lifter tick on the passenger side. My father has been a mechanic for nearly 35 years and he has ordered a new oil pump for it and says he believes that the oil pump that is currently in the car has been run dry/nearly run dry from the previous owner is just weak and not providing enough oil pressure to the lifters. (You can't trust Ford's oil pressure gauge. It's either off or on.. most people consider it nothing more than a dummy light in the form of a gauge.) So, gonna pull the front timing cover and pan and put a new oil pump in and hope it fixes it. Usually a new oil pump wouldn't fix anything but considering the fact that when we got the car the oil pump was bent flat up against the strainer and that was the reason all the timing guides were wore slam out... well.. it might. Wish me luck. Out of school all week next week and plan on working on it A LOT.

[Orange 94]

Nice job so far!

[bthotrod]

37 minutes ago, Orange 94 said:

Nice job so far!

Thanks! Love your build! Sounds crazy but if I get this thing running fine before mid week next week.. I might start on the respray. 

[RedTwilight]

Nice!  Looks like it cleaned up real good.

[bthotrod]

Got it off the lift for the first time in what feels like forever and finally drove it! Still has a pretty loud lifer tick on the passenger side but I think I'm just going to live with it until the motor eventually dies and I have to pull it and rebuild everything years from now. On another note, this thing cleaned up NICE. My Dad jokingly said "I want it blue by Friday" and then I found out that he wasn't kidding. Be prepared for a color swap in 5 days or less (hopefully).

 

Ordering some 275/40s for it sometime this week probably as well along with a few other goodies. Needs a new cobra emblem up top as well ($10) and a few other odds and ends.

 

Honestly just happy to finally hear this thing run again... missed it a lot.

[Spockbacca]

Looks good. 5 days seems quick. But then again I've never painted my own car. Can't wait to see it. 

[Tabres]

I'd really encourage you to stick an aftermarket oil pressure gauge on the car before going through the work of changing the oil pump.  A gauge is real quick and easy to install.  There is a plugged port on the bottom of the oil filter housing you can install the sensor in and check pressure real quick.  Sure as hell beats spending hours and hours replacing the pump to only have the same issues.

 

And honestly, I'd go to the trouble of removing the lifters and checking those first before the oil pump.  They're a fairly common issue on these cars and way cheaper to replace.  They're also really easy to get in and out with the cams and all of the timing gear still in place.  You just have to remove the valve covers and rotate the engine until the base circle of the cam is down and then use a flat blade screwdriver and pop the rocker off.  I've done it many times.

[RedTwilight]

Blue by Friday!   That is quick!  What color blue are you going?  I love the blue on the cam covers.  

Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[bthotrod]

19 hours ago, Spockbacca said:

Looks good. 5 days seems quick. But then again I've never painted my own car. Can't wait to see it. 

I did the bodywork and paint on a 69 mustang working 6+ hours a day for 5 days straight and it came out awesome. This car is a peice of cake compared to it.

6 hours ago, Tabres said:

I'd really encourage you to stick an aftermarket oil pressure gauge on the car before going through the work of changing the oil pump.  A gauge is real quick and easy to install.  There is a plugged port on the bottom of the oil filter housing you can install the sensor in and check pressure real quick.  Sure as hell beats spending hours and hours replacing the pump to only have the same issues.

 

And honestly, I'd go to the trouble of removing the lifters and checking those first before the oil pump.  They're a fairly common issue on these cars and way cheaper to replace.  They're also really easy to get in and out with the cams and all of the timing gear still in place.  You just have to remove the valve covers and rotate the engine until the base circle of the cam is down and then use a flat blade screwdriver and pop the rocker off.  I've done it many times.

You're a little late man. Me and my Dad went down to the garage over the weekend and already spent probably close to 7 hours replacing the oil pump. It was needed, though the lifter tick is still there. Just gonna live with it until the motor dies and I go through all of it - bearings, forged internals, etc. That's my plan anyway.

2 hours ago, RedTwilight said:

Blue by Friday!   That is quick!  What color blue are you going?  I love the blue on the cam covers.  

Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Grabber blue is the final decision! Honestly anything will look better than this yellow that has (literally) close to a hundred HUGE runs in it. Full day of sanding and they are 90% out.

[bthotrod]

Today's update: Painted the very very rough looking bullits solid black.. looks a lot better. Will look even better with 275s and lowering it A LOT as the ride height is hideous. Also LOTS of sanding went on today, tomorrow will consist of water-sanding and final prep work and maybe even some trimming. Wednesday or Thursday should be paint day!

Edited October 10, 2016 by bthotrod

[bthotrod]

Well.. it's Friday.. and only partially blue. Was assuming my father would help me out with the sanding but nope, I've literally water sanded the blood out of my hands. (Skin wore down to the point of bleeding.) One full day's worth of sanding and the rest of the car will be ready to paint.

 

As of today, car is disassembled for paint, runs sanded out and rough spots fixed, 75% water-sanded, and the door jams and under the trunk are trimmed out.. here's a few pics just for an update -

 

I hope I never see this car this ugly ever again - grabber blue VERY soon. 

[bthotrod]

It's Sunday and...

The entire car is blue and all parts.

 

Would post a pic but I'm gonna save the reveal pic for when the body panels are all bolted back to the car, which will probably be tomorrow  We'll shall see!

[Psychorugby]

13 hours ago, bthotrod said:

It's Sunday and...

The entire car is blue and all parts.

 

Would post a pic but I'm gonna save the reveal pic for when the body panels are all bolted back to the car, which will probably be tomorrow  We'll shall see!

 

It's tomorrow now!

[bthotrod]

14 hours ago, Psychorugby said:

 

It's tomorrow now!

Yes it is! And here's the pics.. still some assembly left and obviously needs lowering (will do this week) but the main point is that it's GRABBER BLUE!

 

Check out the blue top optima battery to match 

 

Honestly, even though it looks A LOT better.. it's still a little ugly. Ordered some carbon fiber black emblem stickers and a roll of carbon fiber wrap to black out the cobra lettering on the back and the "insert" underneath. Also ordering some new cobra emblems (black) front and sides since this car had the front one stolen off and the side ones beat all up. Considering lots of ideas for some sort of side stripes to break up all the blue. Lots of options.. as we sit now my father said he may order some 275/40s for it and (don't hate, we've got em on a few of our cars) wheel spacers for the rear until we have money to piss away on some rims. Aftermarket one piece headlights are definitely soon to come as well as some tint for the rear taillights and the car windows. Essentially, the plan is to add as much black as possible to break it all up just like I had to do with my '69 stang.

 

Anyway, here's the "reveal." Enjoy the fresh paint goodness 

[bthotrod]

The tires on it right now are only 225s or something like that.. (Actually, the front tires are wider than the rear?? Trust me. Can't wait for some tires...) which is part of the reason it seems so out of proportion.

[Blackmage]

nice work. 

[Psychorugby]

Looks great!  I can't wait to get mine painted, but damn I don't want to spend $5-8k.

[GTTRacing91PGT]

I can't believe how high it sits! I think once you drop it down it will all come together. Are you keeping the Bullitt wheels?

[bthotrod]

5 hours ago, Psychorugby said:

Looks great!  I can't wait to get mine painted, but damn I don't want to spend $5-8k.

Spent $260 on paint and hardener and some paper and that's it for me. Benefits of doing your own labor and having a few paint supplies already!! 

 

3 hours ago, GTTRacing91PGT said:

I can't believe how high it sits! I think once you drop it down it will all come together. Are you keeping the Bullitt wheels?

Well for now I'm gonna keep the Bullits because they are free and now that I've painted them black they look decent. Also got a set of fake (roush?) rims that you can see in earlier picture's. They are chromies. Would love to buy a set of 6 spoke track looking wheels for it though.. probably coming in the future 

[bthotrod]

A little more of it put together and a pic or two. Got some 275/40s that are absolutely beautiful on this thing (only rears on in these pics). Going to cut front coils and probably put some stock V6 springs in the rear that are laying around and see what it looks like. One coil or two for the front?

[95riosnake]

Looks incredible in Grabber Blue! literally 1000x better than the previous look.

 

Regarding cutting the springs, it's always better to cut one coil, see how it looks, then cut another if you want it lower. If you cut 2 and it's lower than you want, you can't put it back lol.

[Blackmage]

definitely do the 1/2 coil or 1 full coil at a time.  dont over do it on the first go around.  I used a cut off wheel on an angle grinder to do mine.  tedious work to swap it in and out just to check heights, but its worth it to get it right.  

[bthotrod]

Thanks guys! Put some stock V6 springs on the rear that lowered it plenty for the rear, plus a little bit of slant looks good in my opinion. Cutting a single coil off the front probably tommorow and going to drive it for the weekend and see what the ride height/ handling is like. May go back and cut a little more if that's not enough! So far I'm loving it though.

We have a new top/ new back glass... and while I want to install it myself and know that I can it would take an entire day's worth of work that I'm just not sure is worth it when I can pay a professional to do it who will do a better job and quicker for a somewhat reasonable price. So anyway, new top going on soon. For some reason this car looks better with the top up, I guess the black and blue contrast adds to the look. My dad is considering paying up some cash for a local vinyl/ car wrap place to make some vinyl stripes for the sides that are similar to the Saleen ones like this

 

but say "COBRA" and in a lot bigger of font. Opinions? May just photoshop some on and see what it looks like later. (This stripes are hypothetical, it'll be a while)