2003 Cobra refresh/restoration

[heitzke]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

Gotta say I'm always nervous opening this thread up lol. Glad to see you were able to find another!

Hahah you and me both. It's been quite a sage, and much easier with the new one so far but not the smoothest thing ever either.

Updates!

In the meantime, USAA and I agreed on a final settlement offer for the original car and helped recoup a pretty decent chunk of what I had spent on the first car. They ended up covering around 5k in aftermarket parts, which still hurts, but it was worth the additional wait and hassle arguing with them for a few weeks.

- FedEx messed up the delivery of my Strange s-trac posi so it'll be another few days before that's in, so i'm still rocking the spool. Also a quick note for anything that would think "how bad could a spool be?". It's bad, it's zero fun haha.

- Billetflow idlers made it in and may throw them on this weekend because they're pretty.

- Ordered a whole fuel system from Lethal Performance with new fuel hat, 10an feed line, 8an return, FPR and all lines for utilizing the stock fuel rails for now. Going to be running twin Walbro 255LPH pumps in a Division X hat, inline fuel filter etc and should be all good to go. Not enough availability to run JUST e85 here so planning on a standard 93 pump tune to keep it simple. Should be enough fuel for 800-850 on pump which I don't plan to hit. Worst case is the hat and wiring is setup for a third pump :shrug:

- Accufab single-blade tb ordered

- Have a line on a SCT BA3000 MAF and a Whipple 2.9 NIB, just waiting to hear back from the seller. Whipple 2.9 is pretty efficient and makes really good power without having to spin the shit out of a smaller 2.3. Obviously wanted the new 3.0 Whipple but... yeah that price point is just too hard to swallow lol.

- Looking for some injectors next, probably just some 60lb but need to do some more reading. The 80lb FRPP seem to have some weird idle issues and need a higher base fuel pressure to run well. The ID lineup have the best reputation but also the most expensive option.

[///d]

Originally Posted by heitzke

In the meantime, USAA and I agreed on a final settlement offer for the original car and helped recoup a pretty decent chunk of what I had spent on the first car. They ended up covering around 5k in aftermarket parts, which still hurts, but it was worth the additional wait and hassle arguing with them for a few weeks.

Sort of related but off topic, how do you like USAA? I got vehicle quotes from them years ago and they came in quite high, but others have told me they received great quotes that couldn't be beat.

[heitzke]

Originally Posted by ///d

Sort of related but off topic, how do you like USAA? I got vehicle quotes from them years ago and they came in quite high, but others have told me they received great quotes that couldn't be beat.

Honestly their insurance is always the most expensive whenever I get quoted, but in this scenario I wouldn't have wanted to deal with anyone else. When I told them it was a specialty vehicle and the market commands a different value than a blue book - they pulled very appropriate comps from dealers (3 of them) and then averaged the value.

I've had them for over 16yrs now and really don't intend to leave. After this whole car and garage debacle i'm a little more willing to spend on insurance than I had been previously.

[Our03z4]

Originally Posted by heitzke

Honestly their insurance is always the most expensive whenever I get quoted, but in this scenario I wouldn't have wanted to deal with anyone else. When I told them it was a specialty vehicle and the market commands a different value than a blue book - they pulled very appropriate comps from dealers (3 of them) and then averaged the value.

I've had them for over 16yrs now and really don't intend to leave. After this whole car and garage debacle i'm a little more willing to spend on insurance than I had been previously.

My in laws house burnt mostly down last year and let me tell ya, they regret price shopping and not having an agent. They got screwed by Liberty Mutual who after seeing what they went threw I deem the worst insurance company. Insurance shouldn't be bought online plain and simple. I love my agent and use Erie, we have tons of policies thanks to having two businesses. Our agent actually helped answer questions about the in-laws insurance and would check in how things were going. If you don't have it get true replacement insurance. Luckily we already do but they didn't which caused them to be under insured in the end.

[heitzke]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

My in laws house burnt mostly down last year and let me tell ya, they regret price shopping and not having an agent. They got screwed by Liberty Mutual who after seeing what they went threw I deem the worst insurance company. Insurance shouldn't be bought online plain and simple. I love my agent and use Erie, we have tons of policies thanks to having two businesses. Our agent actually helped answer questions about the in-laws insurance and would check in how things were going. If you don't have it get true replacement insurance. Luckily we already do but they didn't which caused them to be under insured in the end.

Hard agree to all of this. I'll be shopping around after this experience to say the least. I had always looked at USAA for home-owners but felt like "oh everyone is so much cheaper". I would second that experience with Liberty Mutual. I'm very... anxious about what they deem is fair on the contents of the garage on Monday.

We'll see, but my guess is that it's not going to be very much despite the coverage that I have. Glad to be wrong here, but i'll see in a few days.

[heitzke]

I need to add some pics to this thing haha. Sitting in front of the future home again.



Strange 35-spline. #beefy



Nice piece from Accuffab


This should flow pretty well


Billetflow idlers all installed. I wish the aux idler was the same brand, butttt that's not super important to me right now. Just didn't seem worth the cost of switching.

[heitzke]

#whippletheworld


My SO is actually going to kill me in my sleep at some point


Complete fuel system, all new DeWalt stuff (have a LOT of tools to replace), single-blade throttle body, JLT intake and Whipple over on the floor in the corner. Table started to not be too happy with the weight of everything.

[heitzke]

Little bitty updates - dropped the car to get the S-trac installed and subframe connectors to get welded in. Pained me, but going to have the TOB done and have the clutch all set correctly.

I just won't have a garage for another month or so and i'm a little antsy.

Parts/tools pile


MM control arms are NICE.


I went ahead and ordered coilovers with Koni DA to do with the control arms. This way I figure when I drop the K to do the headers I can reinstall everything with a bunch of new components to make it a little easier (maybe more fun too)

Also got some MADD Retrofitted headlights which I really do enjoy. I was very worried they would modernize the chassis too much but they're quite subtle IMO





Also just a TOUCH of fun. I'm leaving the interior all left alone besides this.



Also! New toolboxes coming in

[M-technik-3]

that was a very hot fire what did the fire marshal think was the cause? Very glad that it did not make the leap to the house. I worry about my garage from time to time and the item I have in it but I keep a pdf spreadsheet with values and keep fire/storage insurance on the two cars in there I don't daily at the moment.

[Alfisti]

The big story here is how understanding the wife is.

[heitzke]

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

that was a very hot fire what did the fire marshal think was the cause? Very glad that it did not make the leap to the house. I worry about my garage from time to time and the item I have in it but I keep a pdf spreadsheet with values and keep fire/storage insurance on the two cars in there I don't daily at the moment.

an amazingly hot fire - I had to look up the melting point of cast aluminum so I know in some hot spots it was over 1200 deg on the ground. The driveshaft melted into a big metal puddle, and pieces of the valve covers were totally melted off of the motor.

I was able to salvage the long tubes (i've been working on them a LOT recently) so I know it wasn't hot enough to melt stainless but severely compromised/bent any stainless that was bearing any sort of load.

Fire marshal came back with a report of inconclusive, which apparently the majority of fires like this end up being. No matter though, insurance has been reasonably good to me. Contents coverage has allowed me space to buy back a lot of tools and it's helping me cover the costs of rebuilding the garage structure.

Originally Posted by Alfisti

The big story here is how understanding the wife is.

that's the absolute truth. Tai is still somehow totally fine with "hey the entire living room is going to be full of parts and tools for another month or two" and they even supported the purchase of the Whipple. Not gonna lie though, it surely helps that we're not having kids too. Tai is also totally obsessed with the Cobra for some reason, so that also helps. It's kind of a POS when compared to how well the M does everything, but there's just something special about those cars.

[Alfisti]

Fuck mine blew a valve this weekend because i dropped 3 spots of water on the kitchen floor.

[heitzke]

We also have two Great Danes. So, a clean and chaos-free household? I wouldn't even know what that is lol

[Alfisti]

Ours is a hospital and god help you if you drop a crumb.

[///d]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Fuck mine blew a valve this weekend because i dropped 3 spots of water on the kitchen floor.

At first I was like "what? His car blew a valve... water on the floor... what?"

Ohhhh the wife blew a valve. Makes sense now

I tried to convince the gf that the Ducati makes a great living room decoration in the winter time. She didn't agree.

[heitzke]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Ours is a hospital and god help you if you drop a crumb.

I feel like your wife would have to check herself into the hospital after stepping a foot into our house. It's not dirty by any means, but hospital clean it is now

Originally Posted by ///d

At first I was like "what? His car blew a valve... water on the floor... what?"

Ohhhh the wife blew a valve. Makes sense now

I tried to convince the gf that the Ducati makes a great living room decoration in the winter time. She didn't agree.

Hahah I totally agree with you on the Duc making a great addition. I used one of my old TE37's into a lamp in the living room. It's all about balance right?

[M-technik-3]

Agreed, my GF knows I have a car issue. the basement is parts, the Second floor is interiors and the garage has 3 cars in it along with 2 JD tractors and 3 Karts.

[heitzke]

I have the same one, but the black version for the last few years. I like it. I bought trays from the dollar store for inside the draws to hold screw drivers, small pliers etc from sliding all over in the draws. Works really well.

Ah nice, i'll have to do the same. I just got me lower box in yesterday. The irony of giant toolboxes and not enough tools to fill it out yet. It'll be a slow roll for sure.

Updates on my side:

- TOB replaced with the FRPP piece. Just like I thought, it just wasn't adjusted correctly. Did the FRPP firewall adjuster and MM quadrant as welll.
- Cobra is current over at Carma Performance and got the MM subframe connectors installed.
- Ran into quite a problem with the 35-spline s-trac install as I didn't even CONSIDER the fact that the spool would use different length axles :facepalm:
- Had to order an entire new set of 35-spline Strange axles with c-slip eliminators, reluctor wheels and studs that are the correct length. They're saying 2-3 wheels on delivery there which is.. less than ideal.

Here's been one of my favorite parts so far though. Started off as joke that I was going to spitefully use a part from the old Burninator on the new car but check out how these headers cleaned up.






Soaked them in a huge tub of evaporust for a few days, scrubbed clean, degreased, prepped and then sprayed with:

- VHT flameproof high temp primer
- VHT flameproof flat silver
- I also have a flameproof clear coat that i'll use on top.

Seems like people have mixed results with this stuff, but it couldn't be worse than they were so I don't really care that much. Sure look good right now!

[///d]

Originally Posted by heitzke

Soaked them in a huge tub of evaporust for a few days, scrubbed clean, degreased, prepped and then sprayed with:

- VHT flameproof high temp primer
- VHT flameproof flat silver
- I also have a flameproof clear coat that i'll use on top.

Seems like people have mixed results with this stuff, but it couldn't be worse than they were so I don't really care that much. Sure look good right now!

If it doesnt hold up you can always get ceramic coating done afterwards. Helps cut down on heat also.

[heitzke]

Originally Posted by ///d

If it doesnt hold up you can always get ceramic coating done afterwards. Helps cut down on heat also.

Yeah true, I considered just getting them swaincoated or something but maybe if they were a nicer pair of long tubes lol. The BBK are pretty budget pieces, but if I had gotten some Kooks or ARH I would have coated for sure

[heitzke]

Some minor updates:

- Had a huge debacle with the rear-end and axle situation. The axles that are used with the spool are about an inch too sort for when used with a 35-spline rear differential like my Strange S-trac.
- No big deal I thought, ordered some new axles, c-clip eliminators, reluctor wheels and studs all pressed in for my rear diff. Not cheap, but also no alternatives so dropped ~780 on axles shipped.
- Got them in and they're the same axles I had in the spool lol.
- Called Strange and after a lot of back and forth, the correct length units should have arrived Tuesday and I am imagining having the car back tomorrow.

Had the TOB replaced at the same time with the FRPP piece since my replacement unit (likely the McLeod one) are almost always trash. Paired that with a firewall adjuster and an aluminum quadrant.

The main thing I had it in the shop for anyway was to get subframe connectors welded in from MM, which i'm pretty excited for. Hopefully some pics to tomorrow here soon.

I'm pretty salty about having to use a shop for part of the work, but the garage progress is still moving SO slow.

[heitzke]

Few smaller updates as i'm still waiting on the garage to have a roof lol.




Got the car back with the Strange S-trac 35-spline setup and car feels really nice to drive now. Rear is totally bulletproof at this point so that's a nice thing to have checked off the list. The subframe connectors also made a complete night and day difference for chassis stability, road feel and tightness. The convertibles need them desperately.








Morimoto LED projector fogs to match the headlights, and also fixed the headlight adjustment screw on the driver side so we have great light output and cutoff.

Also in the process of installing a rear-view camera where the key lock was


Just need to run the wire to the 'reverse' wire on the headunit and it *should* work now.

Mostly waiting for the garage roof now and floor cleaning so I can park the car and start the first big project of the longtube headers, EGR delete, tubular front control arms, coilovers, camber plates and get the car lowered down a bit.