94 Cobra Project ... Carnage pics added 7-23-14

[Ferocious]

The amount of work you put into this car is beyond amazing. I feel as though I just watched you build the car from the ground up.
I know all the work will pay off in the end. Mad props to you man. Keep it up.

 

[Widow Maker]

WOW!!!!!

Now that must of took some time. Keep up the great work with your car. Love the information.

 

[MSRTom]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. It's very encouraging. I've been wanting to put a build thread up somewhere for a while, but I've never really found a message board that felt right. If I put it up on MustangWorld, I think that the lounge trolls would have flamed the hell out of me for trying to save it. I feel like Corral, AFM, SVTPerformance and Mustang Evolution are too broad, and while I made a lot of friends learning about V6's over on V6Power.net, this build wouldn't really work there.

I will always hold the SN95 above the other platforms, because it's the body style I fell in love with many years ago. Hopefully my other 4 SN's will get some love once I post their project threads, too.

The amount of work you put into this car is beyond amazing. I feel as though I just watched you build the car from the ground up.
I know all the work will pay off in the end. Mad props to you man. Keep it up.

Considering almost everything came out of it, you kinda did. Admittedly, I've cut a few corners here and there, and aesthetically, I'm not happy with the car at the moment. Compared a front end like a can of smashed ass like it used to have, though... I think I'll be alright until it gets paint. Hopefully one year soon I can make it out to Knott's for the big show and hang out with some west coast people.

Thanks again for the kind words everyone. Now that I've lit it up and I'm starting this visual record, I feel more compelled than ever to work on it as much as possible. Hope to bring you an update this weekend.

 

[McCloud]

I read your title and saw the stalker bumper, and was hoping the road to recovery was bringing it back to stock appearance. What happened to the stock front bumper and wheels?

 

[Knuckles@Empire]

"And since then, our destinies shall forever be entwined."

So I kept thinking about this for a while after I read it earlier and I remembered that this was pretty much the whole bit from Wangan Midnight, the story of the Devil Z. Car could never be tamed kept crashing with different owners until the one owner who wouldnt give up on it, even after it kept bucking him off he said something to the same effect of what you said about keep fixing it and the destinies thing. Im not sure why I posted this whole rant just reminded me with your history with the whips is all i guess.

Knuckles

 

[MSRTom]

I read your title and saw the stalker bumper, and was hoping the road to recovery was bringing it back to stock appearance. What happened to the stock front bumper and wheels?

Still got them. I'll be putting them along with the stock decklid on my Dad's 95. Build thread to come soon.

"And since then, our destinies shall forever be entwined."

So I kept thinking about this for a while after I read it earlier and I remembered that this was pretty much the whole bit from Wangan Midnight, the story of the Devil Z. Car could never be tamed kept crashing with different owners until the one owner who wouldnt give up on it, even after it kept bucking him off he said something to the same effect of what you said about keep fixing it and the destinies thing. Im not sure why I posted this whole rant just reminded me with your history with the whips is all i guess.

Knuckles

I love Wangan Midnight. Still have my game cards from Maximum Tune and watched all of the episodes of the anime that they made a year or two ago. Haven't read the manga yet, but now that I look at it, I need to go make sure I didn't rip that line off from in there somewhere.

Oddly enough, when my buddy Ron and I were playing Maximum Tune, he used to call my Cobra "Blackbird". We were such nerds.

 

[miss2slocoupe]

WOW!!! so much work and sweat! to be honest if this happened to my car id most likely keep going with it, congratz and keep it upppp!!!!!!

 

[96TANGERINEGT]

holly wow, most people would have said good bye to that car , but u stuck it out ..

props on the build

 

[MSRTom]

Not too much done this weekend. Replaced my cowl panel and attached my shifter boot to the bezel. Spent most of the weekend working on my blue 96 V6. Build thread to come for that car very soon.

 

[Singer]

this has gave me hope to rebuild my POS 94 v6 mustang

 

[MSRTom]

this has gave me hope to rebuild my POS 94 v6 mustang

Awesome. Just wait until I post up a thread for my 94 V6 Coupe, then we can compare notes.

 

[LAFENATU]

Tom, I remember when you called me and told me what happened.

You have done an amazing job at rebuilding the Cobra, very impressive.

-Rob

 

[MSRTom]

So, two years after the last post in here, I need to post up and stay motivated.

After participating in this thread: http://www.sn95forums.com/showthread.php?66080-Its-tough-being-a-car-enthusiasts , I remembered that the only thing really holding me back is a lack of drive.
Apologize for blurry phone pics, I want to keep it somehow documented.

This weekend, I took the Cobra to my parents' house to pull the trans and fix the speedometer.

One reason it's hard to get motivated. These are black widow egg sacs. I pulled them off of the RUCA mounts with some needle nose pliers.
.

This really pisses me off. I need to get another bung and relocate my driver's side O2. This is just begging for a problem (it's hitting the bellhousing).

Here's the main goal of Saturday's work. Install a clip to retain the drive gear for the speedo. Tired of not knowing my speed.

While I'm at it, here's what my parents have been up to:

...and my former DD. 94 V6 auto... having trans problems. Need to get a build thread going for it, too.

ALMOST all of the tools and supplies that I took over there....

Got it aligned at Firestone the next day... toe was way off b/c one of the jam nuts came loose.

I had changed the oil and plugs on Saturday as well as readjusted the clutch, I was pretty content with how it was riding. So of course, today at lunch... this happens.

I friggin hate the generic Chinese adjustable clutch cables.

Wrapped some silicone tape around it so I could put it back in and get it working, then came up to the office and ordered one of the Maximum Motorsports OEM-style cables.

That's it for now. Like I said, trying to get/stay motivated this summer despite the heat and the BS.

Previously, I wanted to go with a full-on build... turbo'd Windsor, T-56, etc. Also wanted to get the body back to how it was with the Saleen/Stalker bodywork.

I've since decided to take it back to its roots and make it OEM+. I picked up a 96 Cobra hood at the local LKQ U-pick, I'm looking for a 96-98 Cobra rear bumper, and motor plans have changed to a nice 306. May or may not put the NX kit back on it.

Next September (2015) will be 10 years since the collision. In time for that anniversary, I want to be as proud of it and as confident in it as I was when it was totaled. If that is at all possible, I need to get my ass in gear. I'm getting ready to get the A/C working again, planning to get the interior squared away while I search for that 96-98 Cobra rear bumper and practice painting on spare body stuff that I've got laying around. I got a 60-gallon compressor for my birthday last year with the intentions of painting this car (and all the others) myself, and yet again, my laziness is really the only thing keeping it from happening.

Wish me luck!

 

[Burninriverdiver]

Pretty awesome man, that's a lot of work to bring it back. Looking forward to seeing more progress

 

[MSRTom]

More clutch cable drama. It's continued to stretch over the past week (since I "fixed" it Monday). I've been using my firewall adjuster to compensate, but I'm almost out of threads and I'd rather not pull the last few threads out and be totally screwed.

So I used my trusty Leatherman Micra which has ruler-markings too small for you to see in this blurry photo... to get an idea of what size I'm working with here.

Went to the local hardware store and bought 3/4" and 1" PVC pipe couplings. Used the saw on my MUT to carve out a notch:

Then got back out to the car and realized that the notch is no-where near big enough.. so I make it bigger:

and finally.. slip it on and secure it with zip ties to test it out.

Was great success.

Now I'll need to trim the zip-ties when I leave so I can wrap it with my silicone tape to protect it from the heat.
If I can make it back home without it melting, that would be great, but I have some spare couplers, just in case.
Maybe I'll MacGuyver a heat shield out of some soda cans while I'm at it.

Got my MM cable in like 2 days instead of the 3 that I paid for (expedited shipping since they're in Cali and I'm in SC), so it will get installed this weekend and hopefully I can put the days of shitty clutch cables behind me.

 

[duh09]

Dibs on those taillights if you ever get rid of them.


Also, it's crazy to see how far apart your car came. Cutting and splicing those two cars together is insane. Bravo.

 

[mikey94gt]

Wow dude, talk about commitment to a cause. It's pretty damn cool you rebuilt her from a major crash, where even I would have written her off. Very cool.

 

[MSRTom]

Dibs on those taillights if you ever get rid of them.


Also, it's crazy to see how far apart your car came. Cutting and splicing those two cars together is insane. Bravo.

Thanks! It's still very far from being "fixed".

I'll be taking the export tails off of the Cobra, but I'll be putting them on another project. I have a spare set, too, in case I ever get rear-ended.

I'll keep my eye out for a good deal for you.

 

[MSRTom]

Got my cable changed yesterday. Feels so much better. The MM cable feels like it slides so much more smoothly in the sheathing than the cheap adjustable cables do, plus the rubber bellows on the clutch fork side keeps the dust out and allows it to "spring" a little bit.

None of my side-by-side shots with the cable that I removed turned out, but here are two shots of the stretched out crappy adjustable:

If you look at the photo earlier in the thread where I wrapped that silicone tape around the cable end, you can see how much more it has stretched.

Also, the black outer layer was bunched up near the bracket sleeve due to stretching.

 

[MSRTom]

Alright gang, I'm sticking to my guns about being motivated and working on the Cobra this summer, so I've been trying to take care of little issues here and there. To do my due diligence with regard to my misfire issue, I pulled the codes today on my lunch break and was shocked at how many there were.

I didn't clear them, but checked them again with the help of my beautiful wife when I got home tonight. Here were my results:

On initializing the KOEO test, I could only hear one fan speed. The fuel pump relay also initialized, but I don't think that it did earlier in the day.

The first set of codes only indicated a 564, which is the Electro-driven Fan code. Consistent with what I observed at the start of KOEO. I checked the 60 amp fan fuse under the hood and it was fine. I still need to bypass that plug in module with the circuit breakers that Ford installed as a recall or whatever. Also, if anyone can confirm that pin 13 on the CCRM connector is the one I need to ground to test the high speed fan, it would be much appreciated.

After the one flash separator pulse, if I remember correctly come the codes stored in Keep alive Memory. I got a 332.. Egr not detected open ... and a 556 ... fuel pump relay fault. I have read the the fuel pump code may be a phantom and could have been triggered by bumping the inertia switch to relieve fuel pressure prior to changing my fuel filter. The EGR I'm not too concerned with since it has been deleted and I just need to correct it with the plug in dummy or turn it off when I get my Moates QH.

KOER gave me codes 172 and 136.. both O2 sensor (right side) lean. I have come across conflicting information as to whether or not this is the driver or passenger side bank. My driver's side O2 has wires that are being pinched by the bellhousing (photo above), but I'm going to swap the sensors this weekend. I've also got a bung to weld in to reclock the sensor to a position that won't interfere.

Cylinder balance test came out all clear (code 9), so if anybody can help me out with the clarifications above, that would rock.

Looking forward this weekend to fixing that O2 sensor problem, replacing my output shaft seal, and maybe figuring out the fan problem.