OnyxCobra
Post Whore
great transformation man, you have one good lookin car.
Ciotti's 96' Cobra Build Journal *56k go away*
- Thread starter Ciotti
- Start date
96_SVT_Cobra
SN95 Supporting Member
car looks great.
Thanks for the kind words everyone, next up is a built T-56 to replace this AWFUL T-45, along with a Terminator aluminum flywheel as they are the lightest available right now, 26 spline Centerforce LMC lightweight clutch and pressure plate, Terminator aluminum driveshaft, and the BBK longtubes. That will be a good day, immediately followed by a tune as I will finally have all the power mods that will be done in place.
The music is needed when you're cutting back and forth between different clips to avoid the volume snapping up and down and up and down. When you autocross you walk the course a few times when you first arrive and in your mind there are no more cones, there is an outline of the layout. Typically only 1 or 2 people get lost per event and they're the ones that arrived late and didn't walk the course
It just hangs, it freaked me out at first but it has never been a problem and it's been on there for years
I'm pretty sure that's 13 year old weather stripping not holding the door out against the latch properly, good eye though I noticed that too and stared at it every time when I was editing the video
They're going on when the T-56 goes in, I'm taking them out of the closet tonight and putting them next to my TV in the living room to remind me to not spend any money so that I can finally get them on
Coil overs would be great if they didn't bump you into an EXTREMELY competitive and fast class, and the same thing goes with steep rear gears. The most gear you're technically allowed to have in my class (street prepared) is 3.55's which are so close to my 3.73's that I pass tech just fine
1STOF3 said:
The music is needed when you're cutting back and forth between different clips to avoid the volume snapping up and down and up and down. When you autocross you walk the course a few times when you first arrive and in your mind there are no more cones, there is an outline of the layout. Typically only 1 or 2 people get lost per event and they're the ones that arrived late and didn't walk the course
Hellion94 said:
It just hangs, it freaked me out at first but it has never been a problem and it's been on there for years
JerZeyStangz said:
I'm pretty sure that's 13 year old weather stripping not holding the door out against the latch properly, good eye though I noticed that too and stared at it every time when I was editing the video
95PGTTech said:
They're going on when the T-56 goes in, I'm taking them out of the closet tonight and putting them next to my TV in the living room to remind me to not spend any money so that I can finally get them on
Nacho said:
Coil overs would be great if they didn't bump you into an EXTREMELY competitive and fast class, and the same thing goes with steep rear gears. The most gear you're technically allowed to have in my class (street prepared) is 3.55's which are so close to my 3.73's that I pass tech just fine
Looks like the T-56 will happening sooner than I thought, my parents offered to get the flywheel, clutch, and driveshaft that I need for my birthday in April. They're awesome, after I graduated college and they didn't have to pay any of my bills anymore 5 or so years ago they've been buying me the best X-mas and birthday presents and this year is no different! It's on now, I can't wait to have 3rd and 4th gear again, being able to power shift and cruise at 1800 rpm at 80 will be dam fun too
US Soldier(stang 98)
Well-Known Member
good luck man hope you get every thing done soon
Here's a proper update to this build thread...
On Christmas eve I smacked a curb and broke the right front wheel while being a hooligan in an empty parking lot (note to self, wet black top becomes black ice in the winter) so I bought myself a replacement R58 Cobra R wheel for Christmas!
January, February, and March were spent recovering from the Christmas present spend-a-thon so I didn't buy any goodies for the car but I did take first in my class at the South Jersey/Philly SCCA Winter Series...
First event at NJMP
Second event at CBP
Third event at NJMP
I missed the fourth event but carried enough points from winning the first three to take first place in E Stree Prepared for the series
By that point the 275 Toyo Proxes 4's were toast so I decided to go with the only new hot autocross tire that's made in big boy sizes, the Kuhmo XS. A little over $800 later and I was in 285/40/17 heaven with the (as tested by Sport Compact Car) stickiest and fastest street tire available. They weren't kidding either, these tires kick up the same amount of gravel and rocks dead cold as my Toyo's did when they were at temperature!
I then had to completely relearn the limits of the car which was fun but frustrating as I would brake too early out of instinct, realize my mistake, and then early apex almost every corner with my foot on the floor trying to make up the lost time.
By the next event I was used to the tires and on fire, I managed to grab the second fastest time of the day and I was only 3 seconds off the fastest time of the day X Prepared Porsche 912 which (for those of you keeping score) is gutted and 1,000 pounds less on super sticky R compound slicks, has more power, a completely built suspension, and is German. So, to say the XS's are working for me is one hell of an understatement
At this point I had been dealing with the 160,000+ mile old once rebuilt T-45 that had developed a 50/50 shot of third gear working and no fourth gear at all for the past year. My plan all along was to swap it out for a T-56 but to do the swap the way I wanted was right around $4k so it kept getting put on the back burner. All of a sudden I had a bunch of money saved and I was ready to do it so I spec'd everything out and was ready to pull the trigger. Buuuuut then taxes ate almost $2,000 and that plan crashed into the bloody mountain and burst into flames!
So, tail between my legs I found a 0 mile T-45 for $400 that had never been taken out of the Tremec box to be put in a car and I had to jump on it. The old T-45 took all the abuse when I was shifting the piss out of it writing that Shifting a T45 Quicker 101 post. I have no need to abuse this one like that any more as I've grown out of those shenanigans so it should last a good long while.
I also had the Spec aluminum flywheel reinstalled and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch put in along with the trans and they are great. The aluminum flywheel had been removed and replaced with an OEM steel one a little over a year ago and my god had I missed being able to tach the car up from idle to 7k in under a second. The Centerforce clutch is great too, completely stock pedal pressure but it grabs like hell especially when the revs climb as those little weights on the pressure plate fingers start doing their thing.
That about brings us up to date, I meant to take pictures of the clutch but I completely forgot, up next are some fresh upper control arms, poly bushings in the OEM lower control arms and a built rear end with a working rear diff which will be nice for a change
Oh and I almost forgot, I finally finished up the one video from last year...
10/19/08 Philly SCCA Autocross
On Christmas eve I smacked a curb and broke the right front wheel while being a hooligan in an empty parking lot (note to self, wet black top becomes black ice in the winter) so I bought myself a replacement R58 Cobra R wheel for Christmas!
January, February, and March were spent recovering from the Christmas present spend-a-thon so I didn't buy any goodies for the car but I did take first in my class at the South Jersey/Philly SCCA Winter Series...
First event at NJMP
Second event at CBP
Third event at NJMP
I missed the fourth event but carried enough points from winning the first three to take first place in E Stree Prepared for the series
By that point the 275 Toyo Proxes 4's were toast so I decided to go with the only new hot autocross tire that's made in big boy sizes, the Kuhmo XS. A little over $800 later and I was in 285/40/17 heaven with the (as tested by Sport Compact Car) stickiest and fastest street tire available. They weren't kidding either, these tires kick up the same amount of gravel and rocks dead cold as my Toyo's did when they were at temperature!
I then had to completely relearn the limits of the car which was fun but frustrating as I would brake too early out of instinct, realize my mistake, and then early apex almost every corner with my foot on the floor trying to make up the lost time.
By the next event I was used to the tires and on fire, I managed to grab the second fastest time of the day and I was only 3 seconds off the fastest time of the day X Prepared Porsche 912 which (for those of you keeping score) is gutted and 1,000 pounds less on super sticky R compound slicks, has more power, a completely built suspension, and is German. So, to say the XS's are working for me is one hell of an understatement
At this point I had been dealing with the 160,000+ mile old once rebuilt T-45 that had developed a 50/50 shot of third gear working and no fourth gear at all for the past year. My plan all along was to swap it out for a T-56 but to do the swap the way I wanted was right around $4k so it kept getting put on the back burner. All of a sudden I had a bunch of money saved and I was ready to do it so I spec'd everything out and was ready to pull the trigger. Buuuuut then taxes ate almost $2,000 and that plan crashed into the bloody mountain and burst into flames!
So, tail between my legs I found a 0 mile T-45 for $400 that had never been taken out of the Tremec box to be put in a car and I had to jump on it. The old T-45 took all the abuse when I was shifting the piss out of it writing that Shifting a T45 Quicker 101 post. I have no need to abuse this one like that any more as I've grown out of those shenanigans so it should last a good long while.
I also had the Spec aluminum flywheel reinstalled and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch put in along with the trans and they are great. The aluminum flywheel had been removed and replaced with an OEM steel one a little over a year ago and my god had I missed being able to tach the car up from idle to 7k in under a second. The Centerforce clutch is great too, completely stock pedal pressure but it grabs like hell especially when the revs climb as those little weights on the pressure plate fingers start doing their thing.
That about brings us up to date, I meant to take pictures of the clutch but I completely forgot, up next are some fresh upper control arms, poly bushings in the OEM lower control arms and a built rear end with a working rear diff which will be nice for a change
Oh and I almost forgot, I finally finished up the one video from last year...
10/19/08 Philly SCCA Autocross
that is an awsome video.
your car sounds really good!
It was interesting to see the different cars in there. I saw a few lifting their inside rear tire off the ground! is that normal? or from a tight suspension?
the Lotus in that group, how did that car do?
I drove with the Roush group, and we had some AC cobras, ferrari, Vancuish, and a bunch of cobras/roushes, and a Lotus. and the lotus did the best, obviously since his car was so light. so that's the basis of my question.
At this event was a guy with a gutted 95 cobra, NA..... He took second.
beat all the supercharged fatties.
I really enjoyed that video.
Makes me wonder what I'm up against since my car is turbo on coilovers.
your car sounds really good!
It was interesting to see the different cars in there. I saw a few lifting their inside rear tire off the ground! is that normal? or from a tight suspension?
the Lotus in that group, how did that car do?
I drove with the Roush group, and we had some AC cobras, ferrari, Vancuish, and a bunch of cobras/roushes, and a Lotus. and the lotus did the best, obviously since his car was so light. so that's the basis of my question.
At this event was a guy with a gutted 95 cobra, NA..... He took second.
beat all the supercharged fatties.
I really enjoyed that video.
Makes me wonder what I'm up against since my car is turbo on coilovers.
got any pics of the engine bay? i really like that alt.
Thanks for the kind words guys, stay tuned I have a whole bunch of new goodies on the way right now
Tires coming up will happen due to a bunch of different factors, a very stiff chassis, big sway bars, very little suspension droop, and/or sticky tires are the primary causes.
Lotuses are not only light but their suspension geometry is a work of art and with those 2 factors their handling is in a class of it's own. The one in the video is an Evolution Driving School car being driven by one of the hot shoe instructors so at pretty much every event it shows up at it ends up with fastest time of the day. When you're watching it on track you feel like at any moment there will be two firey tire tracks behind it, a lightning strike, and then it will have vanished
I actually don't, I daily drive this car and run the piss out of it at a lot of autocrosses so the engine bay is absolutely filthy and keeping it clean would be all but impossible. The black alternator does look cool in there although it sorta blends in with all the other black hoses and you don't even notice it, real stealthy like
Dalamar said:that is an awsome video.
your car sounds really good!
It was interesting to see the different cars in there. I saw a few lifting their inside rear tire off the ground! is that normal? or from a tight suspension?
the Lotus in that group, how did that car do?
I drove with the Roush group, and we had some AC cobras, ferrari, Vancuish, and a bunch of cobras/roushes, and a Lotus. and the lotus did the best, obviously since his car was so light. so that's the basis of my question.
At this event was a guy with a gutted 95 cobra, NA..... He took second.
beat all the supercharged fatties.
I really enjoyed that video.
Makes me wonder what I'm up against since my car is turbo on coilovers.
Tires coming up will happen due to a bunch of different factors, a very stiff chassis, big sway bars, very little suspension droop, and/or sticky tires are the primary causes.
Lotuses are not only light but their suspension geometry is a work of art and with those 2 factors their handling is in a class of it's own. The one in the video is an Evolution Driving School car being driven by one of the hot shoe instructors so at pretty much every event it shows up at it ends up with fastest time of the day. When you're watching it on track you feel like at any moment there will be two firey tire tracks behind it, a lightning strike, and then it will have vanished
Matt94GT said:
I actually don't, I daily drive this car and run the piss out of it at a lot of autocrosses so the engine bay is absolutely filthy and keeping it clean would be all but impossible. The black alternator does look cool in there although it sorta blends in with all the other black hoses and you don't even notice it, real stealthy like
Good god it's been over a year since I've updated this...
So, I found a T-45 for $400 that had never been taken out of the Tremec box to be put in a car and I had to jump on it. The only reason the old T-45 broke is that I kept shifting the piss out of it at Atco (which is in the videos on the first page) and on the street at 7,000 rpm over and over and over again. I have no need to abuse this one like that any more as I've grown out of straight line shenanigans so it should last a good long while.
I also had the Spec aluminum flywheel reinstalled and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch put in along with the trans and they've been great. The aluminum flywheel had been removed and replaced with an OEM steel one a little over a year ago and my god had I missed being able to tach the car up from idle to 7k in under a second. The Centerforce clutch is great too, completely stock pedal pressure but it grabs like hell especially when the revs climb as those little weights on the pressure plate fingers start doing their thing.
Koni single adjustables then went on to replace the tired old Tokiko Blues and my god what a difference they made. The compression dampening is set and much stiffer than the Blues that were on the car which makes turn in MUCH crisper and got rid of a lot of the instant front end brake dive which made threshold braking very difficult. The rebound dampening is adjustable but even on full soft it is far better than the Tokiko's were at managing the weight of this big fat vert. It's really nice to be able to set them nice and soft for weekly daily driving and then crank it up for fun on the weekends and dial it in for each track layout/venue I'm at.
The car actually rides MUCH better on the street over bumps and pot holes because the Tokiko's were underdampened for my stiffer spring rates(650 front and 275 rear) and the car now rides a lot more like my girlfriend's 08' Jetta in that it sucks up bumps without upsetting the entire car. Instead of banging over every bump and slamming the wheels down into pot holes, the dampening controls the suspension so much better that I just cruise over bumps that used to knock the car all over the bloody road. There are 2 recessed manhole covers in particular that I hit every single day on the way home where previously they would send 2 wheels well over the dotted line into the other lane and now the car just goes thump thump with no drama at all and keeps on cruising dead straight.
There isn't any mod that I've done other than the MM full length subframe connectors that made this much of a positive difference to everything about the car, it brakes better, is more comfortable, and turns in so much nicer than it ever has. I'm also really happy that the bump/compression is set and not adjustable as it prevents me from banging my head into the wall trying to figure out how to get that set properly.
I bought them from Sam Strano (F Stock dominator and 08' National Autocross driver of the year) at Strano Performance Parts Strano Performance Parts - Parts Catalog up by Valley Forge, PA and not only were his prices great but he gave me a bunch of super helpful tech help over the phone and killer customer service when the $hit hit the fan and I needed the order to go out in a hurry to make it here in time for the install. Even if you don't see parts for your car on his site, call him or email him and I'm sure he can get you whatever you need.
Long term impressions are that I couldn't be happier with them and everyone that has ridden in the car on the street or at an autocross has been blown away and either wants a set for their car or has already bought a set for their car like my father
Here are a few good shots that were taken from 2 of our summer series autocrosses by a photographer which was a treat because I'm usually the only photog there so I get great shots of all the cars but one
And I shot these HDR's handheld real quick between heats at the one event...
After seeing how much front end body roll I was getting during banzai trailbraking maneuvers, I ordered up a big ol' Steeda front bar which has done an incredible job at flattening out corner entries and comes dam close to pulling the inside front tire up in the air on corner exits
Up next are poly bushings in the OEM lower control arms (because of ESP class rules) and an Eaton posi rear diff which will make a HUGE difference because my factory diff is GONE.
Oh and here are the videos that have not yet been posted...
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo11-9-2008.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2SEvKhsfJshttp://
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo1-18-2009.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=crF-D4wF0kchttp://
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo2-8-2009.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl8vlvu2XHohttp://
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo8-16-2009.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz0GnXOrayEhttp://
And finally a trailer for the next video I need to get done which was a huuuuge autocross that was setup on a road race course!
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo5-9-2009.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_mR0bFfp54#normalhttp://
So, I found a T-45 for $400 that had never been taken out of the Tremec box to be put in a car and I had to jump on it. The only reason the old T-45 broke is that I kept shifting the piss out of it at Atco (which is in the videos on the first page) and on the street at 7,000 rpm over and over and over again. I have no need to abuse this one like that any more as I've grown out of straight line shenanigans so it should last a good long while.
I also had the Spec aluminum flywheel reinstalled and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch put in along with the trans and they've been great. The aluminum flywheel had been removed and replaced with an OEM steel one a little over a year ago and my god had I missed being able to tach the car up from idle to 7k in under a second. The Centerforce clutch is great too, completely stock pedal pressure but it grabs like hell especially when the revs climb as those little weights on the pressure plate fingers start doing their thing.
Koni single adjustables then went on to replace the tired old Tokiko Blues and my god what a difference they made. The compression dampening is set and much stiffer than the Blues that were on the car which makes turn in MUCH crisper and got rid of a lot of the instant front end brake dive which made threshold braking very difficult. The rebound dampening is adjustable but even on full soft it is far better than the Tokiko's were at managing the weight of this big fat vert. It's really nice to be able to set them nice and soft for weekly daily driving and then crank it up for fun on the weekends and dial it in for each track layout/venue I'm at.
The car actually rides MUCH better on the street over bumps and pot holes because the Tokiko's were underdampened for my stiffer spring rates(650 front and 275 rear) and the car now rides a lot more like my girlfriend's 08' Jetta in that it sucks up bumps without upsetting the entire car. Instead of banging over every bump and slamming the wheels down into pot holes, the dampening controls the suspension so much better that I just cruise over bumps that used to knock the car all over the bloody road. There are 2 recessed manhole covers in particular that I hit every single day on the way home where previously they would send 2 wheels well over the dotted line into the other lane and now the car just goes thump thump with no drama at all and keeps on cruising dead straight.
There isn't any mod that I've done other than the MM full length subframe connectors that made this much of a positive difference to everything about the car, it brakes better, is more comfortable, and turns in so much nicer than it ever has. I'm also really happy that the bump/compression is set and not adjustable as it prevents me from banging my head into the wall trying to figure out how to get that set properly.
I bought them from Sam Strano (F Stock dominator and 08' National Autocross driver of the year) at Strano Performance Parts Strano Performance Parts - Parts Catalog up by Valley Forge, PA and not only were his prices great but he gave me a bunch of super helpful tech help over the phone and killer customer service when the $hit hit the fan and I needed the order to go out in a hurry to make it here in time for the install. Even if you don't see parts for your car on his site, call him or email him and I'm sure he can get you whatever you need.
Long term impressions are that I couldn't be happier with them and everyone that has ridden in the car on the street or at an autocross has been blown away and either wants a set for their car or has already bought a set for their car like my father
Here are a few good shots that were taken from 2 of our summer series autocrosses by a photographer which was a treat because I'm usually the only photog there so I get great shots of all the cars but one
And I shot these HDR's handheld real quick between heats at the one event...
After seeing how much front end body roll I was getting during banzai trailbraking maneuvers, I ordered up a big ol' Steeda front bar which has done an incredible job at flattening out corner entries and comes dam close to pulling the inside front tire up in the air on corner exits
Up next are poly bushings in the OEM lower control arms (because of ESP class rules) and an Eaton posi rear diff which will make a HUGE difference because my factory diff is GONE.
Oh and here are the videos that have not yet been posted...
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo11-9-2008.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2SEvKhsfJshttp://
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo1-18-2009.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=crF-D4wF0kchttp://
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo2-8-2009.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl8vlvu2XHohttp://
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo8-16-2009.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz0GnXOrayEhttp://
And finally a trailer for the next video I need to get done which was a huuuuge autocross that was setup on a road race course!
www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo5-9-2009.movhttp://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_mR0bFfp54#normalhttp://
Mmmm Konis.
I want some really bad, how much did you pay for your set? I really really really need something to replace my orginal stock struts/shocks haha
I want some really bad, how much did you pay for your set? I really really really need something to replace my orginal stock struts/shocks haha
duh09 said:
I got them during a sale right before the prices went up and I think it was around $560 for all 4 but it's been a while so I'm not %100 sure. After daily driving on them with monthly autocrosses, I would pay $1,000 for another set if I had to, they're that good!
Twista said:
Here's my Youtube channel with all the videos...
http://www.youtube.com/user/DeathEaterCobra
