Jason's 96 Cobra - investigative build

[1BadSVT]

speaking of spark plug wiring routing
her is another idea that can be done its set up like a HemmieView attachment 38927this is on my 98 gt with mach 1 heads and intake

Ooo, I like that, thanks for sharing

 

[RAU03MACH]

ya i try to come up with different ways to put engines together
no problem that is why we all get on this forum and help each other

 

[1BadSVT]

Looked up the area code one of the phone numbers written on the alcohol injection system paperwork that came with the car. It appears the company change their name slightly and their website but I found them in salt lake city. It lookss like this system was order 2/2008. https://www.alkycontrol.com/ EDIT: reached out to Alky, and my kit was actually made by a company called Prometh, also located in Salt Lake City.

I was talking to a buddy of mine who has a 98 Cobra and he's actually working on a coyote swap right now. When I mentioned the lower control arm bushing he said he had a set that he would be willing to sell me! Let's go!

Also found some interesting things today. I don't believe the methanol or the boost a pump are even hooked up!



I also found out why the passenger front seat belt does not engage. The buckles are not from the same years. This car has the older 94-96 style buckles (wider).

 

[1BadSVT]

Some clarification. Alky systems responded after I sent them photos and they said this is actually a Prometh system. I reached out to Prometh and they confirmed my suspicions on the wiring. It is a super simple system. The pump is mounted to the tank in the trunk and there is a feed line to the intake manifold after the throttle body. Power is connected to a boost activated switch at the com or common connection at the top. A vac/boost line is ran from the engine to this switch in the trunk at the tank. The other two connections are labeled NO for normally open, and NC for normally closed. The pump power is connected to normally closed. The switch has a screw which can be manually adjusted and sets the boost level at which the power connection to the pump is made. The pump is grounded to the body of the car.

I have to run a test to measure my gph of the fuel pump because the boost a pump has been disconnected. I'd rather restore the system I have but no idea if it's faulty or still works. The plan is the tear into the car starting this weekend so it may be off the road for a month.

 

[joemomma]

With winter coming it's a great time to tear into projects like this.

 

[1BadSVT]

For any adults out there, tonsil surgery is not a joke. I'm on day 2 recovery and working from home a few days. I piddled a little bit and replaced the crank position sensor as it had a leak there, installed a new air filter but it doesn't fit quite to my liking so ordered another one, and I installed a new shock on the driver rear. This weekend I want to finish the other rear shock and replaced the diff gasket and fill with new fluid but I'm waiting on the parts to arrive. I might go for a short cruise before repositioning in the garage so I can tear into the front suspension.

Lower control arms with all new bushings, lower ball joints, struts, tie rods end and inner tie rods, end links and new strut bushings.

Bonus: I forgot the SVT certificate from the previous owner so he is shipping that to me along with the original intake! I had no idea he still had it!

 

[RAU03MACH]

i am now recovering from a brain aneurism surgery and now have 2 plates in my head know the feeling

 

[1BadSVT]

i am now recovering from a brain aneurism surgery and now have 2 plates in my head know the feeling

Definitely puts things in perspective! I feel a lot better already. Take care brother. I will get more pictures uploaded this week.

 

[1BadSVT]

Looks like the original 8.8 is still intact. Codes say this was originally a 3.27 Limited slip 8.8. with build date January 23, 1996. I also installed the passenger rear shock so now both are complete. The new diff cover and gasket arrive tomorrow. Once I pull the cover, we'll find out what gears are actually installed. I'm guessing 4.10.

All of the front suspension parts have now arrived as well.

 

[1BadSVT]

The car has 3.73s installed. The new diff cover, gasket and fluids went in pretty smooth. I had to disconnect the rear sway bar at the passenger side for clearance. Headed to the DMV Monday to get title so I can send off the custom tag application again. Order of operation is important there . No leaks observed from the new crank position sensor. The new rear shocks have stiffened up the rear end and eliminated the bounce. Next up is to install the new O2 sensors to see if that will clean up the rich condition. I keep putting off the suspension because I'm waiting on one last part which should arrive this week. Coil insulators.

 

[1BadSVT]

Well... Yesterday, I drove the car to work and was going to run some errands at lunch and no power... A friend helped me jump it off but it immediately died since it appears the ECU reset again and it's relearning idle and run. At the end of the day another coworker had an extra battery. I didn't catch the cranking amp on the tag but I just jumped to the battery and she fired right off. Voltage at my battery was 12.6 and with alternator running it measured 13.5 or 13.8.

Got back to the house and parked it in the garage. Shut down and nothing. All power lost. Went through all the fuses and terminal connections and nothing looked wrong. I took the battery to an auto parts store and they did the quick check and said battery was ok. I had them charge the battery and do the load test. Checked out ok.... Strange

I picked up the battery today and inspected the inside of the new terminals I just installed. It looks like there were some burrs from the top posts from the initial install. I clean up all the posts and terminals again and she fired right up. I'm not completely convinced it's fixed and want to bring the car to have the alternator checked. It might be an intermittent problem but battery voltage never tested low. I just had no lights, no power, nothing to anything.

I decided to go ahead leave her down for a few weeks and get the O2 sensors on so the ECU has a chance to learn correctly and finish all the front suspension. It should only take a few hours but I'm gonna enjoy working on it.

 

[1BadSVT]

O2 sensors are in and I know you need to drive these things and put cycles on them to get them to regulate but something felt "off". I was thinking vacuum or fuel regulator and found the following. The vac line at the top of the regulator, which appears to be installed very tight under the manifold, is missing or the cap was broken.

So far my research leads me to believe I need the vac line hooked up to the regulator. Psi should be around 39 stock and under vac the load decreases which aligns with the current rich condition at idle. Without vacuum pulling on the regulator, I could be flooding the 42lb injectors. I'll dig I to the lines a bit more and see if I can find a hose unplugged or hanging somewhere. If not, I'll have to get this regulator tied in somewhere close to test the theory. Continuing to follow the crumbs!

 

[RAU03MACH]

yup under the KB the vacuum lines fuel lines and fuel psi regulator its a tight one

 

[1BadSVT]

yup under the KB the vacuum lines fuel lines and fuel psi regulator its a tight one

Yep. You can see whatever the original installer put has eroded and it's unregulated. I'm going to tie this back into a vacuum line this weekend.

 

[Musturd]

Personally if the car doesn’t have a wide band I wouldn’t be driving this car until the tunes verified safe

 

[Musturd]

Personally if the car doesn’t have a wide band I wouldn’t be driving this car until the tunes verified safe

 

[RAU03MACH]

took me a bit to get mine close
but i think eventually i will run a stand alone Mega squirt on my KB cobra

 

[RAU03MACH]

you cant see any of the vac lines around the regulator or the regulator itself its under the corner of the throttle body housing and its very tight
i bent one of the fuel rail tubes down to make it work

 

[1BadSVT]

Personally if the car doesn’t have a wide band I wouldn’t be driving this car until the tunes verified safe

It has a wide band installed but not working currently. It's on the list to sort out. It's running so rich right now.... it smells like a race car.

 

[96blak54]

Boy that sure is a pretty engine bay