My 94 Cobra Build

slb94Cobra#3318 · Apr 13, 2010

Well the time has come to upgrade my 94 Cobra. A little history on the car, I took it in trade for an 85GT, the Cobra has 170,000 miles on the clock, it was repainted just before the trade. She looks great, turns heads, it just time for more. I was due for an oil change so I decided to tear it down. The person I traded to said the engine was gone through but all I have is his word. It runs great and doesn't burn a drop of oil. My plan is to have it done by Memorial weekend, we have an annual city wide car show that I want to attend. I will also keep track of what I spend my budget is about 1900. Now for the good stuff. I bought a used set of Trickflow heads, Anderson B31 cam, matching 1.6 crane gold rockers,and hardened pushrods for $975. I had the heads have been cleaned up and new seals and a valve job for $250. I bought a set of used long tube headers, h-pipe and Magnaflow mufflers for 100.00 even though I'm thinking of keeping the Flowmasters on. I just scored some lockwire head gaskets for $50.00 from a member on here. I have a new clutch kit from Zoom I'll be putting on as well. I bought that last year so I'm not including that in the build cost. I want to take care of the surface rust underneath and add some subframe connectors, upper and lower control arms and basically freshen up everything under the hood.
The hardest things about this is going to be my work schedule and my work environment NO GARAGE :BangHead:. I work Thursday - Sunday each week 9-7,9-7, 7-3 and 6PM-6AM. One more thing I haven't played with a 302 in 10+ years I had a Cleveland in my 85, so I may need some help or just have some questions.

Day one actually only about 2 hours. Getting a lowered car onto ramps pretty easy with the help of some wood, getting the rear in the air much more difficult due to limited jacking space but it's done. Removed the mass air and air box, loosened the upper intake and that's it. Tomorrow the upper comes off so I can repaint it. I should have the exhaust off tomorrow as well.

Here's some pics from today.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuild032.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuild055.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuild025.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuild030.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuild002.jpg

Javi · Apr 14, 2010

Paint looks great, keep us update on the build.

Moving your thread to the correct section.

Win · Apr 14, 2010

Looks good man looks like it will be a fun ride when you get it all back together.

duh09 · Apr 14, 2010

That paint is NICE! Looks great, always nice to see a car getting a new breath.

slb94Cobra#3318 · Apr 14, 2010

Thanks guys, sorry about putting the thread in the wrong place.

Day 2

Got the upper intake off reveling a Taco Bell mild sauce packet hiding below . The funny thing about this is it said "How many of these are in your glove box?"

I learned today that fuel can shoot at least a foot and some change out of the schrader valve. :shocked:

Yanked out the radiator and fan, then removed the alternator. Leaving the water pump, power steering, and AC. I can't believe how brittle most of the wires and airlines feel. The upper has been cleaned and degreased, sanding can begin this weekend sometime. Day 2 ends at 4pm, wife had school, so I moved into daddy mode.

mild sauce pack sorry it's blurry
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuildDay2003.jpg

End of day pic
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuildDay2011.jpg

mikey94gt · Apr 14, 2010

dood, epic find.... thats awesome. have fun with that build man!

marq.fcb · Apr 14, 2010

good luck with this work :thumbsup:

slb94Cobra#3318 · Apr 21, 2010

Well progress has slowed, the more I tear into this engine the more I feel I should pull it, but it's a real pain in the butt to move an engine & cherry picker to a shed across grass (speaking from experience). The front passengers & drivers side lower intake bolts snapped in half. I swear they must have had double if not triple the required torque specs :nono:. I also snapped the head off one of the water pump bolts :angry4:. I've soaked these in liquid wrench days before hand but still broke one. I should have used some heat, live and learn I guess. My injectors don't look in the best shape they have some rust around them. Both headers are unbolted from the heads and H-pipe ready to come out.

Here's some pics of my progress.

In the first pic you can see how rusty the middle of the lower intake bolts are, also you can the the 2 bolts that are snapped.
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuild070.jpg

Just to the left of the rubber hose you can see the bolt broke off on the water pump.
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuild073.jpg

The last pic is the injectors. I'm thinking of upgrading to some 30's.
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/slb351C/94CobraBuild061.jpg

mikey94gt · Apr 21, 2010

Good luck with the broken bolts, they can be a real pain. 30# injectors are a decent upgrade from what you have, especally if you throw some heads and a nice cam in the car.

slb94Cobra#3318 · May 15, 2010

Well it's been a while! Some things have slowed me down; my wife bought a huge wooden swingset that has taken precedence over everything, plus it has rained a lot, but I have made some progess. The heads are off and sold, rockers sold as well. I have a ton of cleanup/painting to do. The broken bolt is out thankfully. My new timing chain, headbolts, intake bolts, timing cover bolts, spring isolators, and misc gaskets, arrived today. Hopefully I can knock this swing set out and get back at my car early this week. I also managed to sprain my ankle stepping on a piece of chalk the kids left out. I'll post some pics sometime soon, I'm at work now and photobucket is a no go here.

Gallows · May 15, 2010

Beautiful paint and those wheels look really good on a SN95. I hope your ankle is better soon and I'm looking forward to the rest of the updates.

gregbar · May 15, 2010

I have built my engine or rather rebuilt it several times. Made several mistakes learned alot. Mine is a 95 Rio Red Cobra. The current power plant is a 349. Still working on the tune. Parts too much to list. If you have questions just ask. I dont get on here every day.

slb94Cobra#3318 · Jul 5, 2010

It's been a while, and I'm sitting at work at 0526 on July 5th with nothing to do. So here's my update...the car still is not running but its really close, I gave up on using the longtube headers (sold) mostly because I couldn't get the o2 sensors out of my Hpipe and the muffler shop by me wanted $35 to remove them. Stock Cobra valve covers do not clear 1.6 stud mount rockers on tfs heads. I ended up getting some taller covers for $75, then the intake required 1/2 inch spacer. Also I needed to fab up a small bracket for the alternator, the top bolt would not line up due hitting the taller valve cover. All I really have left to do is tighten the Hpipe, find TDC, drop the distrubitor, put the belt on, add fluids and start her up for the first time since April, but it's not going to happen till late this week taking a little vacation with the family.