Swedish Cobra

TheSwede · Jan 26, 2017

Hello from Stockholm, Sweden!

My name is Petter, I'm a 37yo lawyer/car freak that just yesterday bought a Chrome Yellow 1998 Cobra! The car is SUPER clean! Imported to Europe in 2003, 4 owners in total before me and a total of 74000 miles on it. Interior and exterior as new! The car has a set of underdrive pulleys, K&N cold air filter, adjustable front suspension, a cat-back Magnaflow 3" exhaust and a short shifter.

Until yesterday I've been a GM man, restoring and owning several Pontiacs. This is my first Mustang and I wanted a daily driver (for summer) that I can work with myself if something needs to be done with the car. This car was in too good of a shape to pass on!

I'm planning on keeping it fairly stock. I will however replace the Ruff-Racing wheels as I'm going for the "muscle car stance". I'm thinking something like 275x60x15 back and 185x50x15 front. Happy to get some tip's on wheels and dimensions! I might also replace the rear spoiler with a Saleen-type wing. Other stuff I'm considering is headers and 3.73 gears. Any other mods recommended?

Happy to be part of the family!

/Petter

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Orange 94 · Jan 26, 2017

Welcome!
Love internationals

Burninriverdiver · Jan 26, 2017

Welcome to the site! Great looking cobra, that's a nice bronco in the background too

ElrodKTPQ_89 · Jan 26, 2017

Damn I didn't notice the bronco til you mentioned it^
I noticed the amber markers on the fenders, is that an export thing too or just Europe regulations?

Mack · Jan 27, 2017

Welcome, another 98 owner from Europe here. We actually have a chrome yellow 98 Cobra vert here in the Netherlands. You can look at my car for the (quite standard) combination of Saleen wing and 18-inch Saleen rims.

@fender blinkers: yes, this is a regulation in many European countries. My car is supposed to have them too.

g36 monkey · Jan 27, 2017

Welcome aboard! Love those crazy euro cars!

TheSwede · Jan 27, 2017

Thanks for the warm welcome! Here's a few more pics:

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I'd like to get your views on choice of wheels. I'm thinking of a set of these:

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For the rear I'm considering 15x8, 4.5"BS and 0" Offset with Cooper Cobra 275x60 and for the front 15x7, 4" BS and 0" Offset with Cooper Cobra 215x65. How does that sound? Any clearance issues you think? Thanks!

Orange 94 · Jan 27, 2017

I'm not sure if 15s fit the front?
Also, aren't 275 too large for an 8" wheel?

I like current wheels way more!

TheSwede · Jan 27, 2017

I found this thread in another forum

http://forums.corral.net/forums/wheels-tires/1017402-help-me-size-draglites-my-sn95-pics.html

15s should work...

The current wheels aren't bad, however I really like the classic "drag" look!

Orange 94 · Jan 27, 2017

I thought some 15s wheels had clearance issue with cobra brakes , but I could be wrong.

Drag looks cool, but only really useful for drag racing. Not a fun setup for street use.

g36 monkey · Jan 27, 2017

Bigs and skinnies have a tendency to not only be not fun, but absolutely miserable on the street. Much less stable, so on and so forth.

And MOST 15" wheels will not clear the cobra brakes. Some 17" wheels have trouble clearing them

Burninriverdiver · Jan 28, 2017

I'm pretty sure orange is correct, I tried to trade a set of 15s I had with a guy who had cobra brakes and they weren't even close to fitting over his calipers. 16s might even be difficult up front

TheSwede · Jan 28, 2017

You guys might be right. After A LOT of reading on forums it seems there are two views on this. Some say that 15x8:s with the correct backspacing (4.5 or 5.5 seems like a whole different debate!) clear the Cobra brakes just fine, others have trouble with both the calipers and the banjo bolts rubbing. A bit confused.... Problem is that with 16:s it's much more difficult to find a nice wheel and tire combo!

Mack · Jan 29, 2017

I've never seen that striping on the hood and around the grille. Kinda interesting.

1998cobrasvt · Jan 30, 2017

Welcome! Always cool seeing one driven overseas. *Now picture an sn95 riding on water* :laughing5:

thetrex · Feb 10, 2017

Welcome! What pontiacs have you restored?

Mustanger · Feb 10, 2017

Welcome From Oregon! Super clean car!! And I love yellow! I think those 15" are great rims for the rear but it is so much fun to handle the curves I couldn't lose my 17" performance tire set up. Skinny fronts are not for me as I rarely go to a dragstrip to run but hit the curves every day I drive my Mustang. You probably will have clearance issues with the Cobra brake but call or email the manufacturers & ask. Love what you are doing with your car.
We got 275 40-17 Pirelli P Zeros on stock 8" rims ok but many tire brands will bulge the sidewalls & some shops will not put them on anything less than a 9" wide rim. Be careful there.

Defiant · Feb 10, 2017

Cool, nice ride! I like seeing the international members too!

ForcFed93 · Feb 16, 2017

I would avoid bigs and littles. I had 15x8 and 15x3.5 on my old 97. It was terrible to drive. Also, if you must do it, get 17" fronts. With 15" fronts you'll either have to swap brakes to the smaller version, or do what I did and get a large spacer and grind your caliper down to fit.

Looked sweet, drove terrible. Wouldn't do it again except for track only usage.

TheSwede · Feb 21, 2017

Thanks for all the response! I have pretty much ruled out 15 inch wheels (thanks for all the feedback!) and have narrowed it down to two options (i think!

). The cheap option is to just buy a new set of tires to my 19 inch Ruff Racing 278:s. The problem is, as shown in the pic, that I think I might have problems fitting a much wider tire on the rims. I hate the stretched look and would like to go for at least 255/35 up front and 285/35 in the rear. Now I have 235/35 and 265/35 on 8.5 and 9.5 inch wheels. However, I think I might have an issue with rubbing the fenders....

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The other option is to buy a set up 17 inch wheels like the Cobra wheels in the pic. That way I can probably go 315/35 rear and 265/35 front. What do you guys think? Stick with the 19s or go for the 17s?