Worth the money?

BlackedOut00 · Feb 2, 2013

Alright so I found a 1994 Cobra (Rio Red/Black leather interior) with 139k miles. Nearly everything is original except catback (has original manifolds and midpipe), CAI, UDPs, Pro-M 75mm MAF, Pro 5.0 shifter, Pioneer headunit, SR Performance lowering springs (not installed), and brand new (under 50 miles) 17x9 FR500's.

The kicker: Trans whines quite a bit and from what the owner says, there is a rattle in 3rd when shifting hard. The car basically sat for a year or so and the weather kind of got to the paint so the clear coat is peeling - you can chip it off on the rear bumper, the front bumper and side skirts are just really faded. Under the hood, there's quite a bit of rust on most parts (looks like it's just surface rust, but it's still there) that I guess can be attributed to it being in Northern PA/salted roads. It needs new ball joints and brakes (all included with sale) but as far as I can tell, that's all it would immediately need.

He's including the original wheels, and whatever other original stuff he has. All this for $4,500 (a little negotiable, didn't talk about that with him yet). Repaint alone will be most of the cost for the whole car, plus whatever else it needs(trans rebuild/potential motor rebuild). Is it worth it?

http://i.imgur.com/i0OVYW4.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/iw9SLRB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/0yLbr6a.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/UIINXxf.jpg

MustangChris · Feb 2, 2013

eh.

you could get a cherry mint 5.0 GT for the same money... -- I know its not a cobra... but...... just saying.

I'd work him down closer to 3500-4k. That paint is older than 1 year outside. lol.

Tally_4.6 · Feb 2, 2013

Decent price, i guess you can know a couple hundred bucks off.

BlackedOut00 · Feb 2, 2013

MustangChris said:
eh.

you could get a cherry mint 5.0 GT for the same money... -- I know its not a cobra... but...... just saying.

I'd work him down closer to 3500-4k. That paint is older than 1 year outside. lol.

That's what my thoughts are as well. I just can't find any good 5.0 GTs in the price range I'd like to stay ($4-5k) lol. Buying the car for $4k and then repainting it for at least half or more of that price and it still having 139k miles on stock everything would kind of suck.

5.0's are fairly new to me, I've had a '95 V6, 99 GT and 00 GT. I'd like to give a 5.0 a try.

MustangChris · Feb 2, 2013

hit ebay.

RichV · Feb 2, 2013

Not a horrible price, but no super-duper-deal.

The T5 is prolly shot, but it's a standard WC T5 which you can find relatively easy. Paint and interior is a given, how much is it worth to have a Cobra. Better brakes, better top end, a few interior/exterior differences. When you have a GT, the 1st mods you do are usualy Cobra related with either the GT40 top end, or a bumper, etc.

BlackedOut00 · Feb 2, 2013

RichV said:
Not a horrible price, but no super-duper-deal.

The T5 is prolly shot, but it's a standard WC T5 which you can find relatively easy. Paint and interior is a given, how much is it worth to have a Cobra. Better brakes, better top end, a few interior/exterior differences. When you have a GT, the 1st mods you do are usualy Cobra related with either the GT40 top end, or a bumper, etc.

Yeah, a T5 can be had for a few hundred on Craigslist if needed for immediate replacement. The interior of the Cobra is actually pretty nice/clean/everything works. I'm by no means set on a Cobra, this just happens to be one I found. First mods for me would probably be 3.73s or 4.10s. Coming from a 00 GT 5spd that had 4.10s....it's almost a requirement.

As I mentioned before, I'm fairly new to the 94-95 5.0s so I'm not up on the values of them and all that so I figured I'd post here and see what everyone else thought.

RichV · Feb 2, 2013

Ya, I'd say the closer you can get to $3500 the better. The Cobra needs an exhaust and a cam IMO, to take advantage of the GT40 top end. The trans you'll have to figure out. Then maintenance, and figure out if the paint is salvegeable or not. So you'll get up to $5K pretty quick. Can you find a clean Cobra for $5K lightly modded, probably not. If you decide to go with a high end paint, you'll be way north of $5K, but you won't find that quality of a paintjob on any car in this pricerange.

BlackedOut00 · Feb 2, 2013

RichV said:
Ya, I'd say the closer you can get to $3500 the better. The Cobra needs an exhaust and a cam IMO, to take advantage of the GT40 top end. The trans you'll have to figure out. Then maintenance, and figure out if the paint is salvegeable or not. So you'll get up to $5K pretty quick. Can you find a clean Cobra for $5K lightly modded, probably not. If you decide to go with a high end paint, you'll be way north of $5K, but you won't find that quality of a paintjob on any car in this pricerange.

Yeah maintence will potentially be an issue - trans rebuild/replacement, potential engine rebuild, paint, etc. A lot of money into the car and it would still essentially be stock.

Then there's this:
http://i.imgur.com/fNugnhS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gMXGIoO.jpg

Already listed at $3500, "87k on it motor was said to be rebuilt 40k ago ", 4.10s, SFCs, BBK shorty headers, line lock, Stage 2 ram clutch. Power steering leak, reverse grinding, cracking clear coat, patch of paint missing on rear bumper, and "Gauge cluster needs to be sent out and refurbished "

I don't know about the gauge cluster or how the paint really is but seems like that could potentially be a better deal..I think.