MG 2001 Cobra Terminator Swap - Build Thread

coposrv

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Any plans for the 03 cobra top? I’m interested in it for my 01 cobra if it’s available


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josephcostello

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Any plans for the 03 cobra top? I’m interested in it for my 01 cobra if it’s available


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Are you referring to the black one on the parts car? PM an offer. I have a brand new factory 03/04 parchment color top as well.
 

P49Y-CY

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Some much needed updates. Have completely taken apart the engine down to the long block. All parts have been cleaned and stored away. At this point I’ve gone through all my stuff and figured out what I need to keep, sell, and beginning to order what I need to buy. I have some FTBR, redline goods, and McLeod goodies arriving in a couple weeks or less. That will be the start of a lot of parts (especially with Black Friday right around the corner). Waiting on my drivetrain to sell so I can pull it and get this car torn apart - then it’ll get really exciting.
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In all of her stock glory. Engine looks good for the most part. Unfortunately looks like one of the pulleys got pushed into the timing chain cover somehow, so I’ll be needing to source a new one
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oh man, i sure don't envy you removing that lower pulley with the engine out of the car.

but sounds like this will be a nice build, best of luck with it!
 

josephcostello

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There was a longer delay than I had anticipated waiting for the old drivetrain to be sold as I wanted to leave it running so the buyer could see it run. Anyways, a buyer came Friday and out she came yesterday! I decided to take the engine out from the top and dropped the tranny which was a breeze. First time I've had the car apart and I am very happy with the condition of everything. Engine bay is nearly mint, there is zero rust of course, and the car has never been hit. There are no signs this car was apart though I do believe the fenders were repainted at one point on the car after seeing a clear coat line behind the head lights on either side.

This was right after the engine was pulled and right before pressure washing and a hand wash. Little grime down below but super clean!
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And where she is this morning. Buyer just picked up the drivetrain and I am starting to put together a more specific to do list.
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Tomorrow will be the start of daily posts. I will be starting with the IRS and suspension, then will focus on wiring. First order of business will be the IRS since I want to keep this car a roller. Stay tuned for some FTBR porn coming tomorrow.
 

josephcostello

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IRS will have to wait due to shipping delays because of "covid." Anyways, I decided to tackle the wiring: the plan being to use the 04 engine and dash harness along with the ecu with the 01 body harness. I'm concerned my existing body harness won't 100% work because of the dual pumps on the 03/04. I'll share what I find out about this.
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josephcostello

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The pumps will plug in no problem. I ran 04 pumps in my 01 and it was plug and play.
Thanks, the problem I've spent all day figuring out is how to utilize my 01 body harness from PCM back with everything from the 04 forward including the PCM, cluster, PATS, dash harness, PCM harness. The problem is basically how the CCRM powers the FPDM and IFS which is completely different on the 03/04s. What that means for me is i'll be following some advice from other forums on cobra swaps in GT's. Basically the 99-01 cobras were wired in the rear exactly like the GT's....it's a lot of info but may do a write up on this process since this was something that took me a while to figure out for myself.
 

josephcostello

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What's your reason for wanting to run the 03/04 ECM?
Well my whole goal was to take everything from the donor car and put it in this car, making the swap easier in theory. I also wanted the correct cluster and therefore PCM. So far the only trouble I've had is slight modification to the body harness. Perhaps I could modify the 01 harness with this drivetrain, but I already have everything from the donor. Plus, that harness went with the original engine to the new buyer.
 

josephcostello

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So I wanted to share exactly how I am going to wire this car with the hopes that maybe somebody could benefit from it...it took me almost a whole day researching this to figure this out and thanks to two threads over 10 years ago it finally made sense for me.

Every single harness on the 03 04 cobra is different. This does not mean, however, that you necessarily need them. On this car I am going to use the 04 PCM harness, PCM, dash harness, cluster, PATS and engine harness. The body harness is only different from my understanding because of the dual green wires for the double pumps. On my coupe, theres a ground that's in a different location than the 04 convertible harness but I believe that's just a difference between coupe and convertible.

This is where things get interesting. Plug C210 is the grey connector that connects from the PCM harness into the body harness. This plug is the same on both cars. The wiring is not. On my 01, there was one green and yellow wire that mated and originated from the CCRM. This goes directly to the Inertia Fuel Shutoff switch (IFS), and from the IFS a pink/black wire goes to the FPDM. From the FPDM, a slightly thicker grey and pink wire goes to the pump. On the 03 in the same location on C210, there was one white wire. This originated from a DIFFERENT location on the 03 CCRM, and ran to the IFS, and then to the FPDM. On the 03 right next to the C210 connector there are the two magic wires with a connector for either side. Those two green wires are in the body harness and run directly to the FPDM. This is to allow the higher amp/volt draw from the dual pumps.

The solution to modifying the body harness is to first connect C210 into the body harness. Cut the white wire from the PCM side and ground this. Then cut one of the green/yellow wires coming from the CCRM (doesn't matter which one, they end up splicing together 3 inches from the CCRM) and put it into the white's spot. You're done.

Or, you can do what I'm gonna do - ditch the single green and yellow wire in the factory 01 harness and replace it with the 19' double wire as the 03/04s were designed. Again, from C210 to IFS, then to the FPDM, then finally my dual pumps. Notice how there is still going to be a single wire from the IFS to the FPDM, this is what the wire upgrade that comes with a BAP is for.
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The dual pump wire
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Body harness layout on all cars
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My 01 after I roughed in the double wire from the PCM back to the IFS
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Trunk of my 01, I will be splicing the double green/yellow wire shown into the single green/yellow wire on the IFS. The pink arrow shows the pink/black wire going to the FPDM.
 

josephcostello

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Some more goodies just got dropped off. New McLeod RXT, alumn. flywheel, 26 spline, OEM 03/04 clutch cable, Ford TOB. Cobra engineering head cooling mod, dual JLT catch cans. And an 03 IRS loaded with FTBR goods. The cradle and arms will end up getting repainted. I have new FTBR end links to go with it as well. This should compliment the Stifflers web brace nicely.
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01yellercobra

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FWIW, you only need a catch can on the driver side on these cars. And I'd go with a different brand. The JLT can doesn't have a good track record.
 

josephcostello

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So the wiring ended up taking me way too long. I took my 01 dash completely apart and swapped the wiring and steering shaft onto my 01 dash.
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I decided to ditch the nasty electrical tape and re wrapped every single piece of wire in this Tessa tape, which I highly recommend. They make high temp/grade for the engine bay which is what I used. This took me hours but I'm pleased with how it came out.
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Had to pull a ground wire from the 01 dash harness and incorporate it into the new harness.
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Every bolt for the dash was padded in the Tessa tape to help with movement/rattles.
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Have some nice stuff that are going to be added to the dash, but those updates will have to wait.

Plan was originally to spray the IRS next and put it in the car. Would've come out nice, but not up to my standards. So it's waiting to be sent out for Cerakote!
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josephcostello

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Test fit my new dual gauge cluster. Pretty happy with the quality and it will end up getting painted. I think it’s pretty clear what’s going in the holes! And a bit of a sneak peak of what I had custom made, I’ll spill the beans - it’s a flat bottom
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Also received my set NOS pedal set. Pulled the pedal assembly and need to fix a few things before it will be installed back in the car. Painted the master cylinder while I was at it.
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