2003 cobra advice needed

jadon087

Member
Established Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2014
Messages
54
Location
Nashville
Hey guys looking to see if I can catch some good advice from other terminators owners. Long story short my motor over heated and dropped a valve cylinder 4 and scratched piston from what the shop is telling me. I would need rebuild, heads reworked , and various other labor est is over 10k. My 2003 torch red 10th very cobra has a ton of suspension,brake, and driveline mods but minor engine mods were done as I was saving for upgrades and doing it in that order. It has Stock blower and aftermarket exhaust with jlt intake. My two main questions are if I where to sell it as it sits 50k miles on shell and motor what would it be worth? My other questions is it worth the rebuild?




Mods

McLeod rxt twin disc 26 spline

Ram billet steel 8 bolt flywheel

tremac t26 spline input shaft w/ Lp throwout bearing ford racing bearings

Reische Performance FORD-4D 170deg Performance Thermostat

NGK TR7IX Iridium Spark Plugs

Maximum Motorsports 82-04 Mustang Firewall Adjuster, Quadrant and Cable Kit

Mgw short throw shifter

Rotopro rotors

Russell 99-04 Cobra Braided Stainless Steel Brake Lines

Maximum Motorsports 99-04 Cobra IRS Rear Spring Isolators

Maximum Motorsports 84-04 Mustang Urethane Front Spring Isolators

Koni yellow double adjustable shocks

H&R Race springs

MAXIMUM MOTORSPORTS CASTER CAMBER PLATES

STIFFLERS FIT SYSTEM CHASSIS STIFFENING KIT

STIFFLERS LOWER CHASSIS BRACE

Fully built FTBR rear end ford performance 3.55 gears

Level 5 dss half shafts

Magnaflow magna pack cat back custom

Metco 03-04 Cobra Alternator Pulley 2-4lb Lower Pulley (3.20")

Whole car is sound deadened

Extended wheel studs in rear

Custom speaker system

Jlt ram intake

Auto meter A/f and volt gaues
 

01yellercobra

AKA slo984now
Established Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Messages
21,126
Location
Cali
No clue on the car's worth. As for the rebuild being worth it, that's up to you. You have a lot of work done already. If you sold this one would you just get another and start over?

Personally I'd rebuild. After getting a couple more estimates. But I'd go big.
 

Wings65288

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Party Liquor Posse
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
5,115
Location
Fortuna, CA
If you have a garage and tools just do it yourself. About 1.5 years ago mine blew and I didn't know JACK. Just YouTube, forums, a close buddy and Malcolm on here got me there. Pulled my own engine and pulled a teksid out of a junkyard 93 Mark VIII and just went after it. I'm sure your crank and rods are still good. But if I were to spend a little dough on something it'd be the pistons, get a higher compression. I went with some Gibtec's @ 9.5:1. To be honest your block is most likely fine too, you'd just need to pull it, have it bored/honed, get some total seal rings, file them to size with a feeler gauge and you're there. Malcolm told me it'd take a day or 2 just to file rings, it took me 3 days lol (messed up on 2 and had to order a couple more from Total Seal). If you get the block bored/honed I'd recommend doing as little as possible, say 7 to 10 thousandths over (whatever your machine shop recommends). And then get some custom pistons to whatever you had it bored to. If you do decide to pull it yourself get these 3 things before anything:
Engine hoist
Engine stand
One of those kid pools to put under the engine (because every time you turn it on the engine stand coolant/oil will be coming out lol)

I'd say if you only did what was absolutely necessary you'd be into for $3K ish depending on your tool setup.
 
Last edited:

CobraBob

Authorized Vendor
Established Member
Premium Member
Single Barrel Sirs
Joined
Nov 17, 2002
Messages
105,349
Location
Cheshire, CT
You DO have a lot invested in mods, so that is part of your decision process. But, yeah, if you can do some of the work yourself (removal of the engine and re-installation of re-built engine) you'll save a lot of money.
 

hotcobra03

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2007
Messages
7,461
Location
poteet,texas
I would re think about it.

I had cyl 6 drop twice.

My piston has large hash marks.

I left it alone. Filed down what I could

I had heads fixed. And also had replaced with complete new.

I’m still on original passenger head. And I would worry much about repairing it.

Drivers head I hate.

I’m on the lastest design with about 200k and no issues.

Doing work yourself still adds ups

Just parts and supplies will hit 2 grand easy.

I also was a first timer.
This engine is extremely easy to work on

If stock it is also easy to assemble

I didn’t touch block other than remove pan and clean oil screen and oil cooler.

Lots of junk from timing chain guide was everywhere.
It was white ish plastic so I assume from guides
 

jadon087

Member
Established Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2014
Messages
54
Location
Nashville
I felt like the 12k estimate was pretty high but the shop does do some good work but still highly overpriced. I honestly dont have the time or space to do the rebuild on my own. Ill just have to keep calling around for estimates i guess because at the moment i can only see buying a new motor or selling it as is being the best options.
 

Wings65288

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Party Liquor Posse
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
5,115
Location
Fortuna, CA
I'm curious what something like this would still with a blown motor and all these mods? $15K? $20K?
 

BLOWN9646

E85 COBRA
Established Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
2,223
Location
N IL
Right around there, prolly 12-14k..no way over 15k though. I can't even sell my blown engine 25k mile v1 strim 96 cobra at $6k
 

DSG2003Mach1

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2004
Messages
15,907
Location
Central Fl
we would need to see the full proposal to see why theyre quoting that high.

It depends on how far ya wanna go with it as to what it'll cost. I mean going the cheap way pull both heads and do the seats, seals and guides, if not 9 thread add inserts if ya want. if everything else looks good buy a used terminator piston and put it back together (assuming heads and block aren't warped).

Hell you could also look for a used short or long block as well and have good running car again way under 10k. If you've done a good chunk of the stuff in your mod list you can handle R&Ring the motor yourself.
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top