1998 Cobra, BAB, progress thread

[BABVenom98]

Figure I would start a build/progress thread.
Picked the car up this past Tuesday, 07Dec10.

Engine Specs
2003 Cobra Crank
Forged Rotating Assembly and lowered compression, 8:1
P&P'd B heads
98 Cams

Drivetrain
2003 T56, 10 Spline, Lethal Performance TOB retainer sleeve
SPEC Aluminum Flywheel with rebuildable friction plate
SPEC Stage 3+ clutch
Aluminum driveshaft, shortened and 28 spline yoke for T56
Pro50 short throw shifter
3.73 gears

Performance Mods
BBK CAI
90MM Lightening MAF
MMR Intake Plenum Spacer
IMRC Deletes
BBK ceramic coated long tubes
O/R X pipe
Magnaflow catback
Bilsten shocks and struts
Welded sub frame connectors, Maximum Motorsports
LCA's, unsure on brand
Lowered on Eibach Prokit
Offset steering rack bushings
Maximum Motorsports caster camber plates
Cobra Y2K rims wrapped in Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110 tires, 265/35/18 front and 285/35/18 rear

Stereo and Apperance
Kenwood KDC-HD545U CD Receiver
Kenwood KAC-6404 40W x 4 Car Amplifier(500W Max, 4 channel)
Kenwood KFC-C6893PS 6"x8" 3-way Speakers
LED Insturment Cluster and HVAC mod, blue
Sequential tail lights
Baby seat

These were the issues I noticed when I drove it this past week:
1)Shudders below 1500rpm in 1st gear when taking off, acts like the engine is going to cut out.
2)Rough and jumpy idle, was idling at about 950-1000rpms
3)When coming to a stop in 1st gear, would stay at 1500rpms, even with clutch in, and slowly go back down to 950-1000rpms.
4)TOB needs to be replaced, going bad.
5)Transmission will lock up in reverse and not let me shift from reverse, I have been having to reverse more and play with it to get it out of reverse. I don't have a clue as to what could be causing this issue.
6)Front suspension clunks over bumps and good size dips. I'm guess the bushings need to be replaced
7)Was throwing the P1443 code so I checked the system. The vacuum hoses on evaporation system purge control valve are corroded and leaking, one going from solenoid to intake manifold has long tear in it causing a huge vacuum leak. The hose going from the solenoid to the valve was also too long and cause the valve to pinch it in between the valve cover and shock tower pinching the hose shut.

This week I have fixed and replaced the vacuum hoses on the evaporation system purge control valve and solenoid.
Replaced the fuel filter, fuel was coming out dark brown from it when I removed it, and was also pretty clogged up.
I also had to replace the battery. It was completely dead so I had to get jump started 3 times today. So I spent the extra money and bought a Optima(red top) from Auto Zone.
Also replaced the bald PS2's with Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110 tires, 265/35/18 front and 285/35/18 rear.

Since I have done those three things the car now idles steady at 800rpms, does not shudder below 1500rpms when taking off in 1st gear, starts right away, and now I am getting more than 20mpg's rather than 16mpg's.

This past Wednesday I ordered Ford Racing 3.73 gears with the speedcal box, Ford Racing TOB, and pilot bearing. I do a lot of highway driving and I don't like doing 2850rpms cruising at 80mph with these 4.10's and I'd like to get better hwy mpg's. My dad and I will be replacing the TOB this next weekend hopefully and I will probably take it to a shop here in SA for the 3.73 install.

I will post some more pics next week of the progress.

 

[heavychevy]

Nice car! Looks like mine.. Did you buy it from a guy up here in dallas?

 

[Root1022]

Should be a fun little fixer upper, seems like ALOT of these cars are getting bought and fixed right now!

 

[BABVenom98]

Nice car! Looks like mine.. Did you buy it from a guy up here in dallas?

No but the guy who owned it before me did. The previous previous owner's name is Cody, it's probably the car your thing of

 

[heavychevy]

No but the guy who owned it before me did. The previous previous owner's name is Cody, it's probably the car your thing of

yup sure is, i met cody when he owned it.. i've known that car since around 99/00. Enjoy it, i wished i would have bought it when my buddy had it back then.. oh well i have mine now..

 

[BABVenom98]

18Dec10:
Took the car to Maximum Velocity Performance yesterday here in San Antonio, TX. Tim installed the 3.73 gears and new Speed Cal from Ford Racing.
He also replaced the axle seals, outer bearing race, and the inner & outer pinion bearings. One of the bearings was eating it self up he said, when he drained the rear end fluid there was fine metallic flakes in it.
Also, he took the adjustable clutch cable out and put in a OEM one, said no need for adjustable cable when I have adjustable quadrant and firewall adjuster.
The noise that I was hearing was being caused by the clutch be out of adjustment or something so the TOB was be pushed against and spinning the whole time.
Tim also looked at the rest of the car. I have a valve train tick from a lasher. Front control arm, power steering rack, and rear control arm bushings are shot, so I will have them replace those next month. Exhaust tips also need to be welded, they are making contact with the sway bar and axle housing.

The tranny barely makes any noise now, but it is going to have to be replaced, 2 gear synchro is going out(she pops out of second gear), it get's locked into reverse and won't come out so I have to keep reversing till I'm able to get her out of gear, and Tim said it is making some noise that it shouldn't be. So I'll be swapping a T-56 into it sooner than I expected.

Overall, Tim and Tracy are pretty cool people, had a great experience with them and I am definitely satisfied with the work and how he checked the whole car out for no extra cost.

Will post up pics once Tim emails them to me.

 

[Mystic-SVT]

You made a good choice by going to Maximum Velocity.

 

[BABVenom98]

Had the car up on the ramp this past weekend looking for another vacuum leak. Found this tore up hose on the evaporation fuel system canister so I replaced that but the car will still idle at about 1400rpms when I come to a stop and than go down to 800rpms after about 5-8 seconds so I'm guessing I still have a vacuum leak somewhere or I need to replace the solenoid or purge control valve in the evaporation fuel system.
Secondly, I got my BBK CAI on which was a PITFA. I had to remove my Maximum Motorsports strut tower brace so it would fit. Now I just need to get the car tuned for the stock MAF, the one previously on there was a 87MM MAF.

Old filthy filter

The vacuum line I replaced

 

[crazycarlo]

looks good. Ive heard of ppl having to take the IAC off and poke a small hole or 2 in the gasket to bring the idle back down quickly man. Might look into doing that for your hanging high idle.

 

[HouseOfPower]

I'll have a full T56 swap available soon....cheap too

 

[mysteed]

Nice thread man, you've made good progress with this car. If the car keeps getting stuck in reverse that's a common problem with these cars as the 3rd/4th shift fork is likely bent and it's easiest to replace the trans unless you want to tear the trans apart.

 

[BABVenom98]

looks good. Ive heard of ppl having to take the IAC off and poke a small hole or 2 in the gasket to bring the idle back down quickly man. Might look into doing that for your hanging high idle.

Thanks. IAC? I'll have to find out what that is and try that.

I'll have a full T56 swap available soon....cheap too

Sweet, I've been looking around for one but haven't found one for a decent price. PM me whenever you have it for sale.

Nice thread man, you've made good progress with this car. If the car keeps getting stuck in reverse that's a common problem with these cars as the 3rd/4th shift fork is likely bent and it's easiest to replace the trans unless you want to tear the trans apart.

Thanks, when I had the car at Max V, they looked at the transmission, Tim said the clutch fork is fine but the transmission is making some internal noise and he said it's going out. I know 2nd gear synchronizer is going out because she likes to pop out of second when I'm getting on it and shift fast into second.
Makes more sense to spend extra money and get a better transmission, and a 6spd.

 

[BABVenom98]

Got a couple more things done today. I installed new chrome door lock pins, new pedals, super bright white LED's in the dash so it is blue now, and also cool blue LED's for the license plate lights. The lighting looks so much better now, I will do the HVAC lights as soon as I get my Kendwood headunit it and install my new system.

 

[mysteed]

Very nice. The LED's in the cluster make a huge difference when driving at night.

 

[BABVenom98]

Well, I got my Kenwood headunit, amp and speakers 2 weeks ago and installed everything. It took me 3 days out in cold and foggy/wet weather to install everything but it was well worth it. I can listen to my iPod and the headunit matches the LED's very nicely. I'll get some night pics of it tonight and post them up. I think I hide the amp power cable pretty well also, the only thing that looks out of place to me is the fuse block, you can see it on the engine bay wall behind the battery.

I also replaced the IAC and my hanging idle problem is gone now, and she seems to drive and idle hell of a lot smoother also. Also replaced the evap purge valve and the evap purge solenoid at the same time since I was throwing the P1443 code awhile back.

I'm going to take the car back to Max V the end of this month or next month so I can get the steering rack bushings replaced, going with some offsets since car is lowered, and the control arm bushings as well. I am also going to have them tune the car also since I had to use a 90MM Lightening MAF when I installed the BBK CAI because the car had a 87MM Pro-Flow MAF with the housing being to big and too long to be used on the CAI. I got the Lightening MAF for cheaper than I would get a stock MAF.

 

[BABVenom98]

Here are some night pics, sorry for the poor quality. My camera is cheap and doesn't take good pics at night.

 

[BABVenom98]

Does anyone know where I can get the inserts for the HVAC control knobs? I just need two more blue ones and I can't find them online anywhere

 

[BABVenom98]

Got the front brakes done today, going to knock the rear out tomorrow.
Since I don't plan on auto crossing or going to the track anytime soon I kept the stock rotors and got Duramax Gold Max ceramic pads from Autozone.
Left the same rotors on there, took some sand paper to em to get the glaze off and also painted the center of em black so they won't rust anytime soon again. I will need to get new studs put on each hub except for the front left. I think the previous owner didn't have the wheel lock key and just knocked the studs off :fm: :bash:
Rotors back on and cleaned with new pads;

 

[BABVenom98]

I also ordered the MMR plenum spacer today. Should go nicely with my current and future mods(F/I)

 

[perry2k12]

nice progress. my favorite color of sn95 along with mystic. keep it up! good to see a nice car treated the way it should be.