2003 Cobra - New restoration/project

[hatchke]

Never been a fan of Forgestar wheels. Now some BC forged wheels I can get behind.

Haha I USED to be a fan. No telling what happened to them - I've never had so many problems trying to give someone money and literally telling them exactly what to make me lol. I should have just done BC Forged from the start like I originally wanted. This felt like a sign that I should spend MORE money

These were the Forgestar F14 drag pack I was looking at getting. Only Forgestars I’d get. I support the BC.

The F14 drag packs are pretty badass imo.

 

[hatchke]

Order placed for the BC Forged TD02 in brushed grey. I got the general specs today from BC Forged and I do wish the lips were *slightly* deeper, it's all good. 41mm lip in the front and 65mm lip in the rear with more concavity in the face.

The fronts will be pretty flat to make sure i have BBK clearance in the future. Either way, looks like the turnaround time is somewhere in the 4-6weeks so i'm pretty excited for them.

Also went ahead and got on the books for tuning w/ Lee Blankenship for Nov 18th. I have some work to do but i'm not too worried about being able to knock out the 2.9 and the return fuel system between now and then. If I didn't go ahead and book now, i'd have been deep into the winter.

 

[hatchke]

Went ahead and started putting the car under the knife for the Whipple and fueling a little earlier than i was planning on doing. I figured I may need some extra time and don't want to be in a time crunch before my tuning appointment.

Well here's where we started off.

One lug on the driver's side broke the head right off in the wheel lol. Spent the next several hours drilling it out, basically ruining an OEM wheel in the process as well. Really sucked.

Hours later, all four wheels off.

Pulling as much stuff as possible to get out of the way. I'm also replacing the radiator with a unit from Mishimoto that should be here thursday. I've had a persistent ABS light so i'll be replacing the ABS module as the ABS sensors on the back are supposed to be fresh, and the fronts looked fine to me.

Engine bay opened up with my new reading material from Whipple. All seems fairly straightforward but we'll see. Blower is about ready to come off, just probably going to do the ABS module first.

Felt like knocking some other smaller things out so I loosely assembled the FPR to understand the actual fuel flow better and understand what I'm running and where. Obviously not together yet, but know a lot more than when I started.

Fuel hat assemlbed-ish. Still need to drop the tank to get the level sender, etc but I'll start that sometime this week and get this dropped in. Changed up my pumps to be twin Walbro 465's so I can run E85.

 

[hatchke]

Some weekend progress:

Head cooling mod installed and engine bay clean up. I've had an ABS light for some time and doesn't appear to be the ABS sensors so I went ahead and replaced the ABS module (at least the electronic component of it). Kind of a pain in the ass to do honestly.

Eaton is off and pulled apart. Pretty low drama there, just waiting on some additional gaskets I forgot and new bolts for the intercooler

Also going to plug the PCV port on the bottom of the IM and run breathers instead of the PCV system. I don't love the idea, but I also don't love the idea of this line running under the IM. All the lines are in pretty bad shape and I don't really want to replace them all, so I figure i'll go the simple route and change back later if needed (maybe to a bumper mounted vented catch can setup, etc).

The intercooler brick is naaaasty. Going to soak this and the IM in simple green.

New rad going in. Pretty significantly bigger than the oem one, especially once you consider the size of the end tanks and being dimensionally larger. It's a pretty nice piece.

It was a pretty tight fight honestly. Had to remove the battery box to get it in and even still had to bend the a/c lines a touch, remove a bracket for the p/s lines on the driver's side to squeeze it in. Fitment appears to be pretty good though and pleased with the size/quality.

I also assembled the FPR, finished the wiring for the fuel pump harness.

Next/this week:
- clean IM and intercooler w/ simple green
- await my gaskets/rings for the supercharger setup (wed-thurs this week)
- get the whipple all put together and plopped on

Weekend (hoping):
- drop fuel tank
- install assembled fuel hat
- wiring for fuel pumps
- start running fuel lines

Maybe a first start the weekend after next. I don't assume i'll get all the fuel lines done this weekend, but who knows.

 

[LS WUT]

Appreciate the photos, and write up man. I enjoy reading this kinda stuff. Gives motivation for me to get my fat ass back outside and start wrenching.

 

[03' White Snake]

I hope you measured the pumps and trimmed the top lines before pushing them in. They need to be bottomed out in the hat or they will be on the floor of the tank. I destroyed the top lines trying to get the pumps out of them. It’s about $25 for 1’ of hose to replace them.

Looks like good progress, keep it up. She will be running in no time!!

 

[hatchke]

Few snags here and there but the 2.9 is on and bolted down and just have to get all the vacuum lines hooked up (or capped off) on the back. Engine bay is definitely getting there.

Naturally, weather was poor here today so I didn't start on the fuel tank but planning on chipping away at it over the week and might be back on track next weekend.

I hope you measured the pumps and trimmed the top lines before pushing them in. They need to be bottomed out in the hat or they will be on the floor of the tank. I destroyed the top lines trying to get the pumps out of them. It’s about $25 for 1’ of hose to replace them.

Looks like good progress, keep it up. She will be running in no time!!

Haha I most definitely didn't and regretted it immensely. I trimmed the lines.. with the pumps still in place about .25" at a time until I got to the appropriate depth. With th pre-filters in place they're right between the 1.75 - 1.875" called for.

 

[hatchke]

Lots of progress this week actually, making some decent moves.

Tank dropped and fuel hat installed

Bunch o wiring but actually quite happy with "the box" and how neat all of it will be once I get it all into a finished state and secured up.

All the lines run temporarily to make sure the pumps were working, etc. Still need to really get things situated but it all functions thus far.

My TD02 are done! Getting in on Monday and should have the first crank of the setup this weekend if all goes ok. So far so good.

So far so good here, the pumps technically work and build fuel pressure. Not exactlyyyy sure how loud they're supposed to be but if this is correct they sound pretty badass.

 

[hatchke]

Good news bad news. Good news is the car has the ABILITY to run, it just doesn't want to on my startup tune from the tuner. I emailed back to see what next steps are, but the car is getting spark, fuel pressure is set to 50 and the rail is pressurized. It just cranked and cranked with nothing happening.

Inertia switch was good, checked fuses - all fine. Pumps can be heard running with key on and they build correct pressure.

I reluctantly rolled back to my other older tune to see if I had the same non-start issue, but it cranked up on the first hit. Obviously wouldn't stay running, nor did I want to keep it running long, but that was promising in general.

Not sure where to go from here, but emailed the tuner and see what he thinks about it.

 

[hatchke]

Car is running now - had PATS disabled in the new startup tune and we're all good now. Few questions because things don't sound very good. Idle is running pretty low, although it idles fine.

Is this noise normal? Because it's unexpected for me and sounds pretty terrible:
Also, what should I expect for vacuum at idle? I'm sitting at like -6 or so and not sure if I have a vacuum leak somewhere with all that noise at the back of the charger.

 

[03' White Snake]

Car is running now - had PATS disabled in the new startup tune and we're all good now. Few questions because things don't sound very good. Idle is running pretty low, although it idles fine.

Is this noise normal? Because it's unexpected for me and sounds pretty terrible:
Also, what should I expect for vacuum at idle? I'm sitting at like -6 or so and not sure if I have a vacuum leak somewhere with all that noise at the back of the charger.

Even with cams I’m at 10” of vacuum. Definitely sounds like a vacuum leak. Stockish should be 15+ .

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

I'm sitting at like -6

6" or 6#s of vacuum @ idle? not sure what gauge you're using. 6#s would be like 12-13 inches of vacuum

 

[hatchke]

Ahh yes, I wasn't paying close enough attention. It's like 6-7", but I will also say that it's idling very poor currently, floating between 500-750 or so. I'll check the bypass valve and make sure it's opening and then go from there.

I suppose I need it to idle correctly to have a good read on the vacuum.

 

[hatchke]

Ok think i'm good now, I'm at 20" of vacuum at a stable idle now. Looks like my fuel pressure was too low at idle. I cranked it up a bit and the idle smoothed out.

I also physically manipulated the boost actuator arm back and forth since it was acting funky. Not sure if it was getting stuck or had some resistance on it from the blower sitting around for so long. It's a new 2nd GEN, but sat around in the box for a few years now.

Looks like I might actually throw the wheels back on and go for a spin around the block.

 

[LS WUT]

Ok think i'm good now, I'm at 20" of vacuum at a stable idle now. Looks like my fuel pressure was too low at idle. I cranked it up a bit and the idle smoothed out.

I also physically manipulated the boost actuator arm back and forth since it was acting funky. Not sure if it was getting stuck or had some resistance on it from the blower sitting around for so long. It's a new 2nd GEN, but sat around in the box for a few years now.

Looks like I might actually throw the wheels back on and go for a spin around the block.

Now this is the kinda update we all needed. **** yeah buddy. Let her eat! Congratulations, that’s bad ass. Talk about overcoming triumph. My man’s shop burnt down and he said, meh I’ll buy another and do it again.

 

[hatchke]

Now this is the kinda update we all needed. **** yeah buddy. Let her eat! Congratulations, that’s bad ass. Talk about overcoming triumph. My man’s shop burnt down and he said, meh I’ll buy another and do it again.

Haha I appreciate it man. I'm really happy with how this one has been going honestly. Is it a perfect car? Def not, but i'll be damned if it isn't running good (now).

I still had some idle troubles, but seems like adjusting the intake manifold a bit and re-torquing the bolts did the trick. Starts up and idles well - little bounce on first settling but it holds idle, pulls 20" vacuum and generally drives how it did before honestly.

I picked up a 3" griptec pulley that I may try to run instead of the 3.25" but we'll see. At a quick glance i'm at like 19-20psi on the 3.25 with my longtubes. Might want just a touch more.

 

[hatchke]

I have to say the damn car is running and driving around pretty well. Leaking a little coolant from my HCM at the front rad hose but i'll get that fixed. Otherwise i'm on track for the 18th tuning.

The next thing I have to sort out is some clearance issues with my front coilovers and the wheels lol. With my ride height the perch and spring are like RIGHT there at the top of the wheel/tire. I ordered some shorter springs from MM and hopefully that gives me some space.

Also an issue is the clearance between my Borla exhaust and the passenger rear tire. I tried adjusting it at all points in the exhaust but that bend around the gas tank is just SO wide, I don't know how anyone fits 315's on the rear with this exhaust. I'll figure it out though and maybe have a new tail pipe bend or just hammer this one until I figure out my exhaust setup.

Bay all (mostly) dressed up.

 

[hatchke]

Oh I should mention that the wheels/tires are being mounted right now and i'll get them early/mid next week. 275 fronts and 315 rears

 

[hatchke]

Little teaser because there's just no sunlight anymore. I need to drop it just a touch more to be totally content, maybe .5 in the rear and .25 up front. I can't slam it like I want to because the longtubes and exhaust hang so low.

And one little goofy addition. I can't let the car be too too serious now.

 

[CobraBob]

Love the wheels, Mike! The finish is perfect with the Oxford White paint.