A few winter mods

[MalcolmV8]

Every winter it seems I go to replace one two things and end up doing a whole lot more. This winter is no exception and thought I'd share a few highlights.
Last year it started off with lets change the mufflers and make the exhaust sound better and before you know it the car is in pieces been rebuilt.

This year it started off with I'd like a new hood. Had this car 14 years now, time to change it up a little.

All seemed well till I noticed it didn't fit right on the passenger's side.

So I call Cervinis and they say despite the lack of info on their website it does not fit the 03/04 Cobra. The front bumper setup near the hood is different. Well shoot. So my son and I proceeded to fix the bumper and start doing repairs to get the hood fixed.

Somehow we fixed it like this

And then this.... seriously I have no idea how this happens all the time lol

We'll just leave the engine alone over here for now.....

And then a couple days later....

Then suddenly there's donor motors

And a whole new project is on the way.... more on that later

At this point we're on a roll and things are coming off left and right

The front bumper got completely stripped and all creases and rock chips etc. over the years fixed and cleaned up.

Parts getting painted after making the hood work

Shaved the antenna off the passenger's side fender too

If you're wondering on the white. You have to shoot white before zinc yellow to make it look right.

New parts came out great

My heads previously had a hand port done but the quality of that port job was in question. So I sent them off to Livernois for their CNC port to go over it. They also said I needed all new exhaust guides so that was done too as well as 8 thread plugs. I apparently had two hair line cracks in one of the combustion chambers so that was welded and repaired too.
Heads look brand new.

Have to split this up due to limitations on the forum....

 

[MalcolmV8]

The old killer chiller setup.....

Decided it must go, pulled this out.

Pulled off the crash bar and switched that up

Added some brackets and built this

Ah yes this should do the trick.

With freshly painted bumper test fitting it works perfectly.

Got that bar nicely cleaned up and painted.

Nice fans on it too. This should cool amazing. For those with sharp eyes you'll notice custom brake lines up front too. I went ahead and deleted the ABS system for a cleaner engine bay and more room and made my own custom brake line setup too.

Removed those tiny inlets and outlets

Put some huge ones on to move some good flow

Intercooler opened up

Bigger matching parts

Yes this is going to flow!

Since I had things apart I decided to wire tuck the car and clean up the engine bay some. Notice the custom brake lines again from ABS delete.

Really opens things up without all those wires.

We toyed with the idea of turbos but that only lasted a day. I love the blower setup to much

So all the while this is happening I'm thinking about how sick I am of fighting the stock ECU and all the limitations it has for how evolved my car has come. My injectors, MAF and everything is so huge and the cams etc. it just makes tuning this car painful.

So step in MS3-Pro. Installing a stand alone to handle the engine and smooth things out in that department.
And no obviously I'm not putting 3 of them in my car lol, I have other projects I'm working on too so picked them all up at the same time.

Since I'm actually piggy backing the MS3-Pro and keeping the stock ECU I'll need to double up on a few sensors rather than replace. My car will be able to run off either ECU for testing purposes.

So I needed an additional coolant temp sensor. Added a bung to the passenger's side cross over tube like how the driver's side has.

So I now have three sensors for my various systems lol. Two on the driver's and one on passenger's. Still need to paint and clean up.

Since I'm adding all new electronics and sharing sensors etc. I needed to get some bench testing done and make sure certain things were compatible. So I built this rig to simulate the engine running.

 

[MalcolmV8]

Powered by the drill the engine was "running" and testing with dual CPUs could get some testing.

All systems checking out and both ECU's playing nicely together. Just the way I like it.

Interior is all tore apart too. Burring the new ECU and related electronics inside the dash for a very clean OEM type install. No glove box parts and harnesses this time around.

One huge thing with the new ECU is the MS3-Pro supports things like flex fuel. As in true flex fuel ability. So very excited to be installing a flex fuel sensor in my return line. This means no more testing of E85 at the pump. No more tweaking the tune for E85 or E78 etc. It's all going to be automated and magic now. Probably one of the most exciting features for me. It has many but that's a whole thread in itself.

Exciting things to come with the engine too. That's in progress..... here's a hint of things to come.....

Also stepped up to the RXT1200 this time. My old setup tore the standard RXT up in 3k miles. Well to be fair it didn't tear it up as in destroying the internals. It just over powered it to where it was slipping. This 1200 model has an even stronger pressure plate with more clamping force and will hopefully do the trick.

So anyhow my winter mod of a new hood is coming along nicely more to follow.

 

[UnrealSVT]

Wow man, just...wow. This is awesome!!!! I'm interested to hear how well the flex fuel system works for you as far as adapting to different "grades" of pump E85, and also how much stiffer that 1200 clutch is compared to the RXT. AWESOME build!

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

Great build once again, I'm pretty sure your setup has changed 5 times in the last 4yrs my car has been down ahaha! I'm looking into the clutch thing. I have a RXT right now and my car will be 800-1000rwhp.. BUT it doesn't weigh anywhere near what a 04 Cobra weighs. So I'm hoping it'll last.. I'm contemplating a Auto swap this winter though.

 

[Bdubbs]

Wow, quite amazing work again! I've been eyeing that ethanol sensor/gauge for quite some time. Do those fore fittings connect right to that module without modifying? And is it best to install it on the return line? Curious to see pictures of it installed.

 

[SlowSVT]

I'm beginning to think this is a continuous build thread interrupted by spells of "uptime!". Great work Malcolm as always. Turbo is cool but I'm still holding out on your compound boost build!

 

[SlowSVT]

..

 

[KLLR SNK]

67' Camaro peaking inside the door and a 68' Camaro in the shop? Nice work on the current project Malcolm.

 

[MalcolmV8]

Wow man, just...wow. This is awesome!!!! I'm interested to hear how well the flex fuel system works for you as far as adapting to different "grades" of pump E85, and also how much stiffer that 1200 clutch is compared to the RXT. AWESOME build!

Yes I'm very excited about the flex fuel sensor. That was definitely a pain in the butt. Especially since various pumps have different grades. I was only filling at the same specific pump prior to avoid the hassles. This should help greatly.

McLeod told me the clutch is going to be heavier with the 1200 pressure plate but still reasonable. I'm curious myself as to how its going to feel.

Great build once again, I'm pretty sure your setup has changed 5 times in the last 4yrs my car has been down ahaha! I'm looking into the clutch thing. I have a RXT right now and my car will be 800-1000rwhp.. BUT it doesn't weigh anywhere near what a 04 Cobra weighs. So I'm hoping it'll last.. I'm contemplating a Auto swap this winter though.

Sigh.... yes it changes way to much lol. Trust me I hear about that.

Wow, quite amazing work again! I've been eyeing that ethanol sensor/gauge for quite some time. Do those fore fittings connect right to that module without modifying? And is it best to install it on the return line? Curious to see pictures of it installed.

It's not an ethanol gauge / sensor package or anything. It's simply just a plain old GM factory flex fuel sensor. The stand alone ECU will use it like a factory flex fuel car does and adjust fueling and timing accordingly.

Yes Fore makes the -8 fittings that slide right on. Very handy for sure. You can see one off here so you can see how it works.

You must install it in the return line. There are no adverse affects if done that way. If you install it on the supply line you can cause pressure drop issues.

I'm beginning to think this is a continuous build thread interrupted by spells of "uptime!". Great work Malcolm as always. Turbo is cool but I'm still holding out on your compound boost build!

Lol indeed it is. I need to move to a warmer climate with no winters. It's when the car sits I get bored and start changing things.
Well if the turbo went on there it was going to be a compound build. Actually I was toying with the idea of building a dual purpose car. As in run the exhaust through a turbo setup but just run the blower. Then swap intake manifolds and hook up intake tubing and run turbo the next weekend. Basically swap back and forth. The more I looked at it the more complex and cumbersome it looked and I scratched it.

 

[BlksvtCobra01]

Very nice build/mods.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MG0h3]

Damn MS has come a long way. When I put it on my fox 8 yrs ago you had to splice like 40 wires or something into the ECM harness. No plug and play feature at all.

Is it still bank fired injectors or sequential now?

 

[Bdubbs]

This is the kit I've been looking at. I always test my ethanol at the pump to see what I'm getting.
Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/231367902689

 

[Givens]

Wow, that escalated quickly, looks amazing, cant wait to see the finished product.

 

[94slowbra1]

Great read as always. I'm interested on how well the cooling works now, to me that's one of the biggest downfalls of these cars.
And even if you don't have winter you still find time to tear it all apart. I don't think we dropped below freezing once this winter and somehow I have a new TVS and fore fuel system. Just the way it goes

 

[MalcolmV8]

Damn MS has come a long way. When I put it on my fox 8 yrs ago you had to splice like 40 wires or something into the ECM harness. No plug and play feature at all.

Is it still bank fired injectors or sequential now?

They have come a long way for sure. Full sequential injection and ignition. Very neat stuff.
However the plug and play harnesses at this time are only for LS motors. So yeah I'm splicing wires and building harness. It's extra work for me because I want to be able to run either ECU at any time. You know me, always tinkering and testing.
Plus I'm building a new motor which means I want to fire it up on the stock ECU which I know has a good tune for my combo. Break it in and then switch over to the MS3-Pro.

So I've been building wiring harnesses like this

And painfully splicing them under the dash. Obviously just getting started here

This is the kit I've been looking at. I always test my ethanol at the pump to see what I'm getting.
Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/231367902689

Ah OK, those just use a standard GM flex fuel sensor too and they made a gauge to read the sensor. It's a neat tool to have. You just have to realize those sensors measure gasoline, not E85 despite the way Zeitronix markets it. So anything not gasoline it assumes is ethanol. However it could just as easily be water in the fuel, it doesn't know the difference as it only reads "gasoline" and substance that's "not gasoline". Just watch your wideband for A/F ratios and use common sense and it'll be perfect.

Great read as always. I'm interested on how well the cooling works now, to me that's one of the biggest downfalls of these cars.
And even if you don't have winter you still find time to tear it all apart. I don't think we dropped below freezing once this winter and somehow I have a new TVS and fore fuel system. Just the way it goes

Yes I can't wait to have data logs and info on the cooling system as that is for sure the biggest down fall.

 

[UnrealSVT]

Are you planning on keeping your factory aluminum flywheel still with the new 1200 clutch? Or going lightened steel?

 

[jblood37]

Wow Malcolm haha. This all started from a hood install.

 

[TooFast98Cobra]

Nice build@

 

[MalcolmV8]

Are you planning on keeping your factory aluminum flywheel still with the new 1200 clutch? Or going lightened steel?

Factory unit still. I shipped it back to McLeod and they installed a new insert and surfaced the whole thing.