Guys tell me if you don’t want to read this and I’ll document it off record. Lol. I’ve been a member for a little while and kept an eye on this forum for years quietly taking advice where I can find it for my mustangs over the years. I’ve had and sold a few over the years. Starting with a v6 new edge years ago then moving into a couple of gts, a bullitt, and now the gt that is my wife’s baby and my 99 cobra. What can I say, we like the New Edge. We also like our verts. Both of the cars we have now are convertibles. Anyway, on to the meat and potatoes here. Ever since I bought the Cobra it’s had some cold start piston slap and burns some oil. Nothing extreme, but relatively annoying. Also, it stops me from adding any power adders to the car. Blowby is evident in the three pcv’s I’ve replaced. The previous owner swore it had been forged at some point and I put some 98 Cobra intake cams on her along with some of your more common boltons. Once warm she runs strong for a n/a 99 Cobra. Not saying much I know but still. The t-45 is as strong as it can be with full hd build kit from Stan and a very fresh rebuild. Other than the gears in the back, the car is mostly stock with some lowering “performance” springs. She handles okay, but let’s just say she isn’t setting any records. I got the car for a really good price and the body is perfectly straight with the exception of the bumper covers which have taken some road and parking lot bumps. Namely the rear cover that has been “bumped” twice now by people on their damn phones! She has been my daily work driver(I’m an insurance inspector/investigator, lots of miles!)for 2 years now and it’s come time to retire her to the garage for a full rebuild and mainly track duty and weekend SoCal top down driving after that. So far the build list consists of a full motor rebuild by yours truly(with the exception of machine work). I’m hoping that the rods at least have been replaced with decent forged rods as the previous own said they had, but the pistons are likely going to need to be replaced. I assume the slapping is coming from improper sized pistons to the bore, and that they haven’t done too much damage to the walls. Maybe I’ll get lucky and it’s a piston ring issue? Chime in on anything that makes me sound like a noob please and thank you! Sound criticism will only make my car better in the long run! Any how, as it looks most of the motor rebuild is dependent on what it looks like after we pull the bullet and crack her open. In the chance that it hasn’t actually been forged I was thinking of 03-04 Cobra rods and Manley 11cc dished pistons to fit whatever bore we end up with after figuring out if the walls need to be cleaned. The plan is for a conservative 600 rwhp motor on twins. Obviously dish size will be dependent on how big the bore goes to make sure compression doesn’t dip too low. Any thoughts on my above listed build will be GREATLY appreciated! Also anyone’s thoughts on sleeving the motor are also massively welcome! My thoughts are that it shouldn’t be necessary for the amount of hp I’m looking to make, but if I’m wrong please correct me! Moving back, as I said the transmission has had the full treatment including the 26 spline input shaft, billet forks, brass pads, carbon synchros, mgw shifter blablabla. So for the time being we will see how it holds up after power is added. Further back as I mentioned it has gears but it still has the stock 99 rear end. So only 26 spline half shafts. I’ve been debating on looking for a 03-04 31 spline rear but I’m not sure it’s going to be needed considering this car won’t be on any drag duty, mainly road course, small autocross, and SoCal canyons on the weekends. Once again if I am mistaken please correct me! Suspension wise(even though it’s a ways out for now) will be a full front and rear maximum grip box all the way around. Pricey I know, but I don’t know of any other proven options that would be any less money. Suspension on this car is where I would need the most input I think guys so help and pointers would be awesome! Here’s a picture of how my girl sits now. I’ll be posting as things progress throughout the build. It’s not going to be a rush job I want it done right and I want to do it myself. Massive learning curve I know but I’m pretty handy and I’ll be taking as much time as needed to do it right the first time! Pointers, tips, critiques, and any advice is welcome during the entire process! Like I said, sound criticism will only help make my car better! Thanks for your time here guys! And I look forward to any and all help!