Doin right the first time

[socomnarc]

(tap tap) Is this thing on? Hi everyone! First time to the forum.
I need some advice. Lookin to purchase my first Cobra soon.
Either a 99 or 01 N/A. My final vision is to put over 300hp at the wheels.(very do-able from what I've seen) Adjustable suspension, because I love the way a slammed Stang looks. Full Saleen bodykit ,shaved handles, 285s for tires or larger. Again, I love the wide tire look. Its not much but I have really no idea whats a good buy and a bad buy for the car. Spending money on this car is not a problem. I will never sell this car once I obtain it. Ive been infected with the import bug for some time now and finally found a cure. THANK GOD!! So I know alot about those cars and whats good and bad(all bad), but not for the Stang. I was givin Sean Hyland motorsports name as a reference but have no idea if they're good or not.
What Im lookin to do is just have a powerful RELIABLE daily driver that goes as good as it looks. No forced induction though. Been there.. blown that up! I know theres probably alot a bad products out there for Mustangs, I just dont know what those are. Thats where I need help.
Thanks alot..........Mark

 

[lemosley01]

Greets - glad you came over from the Rice side. There's nothing like the Torque a V8 produces.

As for what you want to do to the car - here are the mods you'll want to look at from a power stand point:
Cold Air Induction (CAI) - The JLT is makes very good numbers and looks nice (Tucker can make them in most colors to match your car)
Underdrive pulleys
A new X or H pipe (which one and with or without cats is largely preference - I believe they all make fairly close in power)
Cat-back exhaust
Gears (3.73s, 4.10s, 4.30s, etc).
Headers are good too but they are a pain to install and you'll have to make that decision when you get your X/H-pipe.
Eventually a tune from a reputable tuning shop.

Do a search before asking a question about which product you should get - chances are it's been asked and answered before.
As for Sean Hyland do a search for them on the boards and see what others have to say.
All of the above are proven mods that put down real horsepower - not like 'fart cans' and triple-decker wings that (in a Ricer's mind) add 25 HP and 50 HP respectively.

Welcome to the Mustang World. You'll become one of the family as long as you don't try to BS everyone.

 

[socomnarc]

Thanks for the welcome! No need to worry about the B.S.
Ive never had a car with 320hp before so my guess is it will seem fast enough to start with.What about the computer chip upgrades avaliable? worth it or not?
Does the camber get that bad with a large drop? I see alot of
camber caster hardware in magazines
You mentioned underdrive pullies. Brand names to look at?
Finally the gear (im sorry) ratios are alittle scetchy.
Im not too familier with it other than they give you more torque
off the line? No? Depending on what ratio you use?
Sorry for lookin like such a newbie but like I said I want to do it right the first time.
Thanks guys for any and all the help.
Mark

 

[99SVTcobraVERT]

if the 99 you pick up makes good power then you are a catback and x pipe away from 300rwhp na. my car made 280 bone stock and with edition of power robbing na 3inch catback it still made 301 at the tires with NO other mods except for a dirty used used k&n air filter (just the filter). if you have the extra cash swing for the 01. great power promised up front and has the better seats,cd player,tinted front headlights,polished wheels (if it has the option and most did) and cobra on rear bumper. but if you go for 99 you wont be sorry i loved my red/tan/tan vert before this one!

 

[99SVTcobraVERT]

soco, no gears dont give you more tq. they just increase the rate at which you get thru the rpm band, making it seem like you making more power. depends on what kind of racer you are. if you like high speed roll ons then i suggest 3:73's. if you extreme drag racer then i suggest 4:30's (as 4:10's have most shifting right at the line) go with steeda under drive pullies, or bbk. also with springs,anything over about 1 inch you really need CC plates. and computer chip really isnt much help unless your A/F is really all out of whack from the factory and/or you have a ton of mods. have it dyno tuned, not mail order.

 

[lemosley01]

What NOSCobra said.

I meant dynotune not chipped - duh. Thanks for catching that NOS.

Even with a 1 inch drop you should probably get Caster/Camber plates, because you can change the caster so that the steering isn't quite so heavy (my one real complaint about my car). And Fairmont-chassis Mustangs (79-2004) have always had problems with camber (basically they can't get enough negative camber). For Caster/Camber plates look at Maximum Motorsports.

Oh - you will probably want full-length subframe connectors if you get a convertible. Maximum Motorsports are good. If you plan on SCCA autoX though beware that subframe connectors, CC Plates and gears will 'technically' put you into a different class. Myself, I don't care - I won't be racing for money, just fun, so I'll put on SFCs, CC plates and gears and not worry about if miatas and hondas are kicking my butt.

If you get a 99 make sure you check that all the recalls have been done - especially "The Fix" - the 99's were down on HP from the factory so Ford issued a recall that involved a PCM reflash, exhaust change and clean up of the intake.

 

[lemosley01]

One last thing - lots of 2001 and 99 Cobras out there right now and they aren't moving because of the 2003/2004 Cobras and the new 05's are coming out. It's a buyers market right now.

Check the SVTPerformance market (forum is call The Market and www.corral.net for Cobras for sale.

 

[socomnarc]

Wow! Thanks for all the info!
Im planning on a coupe not a convert.
I was aware of the 99 "fix" problem. That was my only concern
with the 99. How does one know if the car was fixed or not?
Does Ford "stamp" the car or somthin when its fixed
or am I at the mercy of the seller?
I dont plan on tracking the car in anyway (drag/SCCA)
I am lookin forward to a bit of drifting around corners with it though! But I first need to get used to the horse power.
Ill be goin from about 120hp to 320hp...........MMM cant wait!
One more question (sorry) ......coilovers? Im really anal about the way a car sits, and rides. So far in my past experiences coilovers
(sleeves or full) tend to give me what I want in a drop.
I see Eibach just released a new set of coilovers. Any thoughts?
Thanks again guys.
Mark.

 

[mustangrmyk]

This is my first post on this site. I have to agree with everything above. I have an '01 Laser Red coupe. I think the performance is great right out of the box. So far I have added a CAI, Borla cat backs and a Magnaflow "true X" midpipe (stock cats, I'm in Calif), Eibach pro springs, a Maximum Motorsports IRS brace and a Snow Performance strut tower brace. I am real happy with the performance and handling.

This past weekend, I helped a friend install Maximum Motorsports caster camber plates. They were easy to install and allow ample adjustment for lowered cars. I highly recommend them. That is the next project for mine. After that will be full length subs.

Good luck with your search.

 

[mikey99cobra]

i dont know how the IRS will handle drfting around corners. the 99 cobra came with 28 spline(weaker) rear and the 01 cobra came with 31 spline rear. the halfshafts in these cars are known to break under harsh treatment. if you can i would get a 01 cobra because of the stronger rear, and the seats are sooooo much better. i would trade my 99 in on an 01 just for the seats.

 

[socomnarc]

Seats are not a problen considering they're comin out for some racing seats (Recaro/Sparco).
But If everyone thinks the 01 cobra is a better buy than the 99
Thats what Ill buy. The prices arent too bad. I found a few well under 20k already with less than 30,000 miles on em. 03 04s are a bit outta my price range 30,000$ yikes!
Would like to find that old guy sellin his garage kept under 10,000
mile 01 cobra who wants to buy an 05 Mustang, or whatever.
Wheew. I feel a bit over-whelmed about what Ive been missing and what I need to know. Ever since I got a ride in a 91 10sec. Vortec Mustang GT.........That was it...Never been scared by speed in a car before that. It was a bit too much for me. But WHAT A RIDE!

 

[lemosley01]

What does 'drifting mean exactly. I have seen it thrown around but never bothered to look it up.

You can call 1800-SVT-FORD with the VIN to find out if the car has had the fix done. There will also usually be a blue or green dot on the lower intake indicating that the intake was either extrude honed or acid-dipped as part of the fix.

How much stronger than than the 28 spline axles are the 31 spline? I though the breakage was happening in the shank of the axle or at the CV joint, not at the differential.

For coilovers, Griggs and Maximum Motorsports are the way to go - the guys at www.corner-carvers.com pretty much wouldn't touch anything else, and I respect their information because they back it up with facts, not opinions.
Maximum Motorsports coilovers start at around ~$1500 for the kit (I think). Not cheap for a Mustang/Cobra.

I think you'll be surprised at how tame the car feels - 320 HP/317 TQ sounds like a lot, but it really comes on nicely in these cars and feels quite controllable. When I went from my 96 GT to this 99 Cobra, I noticed that down low it felt much the same as the GT which was down almost 100HP an 60 TQ to the Cobra.

Originally posted by socomnarc
Wow! Thanks for all the info!
Im planning on a coupe not a convert.
I was aware of the 99 "fix" problem. That was my only concern
with the 99. How does one know if the car was fixed or not?
Does Ford "stamp" the car or somthin when its fixed
or am I at the mercy of the seller?
I dont plan on tracking the car in anyway (drag/SCCA)
I am lookin forward to a bit of drifting around corners with it though! But I first need to get used to the horse power.
Ill be goin from about 120hp to 320hp...........MMM cant wait!
One more question (sorry) ......coilovers? Im really anal about the way a car sits, and rides. So far in my past experiences coilovers
(sleeves or full) tend to give me what I want in a drop.
I see Eibach just released a new set of coilovers. Any thoughts?
Thanks again guys.
Mark.