MG 2001 Cobra Terminator Swap - Build Thread

01vert

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enjoying your posts. Incredible attention to detail. Rewrapping the wiring harness is beyond me. Great job.
 

josephcostello

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enjoying your posts. Incredible attention to detail. Rewrapping the wiring harness is beyond me. Great job.
Thank you! Lots of things have been happening the past week. I dropped the stock IRS and tank and now the car is at its most stripped point.
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Yesterday I made a roundtrip to drop off the IRS cradle and other goods to be cerakoted and the engine to the builder. First impressions from the shop were great for a stock 71k mile motor which is a great sign. Heads should be off and sent to a machine shop shortly. I'm expecting a valve job and deep clean and she'll be put back together. I am not doing anything crazy with the motor - new guides, metal tensioners, ARP studs, gaskets and an oil pump. I'm now debating on upgrading my blower set up if the budget allows. And as you can see in the pic I painted the engine block. Used POR15's products; cleaner/degreaser, metal prep, rust preventive and then gloss black enamel. I'm pretty happy with it.
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Now I am trying to figure out powdercoating colors for the engine and some other stuff. The goal is by the end of the next month have the car back as a roller and be ready for the new heart. Hoping the car is running by mid Jan which will give me some time to work out kinks before moving and starting my new job.
 

josephcostello

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Finally landed my powdercoat colors after going back and forth for literally weeks. From the picture you can get an idea of where i'm heading with it...
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And everything laid out before dropping off the pieces.

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Everything is going fairly smooth so far. Engine builder let me know a few days ago the heads were in worse shape than expected, so they will be getting completely rebuilt. The IRS and related goods should be coming back from cerakote Friday. If so, that'll be the next update. If not, i'm gonna rip into the interior and tackle the sound deadoning. I have a lot of stuff I want to accomplish by the new year before putting the powertrain back in. I am pretty excited to put the suspension/brakes together.
 

josephcostello

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Decided to tackle the sound seasoning on the inside. Unlike most I’ve actually been a huge fan of the interiors of these cars but never felt they were quite comfortable for any sort of longer drives. I guess that is kind of expected for an older mustang lol. I went with Noico sound deadening from the firewall to trunk. Still have to button up joints with tape.
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After some research I learned sound deadening in doors and around speakers helps greatly with acoustics. So I added some to the doors.
Before
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After
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Replacing all the speakers with NOS Ford speakers. Mine were in great shape but I had these so I put them to use. Also snuck some sound material behind the speaker inside the door.
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Done
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The door panels sit in the metal frame via plastic hooks. I wrapped them in Tessa tape to help reduce rattles.
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Still some work to do. I have some thermal padding to put down on the floor which will get done tomorrow. May decide to add it to the rear quarter pieces.


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josephcostello

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Some extra stuff I have that is not needed. Free plus shipping if there’s anything any one wants. I’ll have a lot more stuff once this cars together
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01vert

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FYI. Putting sound deadened on the inside of the door against the outer skin instead of the interior panel will reduce the panel vibrating from music and the door gives a lower, more solid sounding ‘chunk’ when closing.

oops. Didn’t look hard enough. I see you put some in there.
 

josephcostello

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FYI. Putting sound deadened on the inside of the door against the outer skin instead of the interior panel will reduce the panel vibrating from music and the door gives a lower, more solid sounding ‘chunk’ when closing.

oops. Didn’t look hard enough. I see you put some in there.

Thanks that’s definitely what I’m after. I didn’t put much against the outer skin but I ended up having some extra I’m gonna put in each.
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josephcostello

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Also did thermal padding on top of the sound deadoner in the cabin, then taped all the joints. I had to order some more material but I’m probably gonna end up doing the roof and speaker tray behind the rear seats.
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Rewrapped the entire body harness, lol.
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I’d call this project complete. Just a few more minor things to button up.


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josephcostello

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One of the last pieces to complete the exterior of this car finally showed up after waiting a month and a half, more on that tomorrow. I’m sure it’s kinda clear where I’m going with it. But until then, check out my NOS 03/04 mirrors fresh out the box. These are primered and ready for some Mineral grey. I have a couple other sets, one of which is another NOS set.
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RX1Cobra

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Some extra stuff I have that is not needed. Free plus shipping if there’s anything any one wants. I’ll have a lot more stuff once this cars together
e60d3f01ad04f3f1d266fe07e44e4d5d.jpg




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Those power steering (brake booster?) lines left over the from the 01 and I assume not the 03 parts? I never liked how my lines to booster fit after my Eaton swap and planned to change them to the 03 ones one day.

Also, I added that same sound deadening to my 19 Tacoma. It wasn't a huge, drastic change but for sure helped. I'll be adding some to the trunk of my car over the winter since I have it apart to overhaul the IRS.
 

josephcostello

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Those power steering (brake booster?) lines left over the from the 01 and I assume not the 03 parts? I never liked how my lines to booster fit after my Eaton swap and planned to change them to the 03 ones one day.

Also, I added that same sound deadening to my 19 Tacoma. It wasn't a huge, drastic change but for sure helped. I'll be adding some to the trunk of my car over the winter since I have it apart to overhaul the IRS.

No they are from the 04. My 01s were a lot cleaner so I’m gonna use them. I won’t be using the booster lines, yours if you want. Pm me.


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josephcostello

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Couple days ago I finally received my new Ford rear 03/04 bumper after a month and a half on back order. Also ordered a Cervini 03/04 replica hood designed to work with the 99/01 bumper and not leave a gap. I’m happy with the quality. And of course, using the skirts and trunk lid off the parts car. Rocking the ambers and bumper off my car originally. While I could put my new front bumper and ambers on the car, those will stay as spares since mine are in very nice shape. Not pictured are a few things you guys will see when the car goes back together: front splitter, new third brake light, custom plate, modified fogs, etc.
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josephcostello

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Spent the day finishing up a few things before I move onto the next big project starting tomorrow which I’m extremely stoked about. Installed the pedal assembly with NOS 03/04 pedals I found on eBay and replaced some worn out plastic bushings that caused the clutch pedal to rattle terribly. If your clutch pedal moves side to side has play these will need to be replaced.
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And here’s the 04 tank I finished tonight. Used l por15 tank sealer kit on the insides, sandblasted the outside, then primed and sprayed it. Used the lines off my 01 tank since they were cleaner. I still need to glue the new tank padding on and replace one of the lines. Replaced the seal on the fuel hat with a new oem one. Came out alright I think.
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josephcostello

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Picked up the motor yesterday from the shop. For 70k miles the block was in great shape (especially 7&8 which is a great sign with no HCM) but further tear down indicated the heads were both a little rough. I opted to have both of them rebuilt. Then
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upgraded to metal tensioners, and new Ford guides, oil pump, rear main and all ARP hardware throughout. Very happy I had it gone through. Now it’s ready for some boost
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josephcostello

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Little IRS action, I've been excited to put this together for a while. When I first got the cradle it was in okay shape, but not good enough. So I sent it out to cerakote.
Before
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After
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Cerakote is top notch.

Replaced factory garbage cross axis joints with FTBR ones. These have brand new Timken bearings and FTBR hubs with longer studs. Cleaned the knuckles after this pic with carb cleaner and some other cleaner.
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Pulled the stock axles apart, re-greased, and painted. Kept the factory sticker.
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josephcostello

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Fully assembled, I am very happy with how it came out.
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Ford racing cover (milled), resealed diff, stock 3.55 gears. New seals and Ford Racing pinion flange.
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Still some things to button up with it. Goal is have a running car by Feb 1st. I was going to put the IRS in and make the car a roller again in the next couple days, but I'm leaning towards having everything built on the ground, then jack the car up, slide it into to place, and hook up. So focus on the powertrain is most likely gonna be my new priority.
 

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