But I have some questions first. I found a Cobra with 72k miles right in my price range close by. It is basically all stock except an intake and some flowmaster mufflers welded into the stock pipes. It has some maintenance work done to it like resealed oil pan, resealed differential, and a couple other things. Here's where it gets trickey, the guy says he had his Ford tech friend check the compression when he bought it at 60k miles and everything was good. He also said the clutch was replaced but cannot find the receipt for the work. I don't mind dropping the trans and replacing the clutch myself, but I'de rather not have to. The engine is my main concern. Should I be worried about anything being that the miles are still fairly low? Any info or recommendations greatly appreciated, thanks.
Might be buying an 03 Cobra this weekend
- Thread starter alicecooper
- Start date
A different intake on a Terminator?
I'm sure he's talking about a cold air intake....
Yes a CAI.
You should still get your own compression test done if you are worried about the engine. Clutch is a clutch, you may need to replace it may not. Cannot really tell what the life of a clutch is depends on the driver. If engine checks out I would say go for it.
Call me dumbass....all I can think about is blowers after mustang week.
Lol, it happens.
Resealing the diff cover is more common than having to replace the oil pan gasket which requires a good amount of time with clearance issues, I wonder what the reason for doing it was?
that thing sounds like a ticking time bomb with dubious maintenance history. and lots of miles
too many other terminators out there….pass
too many other terminators out there….pass
I will see if I can get a compression test done. Clutch is a clutch, rather not have to touch it for a while.
Currently asking him about the oil pan.
Not sure if your serious. 72k seems pretty low mileage for these cars. Maybe I am mistaken?
mine has 105,000 and runs like a raped ape of coarse I know the history of the car tho. good luck
Bought mine with 94k, it was a basket case... but thats also the reason I bought it. 72k is high for these cars when many of them still run with 20-30k on them. If you don't mind getting your hands dirty grab it if it all checks out. If you want a gem, then pass and up your price range
Check the classifieds section on here, 72k is considered high for these cars believe it or not.
Yeah I realize it is "high" in terms of how old the car is, though I was thinking more in terms of wear and tear on the motor. These things seem to be pretty dang stout and reliable. I don't mind getting my hands dirty, I just don't feel like overhauling an engine at this point in time. There is another one for sale right next to the one I am going to look at, its 1k cheaper, but has 83k miles and is a 2004, replaced clutch with paperwork, has x-pipe, catback, and CAI done that's it and he's willing to let me or a shop do a compression test where as the first car the guy didn't want me to do one and was stating theres no shops close by. I am starting to lean towards grabbing the one with 83k miles, pocketing the 1k for when/if it ever needs a rebuild. What would SVTP do?
It actually is pretty high. But I'm not saying I wouldn't consider a 72k mile car for the right price if the maintenance history was good and the owner wasn't trying to dodge a compression test…. lol. Also, never heard of the oil pans on these cars having to be "resealed". I've seen the gasket for the oil coolers leak (very common and an easy fix) and run oil trails down the pan and near the rear main, I could see a uninformed person misdiagnosing that for something worse than it is. Also, the rear differentials definitely do leak, so thats not unusual.
All in all, I'd suggest you keep looking. Maybe that 83k mile 04 might end up being cleaner and tighter than the 72k mile 03. Good luck.
Yeah, I would go with the second one after a compression test. Better to get a car that you know is good to go then one that may have something wrong with lower miles.
It looks like I will only be looking at the 2004 this weekend as the guy doesn't care what tests I do mechanically so he must feel pretty good about the car. I don't have time to do a compression test myself (im pretty slow) and all the shops are closed. I heard about some stupid trick with a piece of paper or dollar bill over the exhaust pipe at idle to see if there's any compression loss, usually indicated by the exhaust pipe sucking in when the cylinder with weak compression fires. Does this actually work? Kind of want to try it on my rebuilt 22re 4runner. I'm skeptical, but my buddy who's pretty dang smart told me about it so I'm not sure, sounds like it could indicate something. Flame suit is on.
Links to the ad or are these at a dealer?
The 2004 is no longer on CL, he had it for sale a few weeks ago, but recently reached out to me as the buyer couldn't get a loan. Here is the 2003 ad. http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/5130625331.html
The 2004 is black and was up for sale for $16999 (im not paying that much).
The 2004 is black and was up for sale for $16999 (im not paying that much).
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