Mod Advice on a 99 Cobra

[JCP281]

Hey everyone. I have a virgin 99 Cobra that I picked up not to long ago. The only mods done to the car are a catback and a shifter... so I guess its been to 1st base. lol

I have some MM XL FL subframe connectors that are getting welded in in a few weeks and I am looking to buy more. I am thinking 4.30s and bearing kit with a complete full tilt boogie racing bushing kit, FRPP modified diff cover, with a diff rebuild kit as well.

Sound like a good place to start?

I am eventually going to get the missing pieces of the MM max grip box(obviously sans their bushings in favor of FTBR), which will consist of a bilstein coil over conversion setup, tubular kmember/front control arms and a few other odds and ends. I like to rip on the car on the weekends, its not a daily driver and as you can tell, I favor the twisties.

As far as power goes im not really sure WTH to do. part of me wants a JLT cold air intake, just because they look bad ass, but I know it wont do anything. outside of full length LT headers, what else should I do just to have a fun car that will hang with some of the newer stuff out.

 

[Brutal Metal]

lowering springs, CC plates,better rear shock like a Bilstein take off with their struts up front,copper plugs,don't waste money on a CAI, throttle body,LT headers,cams. Bolt on a centri blower with low boost for 400+ rwhp. oops also off road midpipe, the stocker is heavy and restricive..

 

[railroad]

4.30 gears are definitely not for daily driving. I have 3.73s in mine and they are good everywhere , but marginal on the hiway. Shorty headers will do the same as long tubes and not nearly the cost or hassle. I put an 03 alum flywheel, SVT alum driveshaft in, nice pickup in throttle response. If your 99 had the factory mod, it will have an extrude honed intake. This helps if you go with a centri supercharger. Pump is good for up to 460 whp with a BAP. Really hate to see it beat on, but it's yours. What color is it? Oh yeah, the rear half shafts do not like axle hop nor big slicks with clutch drops. You might consider 31 spline half shafts from the 03/04, but you will have to change the side gears in the rear end.

 

[JCP281]

lowering springs, CC plates,better rear shock like a Bilstein take off with their struts up front,copper plugs,don't waste money on a CAI, throttle body,LT headers,cams. Bolt on a centri blower with low boost for 400+ rwhp. oops also off road midpipe, the stocker is heavy and restricive..

The MM max grip kit comes with everything. coil over kit with Bilstein struts, cc plates, k member , tubular a-arms etc. The car will have basically everything on the suspension swapped out. So I got ya covered there!

I am keeping the car N/a. Always been a fan of how an n/a car drives(wven if it lacks the power and grunt of a blower). Its just more fun for me. Im weird, I know.

4.30 gears are definitely not for daily driving. I have 3.73s in mine and they are good everywhere , but marginal on the hiway. Shorty headers will do the same as long tubes and not nearly the cost or hassle. I put an 03 alum flywheel, SVT alum driveshaft in, nice pickup in throttle response. If your 99 had the factory mod, it will have an extrude honed intake. This helps if you go with a centri supercharger. Pump is good for up to 460 whp with a BAP. Really hate to see it beat on, but it's yours. What color is it? Oh yeah, the rear half shafts do not like axle hop nor big slicks with clutch drops. You might consider 31 spline half shafts from the 03/04, but you will have to change the side gears in the rear end.

This car will never see any drag racing, so im not worried about the half shafts. As far as wheel hop goes, there wont really be any with the bushing kit. I had a 99 IRS in my old GT and it held up just fine with the way I drove it(which is how the cobra will be driven). Its purely to have fun with on back country roads and open track events. And I prefer long tubes because of their design. The reason long tubes where designed is the longer,narrower primaries increase volumetric efficiency of any motor lower in the powerband. I understand what you mean about the instal, it is a PITA, but I will install them at the same time that I do the Kmember swap, which will be much easier. This car is already a dog on the low end. With the 4.30s..(er I may go 4.10s purely to save money as Motive 4.30s are double the price of FRPP) and long tubes, that will help out quite a bit. The only mods I ever actually felt on my old GT where longtubes and gears. Id imagine the cobra will be very similar.

Heres my old GT. Had 10th anniversary brakes with a 99 IRS out back. Had full bolt ons with 4.10s. It was about as fast as my Cobra is now. Felt faster because of the gears but my Cobra certainly has a little more power.

And heres its replacment. I sold the GT when my wife and I got married. We needed furniture.....priorities are a mofo. Well, 4 years later I got this.

 

[Brutal Metal]

always nice to see 99's in such good shape!

 

[RedRocketMike]

I liked my rio red 99 Cobra a lot. I didn't bother modding it much really because it didn't seem to provide much return on the investment, I saved for a different car instead. An off road x pipe just made my car louder, no gains. A JLT cold air intake netter me no gains in mph or et at the track. I ended up taking both off to get some of my money back. The best bang for your buck mod by far is gears. I would run 4.30s on a daily driver, I almost did 4.56s. I would not go through the trouble for less gear. So it turns 2800 rpms at 70. At a higher cruising rpm these engines are close to peak efficiency, the impact on your mpg and wear and tear will be very small. It's the only thing short of a power adder you can do that will level up your cars ability to compete.

 

[railroad]

Without checking a chart for gears and rpm. I think your 4.56s would turn more than 2800 at 70mph. I think my 373s turn about that AT 70 MPH.
I have the same color cobra. I bought it new and put a KB s/c on it. Car is actually more fun to drive than my 13 shelby. I went with hi flow cats from Magna flow and same cat back. I wish I had gone with the BBK mid pipe. It is closer to an H design, which makes more of an old car sound.
The seats were worse than the generic mustang and I changed to a set of Corbeaus.



I clay barred, scratch doctors, sealer and waxed it for this local show. It won 1 award for best car and another for best paint. Ford had paint application issues that year, but with a little hand work, it looks good.
You did good to find a 99 in such good shape.

 

[JCP281]

Thanks for the compliments guys. Couldnt pass this car up. It has a few things wrong here and there but its in great shape. I cant wait to put in the gears and go for a drive. These cars have so much potential.

 

[murse]

Congrats and that car looks GREAT!! 4:10's are perfect to wake that car up.

 

[DHG4410]

Agree with above go with the 410's. Nice car!

 

[JCP281]

I had 4.10s in my GT with the same tranny. 4.30s are just calling my name. Iv read to many people regret 4.10s in an N/A cobra. While 4.10s would wake the car up a ton, I know in a few months The quickness will wear off and ill be kicking myself.

Again, cars not a DD, so I dont care about turning RPMS. Thats what I WANT to do.

Anyone on here have the MM coil overs? How do you like em?

 

[black4vcobra]

I had 4.10s in my GT with the same tranny. 4.30s are just calling my name. Iv read to many people regret 4.10s in an N/A cobra. While 4.10s would wake the car up a ton, I know in a few months The quickness will wear off and ill be kicking myself.

Again, cars not a DD, so I dont care about turning RPMS. Thats what I WANT to do.

Anyone on here have the MM coil overs? How do you like em?

4.10s are plenty for these cars and were perfect to me when I was N/A! The 4V is stronger across the entire rev range than a 2V and you get another 1000 rpm up top to enjoy so don't let your past experience with a 2V influence you too much.

 

[RedRocketMike]

I just calculated RPM for 4.56s with a 25.66" tall tire (245/45/17 or 275/40/17) and a .67 overdrive (t45). Came to 2800 rpm exactly at 70mph. http://www.csgnetwork.com/multirpmcalc.html

A 4.56 car would walk a 4.10 car from 0-120. Does anyone here remember sonic_4.6's 4.56'd 99 Cobra? There was tons of footage of him racing anyone that would line up. I can't find it though.

 

[JCP281]

I would love 4.56, however I think it would become a smoke show without a serious tire. With the tires I'm planning on running I don't think they could handle it. The difference between 410 and 430 is honestly not that much. It's a leap to 456 for sure though.

Id be interested to ride in a car with some.

 

[RedRocketMike]

found one. http://www.streetfire.net/video/99-cobra-vs-345whp-ls1-modded-stis-etc_70364.htm

two http://www.streetfire.net/video/377whp-charger-srt8-vs-99-cobra_70419.htm

buy a diff brace http://www.streetfire.net/video/355whp-c5-vs-99-cobra_70499.htm


man, haven't watched these videos in 7-8 years, they seem so dated now.

 

[RedRocketMike]

I would love 4.56, however I think it would become a smoke show without a serious tire. With the tires I'm planning on running I don't think they could handle it. The difference between 410 and 430 is honestly not that much. It's a leap to 456 for sure though.

Id be interested to ride in a car with some.

One issue I recall with 4.10's, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, you have to shift into 4th literally right before the end of 1/4 mile.

 

[JCP281]

Just thought I would update everyone on what I decided. Tonight I ordered:

Full Tilt Boogie Racing Bushing Kit #5001 and the FRPP diff brace
H&R Race Springs
Koni Adjustable shock/struts
4.30 gears
Bearing and Rebuild Kit
SCT x4 Tuner

In 2 weeks I am scheduled to get my Maximum Motorsports FL Subframe Connectors put on. I will have the gears and bushings put in at the same time. Ill put the shocks/struts and springs on myself.

After I get this done and get a couple more checks in the bank, ill order new brake pads/rotors, braided lines and get some Dot 4 fluid in the system. Then I will order some kooks headers and x pipe, mm k member and a arms and put all that on.


Should be a fun car in about a year. Very excited.

 

[shurur]

Just thought I would update everyone on what I decided. Tonight I ordered:

Full Tilt Boogie Racing Bushing Kit #5001 and the FRPP diff brace
H&R Race Springs
Koni Adjustable shock/struts
4.30 gears
Bearing and Rebuild Kit
SCT x4 Tuner

In 2 weeks I am scheduled to get my Maximum Motorsports FL Subframe Connectors put on. I will have the gears and bushings put in at the same time. Ill put the shocks/struts and springs on myself.

After I get this done and get a couple more checks in the bank, ill order new brake pads/rotors, braided lines and get some Dot 4 fluid in the system. Then I will order some kooks headers and x pipe, mm k member and a arms and put all that on.


Should be a fun car in about a year. Very excited.

You might as well have them put the rears springs/shocks in when they do the IRS bushings.
The IRS cradle has to be swung down to get the springs in anyway. And the oem shocks will be physically crushed by the lowering springs. Save yourself the heartache.

Enjoy!!

 

[JCP281]

Not a big deal. I want to drive the car for a little bit with just the FLSFC and the bushing kit. Im scheduled for a few HPDE sessions that I want to learn the car more before slapping on the springs and shocks. I just bought them now because they were on sale. Not a big deal for the IRS, they are pretty easy to work on.