My new(ish) Cobra!

[townaj]

Hey guys, been lurking for a while and decided to finally post something. I bought my 2003 Cobra this past June from JD Motors in Austin, TX with 126k miles on it. Seemed like a lot of miles in the car, but it was a good deal and it made me sad seeing it sitting on their lot with a bunch of imports, being neglected. Plus it drove fine and seemed to pull like it should, but I still performed a compression check once I got it back home and all cylinders were at 180 psi...:dw: which surprised the hell out of me. So now I am in the process of cleaning up the body, its got several small dents that need to be pulled, and the clearcoat is in dire need of a full correction. Slowly but surely.

Oh and its 100% stock...except for a K&N someone dropped in along the line.

And now on to the pictures!!

What do ya'll think?

 

[SADDLE]

The parchment interior is rare, that's cool with the black exterior. Dont see that too often!

 

[RedfireSVT]

looks good and congrats! should be a fun little project.

 

[townaj]

Yeah I had heard sometime from someone that the parchment inserts were kinda rare, good to know that it's actually true! Now I just gotta find a good way to clean the drivers seat and keep it that way

Thanks Tony! I was actually just drooling over your car haha

And if anyone has ideas for caliper colors, I'd like to hear/see them! I'll also be painting valve covers, supercharger, etc. so any input is welcome

 

['03snkbt]

And if anyone has ideas for caliper colors, I'd like to hear/see them! I'll also be painting valve covers, supercharger, etc. so any input is welcome

i would recommend powdercoating ALL said parts black

 

[coposrv]

Looks real good for 120k+ miles. How much did you pay for it? Any serious plans with the car?

 

[townaj]

I actually thought about doing black, but the car already has so much black! I wanted to try and break it up a little bit with a contrasting color. Was thinking of maybe a dark blue? Plus black seems to make it a little harder to spot leaks...

Thanks copo! The front bumper and spoiler were repainted before I bought it so they are the best looking pieces on it. The hood, roof, and most horizontal surfaces have oxidation on them, back bumper needs a repaint as well.

I paid $12,990 + TT&L. Plans right now are just to get it reliable (fan and intercooler pump went out) and more fun to drive. It's too quiet and the IRS feels unstable through corners. So I will do exhaust, intake, shifter, and FTBR bushings. Then either port/pulley or swap out the Eaton...Would love to run e85 also...

This is quite an upgrade from my 03 GT, but I liked driving the GT better. Plus it looked quite sexy when I got rid of it...sometimes I miss it, so I take a walk outside and pop the hood on the Cobra

 

[mysteed]

Congrats on the new Cobra!

 

[timspony]

Nice find & congrats!! :beer:

 

[townaj]

Thanks tim and mysteed! I appreciate the warm welcome from all you guys!

And if anyone has a good (easy) way to get dried coolant off the various surfaces in the engine bay, PLEASE let me know

 

[10sec89]

Sounds like your on the road to a fun Cobra! Congrats and welcome!

 

[ScreamingFast]

Keep us updated on ur progress. U will love it over ur old GT in no time.

 

[Aubz]

nice cobra, i also have a black coupe with the parchment interior, only 252 if i remember correctly

 

[townaj]

Thanks guys, I'm sure it'll win me over once I start opening up some of its potential, the GT was pretty much maxed out without going FI, cams, expensive shit for little gain.

Damn I didn't know they were that rare! I should do some more research on that...

 

[va boy]

Congrats on your new to you Terminator, it looks great in the pictures, must have been taken care of and not beat on. The 180 in each cyl. is a HUGE plus!
As far as seat cleaning, do a search for "cleaning alacantra inserts, or cleaning 03/04 Cobra seats", that should get you pointed in the right direction. Have fun modding, it's endless.

 

[RichM1983]

Yeah I had heard sometime from someone that the parchment inserts were kinda rare, good to know that it's actually true! Now I just gotta find a good way to clean the drivers seat and keep it that way

Thanks Tony! I was actually just drooling over your car haha

And if anyone has ideas for caliper colors, I'd like to hear/see them! I'll also be painting valve covers, supercharger, etc. so any input is welcome

I know you won't believe this but if you search you will find out that it works REALLY well. Take a really fine grit sand paper and sand the suede! I swear to you it works.

I had a higher mile cobra like that, 126k that had some bad paint on the front from being beaten up. Looks like the car has a nice respray and won't need to much to look really nice. My car was actually just like that, a black with parchment inserts. I love the parchment.

 

[19svt97]

Nice... Good luck with the Mod's

 

[townaj]

Congrats on your new to you Terminator, it looks great in the pictures, must have been taken care of and not beat on. The 180 in each cyl. is a HUGE plus!
As far as seat cleaning, do a search for "cleaning alacantra inserts, or cleaning 03/04 Cobra seats", that should get you pointed in the right direction. Have fun modding, it's endless.

Thanks! Yeah I was floored when I saw those numbers! They seem to be better than some people that have 40k miles on their cars. I'm kinda thinking the motor isn't original or was pulled at some point though. One of the valve covers has a different finish and the passenger side is missing the signature plate....

I know you won't believe this but if you search you will find out that it works REALLY well. Take a really fine grit sand paper and sand the suede! I swear to you it works.

I had a higher mile cobra like that, 126k that had some bad paint on the front from being beaten up. Looks like the car has a nice respray and won't need to much to look really nice. My car was actually just like that, a black with parchment inserts. I love the parchment.

That sand paper thing is interesting...and yeah the parchment just keeps growing on me haha

Unfortunately the hood needs a respray and at some point the rest of the car probably needs to be scuffed and the re-cleared. But the bumper looks damn good haha.

Any input on the dried coolant? It makes the engine bay look terrible

 

[coposrv]

Sounds like you got an awesome deal. I wasn't sure about the parchment I just haven't seen a lot of them. I really like it and I love seeing rare cars. Congrats and looks like the motor is in great shape.

 

[T0RCH3D]

Congrats on the purchase, glad to hear your looking to fix her and make her look purrty again! :thumbsup: Keep us updated on the progress, from what I see touch up paint will be part of the correction!